Regional Mode Share Report activetrans.org

The Active Transportation Alliance is Chicagoland’s voice for better walking, biking and transit. With an aim to create healthy, sustainable and equitable communities, our goal for 2025 is to see 50 percent of all trips in the region made by people walking, biking or using public transit. To track progress by mode, Active Trans compiles and analyzes publicly available mode share and travel data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) and US Decennial Census. The census provides local commute data by mode on an annual basis; however, the survey data is limited since it does not capture pedestrian, bicycle or transit trips made for non-work purposes such as shopping or recreation.

This report also analyzes transportation data from our regional planning organization Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP) and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) as well as congestion data from Texas A&M University’s Urban Mobility Report. Overall Trends The Chicagoland region has seen a substantial decrease in walking, biking and transit work trips since 1980 when nearly a quarter of residents used one of these modes to get to work. Regionally, as walking, biking and transit trips have declined, driving commute trips have increased as have the percentage of people working from home. While disappointing, over the last decade the downward trend of people walking, biking and taking transit to work has reversed and is again climbing, growing from 15.4 percent in 2006 to 17.1 percent in 2016 (Figure 1). This recent growth was mostly driven by an increase in walking, biking and transit in the City of Chicago (Figure 2).

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SMART, San Rafael OK 1st leg of bike path to Larkspur


Work is set to begin next month on the Larkspur extension and will now include a multi-use path as part of a tentative agreement reached this week between SMART and San Rafael city officials. (Robert Tong/Marin Independent Journal)

Contractors building the Larkspur extension of the SMART train will do double duty to incorporate construction of a bike and pedestrian pathway at the same time, under a tentative agreement reached this week after months of uncertainty.

The agreement, between officials of SMART — or Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit — and the city of San Rafael, covers the area of the pathway from Andersen to Rice drives where the train tracks and the bike path are side by side. Work is set to begin next month and cost the city $4.6 million, plus about $900,000 as a 20 percent contingency — or a total of about $5.47 million.

The rest of the total 1.6-mile bike path, which is not directly adjacent to the SMART extension construction, will be done at a later date.

“This is a success story for the city,” said former Marin County supervisor Steve Kinsey, a consultant to San Rafael on downtown transit issues, in an email. “Against great odds, they met SMART’s requirement to fully design, permit and fund the trail. They absorbed the financial risk for much of the design and environmental clearance.”

Kinsey added that the SMART-San Rafael deal is the first step to “a safe, direct biking route through this area (that) will be well used, with bike commuters being able to get from home to the (Larkspur) ferry faster than by auto.

“Students at Davidson (Middle School in San Rafael) and San Rafael High (School) will also utilize this section of the greenway regularly.”

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APTA: Majority of Americans favor increased public transit funding

Author: Rail News: Passenger Rail

Seventy-four percent of Americans in a recent survey agreed that Congress should boost public transit funding, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) reported yesterday.

Conducted by the Mineta Transportation Institute on APTA’s behalf, the survey also showed that 80 percent of respondents support using tax dollars for creating, expanding and improving public transportation in their communities.

“The nation’s support for public transit continues as Americans have more mobility options such as car- and bike-sharing apps, and as other multi-transit opportunities evolve,” APTA officials said in a press release.

In addition, 80 percent of respondents said public transit is important to communities because it “helps businesses flourish,” according to the survey.

The Mineta survey collected data from 1,201 interviews with individuals across the United States.

APTA officials believe the survey demonstrates that there’s agreement among the public and both houses of Congress to increase public transit investment.

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California signs off on grant to connect ACE, BART

 

Author:Rail News: Passenger Rail

California has approved a $750,000 grant to help connect the Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) rail systems.

The grants will help fund planning for the ACE-BART connection, according to a press release issued by the Tri-Valley—San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority.

The project’s first phase calls for building new rail from River Islands, Tracy, Mountain House and Livermore in Northern California to connect with a BART terminus. Later phases would include stops at Lathrop/Manteca and Stockton.

The new route, which would run along former Transcontinental Railroad right-of-way, would provide Stockton and Livermore residents a direct connection to BART.

The segment from West Tracy to Greenville Road in Livermore is expected to cost about $400 million, according to the Tri-Valley—San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority’s website.

The authority was established in 2017 when California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill to plan and deliver the ACE-BART connection, which will provide an alternative to driving along Interstate 580.

That highway system is one of the most congested freeways in Northern California due to a high volume of commuter, freight and other traffic, said Alameda County Supervisor Scott Haggerty, who also serves as chair of the Tri-Valley—San Joaquin Valley Regional Rail Authority.

“With traffic on the I-580 expected to increase 60 percent in the near future, this is a very important rail connection that will not only improve our quality of life, but will also have a positive impact on our economy and the environment,” he said.

Bay Bridge to test 24-hour bike and pedestrian path B

Author: Michael Cabanatuan

For 10 days in May, bicyclists will be able to take a midnight ride across the east span of the Bay Bridge. Pedestrians will get to take moonlight walks, too, weather cooperating.

The span’s 2.2-mile bike and pedestrian path, which travels from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island and is now closed between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m., will open for 24 hours on May 10 and stay that way until May 19 at 9 p.m.

The all-night hours are intended as a test to see what will be needed to make 24-hour operation permanent, which has been the plan since transportation officials agreed to include a bike path on the bridge’s replacement span in the late 1990’s.

“We’ve been discussing it for a long time and this will give us an idea what we need as far as lighting, additional CHP officers and anything else,” said Bob Haus, a Caltrans spokesman.

While the bike path officially opened in September 2013, a few days after the first cars crossed the new east span, it’s only been available to bike riders and walkers during limited hours.

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