ATA’s Movers and Shakers Ball celebrated saving transit, Archer advocacy, and other big walk/bike/transit wins

Last week, about two hundred people celebrated a year of historic sustainable transportation advocacy wins at the Active Transportation Alliance’s 2026 Movers and Shakers Ball. The fundraising gala took place at the Walden event space on the Near West Side. It featured remarks by several state politicians who helped pass the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act, which will infuse some $1.5 billion of annual investment in transit across Illinois. The event also gave a shout-out to Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th), who has steadfastly supported traffic safety projects in her Southwest Side ward.

Early in the evening, there was a performance by the civic-themed comedy group Funny You Should Care. Their production, “Safe Streets: The Comedy Show,” created by Streetsblog contributor Ellen Steinke ran last month at Second City. You can read Streetsblog’s writeup of one of the shows featuring sustainable transportation-friendly Latino officials (like Ramirez) and advocates, in English and Spanish.

At the gala, the “Safe Streets” cast did a bit about two neighbors supposedly bemoaning vandals painting Chicago Department of Transportation-quality crosswalks around the city. With thick Chicago accents, they described in detail exactly how (including specs and dimensions), when (times of lowest police activity), and what materials to use (and where to buy them) to accomplish such a feat. The actors must have had their tongues firmly in cheek, because they repeated the website for the Chicago chapter of the national livable streets group Strong Towns four times during the sketch.

ATA Executive Director Amy Rynell opened the main program by acknowledging notable attendees. These included members of the Elmhurst Bicycle Club, which was recently named Club of the Year by the League of American Bicyclists.

Rynell also acknowledged the family and friends of Richard Kosmacher, a sustainable transportation booster who helped bring the too-short-lived I-Go car sharing program to Chicago, and served as a CDOT SAFE Ambassador in the final years of his life. Kosmacher tragically died last year, and his loved ones have created a fund in his name that will support a new full-time advocacy position at ATA.

Rynell then listed achievements in walking, biking and transit policy over the last several years. These included a 2019 law requiring that the state invest $50M annually in transit and bike/ped projects through the Illinois Transportation Enhancement
Program. Another highlight was a 2021 bill requiring the State of Illinois to pay for bike/ped improvements on state-owned roads. A third was a successful 2022 campaign for building new bike lanes with concrete protection, and upgrading existing ones, that is revolutionizing Chicago road safety.

The effects of these efforts have been transformative in just a few years. For example, my ride from my home in Logan Square to the event space was completely different from when I covered the gala a year ago. The route could be described as 100 percent calm thanks to new curb-protected bike lanes on every arterial road I took. That included Grand Avenue between Chicago and Damen avenues, finished in July 2024, and a new stretch of Humboldt Boulevard and Sacramento Avenue running the entirety of the Humboldt Park green space.

The big win and focus of the night, or as Rynell put it, “the grand dame,” was the passage of the NITA Act in the early hours of last Halloween, which promises to dramatically improve transit in Illinois in the years to come. “Our system was facing a trifecta of challenges,” Rynell said. “Struggling service that was alienating riders; a huge fiscal gap in the transit operations budget; and a system and structure designed forty years ago that is not accountable to the region’s needs.”

The legislation not only averted the fiscal cliff that was looming after federal COVID-19 funding for transit dried up, but also included a large-scale reform package to improve coordination and efficiency between transit agencies. The dollars will come from funds that were formerly dedicated to motor vehicle infrastructure. The passage of the bill has received nationwide attention. Rynell said earlier in the week she served as keynote speaker at the Oregon Public Transportation Conference. “They’re desperate for ways to divert money toward sustainable transportation,” Rynell said. “And Illinois is looked on as a leader.”

Rynell then made a call for continued advocacy for safe streets. “Research shows on streets with protected bike lanes, fatalities go down for people biking, walking and traveling by car,” she said. A bike lane could save your life no matter how you get around.”

She warned against the “squeaky wheel syndrome” and succumbing to the well-resourced, loud voices resisting positive change.

Then Rynell presented awards to two state legislators who championed the bill: Sen. Ram Villivalam (8th) and Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado (3rd). ATA Campaign Organizer W. Robert Schultz III wrapped a shiny green cape with “Transit Superhero” written on it around Villivalam’s shoulders. The senator said successful passage of the NITA act came from both championing the benefits of public transportation – economic, environmental, and health – and “Saying no.” He explained, “We said no to the fiscal cliff. We said no to a Band-Aid funding solution to kick the can down the road. We said no to funding without reform.”

Next, Schultz place a cape on Delgado’s shoulders. She applauded the work of ATA and community advocates. “When you see the effects of this bill, which will go into an effect in a month… you’ll know it’s worth it,” she said. “When you see that bus, you can say, ‘I did that.’ When you see those trains coming every ten minutes, you can say, ‘I did that.'”

The final cape went to Ald. Ramirez, who has advocated for Complete Streets improvements on Brighton Park’s crash-prone Archer and Kedzie avenues. Since December, a generally small-but-loud group of naysayers have shown up every week near her office to protest, but in recent months they’ve been met by a larger crowd of project supporters. Kedzie has been largely completed, and Rynell announced that the initiative to right-size Archer, provide safer pedestrian crossings, bus boarding islands, and protected bike lanes, is moving forward.

The day after the gala, the alder announced that she has signed off on some modest changes to the Archer plan to improve traffic flow and preserve more car parking spaces, but the protected lanes will be unaffected.

ATA Advocacy Manager Alex Perez draped Ramirez with a cape labeled Safe Streets Champion. The alder mentioned that the four months of weekly protests outside her office started immediately after the birth of her son. She added that with the coming Safe Streets improvements, she is looking forward to “stroller walks with all the mamas in the ward.”

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– John Greenfield, editor