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Back on the Bus: Establish a local dedicated revenue stream to fund transit

Dec 21, 2017 | by Active Trans

Cuts to transit funding were buried in this summer’s state budget agreement. This is unacceptable given the proven economic, environmental and public health benefits of public transit investment. To continue to invest in Chicago’s public transit system, we need a new consistent stream of local funding.CTA, Metra, and Pace all face enormous backlogs of repairs just to maintain current bus and rail infrastructure. In the meantime, the state continues to pursue costly and ineffective road projects that only lead to more driving and sprawl.With the first fare hike since 2009, the onus is being put back on riders to fund transit. Meanwhile, other cities that are actively expanding and upgrading their transit networks – like Denver, Los Angeles and Seattle...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago Central, Chicago North Side, Chicago South Side, Chicago West & Southwest Side, Chicago West Side, Walking

Stay informed with the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council

Dec 19, 2017 | by Active Trans

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) organizes and chairs the Mayor’s Bicycle Advisory Council (MBAC), which meets quarterly at city hall, and is open to the public. The meetings are a great way to stay informed on CDOT projects and learn about new initiatives and improvements to infrastructure around the city. The most recent session, which convened last week, started with the sobering statistics of fatalities of people riding bikes. There have been six fatalities year to date, according to the Chicago Department of Police. Next, Rosanne Lubeck, the Vision Zero Coordinator, gave an update on the progress the Vision Zero West Side Outreach team has accomplished in 2017. She highlighted the truck side guard rail ordinance as a win for the Vision...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Chicago South Side, Chicago West & Southwest Side, Education, Lakefront Trail

Books for young readers

Dec 18, 2017 | by Active Trans

There is something exquisite about children’s books, in the lean, sometimes wry, prose and magical illustrations. I knew this, of course, before becoming a parent. What I didn’t expect was the variety of books for young children that celebrate bicycling and public transit. As 2017 winds down and the winter holidays and gift giving begin, I wanted to share some of my family’s favorites.My son’s first favorite book was Bus Stops, by Taro Gomi. He was only a few months old when my husband and I discovered this board book at 57th Street Books, but he would gurgle with pleasure as the bus winded through the suburbs, through downtown, and then back through the ‘burbs. The magic of Bus Stops lies in...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Education, Walking

Participatory budgeting celebrates five years

Dec 15, 2017 | by Active Trans

Participatory budgeting (PB) is celebrating five years in Chicago! PB is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget.Every year, each ward in the city of Chicago receives $1.3 million in "menu money" that is spent according to the discretion of the ward's alderman.Alderman Joe Moore of the 49th ward in Rogers Park was the first to implement participatory budgeting for his menu money in the United States. Since his initial trial, the concept has caught on in multiple wards. This money can be used for anything related to infrastructure in the ward, such as street resurfacing, sidewalk repairs, alley improvements, bike lanes, pedestrian refuge islands, public art and park benches to...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Walking

31-days of car-free suburban life

Dec 14, 2017 | by Active Trans

Growing up middle class in rural Pennsylvania, Katie Shaw Thompson never imagined life without a car. Now a resident in the City of Elgin, Katie’s opinion on transportation, what’s possible and what should be possible, has shifted. Katie is a proud four-season bike commuter, a mother of two squirrely preschoolers, and an ordained pastor. Over her adult moves from Pennsylvania to North Carolina to California to Indiana to Iowa and now Illinois, she has directly seen a wide variety of ways transportation and infrastructure effect our lives in the US. That's a big reason why she feels so fortunate to be living in a suburban city with great bones for bike commuting and a big part of why she's so...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Walking, West Suburbs

Brookfield’s first bicycle boulevard is here

Nov 30, 2017 | by Active Trans

The Village of Brookfield is now home to one of the first bicycle boulevards in the Chicagoland suburbs!What exactly is a bicycle boulevard? Sometimes termed a "neighborhood greenway," a bike boulevard is a low-speed street that prioritizes bicycle traffic. Bicycle boulevards use signage, paint and other traffic calming features to create a safer, more comfortable environment for all road users. At the beginning of November, the village added the finishing touches to its bicycle boulevard, which is located on Arden Avenue near Kiwanis Park and the Brookfield Zoo.In addition to the boulevard, the village installed curb bump-outs, a high visibility crosswalk and better pedestrian access to the adjacent park to improve the overall safety of kids playing and people travelling...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Planning, Walking, West Suburbs

Kids on the move in Highland Park

Nov 16, 2017 | by Active Trans

No one forgets how to ride a bike. They just forget that they should be riding a bike. That's why Highland Park's Bike Walk Advisory Group (BWAG) teamed up with Highland Park School District 112 to encourage students to walk or bike to school.Inspired by the national Bike-Walk to School Day, members of BWAG contacted every elementary and middle school principal in town.The ask seemed simple: urge students to get to school under their own foot power. Seven of the thirteen principals jumped on board immediately, recognizing the benefits of promoting the event.Originally scheduled for October 4, bad weather compelled the schools to postpone the event until October 13. With clear skies, the day was a success. Hundreds of students...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, North Suburbs, Planning, transit, Walking

Proposed distracted walking ordinance misses real problem

Nov 9, 2017 | by Active Trans

The distracted walking ordinance proposed by Ald. Burke and Beale at Wednesday’s City Council meeting misdiagnoses the problem contributing to traffic deaths involving people walking.The ordinance proposes fining people who are crossing the street while using a mobile device “in a manner that averts their visual attention to that device.” The fine would be $90 for the first offense and $500 for the second.Active Trans encourages everyone on our streets to travel safely, but fining people who are legally crossing in the crosswalk – no matter what they’re doing – would not make our streets safer. People walking are at risk because of careless drivers and poorly designed streets, and that should be the focus. The law already requires cars...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Education, Planning, transit, Walking

Raising ride-hailing fee to fund public transit makes sense

Oct 18, 2017 | by Active Trans

Mayor Emanuel’s proposal to raise fees on Uber and Lyft rides to pay for public transit upgrades is good news for everyone who cares about preserving healthy, sustainable and equitable transportation options across Chicago.The mayor introduced the potential increase in his budget address this week. If approved by Chicago City Council, 15 cents will be added to the current 52 cents per ride city fee in 2018.In 2019, the fee will increase another five cents. All the new revenue generated will be dedicated to public transit improvements.The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) faces a $13 billion backlog of repairs just to maintain current bus and rail infrastructure. The agency has dealt with a series of funding cuts in recent years, including...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago Central, Chicago North Side, Chicago West & Southwest Side, Walking

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