Illinois legislators have only been in session six days, but already key
issues – such as school funding and property tax reform, and a new state capital
investment package – are capturing their attention. The Metropolitan Planning
Council (MPC) Media Guide to the 95th General Assembly offers quick background
and forecasts for these and other topics expected to be addressed this session –
such as incentives for sensible growth and workforce housing – as well as a
preview of key bills that will be introduced.
The guide also offers insight into how state-level policy
changes will shape stories that have been making headlines, such as the global
energy crisis, Illinois’ failing schools, our region’s immigrant population
boom, Chicago’s Olympics hopes, and commuter woes. Click here to download a copy of the
guide.
MPC contact: Mandy Burrell, Communications Associate, 312 .863.6018,
mburrell@metroplanning.org
It’s a Real Transit Crisis When … Loop Parking is Cheaper than Taking CTA
The brunt of the Chicago Transit Authority’s
(CTA) mounting delays has been felt by work-a-day Joes and Janes who
take the train or bus to their downtown jobs and would never dream of paying
exorbitant downtown parking fees. As CTA commuters prepare for two years of even
slower trains and buses, one downtown company recently opted to subsidize
employee parking spots in their building rather than continue to lose worker
productivity to a stalled transit system.
While this story is extreme, it’s no secret that the CTA
needs more money to update its switching system, and repair decades-old tracks,
cars and stations to accommodate an ever-growing ridership. Meanwhile, in the
suburbs, an expanding population continues to be underserved by Metra and Pace
, a situation that can only be remedied by
investing in projects to extend existing commuter rail lines and bus routes and
create new ones, and by encouraging more transit-oriented development. Crumbling
roads and bridges, an overloaded freight network, and overcrowded schools also
need an infusion of capital funds since the state’s last capital plan, Illinois
FIRST, expired in 2004.
How much will it take to get the job done? Tune in during
the month of February, when the Regional Transportation Authority (Feb. 8) and Transportation for Illinois Coalition
(later in the
month) are expected to release hard figures on the need, to help guide the
legislative debate. Then give MPC a call to learn why more funding is only part
of the solution: state legislators also must put into place decision-making
criteria for prioritizing new capital infrastructure investments, so that
project selection becomes a more public and objective process that benefits the
region and state as a whole.
MPC contact: Peter Skosey, Vice President of
External Relations, 312.863.6004, pskosey@metroplanning.org
Meet the MPC Staff:
MPC Associate Kit Hodge Not Only
Walks the Walk, She Talks the Walk
If you’re working on a story
related to parking, state transportation planning and funding, regional
integrated land use and transportation planning and funding, transit,
public-private partnerships, congestion pricing, transit-oriented development,
street design, walking, or bicycling – give MPC Associate Kit Hodge a call.
An
avid bicyclist, pedestrian, and transit rider, Hodge – who does not own a car, but
who does occasionally use her driver’s license to
travel
to
Springfield,
Ill.,
where she discusses innovative
and realistic policies that will lead to a balanced transportation system
– has spent two years at MPC working on all of the
aforementioned transportation issues.
Before joining MPC, Hodge was Campaigns Director at Transportation Alternatives,
New York City’s premiere advocate for walking, bicycling, and sensible
transportation. There, she partnered with business and community leaders and
elected officials on a variety of successful campaigns to ensure New York City’s
streets served all modes of transportation, including pedestrians, bicyclists,
transit users, commercial traffic, and automobiles. She is the editor of the
acclaimed “Streets for People: Your Guide to Winning Safer and Quieter
Streets;” a Harvard University graduate; and a member of the Women’s
Transportation Seminar, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s Pedestrian Advisory Council,
and the Chicagoland Bicycle
Federation
.
MPC contact: Kit Hodge, Associate, 312.863.6044,
khodge@metroplanning.org
Feb. 6 CMAP Event to Explore Why Good Planning
Benefits Region’s Bottom Line
Across the U.S., communities and regions are waking up to
the fact that their economic well-being depends on their ability to link jobs
with quality homes at a range of prices and a variety of transportation options.
Balanced, coordinated development makes good sense – and cents – and the topic
will be the focal point for discussion on Feb. 6, when the Chicago Metropolitan
Agency for Planning
(CMAP) will host the all-day summit,
Innovation
+ Integration, at
the
University
of
Illinois at Chicago Student Center
East, Illinois
Room, 750 S.
Halsted
St.
The event will feature
keynote speaker Michael Moskow, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago;
as well as other national speakers who will provide examples of ways CMAP
can maintain and improve our region’s economic well-being, while reducing
congestion and improving housing options. At the event, the Metropolitan Planning
Council will host an exhibition of organizations that provide planning
technical assistance to communities in
metropolitan
Chicago. Innovation + Integration is geared
toward elected officials; policy advocates; transportation and land-use
planners; developers; housing, labor, workforce, economic, and community
development practitioners; members of the media; and the
public.
For more information, including an agenda and
registration form, visit CMAP’s Web site
. Participants may register
through Monday, Jan. 29, and can fax the completed registration form to Lee
Deuben at 312.386.8624. The registration fee of $50 covers breakfast and
lunch.
Members
of the media may attend at no cost
, and can contact
CMAP Communications Director Tom Garritano at 312.386.8609 or tgarritano@chicagoareaplanning.org
for more information.