Metra

Want to urge state legislators to properly fund Chicago-area transit during their spring 2025 session, so as to prevent drastic service cuts in 2026? The Active Transportation Alliance recommends going to the webpage "Support the Clean and Equitable Transportation Act!" to send letters to your state reps.

The Metra commuter rail system is considering renaming lines to make the system easier to understand for new and occasional riders. To get feedback on the idea from customers, the agency is conducting an online survey and scheduled three public meetings at downtown terminals this week. On Tuesday, an open house was held at Chicago Union Station, on Wednesday, it was at Ogilvie Transportation Center, and today they're at Millennium Station and La Salle Street Station from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. All Metra routes

A combination of governance and operational reforms could deliver the transit system riders deserve

As previously reported by the Daily Herald's Marni Pike, it's come to light that Metra hired a team of outside lawyers to conduct an internal investigation of its Police Department that cost almost $1.57 million. The investigation took place due to anonymous complaints made to the commuter railroad about "disparate treatment" of employees at the force. According to a follow-up article by the Chicago Tribune's Sarah Freishtat, these allegations included "workplace sexual relationships, harassment of female officers, racism, special treatment of some officers and inconsistency in police policies."

On Thursday the Chicago Tribune yet ran another editorial about construction on the Kennedy Expressway inconveniencing drivers that calls for some discussion. That reminded me that I'd been planning to update Streetsblog readers about a similar editorial last December that we'd asked the newspaper to correct. Let's talk about one, and then the other.

Changes to North Central Service, Milwaukee West schedules are coming.

In June, Metra and local elected leaders celebrated the opening of a new station on the Union Pacific North Line at Peterson and Ridge. It’s already a success, with up to 300 daily riders during rush hours on peak days. But as Streetsblog noted, the project took much longer than expected. At the ribbon-cutting, Metra officials cited budget holdups during the Rauner Administration, and challenges getting permits from the Water Department.

A series of four community meetings the Illinois Department of Transportation is hosting this week keeps the flame alive that Governor JB Pritzker's promise of Metra service between Chicago and Rockford was not just a cheap trick.

SBC's Igor Studenkov and John Greenfield competed against each other on the Blue Line and the temporary O'Hare shuttle train.