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Longtime staffer reflects on Active Trans’ achievements over the last 35 years

Mar 18, 2021 | by Maya Norris

2021 marks a historic milestone for the Active Transportation Alliance. The nonprofit celebrates its 35th anniversary this year in leading the charge to create a sustainable transportation landscape in Chicagoland that emphasizes safety and health. Active Trans has come a long way since it was founded in 1985 as the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation by a small group of advocates looking for ways to make bicycling safe and easier. Over the next 23 years, CBF grew into one of the largest and most prominent bicycle advocacy organizations in the country. In 2008, the organization took an important step forward by expanding its mission to include pedestrian and transit advocacy. As a result, it changed its name to Active Transportation Alliance. Longtime...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, covid-19, transit, Transit Equity, Walking

Winter Bike Challenge, presented by Keating Law Offices, wraps up

Mar 5, 2021 | by Clare McDermott

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic and brutal February weather, nearly 350 people suited up and participated in the 2021 Winter Bike Challenge, presented by Keating Law Offices. Overall, riders logged nearly 2,000 miles over the course of 300 trips. During the two-week challenge, riders saw all types of cold weather thrown at them, including one day with over ten inches of snow in the Chicago-area. Despite the snow that day, eight winter riders still got out and logged miles. Impressive! Active Trans is hopeful that we’ll return to hosting a live Winter Bike Rally in Daley Plaza in 2022 and may even bring back the Challenge component again for next year. In the meantime, we are hopeful that our largest fundraising...

Tags: Bicycling, Chicago, Events

Action Alert: Help make state roads safer for people walking and biking

Feb 25, 2021 | by Kyle Whitehead

The transportation committee in the Illinois State House is considering a bill that would make roads safer for vulnerable users, and we need your help to make sure it passes. House Bill 270 eliminates the 20 percent local cost share for walking and biking infrastructure on state roads. The bill is scheduled to be called in committee on Monday, March 3, at noon. Under current law, when the state is rebuilding a road, the state covers 100 percent of the cost of infrastructure for car and trucks, such as travel lanes and markings. But if the state’s analysis determines a sidewalk, side path, or bike lane should be added and there’s community support for it, then the local community is...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, biking, legislation, Walking

Bicycle Film Festival comes to Chicago on Feb. 24

Feb 1, 2021 | by Active Trans

The Bicycle Film festival has been celebrating bicycles through art, film, and music since 2001. This year, when the festival makes its virtual stop in Chicago February 24 – March 7, Active Trans will serve as the host. The film festival appeals to a wide audience, from film connoisseurs to avid cyclists and everyone in between. A portion of proceeds will go towards Active Trans to help further our mission of creating better walking, biking, and transit. This year, the curated collection of select short films will take you on a journey around the world, covering such topics as: The first BMX crew in Nigeria A charismatic Ghanian immigrant in Amsterdam who teaches refugee adult women to ride bikes A...

Tags: Bicycling

Top 10 walking, biking, and transit stories of 2020

Jan 11, 2021 | by Kyle Whitehead

2020 was a challenging year on many fronts. The coronavirus devastated communities across Chicagoland in 2020 and the transportation impacts will be felt for years to come. Throughout the year, the Active Transportation Alliance continued to do the important work of fighting for clean and equitable transportation. Here’s a look back at 10 of the most important walking, biking, and transit stories and advocacy victories of the year. 1. COVID changes how Chicagoans get around. From staying at home in March through spending the holidays at home in December, many residents traveled far less in 2020. Car traffic and transit ridership plummeted while walking and biking spiked. Over the summer, Active Trans spoke with more than 100 community leaders in the city and suburbs about...

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. Both the Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program (ITEP) and Surface Transportation Program (STP) Shared Fund have been recently improved and expanded to help communities build safe walking and biking networks. Here’s a quick summary of how each program can help your community fund walking and...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, North Suburbs, South Suburbs, Walking, West Suburbs

“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. Dubbing himself as a community activator, Perkins developed the Roll N Peace bike rides to cast Englewood in a new light — an area that is often stigmatized as one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Chicago....

Tags: Bicycling, Chicago South Side, Events

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. The third session in October boasted 27 attendees from eight different bike clubs. Based on this success, the club has teamed up with Rush Physical Therapy for a fourth session in early December and is planning several more...

Tags: Bicycling, North Suburbs

Closing the door on the Route 53 extension

Nov 24, 2020 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

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. A task force is proposed This re-envisioning work would be done by a task force that was proposed in legislation introduced by the Illinois Senate and House and then approved by the Lake County Board. Originally introduced in early 2020, the senate bill is...

Tags: Bicycling, Lake County, North Suburbs, Walking

Advocate works to make Des Plaines better for walking, biking

Nov 18, 2020 | by Maya Norris

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. You're welcome to join this online event as we celebrate the great work these individuals are doing in their communities. Founded in...

Tags: Bicycling, North Suburbs, Walking

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