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Mayoral front-runners respond to Sustainable Transportation Platform
DaiHow will Chicago’s mayoral candidates support green transportation if elected?
By John Greenfield
Published: January 12, 2011
In December, a coalition of eight transportation and environmental nonprofits sent letters to all of Chicago’s mayoral candidates asking them to endorse a Sustainable Transportation Platform. The STP urges the hopefuls to support better infrastructure for nonmotorized transportation in the region, bankrolling these projects by securing a bigger slice of the funding pie. (Chicagoland represents 70 percent of the state’s population but receives only 45 percent of the Illinois Department of Transportation budget.)
The plan—spearheaded by the Active Transportation Alliance along with orgs such as the Center for Neighborhood Technology, the Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Midwest High Speed Rail Association—also calls for raising the state gas tax, one of the lowest in the country, in order to fund public transit and bike facilities. Other ideas include increases in CTA and Metra service, improving the congested lakefront trail, adding dedicated “bus rapid transit” travel lanes and making Chicago the center of a Midwest high-speed rail system.
We contacted the four mayoral front-runners to see how they would support green transportation if elected.
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Miguel del Valle “I agree that we must aggressively advocate for local, regional, state and federal plans and funding to increase public transportation and make Chicago friendlier to bicycles and pedestrians.… A first step is to ensure we are not leaving any federal transportation money on the table through negligence or lack of foresight.… Chicago should also seek a larger share of existing transportation funding by effectively advocating for a fair distribution of state money. The Chicago area gets 45 percent and downstate gets 55 percent, even though the Chicago region represents 70 percent of the state’s population and 78 percent of the state’s economy. Another area of imbalance is the Regional Transportation Authority. We are not getting our fair share of funding. Eighty-two percent of Chicago-area transit riders use the CTA, but it only receives 59 percent of operating subsidies from the RTA. On the other hand, Metra gets only 12 percent of the area’s riders but receives 27 percent of the funding. Finally, contrary to our goals of sustainability, our state allocations of transportation funds focus too much on roads over other more sustainable forms of transportation.”
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Rahm Emanuel “The greatest investment we can make in our infrastructure, our economy and our environment is by focusing transportation resources on our public transit system. Cities around the world have made this commitment and Chicago will be out-competed if we don’t catch up. That’s why I secured nearly $250 million for the Brown Line redevelopment, and why we earmarked an unprecedented amount of funds in the Recovery Act for transportation investments. But there’s a lot more to do. I’ll be laying out a comprehensive transportation agenda before the election so that voters have a clear sense of my commitment to transit, biking and pedestrian infrastructure.”
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Gery Chico “Improving our transportation system is critical to the future prosperity of Chicago. As mayor, I will work with these groups and others to develop a more sustainable transportation system that is accessible to people in all of Chicago’s diverse neighborhoods.”
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Carol Moseley Braun “I absolutely endorse the goals of the Sustainable Transportation Platform, especially those for public transportation. It will decrease carbon emissions and thereby improve public health and also help relieve our dependence on fossil fuels. Public transportation makes Chicago work, and we can and must do a better job of making walking, biking and riding the bus or taking a train more attractive, convenient and affordable.”
Miguel del Valle “I agree that we must aggressively advocate for local, regional, state and federal plans and funding to increase public transportation and make Chicago friendlier to bicycles and pedestrians.… A first step is to ensure we are not leaving any federal transportation money on the table through negligence or lack of foresight.… Chicago should also seek a larger share of existing transportation funding by effectively advocating for a fair distribution of state money. The Chicago area gets 45 percent and downstate gets 55 percent, even though the Chicago region represents 70 percent of the state’s population and 78 percent of the state’s economy. Another area of imbalance is the Regional Transportation Authority. We are not getting our fair share of funding. Eighty-two percent of Chicago-area transit riders use the CTA, but it only receives 59 percent of operating subsidies from the RTA. On the other hand, Metra gets only 12 percent of the area’s riders but receives 27 percent of the funding. Finally, contrary to our goals of sustainability, our state allocations of transportation funds focus too much on roads over other more sustainable forms of transportation.”
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