A number of advocacy organizations are urging Chicagoland regional transportation agencies to halt plans to add additional lanes to expressways and arterial streets.
The Active Transportation Alliance's annual awards reception gives credit to people who've made a difference to improve Chicagoland sustainable transportation in the past year.
Let's see politicians take bold actions to make walking, transit, and biking practical and attractive alternatives to paying more at the pump, instead of the current "Gas-bagging."
Transportation advocates note that it will be equally important for the city to implement bus lanes and other strategies to attract riders. "An empty electric bus doesn’t represent progress on climate."
"Transformational ideas may be controversial, but that is not an excuse to avoid them," the letter states. "We need serious and specific proposals to maintain the foundational roles transit plays."
Speakers will include representatives of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Warehouse Workers for Justice, Sierra Club of Illinois, and the Active Transportation Alliance.
"A different approach is long overdue," responded an ATA spokesperson. "The least the CTA could do is give it a try and launch a pilot program like its peer cities across the country."
Adding more likes to the Eisenhower Expressway and other roads won't solve congestion, but it will encourage more driving and create more climate-killing emissions.