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Mayoral candidates pledge support for better bus service

Jan 28, 2019 | by Julia Gerasimenko

The leading candidates for mayor of Chicago say they support creating more bus-only lanes and other improvements that would make bus service faster and more reliable. On Tuesday, January 15, nine candidates participated in the Bus Riders Forum organized by the Pilsen Alliance and Active Transportation Now. The forum was moderated by Mary Wisniewski, transportation reporter and columnist at the Chicago Tribune. The Pilsen Alliance is a 20-year-old social justice organization that sees equitable public transportation as crucial to social justice in Chicago. Pilsen Alliance is also one of our Bus Advocacy Community Partners and mini-grant recipients. If you missed the forum, which was held at the Lozano Library Branch in Pilsen, you can watch video of the entire forum here....

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

Alderman Villegas on board for better bus service

Jan 24, 2019 | by Julia Gerasimenko

After hearing from a group of youth in his ward who are frustrated with the Diversey bus, Alderman Villegas (36th ward) says he’ll work with city agencies to speed up bus service. Active Trans partnered with a group of youth advocates from the Northwest Side Housing Center on a meeting with Alderman Villegas in late 2018. The alderman heard stories from the youth of what slow and unreliable bus service has cost them, such as being late to school and doctor’s appointments. As part of the partnership, the Northwest Side Housing Center received a mini-grant from Active Trans to fight for better bus service in their local community. The group used Active Trans' Bus Friendly Street Report Cards to back up...

Tags: Advocacy, Chicago North Side, transit

Free-floating car-sharing program should be welcomed in Chicago

Mar 22, 2018 | by Active Trans

The free-floating car-sharing pilot program passed by Chicago City Council could help residents who don’t own a car get around and encourage more people to live car-free or car-lite lifestyles.Unlike Zipcar and Enterprise CarShare, free-floating carshare companies like car2go don’t require users to pick up and drop off the vehicles in a fixed location for a set period of time. The cars can be parked in any legal spot within a designated zone and reservations aren’t required.The ordinance introduced by 1st Ward Ald. Joe Moreno would set up a nine-month pilot program starting in May 2018. One vendor chosen by the city would be permitted to deploy up to 500 vehicles in designated “home area.”The proposed area includes all of...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago Central, Chicago North Side, Education, Planning, transit, Walking

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

Better trail connections in DuPage County

Aug 15, 2017 | by Active Trans

Several of our supporters recently attended DuPage County’s public meeting about changes coming to the Illinois Prairie Path. We are happy to report that the county is proposing a new side path called the Eola Connector (see image) to improve trail connectivity between the Aurora Branch of the Illinois Prairie Path and several other nearby paths and destinations.The Eola Connector proposal includes a 10-foot, paved, multi-use path along Eola Road to connect the Aurora Branch to the Batavia Spur, the DuPage Technology Corridor Trail, and Metea Valley High School and its shared-use path. The proposal also includes the widening of the Eola Road bridge over Interstate 88 to accommodate the multi-use path. Once the design is approved, the county will...

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

More protected bike lanes coming to Evanston

Aug 11, 2017 | by Active Trans

Evanston is on move with installing more protected bike lanes on its streets.Earlier this summer, the City of Evanston began construction of a two-way barrier protected bike lane along a 1.9-mile stretch of Sheridan Road and Chicago Avenue. The bike lane is part of Evanston’s Sheridan Rd.-Chicago Ave. Improvement Project.Phase one of the project included the recently completed protected bike lane on Chicago Avenue. Phase two, which is currently in progress, involves extending the bike lane north along Sheridan Road to Lincoln Street.Expect road closures at several intersections along Sheridan Road between August 7 and 21 while pavement construction is in progress.In addition to the bi-directional bike lane, which will be separated from traffic by a concrete barrier, the project...

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

1st grade transportation advocates of Summit

Aug 7, 2017 | by Active Trans

First graders from Graves Elementary School in the Village of Summit are on a mission to improve their community and their walk to school. Hundreds of kids in this southwest suburb walk to school every day. While the young students enjoy their commute, they also encounter barriers that need improvement. In April of this year, a first-grade class sent Mayor Sergio Rodriguez a letter (see below) asking for a meeting and requesting that the village work on improving the pedestrian bridge that offers one of the few connections between the north and south sides of Summit, which is separated by railroad tracks. The bridge (pictured left) is used by hundreds of students each day to get to and from school,...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Education, South Suburbs, transit, Walking

Truck safety ordinance is a step forward

Jul 6, 2017 | by Active Trans

UPDATE: The ordinance requiring city contractors to install low cost safety equipment on large trucks was approved by City Council on July 26, 2017. Active Trans commends this step towards making Chicago safer for all._______________________________________Last week, the Chicago mayor’s office announced the introduction of a truck safety ordinance to city council as part of its renewed Vision Zero initiative.The announcement represents the city following through on one of the commitments in the recently released Vision Zero Action Plan to eliminate all traffic fatalities in Chicago by 2026.Contractors will be required to phase in the installation of safety equipment, starting on January 1, 2018, with full compliance required by January 1, 2021. The city is also committing to the same standards...

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

Vision Zero Action Plan focuses on reducing vehicle speeds

Jun 12, 2017 | by Active Trans

Today’s release of a Vision Zero Action Plan lays a strong foundation for the city to achieve its goal of eliminating traffic fatalities and serious injuries by 2026.The three-year plan shows the city is serious about preventing crashes and making our streets safer for everyone, especially the most vulnerable people who are walking and biking. Now we need to make sure our elected officials at every level of government provide appropriate funding support for the city to meet its ambitious goals.We're advocating at the local, state, and federal levels for more safe streets funding, especially for infrastructure projects on streets that have long been identified as high-crash corridors. Redesigning these streets will be pivotal to bringing down our unacceptably high numbers of...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Planning, transit, Walking, zero vision

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