Promoted

Bike/walk/transit advocacy – like any advocacy - is ceaseless and often complicated work. As an advocate on climate, energy and transportation matters for over 20 years, Bay-area-based Carter Lavin knows this well. So well, in fact, that he’s written a handbook on the subject entitled "If You Want to Win, You’ve Got to Fight." For the book, Lavin drew on his extensive experience campaigning at the local and state levels, and interviewed fellow advocates from across the country about their challenges, triumphs, and tactics to improve transportation infrastructure and safety in their communities.

This afternoon, despite snow and temperatures in the 20s, perhaps hundreds of Chicagoans took to the streets for a bicycle parade honoring Alex Pretti. A week ago, the 37-year-old VA nurse was shot to death by federal agents in conjuction with Trump's Operation Metro Surge immigration crackdown in Minneapolis.

This week, the folks behind eight community-led arts projects near transit got some great news. Elevated Chicago, which promotes equitable transit-oriented development, and the MacArthur Foundation announced the three year program providing $340,000 in contributions to help these initiatives get rolling.

News at a recent meeting on the Evanston Bike Plan included a current completion target of mid-to-late 2029 for the long-awaited Chicago Avenue protected lane extension.

The initial results for the City's Smart Streets enforcement pilot are promising, hopefully paving the way for effective bus-priority streets citywide.

Check out the Gage Park Cyclists Facebook group here.

Marc Sims hosts the video chat show podcast "Just A Few Questions," with the stated goal that his interviews about recent events "will make people think." He invited me to join him Sunday morning to talk about efforts to prevent serious and fatal pedestrian crashes in Chicago.

By Richard Day and Conor Durkin

"Brother" Eric Basir has been working for the CTA since February 2018. He started as a customer service assistant, became a flagman, then a train operator, and for almost five years, he's been a rail car repairer, currently working out of the Midway terminal.