Thomas Bamonte

You must be intrepid if you are using sidewalks in lieu of unplowed bike lanes. See, e.g., Division Street, a key east-west corridor across the Chicago River.

Danes take the bike even during Winter Approximately 80% of cycling commuters continue over the cold months. Which is twice the average in North America.

"In Denmark ~80% of cycling commuters continue over the cold months. Investment in the Danish cycling infrastructure is world-leading-and huge. This investment is particularly noticeable when the snow arrives, when cycle paths are usually cleared before the main roads." reelight.com/en-us/blogs/...

“People who stop cycling as the winter comes mention two obstacles—no safe infrastructure, no winter maintenance—as the most important barriers. Once there’s no proper cycling infrastructure nor winter maintenance, cycling through the year becomes an extreme sport." www.wwf.org.uk/sites/defaul...

Those that lament Chicago’s low ranking in the annual list of bike-friendly cities should pipe down. A city that doesn’t give equal priority to clearing bike and car lanes can’t claim to be a bike-friendly city. This is Clybourn Avenue, which holds a protected bike lane corridor to Downtown.

Woman fatally struck by CTA bus after apparent slip in South Shore: Chicago police A woman was struck and killed by a CTA bus in the South Shore neighborhood after she apparently slipped in front of it, according to Chicago police.

The reporting on this pedestrian fatality with @chicagocta.bsky.social bus says the victim “slipped” while approaching the bus but doesn’t say on what. Might we surmise that victim slipped on accumulated snow/ice b/c of failure to plow snow/ice from sidewalks and bus stops? wgntv.com/news/chicago...

We asked CDOT what's on tap for properly maintaining Chicago's protected bike lanes after snowstorms. - Streetsblog Chicago The department needs to promptly plow bikeways after blizzards, or else face arguments that riders were better off with old-style, paint-only bike lanes.

We asked CDOT what’s on tap in terms of properly maintaining Chicago’s protected bike lanes after snowstorms. Promptly plowing is needed, or else they'll face arguments that riders were better off with old-style, paint-only bikeways.

@atalliance.bsky.social @chicritmass.bsky.social @bikegridnow.org

And this is all too common at the bus stops these days.

#Ventra says this is the bus service available around the @chicagocta.bsky.social North/Clybourn Red Line Station at 7:20 p.m. on a weekday. Really? 😤🤷‍♂️ It is maddening how unreliable is Chicago region next bus/train info. across the travel navigation apps supported or fed by our transit agencies.

Budget Talks are Missing One Key Option Importantly, an option completely in City Council’s control

City of Chicago budget plans "neglect a powerful revenue option completely in City Council’s control: changing land use rules to grow the tax base - particularly by upzoning residential neighborhoods." More multi-family housing = more property tax receipts. citythatworks.substack.com/p/budget-tal...

Chicago: 12/6/25 - This Saturday
Holiday Pop-Up, Crafts, & Snacks at BFF Bikes

We have over 700 name patches for folks to choose from. We’ll even sew the names on for you!

Please RSVP so we know how many people to expect & how many snacks to bring

www.bikelaneuprising.com/events/holid...

Our database of over 100,000 reported bike lane obstructions shows business owners themselves use bike lanes as free parking. They know the current system is so broken they will not be ticketed. They also instruct delivery drivers and customers to do the same.

Opinion: One Less Lane Ought To Fix It — Streetsblog USA Federal inaction means states must lead on reducing emissions — but their reluctance to reallocate road space for cars may doom climate goals.

Hard news for transportation system reform advocates: Per @alextburns.bsky.social "carrot" measures will not deliver substantial GHG reductions from the transportation sector; what's required is reallocating road space for other transportation modes or other uses. usa.streetsblog.org/2025/12/02/o...

An Urban Core Congestion Pricing Program for the Chicago Region > Metropolitan Planning Council MPC Senior Advisor Thomas Bamonte offers this issue brief on an urban core congestion pricing program for the Chicago region.

Congestion and negative impacts of SOV driving are not limited to Chicago downtown. Thus, define urban core as area inside Tri-State and use Illinois Tollway’s physical infrastructure and tolling tech to establish urban core congestion pricing program. metroplanning.org/an-urban-cor...

Chicago Transit Doesn’t Need Another Bailout Declining ridership shouldn’t be rewarded with more taxpayer dollars.

Sharp critic of the Illinois transit funding bill: “[A] transit fiscal cliff is a rare opportunity for customer-oriented reform. But the CTA and other systems would rather burn through more taxpayer funds to provide services that customers don’t want.” www.city-journal.org/article/chic...

Business concerns stall plan to let Chicagoans flag crosswalk, bus and bike lane parking scofflaws Ald. Daniel La Spata agreed to put a hold on his proposed citizen reporting ordinance in hopes of striking a compromise that could appease the Illinois Retail Merchants Association and the Chicagoland...

