Chicago Reporter (https://www.chicagoreporter.com/tag/transportation/)
The planned closing of Mercy Hospital underscores the dramatic loss of maternity services in Chicago over the past year — reflecting the failure of local government agencies to adequately fund critical services in vulnerable communities, advocates say.
Low-income and minority groups are often reliant on cheaper modes of transport, but many find cycling to work problematic.
The mayor’s proposal to relieve congestion and boost public transportation will cost solo riders in affluent areas the most, but there are other, more progressive options.
Officials are seeking public comment after a review found that the development could harm the historical status of the Jackson Park Historic Landscape District and Midway Plaisance.
Chicago’s new mayor criticized developer Bob Dunn for slipping authorization for $5 billion into the state capital budget for a giant new transit hub next to Soldier Field.
As Rahm Emanuel courts flashy projects amid a slew of scandals, it seems the mayor is more accountable to big-money donors than to neighborhood constituents.
Converting the Metra Electric District main line into rapid transit could be a quicker, cheaper way to improve transit on the South Side than building more Red Line stations, advocates say.
The Chicago Transit Authority’s hybrid proposal lowers the number of privately owned properties that would need to be acquired, but residents still have mixed feelings on how the project could affect them economically.
Mayor Emanuel says his proposed changes to taxicab regulation would help the industry at a time when hundreds of taxi owner-operators face foreclosure on their medallions.
The costly projects will add to the exodus of jobs to the suburbs making employment out of reach for low-income Chicagoans who rely on public transit.