Transportation grad students offer advice to Metra for its strategic plan

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A Rock Island Metra train travels near 16th Street, alongside Clark Street. Photo by Mickey Brown.

Ed. note: Ted Rosenbaum is originally from Evanston and Brian Derstine from Darien. Both obtained a master’s in transportation engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. They currently work on public transportation and ITS-related projects in the San Francisco Bay area. Follw them @RedTosenbaum and @baderstine. Their opinions are their own, and are independent of their employers. -Steven

August 10, 2012

To whom it may concern:

We, the undersigned, are excited to see Metra undertake serious long-range strategic planning. For too long, Metra’s actions have been inefficient, opaque, and focused on short-term tactics rather than long-term strategy. The strength of the Chicagoland area is inextricably tied to the ability of its transportation network to move people and goods throughout the region. As Chicago’s commuter rail agency, Metra plays a vital role in this transportation network and in the region’s continued good health, and we long to see it—and the region—succeed. We therefore present the letter below as formal comments to the strategic planning and visioning process. It is divided into three sections: (1) a response to the “Draft Mission Statement” included in the public survey recently posted on Metra’s website; (2) a response to the “Draft Vision Statement” included in the same survey; and (3) various other strategies—and some tactics—we feel it is in Metra’s best interests to prioritize.

Continue reading Transportation grad students offer advice to Metra for its strategic plan

Fatality Tracker: 4th pedestrian fatality in 8 days occurs in Little Village

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 14 (6 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 4 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 6

The Chicago Tribune reports on the fourth pedestrian fatality in just eight days, this one occurring in Little Village at 26th Street and Avers Avenue:

Maria Banuelos [79] was hit by a car that turned left onto 26th Street from Avers Avenue about 4 p.m. Tuesday, according to police reports.

Banuelos was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, a Cook County medical examiner’s spokeswoman said.

The driver was cited with striking a pedestrian in the roadway.

Approximate scene of the crash (looking northwest, from the driver’s point of view, turning left onto 26th Street from Avers Avenue). View Larger Map

* The information is only accurate as of this post’s publishing time and includes only people who died in the Chicago city limits. View previous Fatality Tracker posts.

Fatality Tracker: 84-year-old woman is third pedestrian casualty in seven days

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Looking north at California and Granville.

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 13 (6 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 4 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 6

During the evening rush hour on Monday, Ilchwa Abraham, an 84-year-old woman, died in a crash as she tried to walk across a street in West Rogers Park. Following the deaths of Eric Kerestes and Kenneth Collins, both slain by drivers who lost control of their vehicles and hopped curbs last week, Abraham is the third person killed by a car in Chicago in seven days.

Continue reading Fatality Tracker: 84-year-old woman is third pedestrian casualty in seven days

Illinois traffic fatalities are up this year: What to do about it?

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Can you find anything “bad” or “could use improvement” about the design of this intersection between Ogden Avenue and an on-ramp to northbound Kennedy Expressway? There are clues in Notes below. 

Two weeks ago, a commenter asked about the LED signs on Illinois highways. This article from the Chicago Tribune tells what they’re showing:

When travel times and Amber alerts aren’t being shown on electronic message boards, a running tally of traffic deaths in Illinois is often displayed along highways across the state to remind motorists about the consequences of dangerous driving.

What are the other factors at play in this increase? Does dangerous design have a role? Or economic factors?

On Saturday, August 11, I went with a friend on the CTA Blue Line to Forest Park with our bikes; we got on the Illinois Prairie Path just a few hundred feet away from the train terminal, inside a cemetery. The bike ride was a reminder to me of the persistent road and trail design inconsistencies, within cities, within states, and across the country. I went on a road trip to Richmond, Virginia, during which I drove on the highways and local roads of 5 states. It seemed to me that the Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), a federal document that every road, path, and bike lane builder in the country must follow (or obtain exemptions from), was lost or deleted. Continue reading Illinois traffic fatalities are up this year: What to do about it?

Fatality tracker: driver jumps curb, kills youth counselor in Roseland

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Crosswalk at Roseland Community Hospital with “Stop for Pedestrians” sign.

2012 Chicago fatality stats*:

Pedestrian: 12 (6 have been hit-and-run crashes)
Pedalcyclist: 4 (1 is a hit-and-run crash)
Transit: 6

For the second time in one week, an out-of-control car crash cut short the promising life of an innocent bystander. Last Tuesday a speeding cab in River West killed engineer, grad student and husband Eric Kerestes, 30. Three days later on Friday around 7:05 AM, Albert Charles, 54, lost control of his vehicle outside Roseland Community Hospital, 45 W.111th Street, hopped the curb and killed Kenneth Collins, 43, according to police. Collins, a mental health counselor at the hospital’s juvenile unit, was on his way to pick up a paycheck. Unlike most drivers involved in pedestrian fatalities this year prior to this crash, Charles did not flee the scene. The police department’s Major Accident Investigation Unit is looking into the cause of the crash.

Continue reading Fatality tracker: driver jumps curb, kills youth counselor in Roseland

Grid Shots: Copenhagen cargo bikes

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A woman pedals her “short john” cargo bike across the world’s busiest bike intersection. 

According to Mikael Colville-Anderson, there are about 40,000 cargo bikes in the municipalities of Frederiksburg, where he and his company, Copenhagenize Consulting, live, and Copenhagen, the city where I’ve been for 5 days now.

And Saturday we held the 4th annual Danish cargo bike championships, or “Svajerløb” (pronounced zvy-uhh-loob). I participated in the Team Relay race with my friend Brandon Gobel and two Danish locals, Micha and Lasse (he cofounded the Bicycle Innovation Lab here).

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A woman pushes her trike across the sidewalk in a shopping neighborhood. 

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One trike among many bikes parked near a Metro station and indoor public market. 

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Two Bullitt bikes outside the Larry vs. Harry workshop. 

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The City of Copenhagen found four families in the Vesterbro neighborhood who wanted to securely store their cargo bikes on the street in this pink container shaped like a car. Each family has a key to their separated compartments, and the door lifts up. The City plans to build more. Each takes up 1 American car parking space, or 1.5 European car parking spaces. Gobel and Colville-Anderson are on the left side of the photo. 

See more photos from my Cargo bikes in Copenhagen set. This was an unplanned edition of Grid Shots.