Chicago

Transit riders weigh in on the current state of the the station, the final design, and plans for public art.

The Regional Transportation Authority and the three transit agencies operating under its umbrella – Chicago Transit Authority, Metra and Pace Suburban Bus – are making a forceful case for substantially more capital funding than they are currently getting.

Documents acquired via a public records request suggest that vandalism isn't a serious problem, but most of the rides originated in wealthier, whiter parts of the Far South Side.

The CPD says it uses bike ticketing as a strategy to conduct searches in communities of color. A Black bike advocate claims officers are also targeting African-American men on Divvies in other parts of town.

Badly planned bus stops at the 95th Street station and poor off-peak Rock Island Line service are among the problems.

When I first saw the design for the new Green Line station at Damen Avenue on the Lake Street branch, I became worried that the station didn't have an entrance providing access to the westbound platform. Several of the other stations on the branch to city's West Side and Oak Park have entrances on both sides: Ashland, Morgan, and Conservatory-Central Park Drive, to name a few.

Barring a subsidy from an outside organization, the route could be killed this fall due to low ridership.

During a "Chicago Tonight" appearance, CPD rep Glen Brooks maintained that the exponentially higher number of tickets written in some Black and Latino communities than white ones is justified.

At the "Blackstone Summer" teach-in, staff and students from the shop talked about why its programs are crucial.