Transportation: Regional context and beyond Announcements, publioc comment periods, meetings "Year of Decision" RTA appeal for $10 b, funding options; report on partnership meeting early 2007. There are also important decisions pending on what should be the role and coposition of RTA. Details on Doomsday. Jan. 17 '08 funding passed. Who's in charge and what are they trying to do? Regional Planning Board Open appeal for the RPB Public Participation Committee What CMAP says it is trying to do- March 2008 Guest Commentary on planning for or ignoring sub regional needs 2030 Regional Transportation Plan general recommendations Air Quality and Congestion Mitigation, other specific recommendations Metropolitan Planning Council says much of Chicago, beyond not transit-connected; Reconnecting Neighborhoods sites set up incl. N. Kenwood/Oakland CTA, Metra reaching outward, streamlining connections, but freight stalled? New express bus service to 8 midwest cities--in lieu of stalled high-speed rail? Regional Transportation Authority website Regional Planning Board website. More about. New name and website: Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP): http://www.chicagoareaplanning.org Metra Board meets 3rd Fridays 9 am at 547 W. Jackson, 15th floor. Transit operations are under the Regional Transportation Authority (regulates and allocates for the three service boards--CTA, Metra, Pace). These are in turn overseen by the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Authority and Federal Transit Agency. Many other government bodies and independent organizations also engage in transportation planning and oversight. Bottom lining. Only $9 billion of needed $20 billion for new initiatives in the Regional Transportation Plan from now to 2030 is identified. $47 billion is for maintaining and upgrading existing facilities and $5 billion for varied arterial, bus, bike/ped and freight initiatives. Total of the plan is $61 billion. Some transit advocacy groups including CNT are faulting the mix as leaning too much to highways and leaving little for transit or freight. Top A new threat to transit sustainability and growth? Canadian National's (includes IC) plan to divert freight away from Chicago. Now we know why they opted out of planning to fix the gridlock. IT'S 'NO DOOMSDAY' FOR CTA/RTA/Metra AND SENIORS WILL RIDE FOR FREE AS SOON AS aPRIL AS THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY PASSES THE GOV.-AMMENDED TRANSIT FUNDING BILL ON JANUARY 17.The law includes 530 million in property and sales tax increases. Details of the law's provisions on oversight and fiscal accountability were unavailable. There will nonetheless be a 10% Metra increase in February 2008. Transit home. What CMAP (the successor planning agency + RTA Moving Beyond Congestion) says it is doing- March 2008 It intends to imporve coordinastion, planning, financial oversight, updated plans, system-wide goals and objectives, identifying paths to funding, performance measures. Visit these two sites: http://capwiz.com/rc/utr/1/CMUTIGDACK/NNG_16DQQL/1844834211 and http://capwiz.com/rc/utr/1/CMUTIGDACK/ECWAIGDQQM/1844834231.   Announcements, public comment periods, meetings The Illinois State Auditor's report (q.v. at www.auditor.illinois.gov) confirms that all the tranist service agencies are in dire financial need. Regardless of efficiencies and accountability and leadership/vision he says they must assume, even doubling fares or drastic cutbacks won't--the revenue stream has to be permanentsly increased and be able to keep up with need and inflation. Comment to RTA at http://www.movingbeyondcongestion@rtachicago.org. The Regional Transportation Agency (RTA) is seeking local partners including organizations to engage in assessing and planning for transit that is more efficient and gets people out of their cars. Community workshops are a part of the mix. Moving Beyond Congestion. Maybe a chance to look again at Metra Electric issues. The price tag is $10 billion for basics. And just as the RTA and service boards put out their call for the state to fund infrastructure work and overhaul financing, Illinois Auditor General William Holland's report called in February 2007 for a top-down audit and overhaul of the RTA. The Performance audit agrees that funding is insufficient leading to progressive breakdown, but not only points to underfunded pensions, transit salaries and benefits among the highest in the nation, rampant absenteeism, lack of strong centralized planning and plain leadership, it cites weak leadership, competition instead of cooperation between transit agencies, wasteful duplication and skewed priorities. It said, stop fighting over customers and last federal dollar and expansion and concentrate on putting a coordinated system in place.