State Policy
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New License Law Requires Teens To Take Driver Education Classes
A new graduated driver licensing law takes effect in Illinois tomorrow. Illinois's GDL law sets restrictions on young drivers, including when and with whom they can drive. After "graduating" through several time periods and getting more on-road experience, new drivers can eventually obtain a full driver's license. Secretary of State Jesse White said in a press release [PDF] today that the state's GDL has led to a 60 percent drop in "teen driving fatalities" since its 2008 introduction. The new law followed from a years-long editorial campaign from the Chicago Tribune about the high number of teenagers who are killed or injured in car crashes.
June 30, 2014
CMAP Plan Update Includes Sobering Look at Region’s Funding Shortfall
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning's GO TO 2040 regional comprehensive plan has weathered some major ups and downs in its four-year lifespan. CMAP has received several awards for the plan, which required a huge effort on their part to reach out to local residents and overwrite decades of uncoordinated transportation "plans."
June 17, 2014
Ben Ross: Citizen Activism Can Overcome NIMBY Opposition to Transit
At a talk Wednesday at City Lit Books, transit advocate Ben Ross, author of the new book “Dead End: Suburban Sprawl and the Rebirth of American Urbanism,” discussed the battle for a new light rail line in the D.C. suburbs. This well-run campaign offers lessons for Chicagoans pushing for sensible transportation and development policy, whether the issue is bus rapid transit on Ashland Avenue, or high-density housing near ‘L’ stations.
June 6, 2014
State Rep Tries to Dock Block Divvy Stations in Front of Schools
In a case of thinking locally and acting globally, state rep Jaime Andrade (40th) introduced legislation that would have banned the installation of bike-share stations in front of all Illinois schools, not long after a Divvy station was placed by the school he co-founded.
May 28, 2014
Quinn Tying State’s Hands to Preempt Potential Illiana Roadblocks
Governor Pat Quinn is doing everything he can to ensure that the Illiana Tollway will be built, no matter what. The Illinois General Assembly gave the state permission in 2010 to pursue a public-private partnership with a private company to build and operate the tollway, but now Quinn has proposed new legislation that gives the tollway new special privileges.
May 14, 2014
Illiana Boondoggle Now Guaranteed to Cost Taxpayers At Least $250 Million
Remember the "innovative" public-private partnership Governor Quinn lauded as a way to build the "21st century" Illiana Expressway, without shifting the entire cost onto the general public? Or remember CMAP's statement opposing the project, based on its contradictory growth projections, overestimated benefit to the region, and severe financial risk, and the multiple op-eds and articles that followed, all expressing concern about the expressway's ability to garner enough toll revenue to pay for itself?
May 7, 2014
Don’t Despair, Evanston & Oak Park May Still Get Divvy Stations
Last month, it was a bummer when the Illinois Department of Transportation announced $52.7 million in funding for transportation projects, including many bike and pedestrian projects, but the expansion of Divvy into the suburbs wasn’t one of them. However, officials say they’re hopeful money can be found to extend the system past the city limits.
May 6, 2014
Environmental Groups Charge Illiana Illegally Bypassed CMAP
The Illiana Expressway encountered a potential roadblock in the form of a lawsuit filed last Thursday.
April 25, 2014
Could IDOT Bike Plan Represent a Turning Point for the Car-Centric Agency?
The Illinois Department of Transportation has a long history of promoting driving before all other modes. However, its new Illinois Bike Transportation Plan, released this morning at the Illinois Bike Summit in Champaign, may represent a new direction for the department.
April 15, 2014
Tell IDOT to Rehab LSD as a Complete Street, Not a Speedway
On Thursday, the Illinois Department of Transportation kicked off the feedback process for the the North Lake Shore Drive rehabilitation's future alternatives analysis, at the third meeting of the project's task forces. During the previous two meetings, it seemed like IDOT would insist upon just another highway project, with minimal benefits for pedestrians, transit users and bicyclists. Yet as the process of determining the lakefront highway's future has evolved, some hope that the project can be steered in a more positive direction.
April 14, 2014