Do you think people will get into "sharing" mode with respect to vehicles? We're a people after all where sharing a lawnmower around a neighborhood seems to make operational and cost sense but everyone has their own lawnmower in their garage. The failure of LyftLine and UberPool is sobering.
"At the core ... is an ableist society, or one built primarily by, for and of people without disabilities. Those who donβt fit that label are then considered disabled. But accessibility advocates say the opposite is true: Itβs the world that disables far more." www.bloomberg.com/news/feature...
"Incorporating evidence from 26 studies on AVsβ impacts on the flow of car traffic, researchers find that a future where driverless cars become widespread is likely to increase the total number of miles traveled by vehicles in the US by around 5.95 percent." www.vox.com/future-perfe...
Pic of Grand Ave. behind anti-bike lane protestors Exhibit A for why protected bike/ped infrastructure is needed to improve safety, give more options to seniors, bicyclists, pedestrians, and other non-auto travelers, and optimize streetscapes for businesses. chi.streetsblog.org/2026/03/05/d...
Bear with @starlinechicago.bsky.social as he makes the case for #OneCentral project as a catalyst for public transportation improvements with region-wide benefits connecting a number of Chicago megaprojects in development. yard-social.com/2026/03/04/d...
Author suggests that @chicagocta.bsky.social low post-pandemic ridership recovery compared to @wmata.com is attributable to WMATA's success in reducing the incidence of crime on the system and improving the "felt safety" experienced by riders.
"It took WMATA years of comprehensive safety planning and implementation to recover so much of their ridership, and the same will be the case for us. So letβs not waste time avoiding solutions that have been proven to work just because they are difficult." citythatworks.substack.com/p/riders-des...
The opinion by the US District Court judge in the NYC congestion pricing case rebuffing USDOT's effort to shut down the program found here: earthjustice.org/wp-content/u...
Full report w/Chicago page excerpt. www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/uwa25...
"Kennedy consistently found that downtown residents have carbon footprints several times lower than their suburban counterparts. That, too, is part of the case for redeveloping downtown highways, he said."
"As he uncovered this data, Patrick Kennedy went on the hunt for correlations. The strongest one he identified was highway lane miles to vehicle miles traveled. In other words, the more highways in a given metro area, the more people drive."
New report by @thedotcity.bsky.social finds that roughly 66,000 acres of land in 142 US cities are consumed by highways, representing an untapped development potential of more than half a trillion dollars and $5.2 billion in foregone property tax revenue every year. www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
US District Court rejects USDOTβs attempt to reverse its prior approval of New York Cityβs congestion pricing program and terminate the program. www.politico.com/news/2026/03...
Automakersβ Dilemma: Invest in New Tech or Stick to Gas Cars? A look at how US U-turn from EVs back to gas vehicles may help sink an important domestic manufacturing industry. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/b...
Under the RTA Act the 5 Chicago collar counties are able to keep a total of ~$200M/yr. in transit tax dollars; they spend the bulk of these transit tax dollars on non-transit uses--e.g., police and jails. Putting that money in transit would more than double transit service levels in those counties.
Road funding and quality concerns stemming from Illinois transit reform bill's dedication of revenue from sales tax on motor fuel to transit rather than to the Road Fund. www.25newsnow.com/2026/03/02/h...
New article by @davidstruett.bsky.social on CTA crime. chicago.suntimes.com/the-watchdog...
A plum planning job has openedβDirector of Transportation at the North Central Texas Council of Governments, which contains the metropolitan planning organization #MPO for the Dallas-Fort Worth region. Long-time Director stepping down. Very challenging job. www.ziprecruiter.com/c/North-Cent...
At urging of oil company defendants the US Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether federal law preempts state law climate accountability lawsuits. State supreme court ruled no preemption so Courtβs move may signal different result and end of such lawsuits. www.findlaw.com/legalblogs/f...
A policy consideration often overlooked is if congestion pricing is good for rideshare vehicles, including AVs, why isn't it good for human-operated vehicles occupying the same roadway space and interfering with transit, degrading streetscapes, and adding noise, pollution, and safety hazards?
Local governments should also be given authority to enact reasonable AV-specific traffic control. An example would be something like AV-only curb spaces for passenger pick-ups and drop-offs or where AVs can dwell while awaiting next summon to pick up a passenger.
Illinois can, however, learn from leading AV states and develop a regulatory model that maximizes AV benefits while minimizing costs. It should ask equally hard questions of human-operated vehicles and adjust the regulatory regime for such drivers/vehicles accordingly.
Many states have authorized AV deployments statewide already and commercial AV freight and robotaxi services are underway. In contrast, the pending IL legislation linked in the ActiveTrans article limits AV deployments to pilots in just a few Illinois counties.
Illinois has not been at the forefront of AV technology development or deployment despite its position as the so-called "Crossroads of the US" with one of the largest US metro areas and ample university and tech talent. Nor has @illinoisdot.bsky.social or local DOTs been active on the AV tech front.
Automated vehicle industry insiders see a more accelerated rollout. www.mckinsey.com/features/mck...
This article, "Autonomous Vehicle Implementation Predictions Implications for Transport Planning," @toddlitman.bsky.social discusses the timeline for AV implementation and assesses the likely impacts of AVs. It sees widespread AV adoption in 2040-2060 period. www.vtpi.org/avip.pdf
Almost every question about AV behavior, uses, and regulation can and should be asked about the behavior, uses, and regulation of human-operated vehicles. AV regulation development in IL is an opportunity to ask and answer some fundamental questions about how we regulate human-operated vehicles.
Likewise, if a state attempts to hold AVs to a higher standard of safety performance than human-driven vehicles then shouldn't it also be raising the bar for human drivers through stronger licensing and human driver performance standards?
Preserving the authority of local governments to similarly regulate the uses of automated vehicles--e.g., subjecting robotaxis to rideshare regulation requirements--is a key policy consideration in any Illinois state law authorizing AV deployments.
Preserving the authority of local governments to similarly regulate the uses of automated vehicles--e.g., subjecting robotaxis to rideshare regulation requirements--is a key policy consideration in any Illinois state law authorizing AV deployments.
