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Share your ideas for the 2019 Chicago transportation platform

Jul 27, 2018 | by Julia Gerasimenko

As election season in the City of Chicago approaches, Active Trans is excited to invite our partners and supporters across the city to provide input on our 2019 transportation platform. Active Trans will host two meetings open to all to help build a collaborative and intersectional platform, which will be used to educate candidates and voters in the 2019 Chicago mayoral and city council elections. Join us on either August 8 in Logan Square or August 21 in Bronzeville for a Transportation Justice Dialogue to collectively develop our 2019 platform. Next year the city of Chicago will elect a mayor and city council. Will these elected officials be champions for transportation justice for all residents of Chicago? What does transportation...

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

Teaching safe cycling a passion for Active Trans board member

Jul 24, 2018 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

At this year’s Illinois Bike Summit hosted by Ride Illinois, Active Trans board member and Chicago Heights resident Larry Mysz was given the prestigious Illinois Educator Award. The award was well deserved. As a bicycle advocate and educator over the last two decades, Larry has touched the lives of thousands of people, inspiring many to seriously consider the bicycle as a mode of transportation for everyday use, even in the suburbs. Larry started a program that has taught hundreds of adults to ride a bicycle for the first time and has trained about 200 League of American Bicyclists Cycling Instructors (LCIs) from around the country how to conduct bicycle safety classes. Last fall, Larry attended our Bike Walk Every Town...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling

CTA station accessibility should be a priority

Jul 23, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) finally has a plan to make all its rail stations accessible. Unfortunately, however, only a small portion of the work is funded. This week CTA released its first All Stations Accessibility Program (ASAP) Plan -- following through on a commitment CTA President Dorval Carter made in 2016. The plan outlines the short- and long-term projects needed to make all stations accessible within 20 years, including cost estimates and phasing. Currently, 103 of CTA’s 145 rail stations (70 percent) are accessible, which includes several upgrades that happened in recent years. The agency says the remaining stations have an average age of 75 years and require significant structural changes or property acquisition to be made accessible. Under the...

Tags: Advocacy

Join Big Marsh Bike Convergence on Sat., July 28

Jul 23, 2018 | by Julia Gerasimenko

The needs of people biking and walking on Chicago's Southeast Side have been ignored for too long. In an effort to change that, community advocates are now ramping up the pressure on local elected officials. Join Active Trans, the Southside Trailblazers, Friends of Big Marsh and Slow Roll Chicago on Saturday, July 28 for the Big Marsh Bike Convergence community ride. We will travel from four community areas around Lake Calumet and convene at Big Marsh Park to highlight the challenges for people biking and walking on the Far South and East sides of Chicago. Active Trans has been advocating for improved connections for people biking and walking in the Far South and East sides of Chicago for several years. Community...

Tags: Advocacy, biking, Chicago South Side, Walking

Dedicated transit lanes still on the table for North LSD

Jul 17, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

Transit riders have spoken up throughout the planning process for the reconstruction of North Lake Shore Drive and that support is starting to show up in the project design. A project team comprised of the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT), Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) and Chicago Park District (CPD) plans to rebuild North Lake Shore Drive between Grand and Hollywood Avenues. The proposed project involves seven miles of the 8-lane Lake Shore Drive boulevard, including the 12 highway junctions and the surrounding parkland. At a recent community task force meeting the project team announced the “dedicated transitway left” alternative, which includes adding a bus lane to the center of the drive in both directions, will be carried forward and...

Tags: Advocacy, Chicago North Side

Bike Week grants inspire events around the city

Jul 16, 2018 | by Julia Gerasimenko

Active Trans was thrilled to be able to offer financial support to bring Bike Week into additional communities throughout Chicago this year. Thanks to financial support from Google, Active Trans provided four grants to community groups so that they could host Bike Week encouragement and educational events. The North River Commission -- serving the Albany Park, Irving Park, North Park and Mayfair communities -- held several educational and encouragement events while partnering with local bike shops, Bikes N Roses and Tailwind Cycles. NRC was able to borrow a bus bike rack from the CTA so that folks could practice securing their own bikes to the front of a CTA bus rack without the added stress of holding up a crowded bus....

Tags: Advocacy, biking, Chicago North Side, Chicago South Side, Chicago West & Southwest Side, Events

Chicago’s dockless bike share program needs more bikes

Jul 13, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

Reports indicate the City of Chicago’s dockless bike-sharing pilot program is off to a slow start, and the city should consider changes to the program to ensure it generates useful data. Since early 2017 Active Trans has been exploring the potential for dockless bike share in the Chicago region by talking with community members, dockless bike-sharing companies, peer advocates in cities where dockless bike sharing is currently operating, and city officials. These talks continued after Chicago launched a pilot program on the South Side in May and Active Trans released principles to help ensure bike share services are developed in an inclusive and equitable way. Two months later, there’s plenty of excitement and enthusiasm for the new service in the...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling

Our Bus Advocacy Grants are being put to work!

Jul 12, 2018 | by Active Trans

In 2017, Active Trans and our partners from the Back on the Bus Coalition published the Back on the Bus report. This report found that bus ridership in the city was dropping and that the way to increase bus ridership was to focus on improving bus speed and reliability. To reverse this trend, three recommendations were given: Implementing prepaid boarding Using transit signal priority to give buses priority at stoplights Increasing the mileage of dedicated bus lanes To continue this work, Active Trans decided to give grants to four community organizations interested in advocating for these policies in their communities. Our Bus Advocacy Community Partners for this project are Westside Health Authority, Six Corners Association, Northwest Side Housing...

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

Chinatown organization works to improve walkability

Jul 12, 2018 | by Active Trans

Chicago's Chinatown has been touted as one of the only Chinatowns in the U.S. that is growing. Indeed, over the past several years, Chinese Americans have moved beyond Chinatown's core within Armour Square and into "Greater Chinatown." While Chicago's Chinatown is a vibrant neighborhood and great place to live, it’s also long overdue for active transportation investments. The Coalition for a Better Chinese American Community (CBCAC), Alderman Solis and Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) began work on a long-term vision plan in 2013 as part of Chinatown's centennial celebration. The Chinatown Community Vision Plan was a culmination of two years of research in which more than 2,000 individuals provided input on the future of Chinatown. Transportation was highlighted in...

Tags: Advocacy, Chicago West & Southwest Side, Walking

Tell governor to sign Bike Walk Education in Schools Act

Jul 10, 2018 | by Kyle Whitehead

Another important bike safety bill has arrived on Governor Rauner's desk and we need your help to make sure it's signed into law. The Bike Walk Education in Schools Act (HB 4799) passed the Illinois House and Senate with strong bipartisan majorities and awaits the governor's signature. The legislation requires school boards statewide to adopt policies for educating K-8 students about biking and walking safety. Schools boards determine how best to implement the requirement in their schools. Tell Governor Rauner to sign HB 4799 to make Illinois streets safer for everybody, especially the most vulnerable users on foot and on bike. Illinois crash data shows that nearly five children are hit by people driving every day in Illinois while walking or...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Walking

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