Blog

Support better transportation in Chicago’s 2021 budget

Sep 8, 2020 | by Kyle Whitehead

Chicago faces many challenges as officials prepare next year’s budget.

Among those challenges is the need to improve mobility options while keeping the city’s transportation system accessible to everyone.

That’s why we need to ensure that transportation issues and improvements are part of the city’s budget conversation. You can help make sure this happens: If you’re a Chicago resident, please take the city’s 2021 budget survey by Sunday, September 13.

The stress and uncertainty surrounding transportation

Sep 2, 2020 | by Active Trans

At Active Trans, there’s been a lot to learn as we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic. Every day we’re fine-tuning our work so that we can better address the challenges people face while walking, biking, and using public transit during the pandemic.

We’ve known that COVID-19 has altered walking, biking, and public transit, but we’ve been struggling to understand how different parts of the region and individual communities have been affected.

In order to get a better grasp of the widespread impact of this crisis,

How to get everyone wearing masks on public transit

Aug 28, 2020 | by Julia Gerasimenko

Universal mask wearing on buses and trains is the best way to ensure transit riders and operators stay safe and healthy amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

While universal compliance is difficult to achieve, leadership from local and state elected officials and local transit agencies is needed to send a clear, direct, and accessible message to transit riders that masks are required on all buses and trains.

We do, however,

Founder Suzan Pinsof reflects on Active Trans’ origins

Aug 24, 2020 | by Maya Norris

Ever wonder how the Active Transportation Alliance got its start? Well, Suzan Pinsof can tell you firsthand.

The retired urban planner and bicycling advocate was instrumental in creating the nonprofit organization that evolved into Active Trans more than 30 years ago, laying the foundation for the nonprofit’s bicycling advocacy and its success in creating safer conditions for people walking, biking, and using public transit in Chicagoland today.

Pinsof played a critical role in Chicago’s bicycling movement in the early 1980s when she worked at the Northeastern Illinois Planning Commission,

Mobility and essential travel during COVID-19

Aug 21, 2020 | by Alex Perez

When COVID-19 cases and deaths were rising in Chicago in March and April, the pandemic hit communities of color on the South and West Sides of Chicago at disproportionate rates.

People in communities of color were already facing disparities in income, employment, health, traffic safety, and economic disinvestment before the COVID-19 outbreak. When the pandemic hit, Black people started dying at 2-3 times the rate of the city’s White residents.

In order to gain a better understanding of the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Black and Brown communities in Chicago,

Mobility in the time of COVID-19 in the north and west suburbs

Aug 20, 2020 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of what we perceive and know about mobility and transportation.

In recent months, Active Trans met with more than 100 stakeholders who are invested in our work. We spoke with community partners, elected officials, department of transportation and transit agency officials, and residents across the city and suburbs.

As part of this process, we held a series of small-group conversations and solo conversations with stakeholders,

Chicago’s budget needs to advance bus and bike lanes

Aug 18, 2020 | by W. Robert Schultz III

Active Trans Campaign Organizer W. Robert Schultz III, a 31st Ward resident, provided testimony at a Chicago City Council hearing on the city’s infrastructure needs on August 18. The following is an excerpt of his remarks.

I have lived in Belmont Cragin, Logan Square, and Uptown. Over the 30 years that I lived in Chicago, I have worked in nearly every one of its 77 community areas, and my Chicago experiences started as a frequent visitor to Englewood in the 1960s.

Mobility in the time of COVID-19 in the south suburbs

Aug 18, 2020 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed a lot of what we perceive and know about mobility and transportation.

In recent months, Active Trans met with more than 100 stakeholders who are invested in our work. We spoke with community partners, elected officials, department of transportation and transit agency officials, municipal staff, and residents across the city and suburbs.

As part of this process,

Take action now to stop public transit and Divvy shutdowns

Aug 14, 2020 | by Active Trans

The following is an organizational statement from Active Transportation Alliance Executive Director Amy Rynell.

For more on the shutdowns, see Lynda Lopez’s blog post, The needless harm done by shutting down public transit.

Public transit provides access to opportunities for thousands of working-class Chicagoans. Buses, trains, paratransit, and bike share connect people to their jobs, healthcare appointments, grocery stores, and their families. When it’s taken away,

Bus Fellows deliver comments to CTA board

Aug 13, 2020 | by Julia Gerasimenko

Active Trans’ Bus Organizing Fellows Rylen Clark and Jamaine Alberto Gooding submitted comments to Chicago Transit Authority August board meeting.

Rylen provided oral comments before the board while both Jamaine and Rylen submitted written comments.

You can read Rylen’s full comments here and below and Jamaine’s full comments here. You can watch the entire CTA board meeting recording here.

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Take action now in support of 30 miles of bus lanes and masks for riders!