--"good repair." Contracts, procurement and space utilization are other problems. Rep. Julie Hamos has promised hearings. March 22 the House Mass Tranist committee held a hearing on House Bill 520 for mass transit funding. January 18 Transit options meeting with RTA and Gray Line proposers. On Thursday evening January 18th, RTA Moving Beyond Congestion "Partners for Transit" the University of Chicago and the CTA Gray Line Project hosted an MBC Community Workshop on implementing the Gray Line plan to bring CTA Rail Rapid Transit to the Hyde Park area, and the University campus. The workshop dealt mainly with what RTA saw as overall needs prior to releasing the barebones proposal in February 2oo7, the University of Chicago routes, the Gray Line Metra proposal, and general audience views and ideas of how transit for the area should be solved. Report follows below. For more information about the Gray Line Project visit: www.Grayline.20m.com February 8 2007 CTA came up with its bottom line $10 billion 5 year plan and set aside the $57 billion over 30 years it says is needed for a top-rate system. It also set forth a number of funding options for the legislature. (Dorothy Brown, running for Mayor, set forth her own plan to revise the funding formula, but said the CTA and other service budgets need real examination before deciding whether and how much increase is needed.) In addition to a $10 billion for capital, an added $400 million a year is needed to operate bus, rail, elevated lines over the next 5 years. Unfortunately, many legislators have other priorities including schools (seeing an added $3 billion a year), healthcare, and other needs or wants. And many want no tax increases. Desired is 3 b for track, structure, signal and electrical work including to eliminate the slow zones on CTA. $2 billion for paratransit, $2 b for new trains, buses, vehicles , $1 b for parking and passenger facility improvements, , and another $2 b for additional support facilities and equipment. These are all geared to what is most likely to garner federal matches. CTA's Carole Brown already told the Tribune CTA really needs $5.8 in capital. James Reilly, RTA boss, said this is a fair balance "reality test." Rep. Julie Hamos, echoing Brown, said there first needs to be a really close look at the agencies performance and financial record. She promised hearings over the next few months. Chicago Metropolis 2020 also called for major oversight reform. Funding options set forth included increases in or extension to more coverage of sales tax (already eyed for schools), motor fuel tax, property tax (dedicated and related fees), income tax, vehicle taxes, toll-congestion pricing, airport, business, sin, and another increase in paratransit fees. Center for Neighborhood Technology has weighed in with a new coalition for thinking outside the box, with list serve. TransitFuture. Sign up via transitfuture-subscribe@cnt.org.
Report on the January Moving Beyond Congestion partnership meeting with U of C. See in preceding box for what followed. RTA spokespersons said transit saves $1.8 billion annually in the region in pollution costs and that $4.5 is lost annual to congestion costs. Transit saves 150 m gallons of gasoline, provides $12 billion in economic impacts, reduces air pollution by 2,500 tons (3 billion auto emissions miles), saves $1.8 b in avoided congestion, provides many non-monetary benefits. Traffic congestion in NE Illinois is among the worst in the nation and the travel-time-ratio is 2nd worst in the nation. Eliminating such costs would bring income to grow communities instead of dragging the region down competitively. 2007 is called the Year of Decision- the great divided. Do we change the funding, priorities, and organization of transit and enable the system to maintain itself and grow--if not we are sliding into steady breakdown, shrinkage and eventual collapse. Status quo funding means service reductions. The legislature is the crux. The program is intended to "Maintain, Enhance, Expand" but not to push sprawl. $27 billion is needed for the network- a billion a year to keep the system steady state "just adequate." $34 b over 30 years is needed to maintain and rehabilitate, and an added $5 billion to advance including improving speed, frequency, real time information, and stations. Much of the funding is available from Congress d919.4 of total package), but there is no state and federal matching ($37.5 shortfall). Instead, we are diverting capital funds to pay increases operating expenses. The vision is for a world-class public transportation system that is convenient, affordable, reliable and safe and is the keystone of the region's growing business opportunities, thriving job market, clean air and livable communities. Investing to maintain > reliability, shelters, modern security tech, station and vehicle amenities, on board communications, less crowded, cleaner, energy efficiency, alt. fuel vehicles, access, affordable commuting. What's needed: Rolling stock (fixed route buses, vanpool, rail cars, locomotives, rehabs