During Gabe Klein’s tenure as commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation, he was a champion for safer streets and better travel options. The many groundbreaking initiatives Klein helped roll out during his time in the Windy City included Divvy, protected bike lanes, the Bloomingdale Trail, pedestrian safety improvements, speed cameras, and bus rapid transit.

Change can be controversial, and other local news outlets were often quick to attack these new projects. While Streetsblog Chicago doesn’t hesitate to point out when the city government makes a misstep, Steven Vance and I were there to show how improvements to walking, biking, and transit are wins for the whole city. And, whether it was the Tribune predicting that the bike-share system would be a flop, or the Sun-Times suggesting that BRT will create a traffic nightmare, we pointed out when our colleagues at the dailies got the story wrong.

Before he stepped down as commish in November, Klein had some kind words about our site:

Streetsblog has raised the bar in Chicago for journalism when it comes to transportation issues.  The traditional media now knows they can’t report half-truths without being called on it, and more importantly, there is proactive positive information coming out that tells a story that [CDOT] often can’t.

To keep doing the important work of raising awareness about livable streets issues and amplifying the voices of local advocates, we need your help. Please join the legion of Streetsblog Superheroes who’ve already made a tax-deductible contribution to our spring pledge drive. Out of the 200,000-plus people who read Streetsblog and watch Streetfilms, we need only 400 Superheroes to reach our spring goal.

Don’t just be a bystander when it comes to making sure Chicago has a hard-hitting source for transportation news that doesn’t view our streets from a windshield perspective. Please make a one-time gift or a recurring donation — think of it as a monthly subscription payment to Streetsblog. If you like, you can earmark your contribution to support Streetsblog Chicago.

To make your decision to support the site even easier, we’re giving away a stylish Loop Pannier briefcase from our friends at Chicago’s own Po Campo. Make your donation to Streetsblog Chicago by Friday at midnight and you’ll be entered in a drawing to win this classy satchel.

As always, thanks for reading and for supporting Streetsblog and Streetfilms.