Sharon Hoyer

• Family pleads for answers after boy with autism dies of injuries during fight on CTA station steps (CBS)

Today at Union Station, a coalition of transit, labor and environmental advocates held a rally to "Fix and Fund Public Transit," demanding that Illinois lawmakers reconvene and provide full funding for public transportation. Speakers called for a special summer session to pass a bill that would rescue Chicagoland transit from some 40 percent service cuts and 3,000 layoffs.

•Maria Tampico, busker at CTA Blue Line Washington station, has died at 76 (Sun-Times)

•Delays hit Metra Union Pacific-North trains (Sun-Times)

Last Thursday, the Active Transportation Alliance held its annual Movers and Shakers Ball, a fundraising gala to support the work of the advocacy group, which celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year. 

"I’m tired of making ghost bikes," said Christina Whitehouse. She's the founder of Bike Lane Uprising, a Chicago-based civic tech platform that makes it "easy to report cars in bike lanes and hold violators accountable." BLU also helps organize the installation of white-painted "ghost bike" memorials to people killed while riding bikes that are installed along too many of Chicago’s streets. "We buy materials for ghost bikes in bulk. We have them in our basements," she said.

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Last month, a delegation of Illinois state representatives visited Germany to tour transit systems in and between two major cities. The trip was inspired by an action plan issued by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, which cited Berlin and Munich as successful case studies for a Chicagoland transit system currently facing an existential crises. Local ridership suffered during COVID-19, and ridership has yet to return to 2019 levels. The CTA, Metra, and Pace are facing a staggering $730 million total budget shortfall next year, when federal pandemic relief funding will run out.

This post was written by John Greenfield, and features research by Sharon Hoyer.