Should NITA shut down all rail extension projects until its existing system--e.g., Blue Line Congress Branch, Metra bridges/stations--are restored to a state of good repair? Or are rail extensions in low-density areas the price to be paid to keep the collar counties in the regional transit fold?
It is neither efficient nor equitable to underprice roadway capacity, which is what drives traffic congestion. By not implementing roadway pricing--facilitating traffic congestion--Cook/Chicago disadvantage themselves vis-a-vis the collar counties that have embraced roadway pricing on the Tollways.
Is there any indication that any rail extension project in the outlying areas, even with aggressive transit-oriented development efforts--a big "if" in the areas that oppose Gov. Pritzker's BUILD initiative, will generate enough paying ridership to help, not drag down, NITA's farebox recovery ratio?
Editorial @chicagotribune.com thunders against Illinois Tollway's $26.5B Driving Connections capital plan and the toll rate hikes necessary to pay for that plan. Notes passenger vehicle tolls haven't increased since 2012. Doesn't like inflation indexing tolls. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/19/m...
Optimizing Illinois Tollway's routes for vehicle operation via its $26.5B new capital plan (which is on top of $22B of plans adopted since 2004) will inevitably feed more vehicles into Chicago's traffic congested urban core (the area inside the I-294 loop). www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/i...
Plan to extend the Skokie Swift north getting dusted off. Current ridership substantially below pre-COVID level. Molly Poppe @chicagocta.bsky.social cites importance of transit-oriented development along route to build ridership base. www.chicagotribune.com/2026/06/18/c...
"Our status quo is [not] progressive. Priced roads and free roads differ not because one causes harm and the other doesn’t, but because one comes with a built-in solution to the harms it causes, while the other lets its harms go unnoticed and uncompensated." transfersmagazine.org/magazine-art...
See CMAP list of funding-eligible projects for its draft Regional Transportation Plan: UP-NW extension to Johnsburg (pg. 44); MD-N to Spring Grove/Richmond (pg. 45); MD-W to Huntley/Marengo (pg. 46). Plus seven "visionary" collar county extension projects on pg. 70. cmap.illinois.gov/wp-content/u...
Thomas Bamonte
Thomas Bamonte
Thomas Bamonte
Thomas Bamonte
"[Waymo] approached the Teamsters in IL with a draft legislative proposal to legalize its cars. Waymo again floated the prospect of creating a fund for displaced workers. Lawmakers failed to pass the proposal before the state’s legislative session ended this month." www.nytimes.com/2026/06/17/t...
