Recent Streetsblog CHICAGO posts about Federal Policy

The construction of Chicago's Eisenhower Expressway destroyed vibrant West Side communities. Photo: Jeff Zoline

Smart Growth America Equity Summit envisions a community-led approach to planning

By Sharon Hoyer | Feb 2, 2021 | No Comments

The summit laid out a vision for a transportation planning process that assess errors of the past and the needs of the present, and envisions the future in a spirit of trust, celebration and healing.

Chicago's 95th/Dan Ryan terminal is in a Critical Service Area. Photo: John Greenfield

RTA plans to focus federal COVID stimulus funding to transit-dependent areas

By Igor Studenkov | Jan 25, 2021 | No Comments

The Regional Transportation Authority is planning to use federal stimulus funding to support transit services to "to the places and people across the region who most need transit" during the pandemic.

Rendering of the upcoming 103rd Street station.

There’s movement on south Red Line extension, but service launch pushed back 3 years

By John Greenfield | Dec 22, 2020 | No Comments

Advocates say it's disappointing that South Siders will have a longer wait for service, but it's encouraging that the project is moving forward.

Before stimulus, advocates pushed for transparency on cuts. That’s still important.

By John Greenfield | Dec 22, 2020 | No Comments

The possibility of transit cuts is now less of an immediate threat. But it's still important for local transit agencies to be transparent about what would be cut in the event that the federal funding runs out.

Boarding a #157 Streeterville/Taylor bus this month on Michigan Avenue. Photo: John Greenfield

What will the new COVID stimulus bill mean for Chicagoland transit?

By John Greenfield | Dec 21, 2020 | No Comments

Chicago-area transit agencies and advocates are generally taking a glass-half-full view of the news, noting that in the short term the subsidy will prevent a "beyond-doomsday" scenario.

How do we make sure people who don't have cars have access to healthy food? Photo: Joseph Dennis

ATA’s transit justice talk discussed relationship between transit deserts, food insecurity

By Sharon Hoyer | Dec 19, 2020 | No Comments

These two basic needs are often unmet in Black and Brown communities, and are now exacerbated by the pandemic.

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