Today the CTA board officially welcomed a new member, six months after member Michelle Lee resigned because she was moving to Scottsdale, Arizona.

Lee’s replacement, therapist and disability rights advocate Lily Diego-Johnson will only be in the seat until September, when the Northern Illinois Transit Authority act provisions reorganizing all four transit boards will kick in. There is nothing in the bill to stop Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson from simply renominating her, 

Today’s meeting also saw the board adopt a policy allowing artistic performances and installations at ‘L’ stations outside of the Loop, and adopted a new policy that permits companies to reserve parking spaces in seven Park-n-Ride facilities. The directors also talked about what the CTA is doing to reduce crime, with several board members urging Acting President Nora Leerhsen to provide detailed reports on how initiatives that don’t involve law enforcements are doing.

The new transit board member

Under the rules that will be in effect for another 3.5 months, The CTA board is made up of four members appointed by the Chicago mayor and three members appointed by the Illinois governor. Lee was one of the mayoral appointees. 

Effective this September, the board will have three directors appointed by Mayor Johnson, two directors appointed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker, and two directors appointed by Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Two of the mayoral appointees and one gubernatorial appointees will double as NITA Board directors. There’s nothing in the NITA Act to prevent current directors from being reappointed.

Diego-Johnson is a social worker and psychotherapist at the Lakeview-based therapy practice Live Oak. She is also an artist and a poet. Like Michelle Lee, who uses a motorized wheelchair, Diego-Johnson has a disability – she is legally blind.

During the meeting, Board Chair Lester Barclay praised Diego-Johnson’s credentials and her activism. “On behalf of the board, welcome, and I look forward to working with you,” he said.

“We’re so happy to have you on the board and we look forward to having your experience in the coming months,” Leerhsen said. 

“I’m grateful to serve and be on this board,” Diego-Johnson said. “I’m also disabled myself, so I appreciate being able to share my own experience and that of my community.”

New public performances rules

Until Wednesday’s vote, public performances were only allowed at designated areas on the platforms of the Blue Line’s Washington Station and both the Blue and Red lines Jackson stops. All performers must have a valid CTA Performer Permit.

The amended regulations keep that arrangement at those three stations, while also setting up new performance rules for the 95th/Dan Ryan Red Line stop, the Kimball Brown Line station and the Damen Green Line and Pink Line stop. Those stations notably have larger-than-average lobbies, and the 95th Street station already has a DJ booth in its North Terminal. CTA Chief Infrastructure Officer Bill Mooney told the board that the agency tried to make sure it wouldn’t cluster the performance spaces in any particular part of town, and prioritized stations where the community had already expressed interest in holidng performances.

Mooney said that performing at those four stations will require more than getting a permit. Applicants will be screened by a stakeholder committee. He and CTA Chief Innovation Officer Molly Poppe will make the final selection. The performances could be a one-night stand, or they can run for weeks or even months. “We are encouraging people to put out ideas that are not just one-off events,” Mooney said.

Poppe said another difference with the new program is that CTA will help fund the performances. 

Board member Rev. L. Bernard Jakes recalled seeing celebrities perform on the New York City Subway, and wondered if the CTA could host performances like that with local talent.

Leerhsen pointed to CTA’s recent collaboration with Chance the Rapper, and promised something involving a sports team is coming later this year. 

“Will there be a specific outreach made for disabilities art and inclusion of disability culture?” Diego-Johnson asked. “Often it is overlooked, with people not being aware that there is such a thing as disability culture.”

Poppe said that was a great idea, and that she planned to share it with CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee. 

Board member Roberto Requejo, who was a founding director of Elevated Chicago, recalled approaching CTA about doing art installations at ‘L’ stations and heard many reasons why the transit agency couldn’t do it. While he said he was glad CTA relaxed its stance, he was worried that prospective artists would face too many bureaucratic barriers. 

Poppe responded that they tried to make the application relatively simple, and that the CTA wont respond to proposals with a simple yes or no. She gave an example of a rock band that wanted the put on a show with pyrotechnics. “And we may say, the rock band is great, pyrotechnics, not so much,” she said.

