CTA

Yesterday there was an eventful meeting of City Council's Committee on Transportation and the Public Way. The committee passed a resolution by Ald. Bill Conway (34th) pushing the CTA to increase its enforcement of no smoking rules by coordinating with law enforcement and releasing ticketing numbers. The measure will go before the full Council for a final vote.

View yesterday's Streetsblog photos of the four new Red Line stations here.

•Maria Tampico, busker at CTA Blue Line Washington station, has died at 76 (Sun-Times)

Riders share feedback with CTA at a series of pop-up "chats." But what improvements can be made until the $770M fiscal cliff is diverted?

In some ways, today's CTA board meeting wasn't as dramatic as the May one. Unlike last month, Ald. David Moore (17th) wasn't there warning the directors that they would be "backbiting snakes" if they didn't support Mayor Brandon Johnson's pick for the new agency president. That person was the City's current chief operating officer John Roberson, the alder's former chief of staff.

Recently, the Chicago Tribune, and three difference articles in Crain's, have questioned the $5.7 billion cost of the the 5.5-mile Red Line Extension. It would connect the current 95th Street terminal with the Far South Side's Altgeld Gardens housing project. An editorial in the weekly business newspaper went so far as to say, "There's still time to avoid one of the costliest boondoggles City planners have dreamed up since the parking meter fiasco... even to pull the plug on it."

If you're a frequent Streetsblog Chicago, when it comes to the current public transportation fiscal crisis, this ain't your first bus rodeo. Otherwise, here's our coverage of the issue since last Saturday, May 31, aka "The Night Transit Funding Didn't Go Down In Springfield":

by Harjas Sandhu

By Micheál Podgers