Bumpy road for Chicago plan to improve reporting of crosswalk, bus and bike lane violations. chicago.suntimes.com/city-hall/20...

Trump announces plan to rescind Biden-era fuel-economy standards for vehicles | CNN Politics President Donald Trump on Wednesday unveiled plans to rescind fuel-economy standards for vehicles put in place under the Biden administration.

This move to scale back automobile fuel use efficiency has environmental and other implications. www.cnn.com/2025/12/03/p...

Chicago ADU ordinance explainer courtesy of @stevevance.net. us8.campaign-archive.com?e=02dd9a1618...

Chicago's streets and x-ways are oversubscribed but its transit system--@chicagocta.bsky.social, Metra, and Pace--has lots of unused capacity that might absorb some of that traffic if things like chronic slow zones are addressed pronto and region follows global metro leads. bsky.app/profile/thom...

Paris air pollution is down 50% after its radical bike-friendly transformation Cars have been banned from more than 100 streets. Tens of thousands of parking spots have been eliminated. Hundreds of miles of bike lanes have been added. And air pollution is plummeting.

3. Paris: Shifting travel from single occupancy vehicles to transit, walking, and bicycling by retooling streets from channels for cars to become multi-modal platforms serving more people with more affordable travel options. www.fastcompany.com/91317234/par...

A prize worth pursuing: has Elizabeth line shown what rail investment can achieve? Project has smashed forecasts on passengers numbers and created a story of regeneration along its route

2. London: Congestion pricing helps fund robust transit system including popular new cross-metro rail line that is speeding transit travel in region. www.theguardian.com/business/202...

Congestion Pricing Is Cutting Traffic Jams In New York AND New Jersey: Research - Streetsblog New York City Travelers in Manhattan's central business district — and even those far beyond it — have gotten back tens of thousands of hours thanks to fewer traffic jams.

1. New York City: Congestion Pricing. nyc.streetsblog.org/2025/06/18/c...

Chicago overtakes NYC for worst vehicle congestion in the US, survey says Chicago is at the top nationally again amid growing traffic globally, thanks in part to NYC keeping traffic steady after implementing a traffic surcharge in Manhattan.

Global metro leaders point the way out of Chicago's traffic congestion quagmire: "Congestion stayed relatively flat in NYC, London and Paris. NYC likely bucked the trend of worsening traffic globally, in part due to Manhattan’s new congestion pricing." chicago.suntimes.com/transportati...

And see @davidzipper.bsky.social response: bsky.app/profile/davi...

Opinion | The Data on Self-Driving Cars Is Clear. We Have to Change Course.

Making the public health case for accelerating the deployment of automated vehicles (or at least #Waymo AVs). www.nytimes.com/2025/12/02/o...

Building Smarter: How Investing in More Transportation Choices Cuts Infrastructure Costs - RMI Last month, Illinois lawmakers brought the Chicago transit system back from the brink of financial insolvency largely by deploying one transformative solution: shifting transport revenues away from ex...

Construction costs are high. What is the solution to modernizing transportation infrastructure? Multimodal investments (bus, rail, bike) can reduce transportation expenditures in the long run by more affordably serving urban travel needs rmi.org/building-sma...

OPINION: Where Cities are Investing, Vision Zero is Working  — Streetsblog USA As the Vision Zero Network turns 10, it's time to look at what works and what is achievable (a lot!).

Glass half full look at Vision Zero efforts. "Orlando reduced traffic fatalities by nearly 40% b/w 2020 and 2024. Hoboken has gone 8 consecutive years w/out a traffic death. NYC reduced pedestrian deaths by 45% and overall traffic deaths by 12% b/w 2013 and 2023." usa.streetsblog.org/2025/11/28/o...

Downzoning was used by cities around the world to preserve neighborhood aesthetics & protect property values.

New evidence from Chicago in @findingspress.org ⏬ shows downzoning's effects over several decades:
—Massive drop in housing construction
—Higher home prices
—Increased racial segregation

I've been thinking about a Forest Park rebuild that moves to the Altenheim Line through North Lawndale before rejoining at Austin after it leaves the median.

This would replace the worst highway-centric stations with new neighborhood nodes at brownfields like the Sears site.

Taking "rapid" out of "rapid transit." Over 20% of @chicagocta.bsky.social usable rail length is classified as being in a slow zone. Capital funding is next big transit challenge to tackle. Accelerating I-290 (Eisenhower/Congress) roadway/transit project addresses ~1/4 of the slow zone trackage.

Dodge Avenue bus extension to Logan Square coming Dec. 21 - Evanston RoundTable West Evanston bus riders will be getting an early holiday gift this year. On Dec. 21, CTA bus route 93, which primarily serves the street that's called

Route 93 bus @chicagocta.bsky.social getting more service improvements later this month. Will link Davis Street CTA Station in Evanston to the Blue Line Station in Logan Square in Chicago with a stop along the way at the Kedzie Station on the Brown Line. evanstonroundtable.com/2025/11/30/c...