When it comes to moving goods, metropolitan Chicago is a freight powerhouse. Six of the seven largest U.S. railroads operate in the region, managing 50 percent of all rail movement in the country. Chicago O’Hare International Airport is the nation’s fifth-busiest cargo mover, linked by an extensive network of roads and waterways. Chicago does not just move goods, it also makes them: The region’s locational advantage for freight helps drive a strong manufacturing sector that gained jobs faster than the national average over the last two years.
Chicago must continue to support the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program (CREATE), a partnership between federal, state and local governments, metropolitan transportation agencies, and the nation’s freight railroads. When CREATE was formed in 2000, Chicago was known as the bottleneck of the nation’s rail system. While the amount of rail traffic continues to grow, infrastructure investments by CREATE, matched by those of the rail industry, have reduced both passenger and freight train delays by nearly 30 percent.
There’s more to do if Chicago is to maintain its position as the epicenter of the nation’s rail system and the 36,000 jobs created by that status: Billions of dollars in additional funding are still needed for the rest of the projects. Moderated by Wes Lujan from Union Pacific Railroad, this roundtable will discuss freight's role in growing the economy and show the benefits of CREATE. Speakers will include:
Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle
Ill. Rep. Elaine Nekritz (D-Northbrook)
Jeffrey Sriver, Director of Transportation Planning and Programming, Chicago Dept. of Transportation
Audrey Wennink, Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.) (invited)