Crime reduction and other stats

During her regular president’s report, Leerhsen acknowledged that while crime on the system has been trending downward, that’s are of little consolation to victims of crimes and their loved ones. But she said it’s still important to acknowledge the progress being made.

Leehrsen said the CTA looked at Chicago Police Department crime data for April 2026 and compared it to April 2025. (Because crime stats fluctuate seasonally, CPD and the CTA tend to do month-to-month comparisons, arguing that’s more of an apples-to-apples comparison).

The acting president said that, according to CPD data, “serious crime” on the Red Line between the Roosevelt and 95th stations was down 70 percent this April compared to April 2025. This was one of the areas, along with the Blue Line, where the police department ramped up enforcement since the middle of 2025. 

Leerhsen also credited the Cook County Sheriff’s Police, which started patrolling the ‘L’ stations in March, with driving down the numbers. And she said that investing more money in social service outreach on the Red and Blue lines helped as well. The spending went up from around $1 million a year to nearly $13 million a year. 

Leerhsen touted the Community Violence Intervention Specialists and Crisis Intervention Specialists pilots that are currently scheduled to launch this fall. Both programs seek to diffuse tense situations before they escalate, and connect riders experiencing homelessness, addiction, and/or mental illness with the resources.

At the same time, CTA is developing its own transit ambassador program, the Safe Ride Specialist program, in-house. Leerhsen noted that the NITA Act already requires the transit agencies set up ambassador programs by July 1, 2027. She said the CTA wants to get an early start. “All of it is just the beginning,” Leerhsen added. “We will continue to engage the new partners.”

Barclay said that he’s happy with the progress, but emphasized that “the system can be safer statistically, but if the public doesn’t feel safe, we will have a lot of work to do.”

Jakes said that he has seen phone videos on how effective violence interrupters can be, so he fully supported the ppilot. He also asked whether the CTA is coordinating with the Chicago Department of Public Health to reduce duplication in outreach. 

Diego-Johnson said she also supported investment in crisis intervention, “because, oftentimes, we found that policing, from systemic standpoint, can create more trauma.” She added that she would like to see the data on how effective that has been. Leerhsen responded that the CTA will provide that info in the future.

Board member Neema Jha said that she would like to see the data for everything CTA is doing to reduce crime and quality of life issues. She added that she would like to see it system-wide, and “It would be great to have a one-pager” with a monthly update at every future meeting. 

Board member Rosa Ortiz agreed. “I value the data,” she said. “I know it’s a really hard to get.”

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,749 with $17,251 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

• Active Trans: “The bill to stop super speeders has successfully passed in the Senate Transportation Committee… his will soon head to the full Senate for a vote.”

• CPD: Man kidnapped female CTA bus driver, 57, at knifepoint today around 2:40 AM at Belmont/Pulaski, operator escaped at 900 block of N. Clark, suspect arrested (ABC)

• “‘Major delays’ on CTA Blue Line as person on tracks near Grand brings service to a halt” (NBC)

• ‘CBS: “CTA revises 2025 ridership figures upward”

• Swift thinking! “Skokie mayor floats ‘preliminary talks’ of CTA Yellow Line extension” (Tribune)

• Could commuter rail between the Loop and O’Hare become extraORDinary? “Metra Studying Chicago To O’Hare Express Service” (Journal & Topics)

• Tribune Editorial Board: Won’t someone please think of the long-suffering Naperville car commuters who have no choice but to drive to Loop jobs? (Redemption in last sentence.)

• “Halsted Street Viaduct Progress From The Air” (Chicago YIMBY)

• “Reconstruction Of 4 Montrose Harbor Bridges Nearly Finished” (Block Club)

• Letter from traffic safety lawyer: “Steer away from self-driving cars, for now” (Sun-Times)

• Fun: Someone used one of our images for an Arc GIS Story Map about the Archer Avenue traffic safety project controversy

• WBEZ: “The Balbo Monument [on the Lakefront Trail, named for a fascist leader ] is in rough shape. What should we do with it?”

