Blog

Two key funding sources for projects in your community

Jan 6, 2021 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

The walking and biking boom during the pandemic has accelerated community interest in funding bike and pedestrian projects.

For decades, these types of projects have proven to make our streets safer for all users while boosting community health, equity, and sustainability. Yet, finding funding can be surprisingly difficult, especially for low-income, rural, and Black and Brown communities.

Fortunately, new funding opportunities have recently emerged thanks to advocacy from Active Trans and our partners across the state.

Help make your community a walkable winter wonderland

Dec 24, 2020 | by Active Trans

We want to ensure that our communities are places anyone can easily walk. This is especially true during the COVID-19 pandemic when it seems that more people have taken up walking.

When the snow flies, that means we need to shovel those sidewalks!

It’s the right thing to do and in some places — including Chicago — it’s the law.

The Chicago City Council updated its snow removal ordinance in 2015,

“Community activator” uses bicycling to bring people together

Dec 22, 2020 | by Maya Norris

Pha’tal Perkins has seen for himself the transformative power of bicycling. The bicycling advocate and community activist created the Roll N Peace bike rides to get more residents in Englewood to hop on two wheels as a way to promote public safety and unify this neighborhood on the southwest side of Chicago.

His extraordinary advocacy work with the Roll N Peace bike rides as well as other community safety initiatives earned him a 2020 Advocate of the Year award from Active Transportation Alliance.

Forum focuses on need to prevent transit collapse

Dec 18, 2020 | by Lynda Lopez

Active Trans recently hosted an online transit justice forum to call attention to the federal budget shortfall for transit agencies. The forum also provided an opportunity to highlight the experiences of local community members and other transit stakeholders.

Reverberating throughout the event was the need for federal support to prevent a collapse of public transit. By all accounts, the consequences will be dire — particularly for people in Black and Brown communities — if we neglect to provide the support that transit needs right now.

Transparency needed about possible cuts

Dec 16, 2020 | by Kyle Whitehead

As we continue to fight for emergency federal support for Chicago area public transit, Active Trans joined a coalition of advocates calling for our transit agencies to share more information about what will be targeted in cuts if the federal funding doesn’t come through.

Following are excerpts from our coalition’s letter that was submitted to the boards of RTA, CTA, Metra, and Pace during their December budget meetings.

Food access survey results show discomfort, lack of access

Dec 11, 2020 | by Active Trans

In preparation for an upcoming virtual town hall on the topic of food access and public transit on December 15, we conducted a survey.

The goal was to gain insight into topics like whether public transit has helped or hurt peoples’ food security and whether people have to take transit to other neighborhoods to get fresh food.

Here are some of the results of the survey: 

• On a scale of “very comfortable”

Virtual exercise demos help bicyclists stay active and prevent injuries during COVID

Dec 11, 2020 | by Active Trans

Like so many other clubs last spring, the Bike Palatine Club canceled its rides and events, prematurely ending a packed schedule for the cycling season. Then an offer came in from Rush Physical Therapy in Palatine: a series of free virtual demos for the biking community to keep cyclists fit and to avoid injury.

What seemed like a long shot in June became a collaborative success. Riders from 10 bike clubs participated in one or more of the three 40-minute fitness demos.

Metra to provide long-awaited rapid transit to South Side and south suburbs

Dec 7, 2020 | by Maya Norris

Transit riders on the South Side and in the south suburbs have some improved travel options to look forward to in the new year. In January, Cook County will usher in a rapid transit pilot program to help those residents travel to and from downtown Chicago quickly, easily, and affordably.

The long-awaited South Cook Fair Transit program will offer reduced fares and increased service on Metra’s Electric District and Rock Island District rail lines,

Three inspiring local advocates receive awards from Active Trans

Dec 5, 2020 | by Ted Villaire

The recent Active Trans Annual Meeting provided an opportunity for supporters of the organization to give a round of applause for our talented local advocates. Below you can see brief recorded remarks from our advocacy award recipients: Romina Castillo, Pha’Tal Perkins, and Wharton Sinkler.

People who attended the event also got an overview of the key advocacy efforts Active Trans has been pursuing in the region in response to the challenges of the past year.

Town hall discussion on food access and transit on Dec. 15

Dec 4, 2020 | by Active Trans

COVID-19 has added to the challenges many people face in their day-to-day lives. A lack of access to food is one of those problems that has grown for many people because the of pandemic.

On Tuesday, December 15, from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., we will be exploring this topic through an online discussion with local elected officials and community leaders. We also will be sharing results of our recent food access and public transportation survey.