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A Progressive No More, Waguespack Compares BRT to the Parking Meter Deal
Even when I’ve disagreed with him over his recent comments on transportation and public space issues, I’ve always used the word “progressive” to describe 32nd Ward Alderman Scott Waguespack, but it might be time to drop that adjective. He has been an important independent voice at City Hall, most notably in his opposition to Richard M. Daley’s disastrous parking meter deal and Rahm Emanuel’s fishy reboot of the contract. He’s a nice person and a regular bike commuter. But Waguespack's statements in a recent article on bus rapid transit in Our Urban Times community newspaper reveal a strange hostility to building an effective, equitable surface transit system.
December 10, 2013
“Minimal Public Notice” for BRT Hearings? Not By a Long Shot
At next week’s open house meetings (see details below) on the CTA’s plan to create fast, efficient bus rapid transit on Ashland Avenue, there will probably be plenty of project opponents grumbling that the agency didn’t do a good enough job of publicizing the events. On Saturday, Roger Romanelli, leader of the anti-BRT group the Ashland-Western Coalition, emailed members, complaining that the hearings are being held “with minimal public notice.”
December 4, 2013
Residents Respond to West Town Chamber of Commerce’s Anti-BRT Stance
The West Town Chamber of Commerce’s stated mission is to “strengthen its business community so that West Town becomes a destination for shopping, dining, professional services, nightlife and culture.” So why did the chamber's board recently make a statement of no confidence on bus rapid transit, when BRT fits right in with that goal?
October 4, 2013
The Ashland-Western Coalition Meets a Car-Owning, Pro-BRT Chicagoan
Last time I tried to attend a meeting of the anti-bus rapid transit group the Ashland-Western Coalition, I was invited to leave. When Ashland Avenue corridor resident Lindsay Banks showed up for a recent meeting with a friend, coalition leader Roger Romanelli recognized Banks as a BRT supporter and allowed the pair to stay for a while. However, after Banks was told the meeting was over, the rest of the attendees stuck around, which is when the real meeting apparently took place.
September 16, 2013
Debating Bus Rapid Transit With the Ashland-Western Coalition
Guest contributor Lindsay Bayley lives with her husband in the Noble Square neighborhood, steps from the future Ashland bus rapid transit corridor, and is a year-round bicycle commuter. She works as a senior planner with the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), specializing in parking policy. The views expressed here do not represent CMAP's stance on BRT but rather Lindsay's perspective as a resident.
September 4, 2013
Deconstructing the Misleading Info in an Ashland-Western Coalition Flyer
Here's a flyer from the anti-bus rapid transit group the Ashland-Western Coalition, which I came across today at a café on Ashland Avenue in the East Village. The AWC is a consortium of business and community groups on the Near West Side, led by Roger Romanelli, executive director of the Randolph/Fulton Market Association. Let’s take a look at some of the information the group is putting out about the CTA’s plan to create fast reliable BRT service on Ashland.
September 3, 2013
Ashland Bus Rapid Transit NIMBYs Cling to Anonymity
After I wrote about a June 25 meeting of the anti-bus rapid transit group the Ashland-Western Coalition, Roger Romanelli, executive director of the Randolph/Fulton Market Association, emailed me with some objections. “You incorrectly name me as the leader of the Ashland-Western Coalition, and I seek a retraction,” he wrote. “Our group is a volunteer coalition, and everyone has a leadership role.” He also asked me to refrain from running his name in the future.
August 21, 2013
Chicago Already Has a “Traffic Disaster” – Transit and Bikes Are the Solution
John McCarron, a freelance writer, adjunct lecturer at DePaul University, and contributing columnist for the Tribune, suffers from Jeckyll-and-Hyde syndrome when it comes to writing about transportation.
August 9, 2013
Survey: Most Chicagoans Support Bus Rapid Transit
While the anti-bus rapid transit crowd would have you believe there’s little backing for the city’s plan for fast, reliable service on Ashland Avenue, a new survey found that a majority of Chicago voters support BRT as a solution to the city’s transit needs. The new opinion data comes in addition to the 23 local businesses and organizations that have already signed on as supporters of bus rapid transit, as well as the over 1400 residents who’ve signed an Active Transportation Alliance petition voicing their support for the plan.
July 26, 2013
Ashland Bus Rapid Transit NIMBYs Try to Win Over Aldermen
The BRT NIMBYs are at it again. In January, the Ashland-Western Coalition, a consortium of chambers of commerce and community development groups on the Near West Side, hosted a public meeting where business owners panicked that the CTA’s plan to build bus rapid transit on Ashland would ruin them. Earlier this month the coalition announced an anemic alternative proposal to robust, center-running BRT service, which they euphemistically dubbed Modern Express Bus service, although this would only keep bus riders and drivers alike stuck in the same old traffic jams.
June 27, 2013