including Metra Electric Highliners, mid-life CTA 3200 series overhaul), track and structure, electrical signals and communications--a lot! Support Facilities an equipment including Metra Electric rail yard; passenger facilities, and support from security cameras to engineering. Investing to Enhance > Better commuting options (employer incentives, better connectivity, more reverse commute and suburb-to-suburb, new tech.), service enhancement including off-peak and weekend, services that respond to new an local needs and paratransit needs, and seamless transit services including hubs. Needed: Service enhancements- more reliable, more off-peak and weekend, seat availability, para and vanpool; better commuting options including employer incentives, new connections and reverse commute, shuttles, information; seamless services incl. schedule coordination, intermodality, fare integration, hubs. Investing in important already being planned. Including Metra SouthEast service, Red to 130th, Orange, Yellow, circle land connecting. It was pointed out that many have no choice but too use transit. The paratransit mandated is very expensive- up to $89 million a year now with the state providing only half of what's needed. We learned that the CTA is able to use such collaborations as the UC routes to leverage federal dollars and is a good model. Mike Payne on Gray Line proposal for Metra Electric in-city mainline. He pointed out that if the ME were run like an el line, cf. Red Line that took much of Metra's market, it could have many more boardings--and it has the capacity to do so. (Red actually has 40 times more boardings). With a major increase in boardings and foot traffic, stations could start to act like community centers, help local business, promote development, and could improve street safety. Access to jobs could be significantly improved, and so could qualification for location efficient mortgages. Less pollution and gas price pressure, more access to the lakefront - and Olympics were touted. There would be benefits to the UC, more connectivity between neighborhoods. RTA would gain healthy competition instead of one overburdened component (CTA) and the other underutilized, and would be cheaper than running so-called express busses in competition. . The plan won praise from planner for fiscal cost effectiveness (using mostly existing infrastructure and promoting universal fares.) Concerns were raised about whether existing lines and rolling stock could handle a major increase esp. not degrade over time. suggestions were made for intermediary or stop gap measures to increase use and usefulness of Metra. Most people care that transit be safe, on time, and clean--there was concern that CTA would not keep the Metra standards on this line. People wanted universal farecards and increased frequency, and touted a marketing campaign. Other ideas raised Congestion pricing of gas and parking, stop stress on expansion and doing just what gets last federal dollar. Switch to newer technologies such as monorails. www.MovingBeyobndCongestion.org, 866-771-7781. Regional Planning Several advocacy groups and advocates question how well the federally designated regional planning board have done their work and degree of real public input. The new board, this site suggests, has a chance to allay such concerns. The Regional Planning Board, with Center for Neighborhood Technology and TyLin held 7 meetings throughout the region to gather inputs for the updated version of the regional plan and priorities. Visit www.sp2030 or www.cnt.org/rtp-invitation/. You can still participate online via a survey through June 30 at lkirchler@tylin.com. Transportation Planning and oversight for the Chicago Region overall is under the new Regional Planning Board-http://www.rpbchicago.org (successor to CATS and NIPC)-but you can still use the old web addresses, http://www.catsmpo.com. and http://www.nipc.org. Common phone 312 454-0400, fax 312 454-04-- (CATS fax also 312 386-8840.) 233 S. Wacker Dr., Suite 800, Sears Tower, Chicago, IL 60606. Executive Board Chairman Gerald Bennett, Exec. Director Randall Blankenhorn. Standing Committees which the public can participate in (except Executive): Public Participation, Transition, Planning, Priorities. There are several committees that meet about monthly to plan and take public comment--these include Transportation Improvement Plan, Arterials, Air Quality/Traffic, Paratransit, and Pedestrian and Alternative. New Board's mission statement. It's now the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning or CMAP- and it has a big challenge according to the Metropolitan Planning Council. The state hasn't appropriated anything for 2 years to take advantage of federal funds to reverse gridlock and pollution and build new infrastructure. We understand CMAP is making bold plans. But what's the vision and boldness to fight in Springfield? It has to