Steven Vance

New ridership numbers for the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' stations show some interesting changes over the past 17 years. The increases in ridership at some stations have been obvious, but the decreases at other stations are a little surprising.

Last night the Chicago Department of Transportation held a meeting at the Austin neighborhood library to get feedback from residents on which routes should be prioritized as the city builds out the planned bike network on the West Side.

The Regional Transportation Authority's newest report, issued last week, compares the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, and Pace, to their respective peers around the country. The report found that the CTA is efficient, relative to rapid transit systems in Atlanta, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

This week, rapid transit headaches in Washington, D.C. and the Bay Area highlighted the need for better maintenance of U.S. public transportation infrastructure. However, a new report from Chicagoland's Regional Transportation Authority suggests that the CTA is in a little better shape than its peers.

People catching the Chicago Transit Authority's 94-South California bus in East Garfield Park no longer have to wait for their ride in the dirt.

This is the second post in a two-part series on the upcoming ON TO 2050 regional plan. The first discussed public outreach goals for the new plan, and this one critiques its predecessor, GO TO 2040.

This is part one of a two-part series about ON TO 2050, the new comprehensive regional plan for Chicagoland.

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Metra, the regional commuter train operator, is seeking a consultant to develop "creative recommendations" on how to change its fare structure. The consultant would be in charge of finding the pros and cons of the current fare structure, comparing it to Metra's commuter rail peers around the country, and building a model that allows Metra to test how different fare policies would affect ridership and revenue. The Request for Proposals is due at the end of the month.

The idea of Metra running its Hyde Park and South Chicago-bound Electric District line more like a CTA 'L' line may be gaining traction. If so, much of the credit goes to advocate Mike Payne, who has been tirelessly promoting the concept online and at public meetings. He calls this proposed rapid transit service as "The Gray Line," since that's one of the few colors that doesn't yet appear on the Chicago Transit Authority train map.