Keep up with the latest news on Active Trans and topics that we care about in the region.
In partnership with a coalition of transportation advocacy groups from across the country, Active Trans will be hosting an online transit justice forum on Wednesday, December 9 at 6 p.m.
The COVID-19 pandemic has further amplified the importance of public transit in our city and country. To help us envision the future of public transit, we will be highlighting the transit justice principles developed as part of a national effort.
At our forum,
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As Congress considers the next COVID relief package, it must make providing emergency support for Chicago-area transportation agencies a top priority.
Transit, walking, and biking continue to play essential roles in keeping Chicago-area residents moving during the pandemic. Every day, thousands of people walk, bike, and ride transit to work, healthcare centers, grocery stores, and other critical destinations.
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Take action now for emergency federal support for Chicagoland transit
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Essential workers are disproportionately Black and Brown and more likely to walk,
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Highway expansion has a long history of encouraging more people to drive, intensifying congestion, displacing low-income communities, and harming the environment.
For all these reasons, we were delighted to see progress made in putting to rest once and for all the controversial Route 53 highway expansion in Lake County.
An important step in preventing the project from easily getting reactivated in the future is re-envisioning the land that was acquired when the project was under consideration.
Tags: Bicycling, Lake County, North Suburbs, Walking
Wharton Sinkler is on a mission. As the president of the Des Plaines Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, Sinkler wants to pave the way to better walking and biking conditions in Des Plaines. He and his fellow DPBPAC members advocate for infrastructure projects in Des Plaines that allow people walking and biking to navigate the northwest suburb safely and easily.
For his outstanding advocacy work over the years, Sinkler and two other local advocates — Romina Castillo and Pha’Tal Perkins — will be receiving Advocate of the Year awards at the Active Trans Annual Meeting on December 2.
Tags: Bicycling, North Suburbs, Walking
Active Transportation Alliance, Center for Neighborhood Technology, Chaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, Chicago Jobs with Justice, Elevated Chicago, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Equiticity, Illinois Environmental Council, Metropolitan Planning Council, Respiratory Health Association, Shared-Use Mobility Center, Sierra Club Chicago Group, and Union of Concerned Scientists launched the following petition against Mayor Lightfoot’s proposed cut to CTA’s budget.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chicago area residents have come to depend on trails not only as recreational assets, but also as transportation corridors that provide low-stress walking and biking connections within and between communities.
The Chicago area provides opportunities to enjoy more than 1,100 miles of trails that crisscross the region. But too often people walking or biking on our regional trails encounter dead ends, dangerous crossings, diversions onto stressful streets, and other gaps in the network.
In order for people to make well-informed choices about safety and transportation, it’s critical for Chicago-area transit agencies to be transparent about how air is flowing through their vehicles. This is especially important given that, according to the CDC, COVID-19 spreads both through larger droplets that fall out of the air rapidly as well as smaller droplets and particles that can remain suspended for many minutes or hours.
Providing information about air flow could help the thousands of people still riding and operating transit better understand their level of risk of contracting the virus.
Thanks to the advocacy efforts of Ride Illinois and Active Trans, Metra is introducing its first-ever bike car on the Milwaukee District North Line and temporarily relaxing bike restrictions across all 11 lines.
The commuter rail agency, which announced the changes Thursday, was able to make this move because ridership remains down by more than 90 percent during the pandemic and excess capacity exists on all trains.
Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, biking, covid-19, public transit, Transit Equity
Join Active Transportation Alliance on Wednesday, November 11, 6 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., for a virtual town hall with State Representative Theresa Mah (2nd District) and Alderman Andre Vasquez (40th Ward).
You can register for the free event today.
Rep. Mah and Ald. Vasquez will discuss how they have been working with residents in their districts to advance walking and biking projects during COVID-19. Also joining the conversation will be leaders from local community groups who are addressing these issues.
On Monday the National Lawyers Guild of Chicago, a local coalition of attorneys for civil and human rights, signed our petition urging Chicago officials to keep transit running during post-election protests and future periods of unrest.
The organization shared the following statement after voting to endorse the petition.
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Executive action to shut down public transportation, often without advance notice, endangers the safety, health and livelihood of Chicagoans.
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