Center for Neighborhood Technology

On Tuesday, I hopped on my bicycle and high-tailed it from Chicago to Springfield, Illinois, the state capital, in an effort to sample my first-ever horseshoe sandwich. In case you're not familiar with that delicacy, it's an open-faced sandwich composed of thick-sliced toast, a protein (often hamburger patties, but there are several other options), cheese sauce, and french fries. It's an indigenous dish of Flower City and, as far as I know, it's no longer available in the Windy City.

This week, Streetsblog Chicago ran my interview with longtime sustainable transportation advocate Center for Neighborhood Technology’s Vice President for Government Affairs Jacky Grimshaw, who happens to be my grandmother. She was being recognized by Climate Action Museum with its 2025 Tom Skilling Lifetime Achievement Award, so we discussed that honor. We also talked about her current mission urging State lawmakers to address Chicagoland's impending $770 million transit budget gap this spring, so as to avoid nightmarish service cuts next year.

I'm very proud to report that my grandmother Jacky Grimshaw, a legend in local sustainable transportation advocacy, is being recognized by Climate Action Museum with its 2025 Tom Skilling Lifetime Achievement Award.

Many important public transportation topics were covered at the hearing. It's a shame that the region's most prominent transit leader Dorval Carter chose to ghost it.

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."

Transit advocates urge the RTA and service boards invest more resources in reverse commuting; improve stakeholder participation; and move away from hub-and-spoke-centric thinking.

CDOT hasn't confirmed the locations yet, but CNT's Paul Esling has mapped out were the ChiStreetWork data portal indicates new bikeways are coming in this year.

The Active Transportation Alliance is asking Chicagoland residents to contact elected officials to ask them to support the $32 billion in emergency funding for transit.