• “The Return of the Crosstown Classic! Take the CTA to the Red Line Rivalry to Watch the Cubs Vs. White Sox”

• Chicago-Milwaukee-Chicago 300K ACP Brevet, a prep ride for Paris-Brest-Paris, leaves this Sat. 5/16, 5 AM from the Lakefront Trail at Monroe St., returning around midnight

• Chicago, Bike Grid Now! celebrates the 5th birthday of the never-opened Wells-Wentworth Connector, this Sun. 5/17, 3:30-5:30ish, 1700 S Wentworth

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,749 with $17,251 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

By Ellen Steinke

Chicago’s transit use may be more robust — and more geographically unequal — than previous public data suggested.

That was one of the clearest takeaways at the May 5th Chi Hack Night as CTA officials spent more than an hour walking transit advocates, civic technologists, and curious Chicagoans through a major overhaul of how the agency counts ridership.

The headline number was striking: CTA revised its 2025 ridership totals upward by roughly 19 million rides after implementing a new methodology for counting trips on buses and rail. But the more interesting story may be why those numbers changed and what the updated data says about who uses transit most. Buses in many South and West Side neighborhoods appear significantly busier than previous public data indicated.

The presentation drew one of the larger recent Chi Hack Night crowds, with organizers estimating roughly 50 attendees, including a sizable number of first-time participants who said they came specifically for the CTA discussion. And unlike the polished, tightly scripted public presentations agencies often give, this one felt unusually candid and technical.

CTA analysts Scott Wainwright, Paul Murray, and Kevin Li, openly discussed previous flaws in counting methods, limitations in farebox systems, uncertainty in data collection, and the tradeoffs involved in measuring transit use across a system that carries hundreds of millions of riders annually. At several points, officials encouraged researchers and advocates to revisit earlier analyses because the underlying ridership data itself had changed.

The changes stem largely from two things: new fareboxes and a new counting methodology using automatic passenger counters, or APCs. These infrared sensors and cameras mounted near bus doors count riders boarding and exiting vehicles regardless of whether they pay a fare and help paint a more accurate picture of ridership.

CTA planners explained that older methodologies relied more heavily on farebox data and manual video review, which likely undercounted actual usage, especially on routes where riders boarded through rear doors, paid cash, or did not tap Ventra cards consistently.

One slide titled “What We Changed and Why” summarized the methodology overhaul succinctly:

• restated 2025 ridership,
• started a new methodology for counting rides,
• added “Paid” and “Underpaid” categories to reports “for transparency,”
• and added evasion counts to station-level ridership totals.

The result is a transit system that appears significantly busier than many Chicagoans may have realized.

Some of the largest upward revisions occurred on heavily used South and West Side bus corridors. According to CTA’s presentation, the 79th Street bus alone gained more than one million rides after the methodology update, roughly a 22 percent increase. Other routes including the 87th, 63rd, and Cottage Grove buses also saw ridership increases exceeding 20 percent.

In other words, the routes serving some of Chicago’s most transit-dependent communities may also have been among the system’s most undercounted. This has important implications for how Chicago talks about transit recovery.

For years, public discussions around transit have often focused on downtown office commuting and whether ridership has “returned” after the pandemic. But the revised CTA data paints a more geographically uneven picture. While Loop commuting patterns remain altered by remote work, bus usage across many neighborhoods appears far stronger than previously understood.

The updated data also revealed significant increases in what CTA now categorizes as “underpaid” rides, or trips where riders either paid reduced fares, insufficient fares, or no fares at all. CTA estimates roughly 20 percent of bus rides and around 5 percent of rail rides now fall into that category. 

But notably, agency staff framed this less as a law enforcement issue and more as a planning and affordability challenge. Presenters repeatedly emphasized that fare evasion is concentrated in lower-income neighborhoods. 

At several points, the discussion shifted toward broader questions about equity, service planning, and transit funding. CTA officials noted that while fare revenue matters financially, rider taps also provide essential planning data that helps the agency understand where riders are traveling and where service is needed most.