stop being so opaque. More about the RPB. The 2030 Regional Transportation Plan and the '04-'09 projects (TIP) plan with air quality conformity are the big things they were recently working on. The draft or summary of the RTP plan: just go to www.rpbchicago.org or http://www.sp2030.com/CommentSite/. E-mail comments (try) to PublicComments@rpbchicago.org You can call 312 793-3481 or the hotline, 312 793-5041 (including to receive a copy). Mail address: Regional Planning Board, Communications Division, Sears Tower, 233 S. Wacker Dr., Suite 800, Chicago, IL 60606. Note, the Conference has a paper copy and CD of the Plan. Regional Transportation Plan page has the reasoning and goals of the Plan. Contact Tom Murtha- tmurtha@catsmpo.com. View in the Regional Planning Board site information on the 2030 Regional Plan, 2004- Unified Work Program, 2004-9 Transportation Improvement Program, proposed 2005 Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program, Soles and Spokes, Rideshare, CTA, Pace, Metra. 312 793-3456. Compare with Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission ratings. (A division of Center for Neighborhood Technology.) RPB mission: "...a streamlined, consolidated regional planning agency...to better integrate plans for land use and transportation." Responsibilities: Develop a regional comprehensive plan that integrates land use and transportation every five years; Prepare and adapt a transportation financial plan that identifies current funding and new sources needed to implement regional plans; Identify regional priority and coordinate advocacy on behalf of these priorities; Develop and maintain a process of public participation to insure all interests are part of the regional planning process; Complete the process of fully integrating and consolidating the functions of the [former organizations]. Top An open appeal from the RPB Public Participation Committee Chair The RPB needs input and participation from the community at large. We are in the process of selecting a Citizen's Advisory Committee, as called for in our authorizing legislation, which states that the Board "create a standing Citizen's Advisory Committee to provided continuous and balanced public representation in the development of regional plans and policies." The Public Participation Committee...will coordinate our work with the CAC to promote public awareness and engagement in RPB activities. To solicit potential members of the CAC, I am [providing] a brief application form for anyone who is interested in serving....Beginning April 1, 2006, the///Committee will screen the applications and make recommendations to the full Board regarding membership of the CAC, ensuring that it is diverse and representative of the region's communities. Our intent is to find individuals committed to giving input via CAC to serve the broader interests of the region as a whole. We are not seeking individuals who represent particular interests or advocacy groups. There will, however, be other opportunities for interest groups or advocacy organizations to share their concerns and ideas with the Board on an ongoing basis. Individual applicants not selected for the CAC will also have other opportunities to participate. Applications can be faxed or emailed.. A web version of the form mil also be available a http://www.rpbchicago.org.... Sincerely, Elliott Hartstein Top   Mike Payne on Gray Line in context of combining all the agencies More: Visit Gray Line page with links to Payne's site. While just about every politician in the State of Illinois is fighting out who (City / Suburbs / Republicans / Democrats ) will gain the most clout and power over state transportation projects and money, they all seem to be completely ignoring the voice of the people (their constituents). Many of the projects and proposals highly recommended by CATS and NIPC [now Regional Planning Board] in their present incarnations (as well as many community organizations speaking for the people), are completely ignored by the RTA, CTA, Metra, Pace, and IDOT; so how could anyone possibly expect some new "merged" agency to do any better job in meeting the actual wants of the populace, rather than delivering the pork for the politicians. One great example is the Center for Neighborhood Technology's proposal to add new stations to the Green Line (CATS 2030 RTP Proposal ID # 01-02-9014 - which was created in response to a year-long series of "Connecting Communities" meetings in 2002 to hear and define the wants and needs of Chicago area residents); however this proposal is placed way below the central area "Circle Line" on CTA's priority list, yet NO members of the public asked for a "Circle Line" before it was announced. The City of Chicago also managed to find $200 million itself to build ONE apparently very posh CTA "L" station under Block 37. Metra is pushing it's $1.2 Billion 55 mile STAR Line to stimulate great economic