Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Beyond Chicagoland

An Empire Builder train in Glenview. Photo: Jeff Zoline

Sign of the Times: Chicago-Minneapolis Amtrak service is expanding to twice daily

By John Greenfield | Oct 19, 2020 | No Comments

The plan for a second daily Amtrak Empire Builder Line run between Chicago and Minneapolis-St. Paul is moving forward thanks to the award of a $31.8 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration.

The way to better biking: San Jose’s bike plan should be a model for Chicago reboot

By Courtney Cobbs | Oct 12, 2020 | No Comments

San Jose's Better Bike Plan offers a framework that Chicago would do well to emulate in order to create a bike plan that's more representative of current and would-be cyclists.

A South Shore Line car during non-pandemic times. Photo: Jeff Zoline

“It’s foolish”: Experts say South Shore’s Mask Optional Car could cause super-spreader event

By Sharon Hoyer | Oct 9, 2020 | No Comments

"Clearly, it’s a bad idea,” said one infectious disease expert. “It’s really letting an ignorant public make health decisions the leadership of the South Shore Line should be providing with guidance from state government."

An Amtrak train in Galesburg, Illinois. Part of our state's Green New Deal plan should be better funding passenger rail to make it more competitive with driving. Photo via High Speed Rail Alliance

A Green New Deal for Illinois Transportation

By Courtney Cobbs | Oct 1, 2020 | No Comments

California just outlawed the sale of gas-powered vehicles by 2035. Illinois should go way further than that with a comprehensive plan to reduce transportation-related greenhouse gas emissions.

Waiting for the 79th Street bus at the Red Line station. Photo: James Porter

Lack of federal aid could reduce transit to 55K Chicagoland jobs, strand 210K people

By John Greenfield | Sep 29, 2020 | No Comments

The Active Transportation Alliance is asking Chicagoland residents to contact elected officials to ask them to support the $32 billion in emergency funding for transit.

The Mask Optional Car sign on the South Shore Line platform at Chicago's Millennium Station. Photo: John Greenfield

Idiocy or genius? The South Shore Line tries quarantining anti-maskers in a separate car

By John Greenfield | Sep 23, 2020 | No Comments

Is the commuter railroad's unique approach to dealing with COVID deniers on trains completely misguided, or so gosh darn irrational that it just might work?

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