“We’re planners,” Wainwright explained. “We really want the taps. We want to see where people are and where they’re going, so we can plan the service for them.”

The agency also discussed potential future low-income fare programs and acknowledged that affordability pressures likely play a role in rising underpayment rates.

Still, the overall tone of the meeting remained pragmatic rather than punitive. Rather than presenting the revised data as evidence of failure, CTA staff framed the methodology update as part of a broader effort to improve transparency and produce more accurate ridership estimates in a post-pandemic transit context.

A notable moment came during a discussion of the agency’s APC-based “factoring” methodology. Rather than deploying an opaque machine-learning system, CTA planners described intentionally choosing a simpler, more understandable approach that could be publicly explained and maintained over time while still remaining highly accurate.

Another slide highlighted that the methodology documents themselves had been uploaded to the city’s open data portal for public review.

Public agencies often have incentives to avoid discussing uncertainty, revisions, or imperfect data. Monday’s presentation took the opposite approach. CTA employees spent over 40 minutes fielding detailed questions about farebox recovery ratios, route-level disparities, station counting methods, transfer modeling, service reliability, and enforcement strategies.

The CTA’s presentation was not a perfect portrait of the transit system. If anything, the presentation underscored how difficult transit measurement actually is in a sprawling, evolving urban network shaped by changing technology, post-pandemic travel behavior, and persistent inequality. But it also demonstrated an increasingly rare instance in which a public agency treated residents, advocates, and researchers like collaborators rather than adversaries. 

And perhaps most importantly, the presentation suggested something many transit riders already intuitively understood: Chicago’s buses remain heavily used infrastructure, especially in communities where transit is not optional.

See the full presentation on Chi Hack Night’s YouTube Channel. 

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,721 with $17,279 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

• Block Club: “Cop Appears To Yell ‘I’ll Kill You’ Before Fatally Shooting Man Fleeing Traffic Stop, Video Shows”

• “Chicago police investigate altercation and possible gunfire on CTA bus” (WGN)

• Great response to Tribune Archer editorial from ATA: “By focusing solely on the project’s new PBLs, the editorial entirely misses the lifesaving purpose of the project”

• Nice summary of the Archer project issues from Kyle Lucas of Better Streets Chicago.

• …We helped encourage Block Club to fix their headline on the subject, which we appreciated.

• Block Club: “Every day, 1,000s of semis roll in and out of sprawling warehouse complexes outside Chicago… They pummel the roads, belch fumes and cause deadly crashes.”

• Psst… Moovit, friends don’t let friends use AI to write and/or illustrate sustainable transportation news articles (Bluesky, Twitter)

• A City That Works meetup w/ housing advocate Ald. Walter “Red” Burnett (27th) Wed. 5/13, 5:30-7:30 at Midwest Coast Brewing, 2137 W. Walnut St. RSVP here.

• ACTW’s Richard Day, also an SBC contributor, Rep. Eva-Dina Delgado, and Indivisible Chicago Crew on Mon. 5/18, 7-8:30 PM at Hideout, talking Build Plan. Register here.

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,721 with $17,279 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

I don’t want to harp about this particular subject too much longer, but I’m guessing some Streetsblog Chicago readers will find this new wrinkle relevant and interesting. Those who don’t want to read more about the politics behind Chicago’s anti-Complete Streets movement might want to skip this post.

Regular followers of this site are probably aware of the Chicago Tribune’s recent editorial, “A sensible compromise on Archer Avenue takes more than bike activists into account,” The piece was attributed to the paper’s editorial board, but based on my previous interactions with Editorial Page Editor Chris Jones, it’s obvious he wrote it.

Many SBC readers have probably seen the incisive letters to the editor in response, by Viktor Köves, creator of the sites Chicagoans Who Bike and Find the Right Bike, and McKinley Park resident Tony Adams. They discussed Jones’ failure to acknowledge the need to make the Archer corridor safer, and his fixation with keeping the road as convenient as possible for driving.

