I moved to Chicago to live car-free. I am grateful I was able to fulfill my objective. However, in the 12 years I’ve lived here, I’ve been disappointed by the lack of dedicated bus lanes and signal priority for buses. We have an opportunity with high gas prices and drivers being more open to transit because of said high gas prices to really provide a great alternative to driving.
This past weekend, it took my bus an hour to go from Irving Park Road and Cicero Avenue to the Sheridan Red Line stop. Service like that will not convince drivers to give up the car. Dedicated bus lanes don’t cost much to create, but our elected officials are more afraid of the political cost than doing the right thing. Oil has always been a precious commodity, and it’s even more precious in the age of climate change and high energy costs. Why not make the most of it by running efficient bus service via dedicated lanes and signal priority? Let’s actually meet the moment instead of continuing to sleep at the wheel.
Chicago has so much untapped potential when it comes to sustainable transportation. Currently, we punish bus riders by forcing them to sit in mixed traffic. The city of Los Angeles has more miles of dedicated bus lanes than Chicago. The city dragged its feet in setting up cameras for a downtown bus lane pilot, and even now the pilot is poorly run. Considering our mayor loves a good photo-op, if the bus lane camera-enforcement pilot was truly resulting in shorter bus commute times, he would be singing its praises.
Sadly, Mayor Brandon Johnson has proved he doesn’t care about transit, but there’s no time like the present to course-correct to meet the moment and allow our buses to truly shine.
— Courtney Cobbs, co-founder, Better Streets Chicago
Traffic snarls near Goose Island
Like a lot of people on the North Side, I’ve spent the last few months sitting in traffic on Division Avenue, trying to get down Elston Avenue or watching cars do dangerous things just to get around the congestion near Goose Island.
The lack of coordination among Mayor Brandon Johnson and his allies, including Ald. Daniel La Spata, has turned what should have been manageable infrastructure work into a daily headache and safety hazard for residents, commuters, cyclists and local businesses.
The closures of the Chicago Avenue bridge, the Halsted viaduct and nearby bridges were all happening at the same time in the same area. None of this was a surprise. The Bally’s casino project was approved years ago, and traffic studies were done then. City Hall had plenty of time to think through how all of these projects would impact the same streets and neighborhoods. Instead, it feels like everyone approved their own piece of the puzzle without anyone looking at the bigger picture.
The result has been chaos. Traffic backs up for blocks every day. Drivers are illegally using protected bike lanes to get around congestion, creating dangerous situations for cyclists and pedestrians.
Now, many residents and business owners along Grand Avenue feel like the same thing is happening again: major decisions being pushed forward without enough honest engagement from the people most affected by them. Wanting better planning and coordination does not make someone anti-bike or anti-safety. Most people just want streets that work better and are safer for everyone.
Nobody expects construction to be painless, but people do expect basic competence and common sense from city leadership.
Right now, too many residents feel like no one at City Hall is listening until after the decisions are already made.
We deserve better than that.
— Bill Thanoukos, Chicago
Riding Metra beats driving
The editorial “Naperville is wonderful. Unless you have to drive to Chicago every day” (May 13) raises understandable frustrations about the grind of commuting, but it overlooks one of the most practical, proven tools we have to reduce stress and congestion: Metra.
First, Metra offers something that driving rarely does — predictability. Metra has stops on the BNSF Line at Aurora, Illinois Route 59, Naperville and Lisle, with more than 32 inbound and outbound trains a day — including nine from Naperville during the morning rush. The line has an average on-time performance rate of 96.2% since 2021. The UP West Line, with nearby stops in West Chicago, Winfield and Wheaton, may also be an option.
While we have occasional delays due to weather and infrastructure, Metra provides a reliable, on-time alternative to driving. Even when traffic is moving, a crash, construction or weather can turn a routine drive into an exhausting delay. Trains allow commuters to plan their day with greater confidence and to reclaim time that would otherwise be spent behind the wheel.
Second, taking Metra improves quality of life. Time on the train can be used to read, answer emails, prepare for meetings or simply decompress. For many, that’s the difference between arriving ready for the day and arriving already burned out.
Third, increased Metra ridership benefits the region. Every commuter who chooses rail over driving helps reduce roadway congestion, lowers wear and tear on infrastructure and their own vehicle, and supports a transportation network that is more resilient when highways are less crowded. It also expands access to jobs and cultural opportunities without requiring every trip to be a car trip.
If the editorial’s concern is that commuting has become too costly, too stressful or too time-consuming, the answer is not to resign ourselves to more traffic — it is to make better use of the transit options that already connect our communities.
Metra, along with partners Pace and the CTA, is not a niche alternative; together, we are core regional assets that deserve to be part of the solution.
— Joseph H. McMahon, chairman, Metra Board of Directors
Our energy bill has doubled
Regarding the editorial “Commonwealth Edison bills are set to soar next month. Why won’t the state help?” (May 18): My husband and I have been retired for 15 years. We have not changed how we use our electricity over these years. We have had a pool for 50 years and are used to restricting use of the pump as much as possible. We got a new energy-efficient air conditioner a few years ago. Our yearly bill has always been divided evenly over 12 months.
Our bill went up not the 12% mentioned in the editorial but 28%. I’ve pulled the plugs on all unused lights, small appliances, etc. What’s in the editorial is not promising going forward; this is so disheartening.
I have always supported our governor, but that has certainly been changing. Illinois lawmakers need to step up to the plate to stop this insanity.
— Rosemarie Szewczyk, Mokena, Illinois
Who is DraftKings kidding?
Regarding “DraftKings to end retail sportsbook at Wrigley” (May 18): I’m not sure who DraftKings thinks it’s kidding when it blames Illinois wagering taxes for the closing of its Wrigley Field sportsbook. That would be like Borders blaming taxes for going out of business instead of Amazon. Sure, we’d all like to pay less in tax money, but c’mon.
The idea that the real reason isn’t dwindling demand for an in-person service that people can get on their phones from the comfort of their own home (or at their seats in the ballpark itself while watching the game) is asking me to close my eyes and put my fingers in my ears.
Blaming the taxes would feel more real and less rhetorical if the location was otherwise thriving, but making less than $900,000 in a market that generated $1.48 billion in state revenue doesn’t scream “taxes too high” to me — it screams “we miscalculated what the market was for this service, so we’ll try to score a political point on the way out that may help our online business down the road.”
— James Ross, West Chicago
Note to readers
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