At first blush, it may seem like mayoral hopefuls Toni Preckwinkle and Lori Lightfoot have nearly identical transportation platforms. After all, both Preckwinkle and Lightfoot said they’re on board with multiple policy ideas floated by the Active Transportation Alliance in its candidate questionnaire. These include reduced transit fares for low-income Chicagoans; adding 50 miles of bus lanes; installing 100 miles of bikeways; building a continuous Chicago River trail; developing a transportation and infrastructure equity plan; implementing ride-sharing policies that encourage multipassenger trips; upgrading the Metra Electric line; and “prioritizing safety, equity, public health, and the environment above [motor vehicle] travel times when designing city streets.”
Funding for bike/ped projects
Preckwinkle wasn’t down with the proposal, writing that she’d seen studies that found that creating speedy transit on the drive via car-free lanes wouldn’t draw much new ridership due to the proximity of the Red Line. “Given the congestion on Lake Shore Drive, it makes sense to use multipurpose lanes with transit and tolled [vehicles] together,” she told me. Active Trans and a coalition of nine other civic and community groups have disputed the models that predicted fast transit wouldn’t draw heavy ridership, and the groups argued that multipurpose lanes would become clogged with cars.
Again, both candidates said “Yes” to Active Trans’ proposal for a 50 percent discount on CTA, Metra, and Pace fares for residents at or below the federal poverty line, similar to the Seattle area’s reduced-fare program. “I support making transit affordable for those who are least able to afford it and most likely to depend on transit to travel to work, school, conduct errands, or receive medical services,” Lightfoot wrote.
And both campaigns said they would end the Chicago Police Department’s admitted practice of using stops for minor bicycle violations as a pretext to conduct searches in high-crime communities of color. Preckwinkle compared that strategy to the CPD’s inequitable marijuana enforcement tactics.
