Re-Connection - August 2011

August 2011

www.metroplanning.org

On Wednesday, Aug. 17, the Metropolitan Planning Council released Bus Rapid Transit: Chicago's New Route to Opportunity, a vision for Chicago’s transportation and community development future that puts people – not steel, rubber or pavement – first. The report identifies the top 10 routes in Chicago where Bus Rapid Transit is feasible, best supports existing community assets, and fills accessibility gaps in the current transit network.

Where We Stand

Around the world, Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems are transforming cities, revitalizing neighborhoods, easing congestion, and increasing quality of life. Yet in the U.S., while early attempts at BRT in places like Cleveland, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles have been instructive, no city has realized the full potential of a true BRT system. In May 2011, the Institute for Transportation & Development Policy identified the elements of “gold standard” BRT – including dedicated lanes, pay-before-you-board stations, at-grade boarding, and signal priority at intersections – and threw down a challenge: What U.S. city would be the first to benefit from a true BRT system?

The Metropolitan Planning Council believes Chicago can and should be that city – and we’re not alone. In his transition plan, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel pledged to develop BRT in Chicago. The Chicago Climate Action Plan also identifies BRT as a cost-effective way to expand the city’s transit network. And recently, CTA President Forrest Claypool said he hopes for “full blown” BRT along Western and Ashland avenues, where an alternatives analysis is underway.

The 10 routes proposed in Bus Rapid Transit: Chicago's New Route to Opportunity comprise a system that would be unlike any other built in the United States today. The routes were identified by MPC’s new screening method for transit investments, which uses 14 quantifiable “livability metrics” based on the six federal Livability Principles. By pioneering this groundbreaking approach, MPC was able to pinpoint where a BRT network can be built, and where it should be built to provide more equitable transit service, generate economic benefits, and meet key livability goals, such as providing people better access to jobs, schools, health clinics and parks.

Now we’re throwing back down the challenge: Chicago, let’s do BRT and let’s get it right. That means selecting the best routes, engineering and constructing them to gold standards, and most importantly, focusing investment along corridors with the potential to transform Chicago neighborhoods. Through a coordinated, concerted effort by the civic, private and public sectors, Chicago can alleviate congestion, improve neighborhoods through this high-quality new transit service, and be a model for other cities. What are we waiting for?

Read the report. >>

Watch and listen to a recording of a 30-minute webinar featuring MPC researchers explaining the logic and methods behind this report. >>

Sign up for Talking Transit, MPC’s bi-monthly e-newsletter featuring case studies about transit-related activities around the world. >>

Project Progress Report: Placemaking

What if you could pull up a Google map on your mobile phone that pinpoints your location and tells you about family-friendly activities taking place nearby? Or what if you had an app to organize neighborhood gatherings in your local park?

That might have come in handy recently in Evanston, where a group of diverse residents gathered for a Food Truck Festival to breathe new life into the underused Grey Park. This month we’re highlighting these residents, who are working together to create a shared vision for the park to serve the entire community, at PlacemakingChicago.com.

And, yes, we do think there should be an app for that – and for other great ideas that lift up and improve Chicagoland’s public places. Thanks to a sponsorship from IBM, MPC is offering a $2,500 prize for the best Placemaking application submitted to Apps for Metro Chicago (A4MC). This regionwide competition invites developers and community groups to compete for more than $50,000 in prizes by using data sets offered by the city, county, state, and other agencies to solve problems in metropolitan Chicago. Winning apps will help city residents and visitors get more out of their transportation systems, neighborhoods, and the region. The winning Placemaking app will help people find, create, sustain and/or share vibrant public places.

Find out how to enter A4MC and what it will take to win the Placemaking prize at A4MC's web site.>>

Donate today to help create more great places in Chicagoland through MPC’s Placemaking Chicago initiative.>>

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Upcoming events

Aug 27–31	Association for Commuter Transportation 2011 International Conference: Retool, Reinvest, Recharge 8:00 AM–5:00 PM
Sep 1	Homes for a Changing Region Interactive public workshop - Maywood, Ill. 6:30 PM–9:00 PM
Sep 8	Homes for a Changing Region Interactive public workshop - Oak Park, Ill. 7:00 PM–9:30 PM
Sep 15	Emerging Contaminants, Emerging Solutions: Proactive Water Quality Management in the Face of New Threats 12:00 PM–1:30 PM
Sep 15	2011 Infrastructure Roundtable Series: Tax Increment Financing 12:00 PM–1:30 PM
Sep 19	Homes for a Changing Region Interactive public workshop - Bellwood, Ill. 6:30 PM–9:00 PM
Sep 26–28	Solutions for Sustainable Communities Conference 8:00 AM–6:00 PM