development in many of the suburban areas it serves (some of which have some of the highest per-capita incomes in the region), however it all but ignores it's in-city Chicago South Side services. And like CNT's Additional Green Line Station proposal (specifically asked for by the public), the CTA Gray Line proposal (CATS 2030 RTP Proposal ID # 01-02-9003 - to create a new regional 22 mile 37 station CTA "L" Line utilizing the in-city Metra Electric District's suburban train routes) - is being completely ignored in the bloody power-and-funding-seeking feeding-frenzy (although it was the project MOST asked for by the public). The $100 Million cost of implementing the Gray Line, is but a fraction of $1.2 billion cost of Metra's STAR Line (which would cost $1.3 billion instead of $1.2 billion with the Gray Line added on - not that big a change); and yet no one seems to be interested in seeking funding for it (and the tremendous economic development it would bring to the many diverse parts of Chicago's SE side - wealthy, middle class, and disadvantaged). On Wednesday April 28th and Thursday April 29th [2005], from 11am to 2pm, Versionfest>04 is hosting their Nfo Xpo Festival at Chicago's Cultural Center on Randolph & Michigan (info: http://www.versionfest.org ). It will include presenters on many diverse topics in a science-fair type format. The Gray Line proposal has been invited to present a display, and to distribute promotional literature. With the location and time of day, I am sure the Festival will attract many visitors (especially at lunch time), and many will get to learn about the Gray Line proposal. I hope to gain a lot of public support (I am attempting to start a CTA Gray Line Coalition) and media publicity for the project. Please come and visit the Festival if you have the opportunity, I would enjoy meeting you. Thanks for your time, Mike Payne GRAY LINE RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM http://www.Grayline.20m.com Top General recommendations from the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan: about, considerations, general recommendations--more in 2030SharedPath page A wide range of official and public participants partook in well-advertized development of the Plan, although many still found public involvement insufficient or in many cases ignored. Common themes heard in comment: More and better integrated public transit Better land use and transportation integration More bicycle and pedestrian options Better services for seniors and people with disabilities Improved freight management safety, with special reference to pedestrians Improved traffic congestion management Intent, Scope, constraints to promote efficient travel behavior and accommodate and to promote and efficient urban economy and sustain it approach is "regional": top to bottom coordination is needed for all and any transportation decisions to work long-range timeframe "regular daily travel" is the principal concern- demands placed on the system by workers and businesses while not ignoring community and environmental attributes constrained by financial resources and air quality requirements. Here is the draft pick for SharedPath2030 Major Capital Projects: Each category is subdivided in the following way. The start of a type of transit is represented by a letter: A Chicago Transit Hub B Improvement/extension to existing rapid transit C Improvement/extension to existing commuter rail D Existing major highways E Expanding system to manage growth and change- bus rapid transit or for new employment centers F New rail transportation corridors G New highway corridors There are four tiers: 1) Committed: Projects well along in planning and funded 2) System: Quicker turnaround 3) Project: More ready 4 ) Corridor: Those in early planning or lacking consensus/has competing solutions. In the first category: CTA Circle Line Phase I- A Union Pacific West extension to Elburn (underway) -C In the second category: Green Line new stations- B Rock Island track and yard upgrades- C Southwest Service to Manhattan (under constr.)- C Metra Electric service upgrade- C North Central Service infrastructure and service upgrade (underway)- C Union Pacific Northwest track and signal upgrade- C Union Pacific West track and signal upgrade- C Improvements to reconstruction to the following highways: I-90 Northwest Tollway, I-88 East-West Tollway, I294/94 Tri-State, IL394, I-80/94, I-57, I-80, I-55, Elgin-O'Hare lanes- all D Extension of the Elgin-O'Hare and West O'Hare Bypass expressways- E North-Central Will County I-355 I-55-80- G In the third: CTA Circle Line Phase II- A Airport Express Rapid Transit (to O'Hare and Midway)-A Orange line extension to Ford City- B Cermak Bus Rapid Transit- E DuPage "J" Line Bus Rapid Transit- E In the fourth: CTA Circle line Phase III- A West Loop Transportation Center (Clinton subway)- A Central Area Bus Rapid Transit Center- A Yellow Line