A headline on the Tribune’s June 9 Chicagoland section read: “CTA bus privatizing urged/Way to cut costs, save system, RTA chief says.”
In turning the page, on the bottom of page 3, under the “Metropolitan report,” the headline reads: “Trolley board aims to stay on track,” followed by: “The Central Area Circulator Project Board of Directors said Thursday that it would try to find a way to move forward with the $775 million light-rail trolley system. . . .”
Do Chicago’s appointed and elected civic leaders have the future interest of this city’s residents in mind when it comes to allocating financial resources for public works projects? While the CTA struggles to keep adequate service schedules and maintain its infrastructure, bureaucrats are fighting for an unwarrantable project, the Circulator.
Chicago and the surrounding region must commit to a unified public transportation system. If this city is to thrive as one of the world’s great urban centers, it must modernize and improve service. A reliance on the automobile will only continue the region’s slide toward further economic segregation among its inhabitants and create an unlivable urban landscape, scarred with parking lots and clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic.
