Promoted

The CTA held the last of its 2025 budget town halls yesterday, allowing more members of the community to voice their concerns and opinions about the looming $771 million regional transit fiscal cliff. The event took place at Malcolm X College, 1900 W. Jackson Blvd. While officials acknoewledged the budget crisis, it was a "good news and bad news"-style meeting.

"Slow motion riders fly the colors of the day...Listen now children, all is not lost.

At the Truman College event, Sen. Mike Simmons and Sen Ram Villivalam disputed claims about the transit bill from Republican senators.

One of the many important and/or enjoyable sustainable transportation-related events that happened last weekend (more on that tomorrow) was last Saturday's PARK(ing) Day 2025, organized by the Chicago Growth Project. The event took place on the parking lots of Dovetail Brewery, Belle Plaine and Ravenswood avenues, and Demo Brewery, Berteau and Ravenswood avenues, a mere 0.2 miles away from each other. Dovetail is sandwiched between Metra's Union Pacific North Line and the CTA Brown Line.

By Molly Brown

These are nerve-wracking days for Chicagoland public transit agencies, workers, riders, and advocates as we teeter on the brink of a $771 million regional transit fiscal cliff next year.

"Chicago Transit Hikes: A Guide to Getting Out in Nature without a Car" author Lindsay Welbers spent ten years living in an apartment in the Logan Square community before deciding to move. She describes Logan as a "very, very dense city-type neighborhood” that she felt was connected to nature because of all the nearby green space. For instance, she could walk to the Blue Line under tree canopy the whole way. Then she moved to Jefferson Park, which she says has more of a suburban vibe with "little postage stamp lawns."

A solid compromise on a challenging problem.

Last week, the mobility justice nonprofit Equiticity hosted the event "Claiming Our Space: Powering an Equitable Future" with the intention of introducing participants to "the breadth of our vision, mission, philosophies, and work." According to the organization, "Equiticity's 2025 signature event is an immersive, two-day convening designed to center Black, Brown, and Indigenous leadership, celebrate community power, and advance critical conversations and actions."