commuting

The Metra board recently confirmed Don Orseno as the permanent executive director following his stint as interim chief after Alex Clifford resigned last year. After the confirmation, the Tribune reported that Orseno, a decades-long railroad and Metra employee who lives in Manhattan, a far southwest suburb, said that he has to drive to work because the "SouthWest Service Line schedule doesn't get him to the office early enough, or home late enough."

A new interactive map shows what transportation mode people use to get to work in each neighborhood in Chicago, while also identifying the share of Chicagoans who don't own cars. Shaun Jacobsen -- who writes the Transitized blog and occasionally freelances for Streetsblog -- created "How Chicago Commutes" to show that many residents will benefit more from walking, bicycling, and transit improvements than free curbside parking, which tends to dominate the discussion at public meetings.