Ashland BRT
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Citizens Taking Action Takes a Reactionary Stance on Bus Rapid Transit
If you wanted to film a hit comedy based on Chicago’s transit advocacy scene, you’d definitely need to include characters based on the grassroots group Citizens Taking Action. They’re a small circle of colorful, wisecracking guys, who are always good for memorable quotes at Chicago Transit Authority hearings. They’re passionate about local transit history, and some of them have been speaking out against cuts to rail and bus service for decades.
September 1, 2015
The Suburbanophile: Renn Praises Chicago Big-Boxes, Pans Ashland BRT
Aaron Renn, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor at City Journal, writes the popular blog The Urbanophile, and sometimes his articles are right on the money. For example Streetblog NYC reporter Stephen Miller tells me Renn was justified in complaining about the high cost of New York infrastructure projects in a Daily News op-ed earlier this year.
August 26, 2015
Will the Return of the Ashland Express Bus Lay the Groundwork for Full BRT?
This morning Mayor Rahm Emanuel and CTA President Dorval Carter announced the return of the #X9 Ashland Express and #X49 Western Express buses. These limited-stop, morning through evening routes formerly paralleled the #9 Ashland and #49 Western local bus lines. While the stops for the local routes are generally spaced a mere one-eighth of a mile apart, the express buses only stopped every half-mile or so, for a roughly 75-percent reduction in stops.
August 18, 2015
What Would Jesús Ride? Talking Transportation With Jesús “Chuy” García
[The full text of this interview runs in Newcity magazine.]
March 16, 2015
LA’s Orange Line Offers a Sneak Peek at Fast Ashland Bus Service
When I visited Los Angeles earlier this winter, I took a ride on the Orange Line, a bus rapid transit route that offers a preview of what fast, reliable bus service will be like for transit riders on Ashland Avenue.
March 12, 2014
Where Are the Bus Riders in the Atlantic Cities Piece on Ashland BRT?
On his blog City Pages, Daniel Hertz has an effective critique of yesterday’s Atlantic Cities piece on the Ashland bus rapid transit plan. The story by Matt Dellinger is a fairly standard “two sides to every story” report on the issue, giving roughly equal weight and credibility to the project’s advocates and opponents. And the piece does contain a few astute lines about Chicago’s schizophrenic nature as a city that is both transit-friendly and car-centric:
February 28, 2014
City Should Retain All Ashland Crosswalks in BRT Plan
Current plans for Ashland BRT call for a layout at unsignalized intersections similar to this design at Ashland/Ohio: a single crosswalk that passes through an opening in the median.
February 11, 2014
Winters Stumbles on Transit Issues With Comments Bashing BRT
If you’re running for a Chicago political office and want to showcase your inadequate knowledge of local transportation issues, a great way to do it is to trash the city’s Ashland bus rapid transit plan. At a recent panel of candidates for state rep in the 10th district of Illinois’ House of Representatives, which includes neighborhoods from Garfield Park to Lincoln Park, veteran policeman Eddie Winters did just that.
February 7, 2014
AWC Asks Aldermen to Take a Stand Against Effective Transit
Yesterday Roger Romanelli’s anti-bus rapid transit group the Ashland-Western Coalition made its most overtly political move to date. An email from the coalition urged members to lobby their aldermen to oppose the CTA’s plan, implying the AWC will campaign against politicians who support it. “The Chicago February 2015 election is ahead,” Romanelli wrote. “It's time for Aldermen to declare their Ashland BRT positions. Are they with the people... or do they support a costly, disruptive BRT?”
February 4, 2014