South Suburban Transportation Residents of the south side find many transportation challenges. The south suburbs recently opened 57/294 and Phase II will be another 1.5 years. There are new trains on the Metra line and the area is working on opening a third airport. There needs to be equity…
Yesterday, a distinguished group of leaders appeared at a press conference, held by the CTA, to extol the virtues of the Second Chance Program. This program; created through a collaboration of community organizations, unions and the transit agency, affords ex-offenders and disadvantaged individuals an opportunity to receive training and a…
This summer a bill to create these CTA TIF districts was fast tracked through the General Assembly. Representative Riley stood in opposition to the legislation. Although the legislation would hold school funding harmless from the new TIF, local libraries and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago could potentially…
By Cole Lauterbach – Illinois Radio Network | WBGZ Radio 7/1/2016 Lawmakers approved legislation Thursday that could create massive tax-financed infrastructure projects in Chicago and elsewhere across the state. The measure would allow for the creation of special taxing-districts, known as TIFs, to fund transportation-based development and redevelopment projects in…
By Dave Dahl – October 27, 2015 A state lawmaker wants to keep the trains on the tracks – and it may take an act of Congress to do it. Dave Dahl reports. The modern train safety system known as “positive train control” is supposed to be in place this…
Homewood Flossmoor Chronicle – By Tom Houlihan on Fri, 06/26/2015 There was a party atmosphere Friday as government and business leaders celebrated the $4 million renovation of Flossmoor’s Metra station. The rebuilt station, in full use for about a month, was dedicated in a ceremony that included a ribbon…
A lot of collaborative work went in to this and other Southland transit projects. Knowledge, tenacity, advocacy and collaboration won out. So, this is not just a photo op. This $4 million dollar project took all of us pulling together.
There will be an effort in Springfield to preserve state funding for Amtrak. Amtrak runs eight trains a day between Chicago and Downstate Illinois and seven to Milwaukee that are state-subsidized to the tune of $42 million. The governor’s budget proposal cuts that figure to $26 million, which would mean…
January 7, 2015 – Daily Herald – By Marni Pike State lawmakers put the spotlight on Metra Wednesday over missing a deadline to accept contactless credit cards at pay stations and implement a universal fare card. A 2011 law mandates Metra, Pace and the CTA to create a universal fare…
OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill – State Rep. Al Riley, Chair of the House Mass Transit Committee, announces that Governor Quinn signed HB3672. Sponsored by Rep. Riley, HB3672 is one of the many mass transit measures passed this year to add transparency to transit board operations. HB3672 would mandate the transit agencies…