To its credit, the Tribune also ran the letter I submitted, which focused on a couple of inaccurate statements in the editorial. It including a veiled-but-obvious attack Streetsblog Chicago that was easy to debunk. The paper did a good job of concisely editing my letter, so if you haven’t already read it, please take a look on the Tribune’s website, Bluesky, or Twitter to get up to speed before reading the rest of this post.

Chris Jones responds to my request for a retraction

Jones graciously gave me permission to share his email reply, and my response, in the following format. The bolded text is all the passages from his single email. The standard text below is my replies to his points from my single email. The italics is some additional information and commentary I’ve added.

“Mr. Jones and me” agreed that I should correct some typos, and that I would edit my own statements (not his), for clarity and brevity. I’ve also added some links to sources.

I started the exchange last Thursday, May 7, by emailing Jones and his colleagues to thank them for running my LTTE. “Now that the Tribune has published hard evidence that the editorial’s statement about “[Streetsblog Chicago] demonizing anyone who dares to oppose their views as members of the ‘right-leaning political class'” is factually incorrect, if not libelous, how about running a retraction of that statement?”

Chris Jones: “John:

There was no error and there will be no retraction. 

Juan Rangel is not right-leaning but a centrist of the Rahm [Emanuel] type. He is a Democrat and even was a delegate to the 2012 Democratic convention.” 

John Greenfield: “Your own publication ran Rangel’s [flattering] op-ed about Trump’s election win, which described the organization he runs as ‘a nonprofit organization in Illinois that empowers moderate to conservative community leadership and public policy.'”

Here are a few key passages from Rangel’s November 2024 opinion piece, titled, “How Latinos Found Their Voice in Donald Trump.”

• “Trump’s appeal to economic opportunity, cultural preservation and dissatisfaction with government overreach proved a powerful message that resonated with Latinos striving to achieve their American Dream.”

• “Latino voters gravitate toward candidates who prioritize job creation and economic growth. This message strikes a chord with a community that values its work ethic and where entrepreneurialism thrives… Trump’s promise to slash regulations, cut taxes and control inflation appealed directly to Latino aspirations and frustrations.”

• “Within the more established Mexican American immigrant community, frustration with the Biden-Harris administration’s handling of the migrant crisis played a significant role in their vote for Trump. Many viewed the influx of new migrants — particularly from Central and South America — with deep resentment… By promising fairness, order and stability, Trump tapped into this resentment, positioning himself as a defender of those who played by the rules.”

JG: “Maybe Rangel is technically registered as a Democrat, which you basically have to be to get anything done politically in Chicago. But so is Ald. Lopez, who helped plan and promote the ICE crackdowns.”

Jones did not argue that it is unfair to call Ald. Lopez “right-leaning.”

CJ: “Claudia Zuno is a center-left Democrat.”

JG: “I never describe Zuno or Villalobos as Trump supporters [in fact I’ve got video of Zuno referring to the president as “a sleazebag”], but obviously they’re closely allied with Lopez and Rangel… Clearly Lopez’s committee meeting stunt, and the weekly anti-Archer rallies for two months before Zuno’s campaign announcement, featuring protesters holding signs like ‘Julia Gotta Go,’ promoted by Urban Center, were political theater to set the stage for Zuno’s run against a progressive.”

CJ: “It is beyond absurd to suggest that anyone who supports ShotSpotter is therefore ‘right-leaning.’ All kinds of left-leaning people support it because they know it saves lives. I am frankly amazed that Streetsblog is coming out against shot-detection systems. Why?”

JG: “In addition to Zuno being anti-Complete streets, it’s fair to say that being pro-ShotSpotter is a relatively conservative position in Chicago. Block Club reported, ‘Studies, activists and neighbors have criticized the technology, saying its detection work is flawed, it can lead to over policing and it only allows officers to react to potential crime instead of preventing it.'”

Streetsblog Chicago is neither for nor against ShotSpotter, but rather I’ve pointed out that Zuno’s pledge of “restoring effective gunshot detection technology” seems to be a right-of-center position in Chicago.

