Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Metropolitan Planning Council

Union Station Contest Will Add Pizzazz to an Underused Public Space

By John Greenfield | Jun 20, 2013 | 11 Comments

Chicago’s Union Station is a key national transportation hub and one of our city’s iconic structures, but in some ways it’s sadly underutilized. The Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit that promotes sustainable transportation and development in the region, wants to change that. Their fifth annual placemaking contest, Activate Union Station, challenges Chicagoans to come up […]

It’s Up to Chicago to Set a Bold New Standard for American BRT

By John Greenfield | Mar 4, 2013 | 11 Comments

“We knew how important it was for federal policy makers to see innovation and new ideas bubbling up from important cities around the country,” said Nick Turner, managing director of the Rockefeller Foundation at a bus rapid transit roundtable last Friday. The foundation has provided roughly $2.8 million in grants to Chicago’s BRT program for […]

How BRT Can Build Chicago’s Economy as Well as Improve Mobility

By Steven Vance | Jan 22, 2013 | 11 Comments

As planning advances for Chicago’s first full-fledged Bus Rapid Transit routes, public officials and advocates are starting to make the case that new, high-quality bus service is about more than getting people from point A to point B quickly and reliably. Those mobility benefits will be significant, but if BRT succeeds at improving transit trips […]