Amy Rynell

Yesterday's #GivingTuesday was very cold and snowy, and the protected bike lanes were generally still full of the white stuff long after the storm. (Don't worry, Streetsblog is still trying to get to the bottom of that issue.) But at least a dozen of us pedaled to one of Chicagoland's most vibrant celebrations of the livable streets movement, the Active Transportation Alliance's annual member party.

New York City dominated the headlines today after electing Zohran Mamdani as mayor. But it wasn't the only big U.S. city that's made history in the past week.

On Tuesday, the curtains closed on last month's "Save Chicago Transit: The Comedy Show," a weekly series presented by Funny You Should Care at Second City. Meanwhile, it's now October, the month in which Illinois state legislators will hopefully pass a public transportation reform and finance bill that will rescue our region from the looming transit fiscal cliff.

Last month, when I interviewed State Rep. Kam Buckner about efforts to address the looming $771 million Chicagoland transit fiscal cliff, he noted that the discussion of the topic in the media has been something of a "boy's club." (Today, Buckner and I talked some more about this subject with Outside the Loop Radio's Mike Stephen on a show airing this Saturday morning, which doesn't undermine that argument.)

If you're a frequent Streetsblog Chicago, when it comes to the current public transportation fiscal crisis, this ain't your first bus rodeo. Otherwise, here's our coverage of the issue since last Saturday, May 31, aka "The Night Transit Funding Didn't Go Down In Springfield":

On Tuesday, January 7, hundreds of Illinois residents headed to Springfield for 2025 Climate Day at the Capitol. They were pushing for sustainable, affordable, and equitable transportation through proposed legislation like the IL CleanJobs Platform and the Clean and Equitable Transportation Act.

It was a bombshell, but not a huge surprise, when the CTA announced this morning that President Dorval R. Carter Jr. is stepping down from his post at the end of this month.

1st Ward Ald. Daniel La Spata, Metra CEO James M. Derwinski, and 7th District Illinois State Senator Mike Simmons were honored at the event.

The purpose of the event was to honor the group's volunteers as well as peer advocacy groups, conduct board business, and inform members about ATA's priorities for next year.