CJ: “Finally, the Mexico-born Eva Villalobos has a fine progressive record helping Latino families and she is far from right-leaning.”

JG: “Urban Center donated $25K+ to her CPS board campaign to undermine union workers by promoting charter schools. Now she’s doing their bidding by co-organizing the anti-Ramirez rallies.”

The Reader reported that Villalobos “has advocated that Illinois continue its now-defunct tax scholarship program, which gave tax breaks to donors who paid for private school tuition.”

I didn’t find any evidence of Villalobos’ supposed “progressive record” online, and a Brighton Park resident closely involved with local politics told me Jones’ statement didn’t ring a bell. They did note that when Villalobos started her CPS board campaign, her children attended Catholic school. That person added that after facing criticism, Villalobos transferred her kids to public school, but when she lost the election, she transferred them back.

CJ: “Now you of course are free to disagree with the above characterizations (I’m sure you do) and that is because phrases like ‘right-leaning’ are a matter of opinion. Editorials are expressions of opinion just like all of your highly aggressive posts which, as we have said before, cross a doxxing line that goes beyond reasonable debates about Chicago’s infrastructure. You keep posting my picture online, for example, which is not something I would ever do to you, no matter what you said about me.“

JG: “Please explain how anything I’ve done regarding the Archer controversy could be referred to as doxxing.”

Jones never responded to this request.

JG: “You, me, and political candidates are public figures, and as such we can’t really complain when people publicize our images or work-related info. For example, I think it’s reasonable and relevant for me to mention that Zuno, who’s running to represent the Southwest Side, spends her days running her family’s business on the Northwest Side.

For what it’s worth, Ald. Lopez has tweeted out my headshot twice recently. Again, as a public figure, I can’t really complain about that too much.”

Here’s an example of one of Lopez’s tweets from February, after I called him out for his role in making the ICE crackdows happen and his childish behavior at the committee meeting. (I snipped the bottom half since you probably don’t need to see the same photo of my face twice in the same post, but click this link if you want to see the whole thing.)

In fairness, Streetsblog’s role is to amplify local sustainable transportation advocates, not import support for City initiatives. During the five months I’ve covered the weekly dueling Archer project rallies, the response I’ve gotten from the pro-Complete Streets crowd at these events, mostly Latino folks and almost entirely locals, has been 100 percent positive. But after recently getting feedback from some non-Southwest Side advocates who felt I’ve been writing too often about Archer, I double-checked with one of the Southwest Side Safe Streets boosters.

“I don’t think anything you’ve done has been counterproductive,” they responded. “I think the coverage has been fair, factual and peaceful. I would appreciate you keeping the coverage up.”

Archer project supporters at a rally in early March. Photo: Dixon Galvez-Searle

CJ: “We are supportive of many of the same things you support.“

That statement certainly doesn’t jibe with my records. But here’s one recent example of a Tribune editorial I agreed with: a piece on regulating high-speed “e-motos.”

CJ: But we will continue to speak out against your tactics of personal destruction.

Fine, as long as the editorial board doesn’t continue to incorrectly write that Streetsblog Chicago is “demonizing ***anyone*** who dares to oppose their views,” since our article Jones quoted in his editorial did exactly the opposite.

CJ: “[Your ‘tactics of personal destruction’] don’t help keep Chicagoans safe, which I know is one of your goals. A laudable one, too.

I have no problem with your publicizing this response, as you have done in the past…”

That’s one mea culpa on my part – I did recently tweet out a screenshot of an email exchange with Jones that indicated I got the paper to make a correction. It’s generally not illegal to share emails sent directly to you. And it’s not really a journalistic foul if the other party hasn’t specified that their comments are “off the record.”

But it is more considerate to avoid doing that without first asking for permission. So, fair game, I’ll make that my practice moving forward.

CJ: “…but ask only that you do so in full.

Chris”

JG: “Thanks, I may take you up on that when time permits.”

All right, so we can consider this episode of “Editorial Gangs of Chicago” to be a wrap.

