Keep up with the latest news on Active Trans and topics that we care about in the region.
Would you like safer connections between Brighton Park, McKinley Park, Bridgeport and Pilsen, as well as better opportunities to bike, walk and take public transit in these communities?
If you’re passionate about these issues, we need you to help us fight for this vision by registering for a leadership training 6-7:30 p.m. on Sept 27 at the YMCA in Pilsen — located at 2700 S. Western Ave.
Another bicycle crash on Lower Lake Shore Drive has drawn attention to several persistent safety issues for people biking and walking on this congested stretch of the Lakefront Trail.
Aaron Duncan, an IT engineer at WBEZ, was commuting home on his bicycle and traveling south on the path over the Chicago River when he saw heavy oncoming foot and bike traffic. While the Navy Pier Flyover is being built, people biking and walking on the trail are currently detoured to a shared sidewalk with no protective barrier next to high-speed vehicle traffic on the bridge.
Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Lakefront Trail, Walking
Despite a growing awareness of the long list of benefits that trails can provide to communities, many trails in Chicagoland continue to be poorly maintained and difficult to access with too many dangerous crossings at busy streets.
A new plan from the Active Transportation Alliance highlights ways residents and officials can work together to overcome these obstacles and build a regional trail network that works for everyone in Northeast Illinois.
To showcase this new vision for improving trails throughout the region,
Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, North Suburbs, Walking, West Suburbs
Every day in Illinois, five kids on average are hit by a driver of a motor vehicle within one block of a school, and more are hit beyond the school zones.
A bill that helps address this tragic daily occurrence while encouraging more walking and biking was recently signed into law by Governor Rauner.
The Bike Walk Education in Schools Act (HB4799) requires K-8 schools to provide biking and walking safety education.
Under Mayor Emanuel’s leadership, Chicago strengthened its commitment to building safer streets that make it easier to get around without a car.
The mayor was a national leader in building better bike infrastructure through a growing network of protected bike lanes, off-street trails and neighborhood greenways. He set an example that other cities followed and soon mayors were competing to be more bike-friendly.
The mayor secured millions of dollars in federal funding to rebuild Chicago’s decades-old public transit system,
A bill that adds the Dutch Reach method to Illinois’ Rules of the Road manual and adds bike safety questions to the state driver’s license exam has been signed into law.
The Dutch Reach method encourages drivers and passengers to use their far hand and reach across their body to open car doors after parallel parking, forcing people to look back for approaching cyclists and other traffic before exiting the car. Research shows it makes drivers and passengers more aware of approaching cyclists,
A new analysis shows the Chicago region has grown more car dependent since 1980, and that a different approach is needed to create healthier, more sustainable and more equitable communities.
The Active Transportation Alliance’s 2018 Regional Mode Share Report demonstrates the region’s inability to build its way out of traffic congestion. A larger percentage of Chicagoland residents are driving to work today compared to 1980, and the total amount of driving in the region has grown approximately four times faster than the population.
Protected bike lanes, freshly painted crosswalks and longer signals for people walking — these are just a few of the priorities Logan Square residents have championed during our project to improve walking and biking on Logan Blvd.
For the past eight months, the Active Transportation Alliance has led a variety of activities to identify the most significant obstacles to walking and biking on Logan from Rockwell St. to Lathrop Homes.
Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Walking
If leaders in the Chicago region want to reduce crashes and save lives, new data shows more resources should go towards redesigning arterial streets.
According to the Active Transportation Alliance’s 2018 Chicago Regional Crash Report, 53 percent of all crashes in the region occur on arterial roads, which make up 36 percent of the lane miles in our region. These roads often divide communities and serve as barriers for people biking and walking to jobs,
Cook County’s latest round of grant funding includes several exciting projects for people who walk, bike and ride transit in the city and suburbs.
Last week the Cook County Department of Transportation and Highways announced its 2018 Invest in Cook Grant program. The program is designed to advance priorities from the county’s recent long range transportation plan, which has a strong multi-modal focus while emphasizing the many health,