In the Loop is your round-up of what’s going on in the transportation world, posted in conjunction with Talking Transit.
@mpc
When it comes to transportation, it’s been an active month for the Metropolitan Planning Council (MPC). Artists and architects submitted 25 amazing entries for MPC’s Activate Union Station placemaking contest, which brought in proposals for plastic blobs, crowds of mannequins and pinball halls—all to make Chicago’s main train station a more exciting place. Not that the station doesn’t have its secrets. Winners will be announced next week.
MPC also has been charting a course for improved transportation on one of Chicago’s most-used highways: Lake Shore Drive. Working as part of a coalition of 15 organizations, MPC is hoping to make the Drive (in particular, the North section from Grand Avenue to Hollywood Avenue, since it’s ready for reconstruction) a better asset to surrounding neighborhoods by improving access for walkers, bikers and transit users. MPC President MarySue Barrett went on TV to discuss the project this week. Meetings will be held this week for people interested in making a statement about the road’s future—or they can just vent their frustrations about the here and now with a new app.
elsewhere
Transit riders in Chicago are finally on track to take advantage of their new fare card, Ventra. The card will be rolled out next month on Pace buses and Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) buses and trains and offer customers the option to use their credit cards as payment (as long as riders have tap-as-you-go Visas or Mastercards).
Many more CTA riders may be living in new developments adjacent to transit, at least if the City of Chicago has anything to say about it. The Mayor’s Office unveiled a transit-oriented development ordinance that would allow increased density areas near rail stations, if the City Council agrees to the plan next month. There’s still more to do to encourage new construction near transit. That’s why MPC is hosting a roundtable next month on how to plan for infill development around the bus rapid transit line Chicago is planning for Ashland Avenue (register for the event, folks!).
All over the country, it’s the summer of light rail. Portland’s $1.5 billion new light rail connection to Milwaukie, Ore., a southern suburb, reached its halfway point. Dallas’ DART light rail system—now the lengthiest in the country—celebrated its 30th birthday. Maryland’s Gov. Martin O’Malley announced that his state would commit $400 million to construct a new circumferential light rail line in the northern suburbs of Washington, D.C. The project will be funded through a public-private partnership. In Indiana, the news was less exciting: Indianapolis-area mayors continued their decade-long campaign to convince someone in the state legislature to notice that public transit can play an important role in economic development.
Of course, while American cities sometimes feel left behind when it comes to public transportation, look no further than Jakarta, Indonesia to feel a little better. There, a 28-million-person metropolitan area is served by just one rapid transit line. Good thing several new rail projects are in development.