Guest Blogger Mayor Richard M. Daley: Great News for the City of Chicago

A modern public transportation system is essential to the future of our state, our region and our city. It is vital to our economic security and to our ability to recruit new businesses and create new jobs. It provides an alternative to cars and to the traffic congestion and air pollution they bring with them.

Thanks to today’s grant, we can move forward with an innovative program that combines building the first 10 miles of a proposed dedicated Bus Rapid Transit system of more than 100 miles with a parking pricing strategy aimed at encouraging motorists to come to the Central Business District outside the normal peak hours.

We’ve always tried to lead by example. Our willingness to implement a new concept such as peak period pricing is what convinced Secretary Peters to make this grant.

It’s a way to provide the speed and reliability closer to rail service without the costly infrastructure. Both Los Angeles and Vancouver have seen bus ridership increase after they introduced BRT.

I want to thank Secretary Peters for coming to Chicago, and for asking me to join her here in the Fast Lane.  Today’s announcement is an important one for the City of Chicago, and for the millions of folks who rely on transit and park on our streets.

For more information on Chicago’s transportation system, visit our website: http://www.cityofchicago.org/Transportation/.

-Mayor Daley

Comments

[Greg from Homebizseo]

A modern public transportation system should also make use of green energry and to alternative fuel with the rising fuel cost. The public transportation system also should look at different avenues to endorse walking, and bike riding and to reduce the # of stops to reduce the miles traveled in the city. I am in the make money online business and each city I travel to have different forms of enviromental waste that can be reduced. Thanks for improving the city.

[Anonymous in Arlington]

"A modern public transportation system is essential to the future"... very true!

[Joe]

Too bad Mayor Daley destroyed an important part of that future transportation system when he bulldozed Meigs Field airport without notice in the middle of the night stranding hundreds of planes.

[BeyondDC]

BRT is fabulous... if you view it as "how to do buses right".

What BRT is not and can never be is a replacement for rail. Anyone who thinks otherwise has obviously never ridden a bus and doesn't know how much more uncomfortable that bumpy ride is than the smooth glide you get on any train.

This is great for Chicago, and I look forward to the day when Washington is criss-crossed with BRT too. But it is absolutely essential that folks at FTA remember that BRT IS NOT A REPLACEMENT FOR RAIL.

[George Barsky]

Chicago once had the country's largest surface streetcar rail network. It also had several of the best electric interurban railways in the country. All that has given over to noxious buses and automobile congestion. Too bad Mayor Daly has not learned that buses are NOT better, and that rail is manifoldly best. Mayor Daly must enjoy providing second rate expensive public transit with DOT support to his constituents.

[Website Design]

The modern transportation services are very impressive if compared with the olden times. The services are improving day by day. This saves a lot of time for the daily travelers which is best part, as today time is money and nobody wants to waste it.

[Vincent Newton]

Our city is also struggling with the issue of public transportation. Good luck Chicago