Blog

Keep up with the latest news on Active Trans and topics that we care about in the region.

Legislating for livable communities: Sen. Simmons to be honored for transportation leadership

Mar 26, 2024 | by Ted Villaire

State Senator Mike Simmons understands that improving transportation is about more than just getting from point A to point B; it’s about transforming our communities into better places to live and work.

By championing biking, walking, and public transit, Sen. Simmons is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve public health, and save lives.

It’s this commitment to enhancing our communities through healthy, equitable transportation that earned him the Visionary Leadership Award from the Active Transportation Alliance.

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Bring Bike Month 2024 to your community!

Mar 26, 2024 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

Want to build more excitement for biking in your community?

Last year, dozens of grassroots groups and towns celebrated Bike Month with fun bicycle-related events and activities.

These groups infused their communities with the joy of biking through activities like community bike rides, social gatherings, and cookouts.

Now you have the opportunity to do the same!

Active Transportation Alliance is delighted to again offer a series of mini-stipends to support advocacy work and community-based events that celebrate biking during Bike Month in May 2024 — and beyond.

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Our journey towards better transit requires unity and action

Mar 19, 2024 | by Ted Villaire

As our region’s transit system faces unprecedented funding and service challenges, a powerful movement is underway, driven by the collective voices of those who know we deserve better service from our trains and buses.

Our recent gathering at the Transit is Essential Town Hall, held at the Mt. Carmel Baptist Church in the Douglas neighborhood, showed the transformative power of people connecting and sharing their stories.

It was a moment when about 90 individuals from diverse walks of life—students,

What’s happening with the remaining section of the Weber Spur Trail?

Mar 1, 2024 | by Maya Norris

The Weber Spur Trail on Chicago’s Northwest Side has been subject to a series of starts and stops over the last decade, resulting in slow, sporadic progress for the rails-to-trails project.

But the trail may finally be making some progress as the North Branch Trail Alliance re-engages local communities and stakeholders and works to ensure the project is top of mind with elected officials and government agencies.

The Weber Spur is a 2.7-mile trail that starts at Touhy Avenue in Lincolnwood,

Surveys help refine DuPage County Trails Plan

Feb 14, 2024 | by Maya Norris

The DuPage County Department of Transportation recently completed a survey that will help inform a trails plan that is expected to be approved this year.

The new trails plan, which has been in development for several years, will focus on the maintenance and operations of nearly 100 miles of trails, including the Illinois Prairie Path, Great Western Trail and Southern DuPage County Regional Trail.

Sid Kenyon, a senior transportation planner for DuDOT,

Inadequate hiring pipeline continues to impact CTA service

Feb 2, 2024 | by Julia Gerasimenko

Rail service at the CTA, unfortunately, continues to be plagued by issues surrounding hiring and  training.

The persistent problems with the agency’s employment pipeline means riders continue to be frustrated with unreliable, infrequent transit service, and CTA workers continue to be frustrated by lack of adequate job growth opportunities. 

In late December, we mobilized nearly 900 transit supporters in response to the proposed 2024 CTA budget.

The goal was to get the CTA board to invest in operator training and increase the number of courses offered.

North Shore Channel Trail extensions would bridge trail gaps

Jan 25, 2024 | by Maya Norris

Walking and biking trails are dotted throughout Evanston. While many of Evanston’s residents take advantage of those trails, they also find them frustrating.

Many of the trails don’t connect to other local and regional trails, forcing people to walk and bike along dangerous and stressful roadways if they want to move from one trail to another.

But that may change if the Evanston Transit Alliance has its way.

The advocacy group is making progress on connecting the North Shore Channel Trail in Skokie to trails north of Evanston,

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Bike racks find a new home thanks to local partnerships

Jan 25, 2024 | by Active Trans

It was an early holiday surprise in mid-December when the residents of Baldwin-Green apartment complex in Palatine acquired six bike racks valued at $3,000.

The bike racks, which were being discarded by the Chicago Botanic Garden, initially didn’t have a new home.

Then the Chicago Botanic Garden reached out to the Chicago Tool Library to offer the racks as a donation.

Active Transportation Alliance got involved,

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IDOT looks closer at crashes and how to respond effectively

Jan 18, 2024 | by Maggie Melin Czerwinski

Towards the end of 2023, the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) released its 2023 Vulnerable Road User (VRU) Safety Assessment for the state.

As mandated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the assessment identifies safety trends, policies, and strategies to enhance the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists, and other vulnerable road users.

The following are highlights from the report:

 

SAFETY TRENDS

IDOT compiled and analyzed safety data spanning from 2005 to 2022,

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Uncleared snow makes sidewalks treacherous for the most vulnerable people

Jan 12, 2024 | by Active Trans

Winter in Chicagoland means clearing those sidewalks of snow so that pedestrians have safe walkways to traverse during the winter.

Shoveling sidewalks is not only the neighborly thing to do, but it’s also the law in some places, including Chicago.

While we strongly support the effort to make sidewalk snow removal in Chicago a municipal service, snow removal—for now—continues to be the responsibility of the property owner.

According to Chicago’s municipal code,

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