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CEOs urge gubernatorial candidates to fund biking & walking

Oct 15, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

Business leaders from across the Chicago region are urging the next Illinois Governor to spend a “fair share” of state transportation dollars for a new, dedicated Bike Walk Fund. The group of 27 CEOs recently sent a letter to Gov. Rauner and J.B. Pritzker asking the candidates to commit to spending at least $50 million annually on biking and walking projects if elected. Currently, the state spends very little of its own money on biking and walking projects that “enhance the safety, health, sustainability and equity of Illinois communities.” The leaders say more investment in biking, walking and public transit is needed for their companies to continue to attract top talent to Chicago from around the world. See the official letter and the...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Walking

Active Trans joins Chicago’s New Mobility Task Force

Oct 15, 2018 | by Ron Burke

UPDATE (3/14/19): Chicago released a report featuring recommendations from the New Transportation and Mobility Task Force, including many ideas Active Trans pushed in task force discussions. -- As executive director of the Active Transportation Alliance, I am excited to join Chicago’s New Transportation and Mobility Task Force, which meets for the first time Oct. 25. Cities are poised to become more livable and equitable by making it easier and cheaper to get around with fewer cars on our streets, and new mobility options have the potential to accelerate this change. In my view, the main objective for the task force is identifying the right mix of policies and incentives to achieve this goal. In Chicago, the share of trips by...

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

Community leaders support Illinois Bike Walk Fund

Oct 11, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

Leaders from neighborhoods throughout the Chicago region agree that more state transportation dollars should be spent on biking and walking projects. Active Trans has called upon the next Illinois governor and general assembly to commit to spending a fair share of state transportation dollars for a new, dedicated Bike Walk Fund of $50 million per year, which is only about 2 percent of transportation capital spending at the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT). Currently, the state spends very little of its own money on biking and walking projects that promote healthy, sustainable and equitable communities. Add your name to our petition to the next governor and state assembly. Leaders from the following community-based organizations support establishing an Illinois Bike Walk...

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

New regional plan has mobility vision but lacks funding, political will

Oct 10, 2018 | by Ron Burke

Chicagoland’s new regional plan, called “ON TO 2050,” has plenty of good ideas on paper to tackle the problem of too many cars and traffic crashes, but it lacks the mechanisms, funding and leadership to actually implement a new mobility future and move away from the car-centric status quo. The plan was prepared and approved by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), which is run by a collection of committees comprised of representatives of local, state, regional and federal governments. Previous regional plans have laid out similar goals, but a recent analysis by Active Trans shows the region is just as car dependent today as it was in 1980. Moreover, driving has increased four times faster than the population...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, biking, Planning, Walking

Illinois celebrates Walk to School Day with new biking and walking education requirement

Oct 10, 2018 | by Ron Burke

School districts across Illinois are working to meet a new requirement to teach biking and walking safety while celebrating national Walk to School Day on Wednesday, October 10. Illinois crash data shows nearly five children are hit by people driving every day in Illinois while walking or biking within one block of a school. In August, Governor Rauner signed the Bike Walk Education in Schools Act (HB4799) into law. The legislation amends the school code so that every K-8 public school in Illinois is required to provide instruction, study and discussion of effective methods for the prevention and avoidance of traffic injuries related to walking and bicycling. Teaching walking and biking safely saves lives while helping kids get more physical activity, reducing...

Tags: Advocacy, Education, Walking

Suburban advocacy summit on October 27

Oct 4, 2018 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

Do you want better walking, biking and transit options in your community? For people who walk, bike or ride transit in the suburbs, our transportation system is often neither safe nor welcoming. But when bolstered by a collective voice of advocates, transportation conditions in the Chicagoland suburbs have the potential to be transformed. Be a part of this suburban transformation by attending our annual gathering of suburban advocates at our Bike Walk Every Town Summit on Saturday, October 27 in Elmhurst. Bike Walk Every Town is our suburban advocacy program dedicated to lifting up suburban leaders and providing them with the resources and strategic advice needed to be more effective change-makers in their community. Register for the Bike Walk Every Town...

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

Bartlett advocate petitions for trail connection

Oct 4, 2018 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

Longtime bicycling advocate Terry Witt is leading the charge to fill in a significant regional trail gap through the Village of Bartlett. Now he’s created a petition and needs your help collecting 1,000 signatures. Terry (pictured) grew up in the northwest suburbs and now resides in Bartlett. His enthusiasm for biking was originally sparked by his adult son’s love for riding. “I started riding at age 55 with my son and didn’t stop!” Upon retirement and with a newfound love of riding his bike, Terry began working for Spin Doctor Cyclewerks in Bartlett as their director of advocacy. He attended Active Trans’ Bike Walk Every Town suburban advocacy training last fall and has decided to focus his advocacy on pushing...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, West Suburbs

Don’t believe the hype about distracted walking

Oct 3, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

Despite endless media coverage about the dangers of distracted walking, a new analysis shows only a small fraction of the pedestrians struck by cars in Illinois were using a cell phone. From 2013 to 2016 in Illinois, less than 2 percent of pedestrians hit by cars were using cell phones at the time of the crash. Let’s stop blaming victims and focus on the real problem. Many pedestrians involved in crashes were legally crossing the street in a crosswalk, and most often the primary and secondary causes of the crash are related to driver behavior. Speeding and failure to stop for pedestrians are the most common factors. Active Trans conducted this analysis using the most recent publicly available crash data...

Tags: Advocacy, Walking

Room for improvement on Lakefront Trail routing

Oct 2, 2018 | by Ron Burke

The Chicago Park District’s design for separate biking and walking paths on the Lakefront Trail between Ardmore and Montrose addresses a major safety issue by redirecting cyclists away from street crossings where cars funnel into and out of the park. However, what this busy trail really needs and deserves is to eliminate street crossings altogether with ramps, underpasses or street closures so that everyone can enjoy the trail entirely car-free. This would also allow the bike path to revert to its original alignment closer to Lake Shore Drive. The park district is in the final stages of a two-year process to create separate paths for people biking and people walking along all 18 miles of the Lakefront Trail. Construction on...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, Lakefront Trail, Walking

Sign the petition for an Illinois Bike Walk Fund

Sep 28, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

Each year people throughout Illinois are discovering walking and biking as options for every day transportation, unleashing health, environmental, and economic benefits in communities across the state. Despite this growth, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) invests very few state dollars on infrastructure projects to improve conditions for walking and biking. Meanwhile, vast amounts of IDOT funds pour into road projects that benefit drivers and often lead to more congestion, pollution and inequity. We call upon the next Illinois Governor and General Assembly to commit to spending a fair share of state transportation dollars for a new, dedicated Bike Walk Fund of $50 million per year, which is only about 2% of transportation capital spending at IDOT. This is in...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling

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