Bus Rapid Transit

The proposal by the CTA and Chicago Department of Transportation to create Bus Rapid Transit corridors along Ashland and Western Avenues promises to speed bus trips for tens of thousands of Chicagoans and spur development. But it's going to take some work to persuade local merchants that better transit is good for their bottom line. A meeting hosted yesterday by the newly formed Ashland Avenue-Western Avenue Coalition, a consortium of five chambers of commerce and community development organizations on the Near West Side, was a case in point. At the forum, as CTA and CDOT staffers outlined the proposal, business owners expressed fears that changes to the roadways would wreck their livelihoods. Few seemed to understand how effective transit and more pedestrian-friendly streets would benefit them.