Bold strategy means better transit for Chicagoland

We have some bold and exciting goals for transit in our region. Here is a sample of a few of those goals we will be working toward. And if you are interested in improving transit, get in touch with us! Call Active Trans Advocacy Director Adolfo Hernandez at adolfo@activetrans.org or 312.427.3325 x296.

Transit for All Campaign
The Transit for All Campaign establishes the goal that all transit services should be provided fairly and equitably throughout the region without discrimination based on social class or ability level. Through collaboration, strategic partnerships and grassroots advocacy, we can create a model transit system for everyone.

Melody Geraci, Active Trans

Promote Car-Free Day
Active Trans plans to promote an annual Car-Free Day—a celebration of the benefits and joys of active transportation. With broad participation across the region from local businesses, organizations and municipal agencies, we will encourage people to get out of their cars and experience our neighborhoods on foot, by bike and via transit.

Car-Free Day will serve to promote and educate the public about our transportation choices, changing perceptions, and “normalizing” walking, biking and transit as desirable options. It is an open house of sorts, introducing more people to our region’s fantastic car-free infrastructure—our transit systems, bike lanes, trails and vibrant streets. We hope to get people excited about the potential of these options to improve our quality of life.

Lee Crandell, Congress for New Urbanism

Identify non-accessible CTA and Metra stations and begin to advocate for retrofits
Increasing accessibility will create a more equitable, inclusive system and encourage a wider population to use public resources and participate in their communities. More than half of Metra’s stations (163) are accessible, and 25 are partially accessible (the train platforms are accessible, but ramps, shelters, ticket windows and buildings may not be). This includes all of Metra’s key stations – busy stations, transfer points and end stations. Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, all key stations are required to be accessible.

54 of CTA’s 144 stations are not yet accessible. In particular, two key stations are not accessible.

Active Trans will identify remaining Metra and CTA stops that are not usable by people with disabilities and advocate for retrofits, or improvements that will make the stations accessible.

Gary Arnold, Access Living

20 miles of streets have bus and bicycle priority
Bus and bike priority, or bus rapid transit, is giving buses and bikes a dedicated space on each street that only they can use. The space can be initially separated from regular traffic by painted lanes, later being replaced by raised curbs.

Streets may have been built for cars, but it does not mean they should have priority. Shared lanes provide safe, efficient and green transportation for its users. In a dedicated lane, cyclists ride on a street with trained bus operators who are familiar with them since they drive the same routes most days. Transit passengers will benefit with faster service, while the bus operators will no longer have a strenuous interaction with cars.

Kevin Stanciel, TranSystems

Increase the level of funding to match the 50% mode share goal
You get what you pay for. Currently, we are spending about $1 billion each year in Illinois to expand highway capacity, and we are not even keeping up with transit system maintenance. Active Trans has a regional goal of achieving 50 percent of all travel by walking, biking and transit by 2026. Since new tax revenues are hard to come by, that means we have to figure out ways to flex highway expansion dollars into walking, biking and transit expansion. One of Active Trans’ strategies is to fight for more funding that is distributed to the best investments based on energy efficiency, air quality, climate, environment and health criteria. When you look at what is best for communities, active transportation wins!

Randy Neufeld, Active Trans

Reduction in the number of Metra blackout trips by 75 percent
One of Active Trans’ many advocacy victories was winning the right to bring bikes on Metra. However, the battle is far from over as there are numerous and significant blackout dates that prohibit bikes on Metra trains throughout the year. A major goal of the Active Transportation Alliance is to reduce those Metra blackout dates by 75 percent.

Want to bring your bike into the city before a 9:30 a.m. arrival? Nope, not an option. Want to bring your 10-year-old out to the forest preserve for a nice evening bike ride? Sorry, he’s too young. Want to take advantage of the Lakefront Trail on the weekend? Better make sure it isn’t during the Taste of Chicago or Jazzfest. These are just some of the barriers that need to be removed to make Metra fully bike-friendly and help make Chicago a truly world-class city for biking.

Jane Healy, Active Trans Board