Category: People

Ray LaHood stops in Logan Square, announces $20 million in stimulus funds for Blue Line repairs, bike share

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U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood swung through Chicago this afternoon as part of a national tour to publicize federal stimulus funding for transportation projects. Joining Governor Pat Quinn and Mayor Rahm Emanuel for a press conference outside at the CTA’s Logan Square stop in frigid, blustery weather, LaHood heralded a $20 million TIGER III (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) grant for Chicago.

According to the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), $16 million will go towards fixing slow zones on the Blue Line between Belmont and Damen, in combination with money for the project from a CTA operating surplus. This work will allow trains to travel more than twice as fast in some locations, cutting the travel time from the Loop to O’Hare by several minutes.

The remaining $4 million of the grant will go towards Chicago’s new bike sharing system, slated to launch next summer. Added to the project’s existing $18 million Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Improvement (CMAQ) funding that will pay for the first 3,000 bikes and 300 docking stations, the TIGER money will allow the city to eventually add 1,000 additional bikes and 100 more stations.

Chicago originally applied for a total of $50 million in TIGER III funds, $40 million for the Blue Line and $10 million for the bike share system, according to CDOT. Here’s a transcript of LaHood’s remarks at the press conference.

Continue reading Ray LaHood stops in Logan Square, announces $20 million in stimulus funds for Blue Line repairs, bike share

How did progressive transportation czar Gabe Klein get that way?

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[This article also runs in Newcity magazine. All photos by Steven.]

“Gabe Klein has always viewed his work as a canvas to create a contribution, and is inspired by ventures that give something back to the community, versus strictly producing profit. This is why he only works on projects that invoke his passion.”
– From “Gabe Klein’s TreE-House,” gabeklein.com

“True love knows no bargains. It is one-way traffic; giving, giving, giving.”
– Swami Satchidananda, Klein’s childhood guru

When forward-thinking Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) Commissioner Gabe Klein reported for work on May 16 as part of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new administration, it marked a sea change in the city’s priorities. After spending most of the 20th Century trying to make it easier to drive, City Hall was switching its focus to promoting healthier modes: walking, biking and transit.

Continue reading How did progressive transportation czar Gabe Klein get that way?

Chicagoans shared much information at the Streets for Cycling Plan open house on Saturday

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This post is a little different than all of our past event reviews: here we display a bunch of photos and beneath them captions from Anne Alt, who volunteered as a map docent and conversed with many visitors. At any time, you can just browse our respective photo galleries: Steven’s photos or John’s photos. Visitors added a few thousand data points on maps for nine planning districts; we’ll talk about some of them.

As Calvin explained in Monday morning’s post, the event was partly about sharing knowledge. Mike Amsden at the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) explains the next steps for this project:

We were extremely excited to see the level of turnout at our first meeting.  Now we will start to go through all of this feedback and incorporate it into our existing conditions analysis.  We will be working on this analysis through January and February as we continue the initial public outreach phase of the project.  All of this feedback will be used to help us develop the eventual network.

Continue reading Chicagoans shared much information at the Streets for Cycling Plan open house on Saturday

Everybody is planning: a report from Saturday’s bikeways open house

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Ed. note: This post was written by guest contributor Calvin Brown. -Steven

If you were too busy to come downtown for the Streets for Cycling Open House yesterday at 23 E Madison Street, you missed a great opportunity to share your own ideas for the development and rethinking of Chicago’s precious street space.

Here’s what made the open house an important event: The city bicycle staff were at the event with open ears, and the event took place in the dead center of the Loop making it as convenient as possible for all Chicagoans to attend. Giant maps on the walls covered every section of the city and were open to revision and graffiti. The maps quickly filled up with ideas for future bikeways and changes to existing problems. Continue reading Everybody is planning: a report from Saturday’s bikeways open house

Street issues, 311, and apps: better communication with Open311 – part 2

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A screenshot of the Spothole homepage. 

In part 1 of Street issues, 311, and apps: tying them all together I talked to Chicago’s Chief Technology Officer, John Tolva, who painted the picture of how we can interact with 311 and city services in the near future. Open311, among other things, is a platform to enable a connection between apps (web- and smartphone-based) and the service request system.

For part 2, I talked to Stefan Draht, a designer and programmer who created Spothole (with design contributions from Brett Schnacky). The app is ready for your vote in the Apps 4 Metro Chicago contest. It’s an intuitive and interactive way to report potholes in Chicago. I met Draht at Moving Design during the summer, for which he originally created the app; it’s now in version 2.0. Continue reading Street issues, 311, and apps: better communication with Open311 – part 2

Alderman Solis helps show the link between the Netherlands, Chicago, and safe transportation

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Photo of Alderman Danny Solis by Serge Lubomudrov.

Last night, about 40 people gathered in Simone’s (960 W 18th Street) to hear Alderman Solis (25th Ward) talk about his October trip to the Netherlands. Also speaking was another member of that study tour, Randy Neufeld (note 1, 2), SRAM Cycling Fund director. The Netherlands is a great place in which to investigate successful bicycling planning, policies, and infrastructure. They have the highest share of people cycling, for all trip purposes, in the world, as well as the lowest injury and fatality rate in any kind of traffic. I was hoping the two would ask how many people in attendance have themselves visited the Netherlands. From what I know, at least six people, including myself, have gone there. Continue reading Alderman Solis helps show the link between the Netherlands, Chicago, and safe transportation