Read the editorial “A sensible compromise on Archer Avenue takes more than bike activists into account” here.

Read the letters from Viktor Köves, Tony Adams, and myself in response to the editorial on the Tribune’s website, Bluesky, or Twitter

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,711 with $17,289 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

• “After Teens Killed On Scooters, City And State Push To Regulate Motorized Scooters, E-Bikes” (Block Club)

• …But it’s important to note that the recent killings of Violet Harris, 15, and Astrid Carrillo Noguera, 17, were the result of dangerous driving and/or unsafe infra (Twitter, Bluesky)

• Letters: pediatric residents at Lurie’s: “Rremember e-scooter, e-bike safety”; a complaint about County official Samantha Steele who “managed to beat her DUI rap” (Sun-Times)

• “Letters: The CTA should put more thought and care into how it serves its riders” (Tribune)

• “35th/Archer Orange Line Stop Gets Grant from CTA” (McKinley Park News)

• Tribune: “Editorial: Is Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport [served by Amtrak] a better bet than Chicago O’Hare [served by the Blue Line and Metra]?”

• “United Airlines sponsorship puts [ex-“The Real World Boston” star] Duffy’s TV side gig under scrutiny

• “Dozens Of Developments Advance At City Hall As Zoning Committee Finally Meets Again” (Block Club)

• A last visit to Holiday Club, 4000 N. Sheridan, where we’ve held an SBC meetup or two, before it closes on 5/17. 91 units, 38 car spots are coming across from Sheridan Station.

• Bike Grid Now: “We’re marshalling Ravenswood Elementary’s first-ever bike bus, departing at 8:10 AM from Belle Plaine/Lakeview, arriving at the playground at 8:30 AM.”

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,711 with $17,289 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

This post isn’t completely within Streetsblog Chicago’s wheelhouse, but I thought many of our readers would enjoy it, so I wrote it up over weekend for fun.

Last May Day, I took part in a bike tour of labor landmarks led by local bike advocacy legend Randy Neufeld, cofounder of the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation in 1985, which became the Active Transportation Alliance in 2008. Joining us on our trip through the South Side were Leonard Rau, a brand strategist who helped out with the advocacy group’s name change, and Avi Stopper, a Denver resident who leads a project based in that city called Bike Streets.

As it happened, a couple hours later that day, early Chicago Critical Mass organizers Gin Kilgore and Michael Burton led another bicycle journey on the Northwest and West sides that intersected with Neufeld’s itinerary at one point. I’ll provide a gallery of images from both rides shortly.

But first, here’s a quick interview I did with Avi Stopper about Bike Streets. It’s a similar project as the Mellow Chicago Bike Map I created for the Chicago Reader, most recently in 2020, which was converted into an app.

John Greenfield: Tell me about Bike Streets.

Avi Stopper: It all started with what we call the Low-Stress Denver Bike Map. With advocacy groups around the country, we make low stress bike maps so that people can more easily navigate their communities. And we also do a lot of advocacy work to try to figure out how cities can codify those low stress community networks and turn those into formal, complete networks. So we’re really interested in this question about how cities can rapidly, like in two, three, four years, create the first version of a complete bike network. All right.

JG: What brings you to town?

AS: A University of Chicago reunion. I lived here for ten years. It’s a great opportunity to ride with you guys, and I’m eager to see Randy in his own environment. I’ve taken him on a tour of Denver.

JG: All right, so this is kind of payback.

AS: Yeah!

Check out Stopper’s writeup of the South Side labor bike tour, including some commentary about Chicago’s bikeway network, here.

Without further ado, here are images from Neufeld’s South Side tour and Kilgore and Burton’s West Side tour. I took all photos of the former. Burton shot all the images of the latter, unless noted otherwise.

Randy Neufeld’s South Side May Day ride

Gin Kilgore’s and Michael Burton’s Northwest and West Side May Day journey

The Haymarket Martyrs Memorial at the cemetery, with the inscription, attributed to labor activist August Spies shortly before he was executed by hanging: “The day will come when our silence will be more powerful than the voices you are throttling today.”

