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Why Uber won’t replace public transit

Jun 22, 2017 | by Active Trans

Uber hasn’t had a great 2017 so far — what with employee allegations of a culture of sexual harassment, evidence that the company has been systematically deceiving government inspectors, and a lawsuit claiming that it stole autonomous vehicle technology from Google.Nevertheless, the company remains the most celebrated tech disruptor du jour, and its seemingly ever-growing customer base has convinced many people that it represents the future of urban transportation.And in fact, it (or something like it) may have a large role to play for years to come. But it will be as a partner to traditional transit services like buses and rail — not a replacement, as some have predicted.Why? Three reasons: Equity, money and geometry.Perhaps the most obvious objection...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, 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

Los Angeles ‘signals’ the way to better bus service

May 22, 2017 | by Active Trans

Chicago should look to the West Coast as it considers investing more to speed up local buses.Seventeen years ago, when Los Angeles County decided to give its buses priority at traffic signals, the buses experienced huge gains in speed and reliability. The county has a massive bus system that accounts for a majority of all public transportation trips.Through surveys and communications with bus riders, the transit agency learned that existing local and limited-stop service was too slow and unreliable. The Metro Rapid service (LA’s limited-stop bus service) sought to address these shortcomings through the introduction of service that would improve operating speeds, reduce passenger wait and dwell times, and broaden service dependability. The most beneficial improvement proved to be traffic signal...

Tags: Advocacy, Education, Planning, Walking

Prepaid, all-door boarding is working in San Francisco

May 17, 2017 | by Active Trans

In 2012, San Francisco’s MUNI transit system implemented a revolutionary concept to America’s bus systems – pre-paid, all-door boarding for all of its street vehicles, including buses and trolleys.Bus riders could now enter through any door of any vehicle at any time and tap their transit card on a reader that’s adjacent to the door to verify payment. Riders who don’t have transit cards could pay their fare before boarding and carry a receipt on board for proof of payment.The goal was to increase bus speeds and reduce bus waiting time at bus stops. As Chicago looks for ways to improve bus service throughout the city, we can look to San Francisco as a strong example. Like all other bus systems...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Planning, Walking

Father of crash victim wants safer streets

May 11, 2017 | by Active Trans

Steven Gross says he has seen enough car crashes and traffic violations to last him a lifetime. As an avid cyclist for 30 years and an accomplished professional photographer who sometimes works outdoors, Gross regularly witnesses cars driving into crosswalks when pedestrians have the right way, cars parked in bike lanes, cyclists getting doored and other types of recklessness and negligence on the part of drivers. But two incidents in particular hit too close to home for him. His son Ethan, 16, was struck twice by negligent motorists who managed to get a slap on the wrist for their reckless driving. Ethan was only 5 years old when a car hit him as he was crossing the street. Gross, his wife, Ethan and...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, Chicago North Side, transit, Walking

Vision Zero needs more funding to make progress

Mar 27, 2017 | by Active Trans

This week the City of Chicago released more information about its upcoming Vision Zero Action Plan.Chicago Department of Transportation Commissioner Rebekah Scheinfeld made the case for Vision Zero in a speech at City Club on Monday.In her comments, she said every traffic death is unacceptable and that we have the tools to stop these senseless tragedies. In addition to the dozen or so city agencies that will be involved in Chicago's Vision Zero effort, she called upon everyone who uses city streets to start thinking about supporting Vision Zero. One key part of the plan is reducing driving speed and encouraging people driving to follow the legal speed limits.The Vision Zero plan identifies driver speed as the most important factor...

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

Bike messenger killed on his way to Oak Street Beach

Mar 24, 2017 | by Active Trans

Blaine Klingenberg enjoyed the small things in life. He was always one to strike up a conversation, he took great pride in mowing his lawn and often had a bowl of Frosted Flakes before work. So, it came as no surprise that the 29-year-old decided to head to Oak Street Beach to meet up with friends after a long day delivering packages on his cargo bike for Advanced Messenger Services last June. Tragically, he never made it to the lake.While riding north on North Michigan Avenue during rush hour, Klingenberg was struck and killed by a double decker bus at East Oak Street. Klingenberg was rushed to Northwestern Memorial Hospital after firefighters used airbags to lift the bus off him, and was pronounced dead...

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

An advocate for pedestrian safety

Mar 24, 2017 | by Active Trans

When Amy Mendelsohn walks around Chicago, she can’t help but notice the number of motorists who don’t come to a complete stop when pedestrians are walking in crosswalks — a violation of Chicago’s traffic-safety laws. The flagrant violations are so frequent that she has stopped counting how many times motorists have failed to comply with the law.This issue is personal for Mendelsohn.After motorists hit her in two separate collisions while she was walking through crosswalks in the city, Mendelsohn is on a mission to help improve pedestrian safety and educate the public about pedestrian safety laws.Crossing the linesPedestrian safety issues began to take hold of the 41-year-old marketing and design consultant in 2008.As she was crossing the street at a...

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

Crash victim wants safer streets

Mar 23, 2017 | by Active Trans

Dee Palagi knows she has an uphill battle ahead in the next year. After being struck by a semi truck while bicycling, the 26-year-old West Town resident is still recovering from the severe injuries she sustained, including having her leg amputated.But she is ready to tackle the long and grueling recovery process with tenacity and optimism in order to walk and cycle again. She’s also speaking up with the hope of preventing horrible crashes like the one she endured.“I’m extremely strong, and I’ve always had a positive attitude about all of this,” says Palagi, a special education teacher. “I’m going to get through all of this and walk again and get my life back.”On Sept. 23, 2016, Palagi was bicycling...

Tags: Advocacy, Bicycling, transit, Walking

14-year-old killed on the day she was to receive an award

Mar 23, 2017 | by Active Trans

Like her fellow eighth graders on the cusp of graduation, Kaylah Lentine was looking forward to her first formal dance, a class field trip to Great America and moving on to high school. But tragically, all of those plans were cut short when the 14-year-old student from Oak Lawn-Hometown Middle School was struck and killed by the driver of a pick-up truck.On that May morning in 2012, Kaylah was set to receive an award for her leadership in the Students Against Destructive Decisions, an organization that works to prevent young people from engaging in risky behavior, particularly drug and alcohol use, and impaired driving. After missing the bus, she elected to walk to school and was struck while attempting to...

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

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