Greetings from the new Executive Director

Submitted by Rburke on Thu, 08/26/2010 - 2:13pm

Greetings!

I am thrilled to be able to introduce myself as Active Trans’ new Executive Director. I say that because I am proud of this organization’s work and its community of supporters, and because I am excited about our potential for the future.

I come to Active Trans from the non-profit Union of Concerned Scientists, where I started and directed its Midwest Office. Before that I served as Associate Director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency and Deputy Executive Director at the American Lung Association in Chicago. Most of my career has focused on advancing environmental policy, which has allowed me to work with Active Trans (recently and when it was the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation). In the 1990s, for example, I worked with CBF to direct millions of federal transportation dollars to bike, pedestrian and transit projects.

Lucky for me, Active Trans has grown even stronger in recent years. That, of course, is due in large part to its base of committed members and supporters. Together, we successfully pushed for important laws that make our streets safer - a ban on texting, a ban on using your cell phone in a school zone and a measure that requires drivers to stop for pedestrians. We have been in communities throughout the region, educating thousands of children about pedestrian and bicycling safety, and we are writing bicycle and pedestrian plans with the City of Chicago and dozens of suburbs, like Evanston, Oak Forest and Mount Prospect. We are truly leading the charge to make bicycle, pedestrian and transit options convenient and safe in every Chicagoland community.

You’ve probably known it for a long time, but many business and community leaders are just catching on to the idea that that transportation options not only make our communities better places to live but are also vital to the region’s economy. A recent Chicago Tribune poll found that suburban residents support transit funding over highway spending.

Momentum is building in many Chicagoland communities around livable, walkable and bikeable communities. As a region, though, transportation options are severely limited for many residents. That is bad for our wallets, our air quality and our health.

Active Trans’ board wisely expanded the organization’s mission into transit and pedestrian advocacy in 2008. There is enormous opportunity to affect the landscape of the region’s transportation with that expansion. Over the next few months, we will begin to ramp up a new initiative to support transit and transit riders. At the same time, we remain as committed as ever to improving bicycling, which has been our bread and butter for 25 years.

I have lived Active Trans’ mission for a long, long time. My typical commute is a bike ride to the Green Line and the Green Line to work. My family and I walk and bike for everyday errands. I know you live the mission too, but many people don’t even have that option.

Your support helps Active Trans ensure that that those who don’t want, can’t afford, aren’t old enough, or aren’t able to drive a car still have safe and convenient options to get around. I am excited to get to know you as we continue to rely on your support and expertise in order to advance biking, walking and transit in every Chicagoland community.

I am very interested to hear from you, too! Stop by the Active Trans tent at the Boulevard Lakefront Tour this Sunday on the UIC campus. Haven’t signed up? Hurry!

Thanks again for your support.

Ron Burke, Executive Director

Car Free

Submitted by Todd Gee (not verified) on Sat, 09/04/2010 - 9:13pm.

I hope ATA will begin to promote car-freedom among its members and around the community. Encouraging people to commit to being car-free will show others that being without a car is not only possible, but rewarding as well.

Cars as transit

Submitted by Josh Samos (not verified) on Thu, 09/02/2010 - 12:14pm.

I'm writing because transit includes cars, too. I think that they aren't just going to go away and that transit options need to incorporate cars in meaningful ways, not just as the enemy or that which must not be named.

Rather, options like car sharing, rental, ride sharing and park-and-ride all offer benefits that are in concert with ATA goals of improving air quality, consciousness raising, greenhouse gas reduction, and supporting alternative transit practices.

Indeed raising driver consciousness can create value in many ways, not just in terms of safety for ped-people. For example, teaching drivers the importance of speed reduction and keeping their distance from other cars will enable us to substantially reduce exhaust, dependence in foreign oil, and increase safety. Getting drivers to pace themselves instead of racing to each stoplight would create a far greater reduction in airborne pollutants than just reducing the overall number of cars on the street. A car can actually be driven "non-violently" to coin a term and much more ecologically than is the common practice.

Other substantial problems occur if one must drive but would like to also use other forms of transit. For example, the cta park and ride at forest park, near where I live, is so prohibitively expensive that making the whole trip by car is the natural choice. Plus the cta trip takes twice as long and cNnot even be counted on to get me to work on time because of transit unreliability.

Like so many others I would like a cleaner quieter more human-scaled world but I need one that's economical of both time and money.

I beg you to make options for motorists a part of your agenda.
Best regards
Josh Samos

CBF

Submitted by Greg Valent (not verified) on Wed, 09/01/2010 - 7:27pm.

Now that we have a new director, I hope you'll get rid of this ATA bs and get back to what the city needs,
The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation !

Needed emphasis on transit

Submitted by Clark (not verified) on Fri, 08/27/2010 - 10:36am.

Congratulations on your new job.

I appreciate the good things you've outlined for ATA's focus on TRANSIT in NE Illinois. I hope ActiveTrans can make transit just as acceptable and popular as CBF did for bike riding...and made Chicago the best large American city for biking.

But my observation is that very few Chicagoland folks even know how to use PACE, for instance, as an alternative means to get around the suburbs. Whenever I get on a PACE bus it is mostly empty, or occupied only by low-income folks who don't own a car. Very few folks seem to take PACE by choice...only necessity. It's a much different ridership demographic than we see on the Brown Line at rush hour for instance.

I hope ActiveTrans will find a way to change this. And to educate, encourage and make acceptable ALL Chicagoland transit for the middle and upper classes too. So that even tho you might have a car in your garage, you'd PREFER to walk down to the corner and catch the bus into town.

Because ATA has convinced people to see a bus trip as more fun, more relaxing, more "socially-interesting"( shall we say?), safer, cheaper, and more environmental...because your right foot hasn't kicked a couple of gallons of pollution into the air we all breathe.

Many of us ATA members are anxious to contribute our time and money to such a campaign. All you need do is organize...and ask.

Active Trans.

Submitted by Heidi Massey (not verified) on Thu, 08/26/2010 - 9:03pm.

Welcome to the organization!

I have nothing but great praise. In July a car suddenly pulled out of a parking lot in front of my bike riding daughter, blocking the sidewalk. We live in a suburb where biking on the sidewalk is legal. My daughter hit the car with her bike, and according to the repair shop estimate, did over $1000 of damage. The owner of the car took us to small claims court, which after 2 appearances STILL isn't over. It is pretty likely we are going to win the case, due in no small part to the advice given to me by staff at the Active Transportation Alliance.

I hope you have a great experience with the organization.

Heidi Massey