Home / Blog / Advocacy

Tag Archives: Advocacy

Metra must get past serving just white-collar suburban riders

Sep 18, 2020 | by Active Trans

This is a guest post by Scott Presslak, a regional transit advocate who runs the Star:Line Chicago Twitter account. As the COVID-19 pandemic rages on, the only certainty we have these days is uncertainty. 2020 has, without a shred of hyperbole, been the most challenging year that most of us have had to persevere, on multiple fronts. That challenge has come down hard on transit agencies across the U.S. and, locally, Metra has been hit hardest. Metra’s core market historically has been white-collar suburbanites commuting to and from the Loop for 9-to-5 Monday-through-Friday jobs. This market was already shrinking pre-pandemic as more workplaces offered remote work flexibility. Now, many more of these residents have the privilege to work from home...

Tags: Advocacy, covid-19, North Suburbs, public transit, South Suburbs, transit, Transit Equity, West Suburbs

Join our transit discussion during Cook County Racial Equity Week

Sep 9, 2020 | by Kyle Whitehead

Active Transportation Alliance is excited to co-host a discussion on public transit during Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle’s second annual Racial Equity Week. Register for the discussion, which will be held as a virtual event on Thursday, September 17 at 11 a.m. The event is a roundtable on transportation equity in the time of COVID-19, with a spotlight on Cook County’s Fair Transit project on Chicago’s South Side and South Suburbs. Panelists will discuss the transportation needs of essential workers and how transit issues intersect with racial equity. Active Transportation Alliance Executive Director Amy Rynell will deliver opening remarks. Moderator Jacky Grimshaw, Vice President of Government Affairs, Center for Neighborhood Technology Presenters Andrea Reed, Co-Chair, Coalition for a Modern Metra Electric ...

Tags: Advocacy, chicago south, Chicago South Side, covid-19, public transit, South Suburbs, transit, Transit Equity

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. As with many other critical public systems, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the underlying inequities in Chicago’s transportation network. Decades of structural racism and disinvestment have meant that the Black and Latinx communities were already struggling with inadequate transportation options before the pandemic. Then, as COVID-19 hit, these Chicago communities faced even...

Tags: Advocacy, Back on the Bus, Bicycling, biking, Bus, Chicago, Chicago Central, chicago north, Chicago North Side, chicago north west, chicago south, Chicago South Side, Chicago West Side, covid-19, Equity, public transit, Transit Equity

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, the regional planning organization that was the precursor to today’s Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. She was tasked with promoting bicycling as a sustainable and alternative mode of transportation in support...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling

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. I chose to make Chicago home because I wanted to live a car free. This means walking to a Chicago Transit Authority bus stop if I am heading out for shopping or work, or recreational-, educational-, or health-related activities....

Tags: Advocacy, Back on the Bus, Back ont he Bus, Bicycling, biking, Bus, Bus report cards, Chicago, covid-19, transit, Transit Equity, zero vision

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, riders are cut off from where they need to go or forced to pay much more for a taxi or ride-hailing trip. The repeated evening and overnight shutdowns of CTA, Divvy, and paratransit service in the downtown area sets an alarming precedent. City officials are making this call without providing the public a clear...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, biking, Bus, Chicago, Chicago Central, Downtown, public transit, transit, Transit Equity

What transit justice means to Ald. Martin and State Sen. Peters

Aug 3, 2020 | by Active Trans

The Active Trans Bus Organizing Fellows recently sat down with State Senator Robert Peters of the 13th District and 47th Ward Alderman Matt Martin to talk about transit justice through times of a pandemic and a corresponding economic crisis. Bus Organizing Fellows Rylen Clark and Jamaine Alberto Gooding devised questions to ask the elected officials, and they posed questions that came from Chicago residents and audience members. Here’s part one of a summary of how the conversation went. Stay tuned for the second part. You can watch the full recording of the event here. How do you see public transit as an element for social and economic justice in your district and/or in the state of Illinois? Senator Peters:...

Tags: Advocacy, Back on the Bus, covid-19, Fair Fares Chi, mobility justice, transit justice

Mobility in the time of COVID-19 on Chicago’s North Side

Jul 31, 2020 | by Julia Gerasimenko

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 and elected officials on the city’s North Side. Though not all-encompassing, here’s a glimpse of what residents on the North Side are experiencing. During the course of 14 different conversations, we spoke with community members and elected officials representing Albany Park, Belmont Cragin, Edgewater, Hermosa, Lakeview, Logan Square, Lathrop...

Tags: Advocacy, Chicago North Side, Fair Fares Chi, Lakefront Trail, transit

State reverses decision to eliminate bus lanes as option for North LSD

Jul 31, 2020 | by Kyle Whitehead

Bus lanes are back on the table for the reconstruction of North Lake Shore Drive, but more work needs to be done to make sure they’re part of the final design. This week state and local officials said they’ll carry forward the 3+1 bus only lane option to the next stage of the planning process. The transit-friendly design had been eliminated in June, despite opposition from the Chicago Transit Authority. Active Trans and other advocates came out strongly against the decision. More than 700 Chicagoans signed letters to Gov. Pritzker, Mayor Lightfoot, and the project team urging them to reverse course. Several community leaders on the project task force also spoke up. Your strong grassroots response clearly made a difference. It drew attention from decision makers and helped...

Tags: Advocacy, Back on the Bus, Bus, Bus report cards, Chicago North Side, Lakefront Trail, public transit, transit, Transit Equity

Illinois Bike Summit to focus on infrastructure, education, and inclusion

Jul 29, 2020 | by Active Trans

Local advocates, transportation planners, engineers, and anyone interested in making biking for recreation and transportation better on their block or in their community are invited to attend the Illinois Bike Summit on Tuesday, September 15. This online event is organized by Ride Illinois — the statewide, nonprofit, bike advocacy organization. The summit’s keynote speaker will be Bill Nesper, executive director of the League of American Bicyclists. The themes for the summit — infrastructure, education, and inclusion — will be woven into many of the presentations and breakout sessions. Several Active Transportation Alliance staff will moderate informal Coffee Talks at the start of the day and share their knowledge during breakout sessions. At the end of the day, there will be Q&A...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Events, Illinois

‹ prev5 of 30next ›