Metra

Following months of debate over Chicagoland's new transit oversight agency, advocates are watching NITA’s new board to see whether its leaders can deliver on the reforms they fought for.

But the commuter railroad's executive director is doubtful that it will be possible to meet that deadline.

The state is weighing improvements at the existing station against relocating it nearby, with accessibility; safer walking and biking connections; and future development shaping the discussion.

Sustainable transportation scenes from today's Obama Presidential Center Grand Opening

This post isn't completely within Streetsblog Chicago's wheelhouse, but I thought many of our readers would enjoy it, so I wrote it up over the weekend for fun.

This fall, Metra has been testing its prototype Café Car on most of its highest-ridership rail lines and stations. It has coffee shop-inspired counters, tables, and seating. During the first week, September 30 to October 6, it ran on the Rock Island line. This week, the Café Car ran from Tuesday to today on the BNSF Line between Union Station and Aurora. It's the busiest route, and some runs stop in Riverside, the historic west-suburban village where I live. See next week's schedule for the pilot at the bottom of this post.

Yesterday, Trump's Federal Transit Administration chief Marc Molinaro scolded Chicago leaders about crime on public transportation in a Tribune op-ed titled, "The CTA has become a rolling symbol of abdication. Riders don’t feel safe." Read it on the Tribune website, Bluesky, or Twitter.

•"CTA gets $74M from Metra, Pace to delay 40 percent service cuts next year" (Sun-Times)

• Family pleads for answers after boy with autism dies of injuries during fight on CTA station steps (CBS)