Chicago
Streetsblog Basics
Chicago to Pursue Center-Running Bus Rapid Transit on Ashland Avenue
After a year of study and outreach, today Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago Transit Authority, and the Chicago Department of Transportation announced plans for center-running Bus Rapid Transit on Ashland Avenue. Once implemented, the project could set a national precedent for high-quality BRT, improving transit speeds as much as 80 percent during rush hour, according to today's announcement.
April 19, 2013
Chicago Unveils Proposed Designs for Downtown BRT Corridor
Chicago just got a step closer to first-class bus rapid transit. Today the CTA and the Chicago Department of Transportation released proposed lane configurations for the Central Loop East-West Transit Corridor, a downtown circulator route connecting Union Station with Navy Pier, as well as renderings for a new transit center next to the train station. The corridor would include bus-priority lanes on two miles of streets: Canal, Washington, Madison and Clinton. This downtown BRT service is slated to launch next year.
February 21, 2013
Illinois DOT Blocks Protected Bike Lanes on Many Chicago Streets Until 2014
An interesting example of state DOT interference in local street safety policy, from our team in Chicago...
February 5, 2013
How BRT Can Build Chicago’s Economy as Well as Improve Mobility
As planning advances for Chicago's first full-fledged Bus Rapid Transit routes, public officials and advocates are starting to make the case that new, high-quality bus service is about more than getting people from point A to point B quickly and reliably. Those mobility benefits will be significant, but if BRT succeeds at improving transit trips for Chicagoans, it can also bring about a range of other benefits, spurring development and adding new housing choices where people can live without the financial burden of car ownership.
January 23, 2013
Chicago Unveils Its Ambitious Pedestrian Safety Plan
Yesterday, the city of Chicago rolled out a sweeping new plan for pedestrian safety [PDF]. With some 250 recommendations -- including traffic-calming measures like pedestrian islands, chicanes and midblock curb bumpouts -- Chicago joins cities like New York and Portland in formalizing a plan to meet targets for reducing pedestrian injuries and deaths.
September 6, 2012
Chicago Passes Huge Speed Camera Bill, So Why Can’t New York?
Yesterday, Chicago's Board of Aldermen passed an ordinance that would allow speeding enforcement cameras to blanket up to half the city. Here in New York, Deborah Glick's bill to allow up to a mere 40 speed cameras remains stuck in Albany limbo, with 24 co-sponsors in the Assembly but none in the State Senate. Can Chicago show New York City what it takes to prevent injuries and deaths by hold speeding motorists accountable?
April 19, 2012
Will Rahm Emanuel Show America What BRT Can Do?
With impressive urgency, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has spent his first months in office retooling and reconfiguring how the “City That Works” works. Emanuel’s energy is evident in changes from beat-cop deployment to the push for a longer school day, but perhaps the mayor’s most tangible efforts can be seen in his ambitious transportation agenda.
December 19, 2011
TIGER III News Begins to Leak — Chicago Bike-Share Among the Winners
U.S. DOT is officially announcing the winners of the third round of TIGER grants tomorrow, but they give the news to members of Congress first so those members can brag about all the bacon they bring home. See below for a list of the grants we know about so far.
December 14, 2011
Chicago Proposes “Congestion Fee” On Parking to Fund Transit
In last winter's Chicago mayoral election, all the leading candidates made ambitious promises to increase funding for the city's struggling transit agency. Now, with a proposed $2 "congestion fee" -- really a downtown surcharge on the city's parking tax -- Emanuel plans to make drivers pay their fair share and use the proceeds to build a new rail station and the city's first bus rapid transit line.
October 19, 2011