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Yes, despite the upcoming RTA/NITA switch and transit agency board remix, Johnson can still choose Leerhsen for permanent CTA chief
On November 7, a week after the "Halloween Miracle" of the Illinois General Assembly passing a robust transit reform/funding bill in the wee hours of October 31, SBC had a fun conversation with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.
November 19, 2025
Star:Line Chicago, Capitol Fax (and Streetsblog?) brutally roast Illinois Policy CEO’s clueless op-ed about the transit bill
If you weren't already convinced that the Illinois Policy Institute think tank is an alarmist right-wing organization, just check out the homepage of their blog. The headlines are screaming at you in all caps. And they seem to carefully select the most unflattering screenshots possible of progressive leaders such as Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a strategy right out of the Fox News playbook.
October 27, 2025
Next stop, fiscal cliff: Advocates respond to Illinois legislators’ failure to fund transit before the deadline
After more than a year of negotiations and debate, transit revenue and reform failed to pass the state legislature by the budget deadline on Saturday, May 31. There are still options to avert the transit fiscal cliff, though they require a higher threshold to pass. Local transit agencies must dedicate significant resources to preparing for difficult service cuts in the meantime.
Austin Busch
June 2, 2025
Tribune fact check double-header: Exactly which bikeways did they say replaced car lanes? And did suburban Metra fares really go up last year?
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.
February 7, 2025
We are all in the underperforming Chicagoland transit network. But some of us are looking at the Star:Line.
According to Star:Line Chicago, "The 2034sight Plan is an ambitious — and achievable — ten-year framework to lay the groundwork to modernize Chicagoland’s existing local passenger rail system."
July 19, 2024
