Riders for Better Transit attends BRT public meeting

Last night Riders for Better Transit was on hand for the first public meeting about CTA plans for Bus Rapid Transit on Western and Ashland Avenues. An impressive number of community residents turned out to learn more about CTA proposals to bring better bus service to their neighborhood. 

Many attendess arrived at Iglesia Rebano Church even earlier than the scheduled 5:30 p.m. door opening to hear about the project. Before being shown the four alternatives the CTA has in mind for Western and Ashland, transit riders were able to view exhibit posters from the Chicago Architecture Foundation and talk to non-profit organizations that support the project, which included Riders for Better Transit. We gave attendes some background on the ideas behind the project and why we support bringing Bus Rapid Transit to Chicago, and we helped them navigate the abundance of information the public meeting contained—nearly 40 panel boards of statistics, maps and plan explanations.

Residents came with varying degrees of prior information about the topic. Some had been to earlier public meetings and were interested in seeing how the CTA had narrowed the options since June. Some were completely unfamiliar with the BRT project but saw a sign for the meeting on the bus and worried they might be losing service. Most seemed happy with the idea of improving bus service, and several submitted comments to the CTA about the alternatives.

We were happy to see a few Active Trans members (and Riders for Better Transit supporters) attend, several of whom asked important questions about how bicyclists would be accommodated in these plans. Cyc and encouraging the CTA to work with the Streets for Cycling Plan 2020.

Two more public meetings are scheduled for this week. Riders for Better Transit will be at all of them, and we hope to see many more transit riders, residents, business owners, and cyclists join us!