John Greenfield

• American Prospect's "Chicago’s Public Transit Is in Limbo" piece features commentary from UIC transportation experts P.S. Sriraj and Kate Lowe

Recently, the Chicago Tribune, and three difference articles in Crain's, have questioned the $5.7 billion cost of the the 5.5-mile Red Line Extension. It would connect the current 95th Street terminal with the Far South Side's Altgeld Gardens housing project. An editorial in the weekly business newspaper went so far as to say, "There's still time to avoid one of the costliest boondoggles City planners have dreamed up since the parking meter fiasco... even to pull the plug on it."

• "Editorial: Springfield was right to stall — now get transit reform right" (Crain's)

Recently, a reckless driver caused a car crash that killed beloved great-grandmother Maria Ochoa, 88, while she was out on a walk in Chicago's Garfield Ridge. Her family members and neighbors are demanding that the City make safety improvements to help prevent future traffic violence in the area.

• "Too late, too divided: Inside the collapse of Springfield's transit rescue" (Crain's)

If you're a frequent Streetsblog Chicago, when it comes to the current public transportation fiscal crisis, this ain't your first bus rodeo. Otherwise, here's our coverage of the issue since last Saturday, May 31, aka "The Night Transit Funding Didn't Go Down In Springfield":

• Driver struck and injured a woman, 73, Wednesday at Laramie/Archer in Garfield Ridge, where a motorist fatally struck Maria Ochoa, 84 in May (ABC)

This post is sponsored by The Bike Lane.

• Cue the song "Eye of the Tiger." Here's a pep talk from Active Trans: "The push for transit funding and reform in Illinois continues"

• Tribune Editorial Board 4/27: Transit agencies are "frantically," "panic stoking," and "begging legislators for money" to address the "so-called fiscal cliff."