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How can Chicago suburbs become more walkable and bike-friendly?

Apr 13, 2022 | by Kyle Whitehead

With gas prices surging and climate threats getting worse, many towns across the Chicago region are trying to do more to support walking and biking as transportation options. But they often struggle to figure out what policies and projects to prioritize, and what makes a real difference in promoting alternatives to driving. Help is on the way. Active Trans is excited to co-host a new event series, Taking Climate Action by Prioritizing Walking, Biking, and Transit, along with the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus and Metropolitan Planning Council. The series seeks to educate communities, inspire municipal action, and cultivate local champions to move our region toward a more walkable, bikeable, and sustainable future. The project is designed to support goals from the...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, biking, Suburbs, Walking

New Chicago scooter program heightens need for more protected bike lanes

Apr 7, 2022 | by Kyle Whitehead

Mayor Lightfoot announced Chicago’s first multi-year electric scooter sharing program will launch in early May, introducing 4,000 new micromobility vehicles to city streets and bike lanes. The new program adds to the urgency for city officials to plan and build a citywide network of protected bike lanes so people on bikes and scooters have safe places to ride. With gas prices surging, shared bikes and scooters could provide needed alternatives to driving — but only if people feel safe and comfortable riding them. SCOOTERS TO BE ROLLED OUT CITYWIDE After two geographically limited pilot programs over the past few years, the new two-year program will bring shared scooters to all Chicago neighborhoods. The city announced permits for companies Lime, Bird, and SuperPedestrian...

Tags: Advocacy, biking, Chicago, Downtown

Chicago should pair trails vision with plan for safe, connected bikeways on streets

Apr 5, 2022 | by Active Trans

Last week Mayor Lori Lightfoot released a citywide vision of trails and open space projects that she said would promote the health and well-being of all Chicago residents and visitors. The new map provides a compelling vision that opens the door to funding many high-impact projects that community leaders have fought for over many years. But by itself it will not make a meaningful difference in advancing the city’s climate, equity, and safety goals. Chicago still needs a safe, connected on-street bikeways network. TRAILS VISION NEEDS MORE DETAIL Walking and biking trails are hugely popular and can help improve community health and sustainability. When informed by strong community input, they can increase access to open space and help fill gaps...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, biking, Chicago, Equity, Trails

Sidewalk snow removal in Chicago should be a city service

Mar 31, 2022 | by Active Trans

The following is a guest blog post by Michael Podgers, an organizer with the local advocacy organization, Better Streets Chicago. ___________ Chicago is experiencing the first balmy days of spring. But as always, winter will return, and it will bring back the many annoyances of falling temperatures, like ice and snow. For many, these are inconveniences. People may gripe, but they won’t stop daily life. But for many thousands of other Chicagoans, winter weather can shut down daily life. Snow and ice in particular can be menacing, especially when unplowed snow and ice block sidewalks, preventing people from using them. The #PlowTheSidewalks campaign, which Better Streets Chicago is leading with the support of our partners Access Living, is making the...

Tags: Advocacy, Walking

Action alert! Tell Chicago to make climate action plan stronger on transportation

Mar 28, 2022 | by Kyle Whitehead

Chicago is working on a climate action plan featuring ambitious goals to reduce driving and get more people walking, biking, and riding public transit. But the current draft lacks firm commitments to redesign city streets and invest in the hard infrastructure needed to support this shift to non-car alternatives. Without these commitments, Chicagoans will not be able track progress on the plan and hold city officials accountable. Now we need your help to improve the plan. Review the draft plan on the city’s website and submit a comment by Monday, April 4. The sections most relevant to walking, biking, and transit fall under Pillar 3: Enable Personal Mobility and Improve Air Quality: Strategy 1 to grow CTA ridership Strategy 4...

Tags: Advocacy, biking, transit, Transit Equity, Walking

Illinois is missing a big part of the long-term solution to high gas prices

Mar 23, 2022 | by Kyle Whitehead

With gas prices surging, Mayor Lightfoot and Governor Pritzker need to step up and make it safer and easier for people to walk, bike, and ride public transit. The media is saturated with stories of outrage about the cost of gasoline and official proposals to lower prices. This way of looking at the issue inevitably ignores how the intentional development of our car-centric, sprawling region contributed to this problem – and how alternative forms of transportation can be part of the solution. It’s on all of us as transportation equity and sustainability advocates to demand a better approach. WHAT’S HAPPENING The average price of gas in metro Chicago is heading toward $5 per gallon and is expected to continue to...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, biking, Chicago, legislation, transit, Transit Equity, Walking

Congressional leaders urge state to consider climate and equity impacts

Mar 16, 2022 | by Kyle Whitehead

A group of eight Chicago area Congressional leaders sent a strong message to Governor Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) about how to spend newly available federal funds: factor climate change and racial equity into all of your funding decisions. Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García led the effort behind the letter delivered to Gov. Pritzker and IDOT. It was co-signed by Reps. Sean Casten, Danny Davis, Marie Newman, Mike Quigley, Bobby Rush, Jan Schakowsky, and Brad Schneider. Active Trans and seven other regional advocacy groups provided support to the letter. All of these leaders worked hard to develop and pass last year's $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure law. Now they want to make sure their legislation has the intended impact...

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

Ralph Banasiak’s second act as a bicycling advocate

Mar 9, 2022 | by Maya Norris

Renowned novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald once wrote, “There are no second acts in American lives.” Ralph Banasiak is proving him wrong. The retired math teacher is staging his second act as a bicycling advocate. As a bicycling columnist and an active member of the Bike Palatine Club, Banasiak is working to make bicycling safe and encourage more people to take up cycling — earning him the Public Service Award from the Active Transportation Alliance. Even before he retired in 2018, Banasiak has long championed bicycling in Palatine, the suburb northwest of Chicago where he lives. It all started in 2008 when Banasiak, an avid bicyclist, was recruited to join the Greater Palatine Bicycle Task Force, which consisted of a volunteer...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Education, North Suburbs

Longtime planner looks back on her remarkable career at Active Trans

Feb 25, 2022 | by Maya Norris

It’s the end of an era. After a decade of service to Active Transportation Alliance, Senior Transportation Planner Heather Schady is moving on, leaving behind a legacy that showcases the transformational power of walking, bicycling, and public transit in metropolitan Chicago. Schady joined Active Trans in 2009 as its transportation planner. She worked with Active Trans until 2012 and then rejoined the organization in 2014. As an expert in active transportation policy and design, Schady managed planning and design projects that supported pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit advocacy. She conducted policy and design research and analysis for legislative campaigns. And she provided technical assistance and consulting services to local communities seeking to improve their walking, bicycling, and public transit conditions....

Tags: Advocacy, biking, Transit Equity, Walking

Dozens of organizations urge state to rethink priorities with new transportation funding

Feb 25, 2022 | by Julia Gerasimenko

With an influx of federal funding on its way to Illinois, advocates across the state and across the country are reminding state leadership that the funds must be spent on projects that enhance equity and sustainability. As part of that effort, Active Trans joined 50 other advocacy groups from across Illinois in sending a letter to Governor Pritzker and Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Omer Osman that underscores the great need for them to move beyond the status quo in transportation spending. This means investing in projects that create a transportation system that is more equitable, sustainable, economically productive, safe, accessible, and affordable. State departments of transportation, in our case the Illinois Department of Transportation, have outsized control of how...

Tags: Advocacy, transit

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