extension to Old Orchard, new stations- B Red Line extension southward- B Blue line extensions- B Rock Island to Minoka- C Southwest Service possible extension to Midewin- C Metra Electric possible extension to a Peotone Airport- C North Central full service- C Heritage Corridor new stations- C Milwaukee District West extension toward/to Rockford or Hampshire- C Milwaukee District North extensions to Richmond, Wadsworth- C Union Pacific Northwest extension to Johnsburg, possibly Richmond- C Burlington extension to Oswego, possibly Plano- C I-290 High-Occupancy Vehicle Lanes- D Ogden avenue Transitway- E Southeast Commuter Rail Service- E Mid-City Transitway- F (new rail cor.) Inner Circumferential (O-Hare to Midway)- F Outer Circumferential- F Richmond-Waukegan- G Central Lake County (IL53)- G South Suburban I-355 I-80 to I 57- G I-57/IL394 Connector by Peotone- G Illiana to I -65- G Prairie Parkway I-80 to I-88- G Note: Planners are now leaning toward using a rail rather than Bishop Ford right-of-way for the Red Line extension, citing benefits to communities and development. What's in it for the Southeast Corridor? Almost all the gains for us would be in better connections and service at a distance, for example in and around the central hub including (among those given the highest grades) Circle Line and more stations on the Green Line. Also, new intermediate distance service and transfer hubs, and new or express service to and beyond O'Hare/Northwest suburbs and Midway. The principal recommendation for southeast would be improvements for Metra Electric (in the privileged 2nd or "quick turnaround" tier) with connection at the south to various "Southeast Service" proposal giving service to I-80 Illiana suburbs and a future Peotone airport. Go to Needs and News for links to descriptions of Gray Line (the place-holder recommendation) and SECRET. The south-extension part is really in a "study corridor" with several alternate proposals. RTA has endorsed the Metra Star Line option, which will go from the Blue Line end at O'Hare northwest to Hoffman Estates, thence south to Joliet. Metra is also pushing a route going through south-southwest suburbs, in response to criticism that heavily minority suburbs are being neglected. Read about the 2003 Regional Transportation Plan CATS is now seeking comment on its programs it says will put the Region on track to meet federal air quality standards, with which the feds say the region is not in compliance but must be by mid 2005, as well as on updates to the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan, short-term TIP, and the Metropolitan Planning Authority boundary. See where to view, comment below. The RTP (Regional Transportation Plan) Committee now meets 4th Thursdays at 9:30 am. 2. WEB RESOURCES. The following resources are available to provide more information for those interested in further involvement in project, corridor, and strategic studies and implementation. a. Context Sensitive Solutions (IDOT). http://www.dot.il.gov/css/home.html b. Soles and Spokes Pedestrian and Bicycle Plan for Chicago Area Transportation (CATS): http://www.solesandspokes.com. c. Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project (Chicago Transit Authority): http://www.transitchicago.com/news/motion/brown/ravenswood/ d. Kingery Expressway Reconstruction Project (I-80/94): http://www.dot.il.gov/kingery/ e. Cook-DuPage Multimodal Corridor Study (RTA): http://www.rtachicago.com/business/planning.asp. f. Wikaduke SRA Study: http://www.wikaduketrail.net g. Caton Farm – Bruce Road SRA Study: http://www.cfb-study.com/index.html Top Special recommendations of 2030 including Congestion mitigation and air quality improvement recommendations Current proposals for air quality and congestion mitigation are navigated from the new Regional Planning Board website. Mid South Side proposed: $35 million for a bike-ped bridge across Lake Shore Drive at 35th Street, express bus service on 79th. CMAQ Program (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement). Project examples: transit service improvements, traffic signal interconnects, bicycle/pedestrian projects that eliminate or reduce automobile trips. You'd be surprised how much and the variety these programs fund. Contact: tmurtha@catsmpo.com. To search transportation management and assets in the region: Transportation Asset Management System (RTAMS): http://www.rtams.org. (You must register to use this site.) The Traffic Atlas: Where and when you'll encounter it along the various expressways and arterials. Go to the CATS site for this GIS-generated atlas and much more material on-line. Regional Planning Board holds a whole suite of task force meetings on topics that feed into production of Regional Transportation Plans. Contact www.rpbchicago.org or www.sp2030.com or www.catsmpo.com, all still up. Work on the 2030 plan is in progress now, and seeks to go beyond addressing the usual mobility and capacity demands. Soles and Spokes, a coalition under the Chicago Area Transportation Study, is holding meetings and design workshops on developing bike and pedestrian friendly communities, including our own. (Cottage Grove has just been striped for bikes. Let us know how this works out, whether you are a bike rider, CTA rider, or motorist.) More in bike plans and news. Soles and Spokes Task Force meets from time to time at CATS headquarters, 300 W. Adams, 2nd Floor. Visit http://www.solesandspokes.com. and www.rpbchicago/bikeped (not tested). To take an on-line survey on what you want to see in trails and their amenities, visit http://www.solesandspokes.com/input_survey. Contact: Tom Murtha. PACE and CTA have both seen huge increases in use of the bus bike racks in the past year. They're on nearly every bus. METRA is only accommodating bikes on Burlington and UP Northwest lines, certain times. Campaign for Better Transit/Neighborhood Capital Budget Group The websites of these groups have much related to transit planning and needs. CBT has an explanatory booklet, originally for legislators and planners, that is available: "The Weary Traveler." CNT/CTAQC: "Changing Direction: Transportation Choices for 2030 Report Presents Public's Vision of Transportation in 2030"--an alternative from Center for Neighborhood Technology to CATS (Chicago Area Transportation Study)'s Shared Path 2030. During the past eighteen months, the Chicagoland Transportation and Air Quality Commission (CTAQC) held summits across the northeastern Illinois region to facilitate public involvement in transportation planning. The results of this process was that the residents of northeast Illinois want choice in their transportation modes, voice in the decision making process, and change in the way their taxpayer dollars are being invested in transportation projects that they did not want. To see Changing Direction: Transportation Choices for 2030, the report that synthesizes these results, and find out about the forums and symposia these groups hold regularly, visit: http://ctaqc.cnt.org/publications/changing-direction.pdf General site is http://www.cnt.org Business Leaders for Transportation, a coalition of Metropolitan Planning Council, Chicago Metropolis 2020, and Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce, is trying to get the Illinois Congressional delegation behind an agenda for the federal highway and transit program renewal, up this September. Send for their pamphlet, Getting the Chicago Region Moving, to learn what they are seeking. They ask input. Main recommendations are: Fund older transit systems for rehabilitation and new capacity needs Distribute transit funding on a needs-based formula Have a formula (Revenue Aligned Authority) that maximizes distribution from the trust fund and require equivalent match structures between highway and transit, make other reforms Double the transit program to $14 million by 2009Provide incentives for transit-oriented planning and integrated land use and transportation planning. They also propose reforms and funding for highway, freight, intercity passenger rail and note that in the Midwest, Illinois received the least increased funding from TEA-21 and has the worst increasing highway congestion. Top Streamlining connections, reaching out CTA is building a new superstation connecting lines in the heart of the Loop, under 108 State (block 37 across from Marshall Fields/Macys). One objective is to run express trains to O'hare and Midway. In addition, it has on trial running the Cermak Branch of the Blue Line north on the Paulina Branch, thence east and around the El Loop, ending that line's direct runs to O'Hare and perhaps creating problems for those accessing the West Side Medical Center, U of I and high schools and maybe overloading the EL esp. the junction at Lake and Wells, but creating new direct connections. Rerouting the Cermak (Silver) line is the first phase in a new Circle Line (really half-circle) around downtown connecting routes. Metra is moving ahead with line extensions and new lines (if funding can be found)--the first is a very expensive extension of the southwest line to Manhattan. There has been opposition on the far South Side and South Suburbs to routing of a proposed new southeast line. Is CREATE, the planning to eliminate bottlenecks in freight movement, moving ahead or not? Canadian National, whose lines are a lynchpin in the effort, has pulled out. Top A new bus express service to 8 midwest cities is starting up soon. It's internet based, so go to Megabus.com. It's by Stagecoach Co. and will be discount and cheaper than any other way to get to these cities. Served from Downtown Chicago in spoke-style are Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Detroit, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, St. Louis. Top
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