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,701 with $17,299 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

By Nik Hunder

Nik Hunder is an environmental policy analyst, researcher, and public transit advocate based in Chicago.

Have you noticed people, often food delivery workers, operating bicycle-like devices without pedaling, traveling faster than 30 mph? Those aren’t bicycles by definition, even if they look like them. Illinois currently defines these devices, nicknamed “e-motos” by bike advocates, as electric motorcycles, but that designation is not all encompassing.

This had led to multiple suburban municipalities enacting their own electric bicycle laws. Often they are heavily restrictive. Elk Grove Village now requires any e-bike rider – even those operating Divvy-style e-bikes, which require pushing the pedals and have an electrical assist that tops off at 20 mph –  to maintain a valid driver’s license. Fox Lake will impound your e-bike if it’s not insured. Glenview has banned them outright.  

These inconsistent policies are difficult to navigate for riders who cross borders. The Illinois General Assembly recognizes this issue and is seeking to address it by enacting statewide micromobility regulations and taking away home rule (the right of municipalities to have differing regulations from the state level), preventing communities from passing more restrictive regulations than what the IGA is proposing. 

SB3336 is the bill that would make this a reality. It’s a joint project between Ride Illinois and Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias, with additional input from People for Bikes. It was announced in January 2026.

The bill’s primary goal

Micromobility is growing at a rapid pace, which has spurred an industry that is creating lots of different kinds of e-bikes and e-scooters. SB3336 defines many of these types of vehicles, including low/high-speed electric scooters and bikes; toy vehicles; unicycles; and electric skateboards. Again, electric motorcycles are already defined in the Illinois Vehicle Code.

No one is proposing substantial expansions of the electric motorcycle definition. Rather, any micromobility device that does not meet an existing or new definition is considered an electric motorcycle. 

“One main objective of SB3336 is to clearly distinguish electric motor-driven cycles (aka e-motos) from legal classes of e-bikes,” Ride Illinois Executive Director Dave Simmons said via email. “Beyond 8,000 watts, a device is an electric motorcycle.” That term was proposed by the motorcyclists’ right organization ABATE Illinois. E-moto operators would be prohibited from riding on highways, sidewalks, multiuse paths, or any facility intended for non-electric bicycles and lower-speed electric micromobility devices. For example, as it stands, electric bicycles with an electrical assist up to 20 mph, and electric scooters/skateboards with an e-assist up to 15 mph, are permitted in Chicago bike lanes, but vehicles with a faster e-assist are not.

Registration requirements

Electric motorcycle users would be required to obtain a title and registration. However, a VIN number is needed to obtain a title. VIN numbers are not a common feature on any bicycle. U.S.-based manufactures instead put a proprietary serial number on the cycle, which the Illinois Secretary of State does not currently accept. Having any identifier is even less common when the manufacturer is based in another country. 

Since e-motos generally don’t have VIN numbers, and therefore it’s difficult to get a title and registration for them, requiring those documents would potentially expose the operators to liability issues and confiscation of the devices by police.

“Details will need to be ironed out with guidance from the Secretary of State,” Simmons responded when asked about the VIN number issue. “We acknowledged early on that the Secretary of State will play a major role in the new guideline and process, which is why we decided to engage with them last summer to begin the discusion of sensible regulations for micromobility devices.” 

The bill bans the sale of e-motos to consumers with marketing that promotes the vehicle as skirting Illinois licensing requirements because they don’t have a VIN number. marketing that advertises as skirting IL requirements. However, the legislation does not prohibit selling motor-driven cycles lack VIN numbers, as long as they’re not advertised as such. 

Simmons acknowledged that this approach would not close all loopholes and would require follow-up from the state. 

Clean-up bills are a common strategy of lawmakers that supplements major legislation packages through small tweaks to promote the originals bills’ intent based on new feedback. The Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act  is expected to receive similar touchups. 

Enforcement

The e-moto bill includes enforcement of the new title and registration rules through police confiscation and fines. However, if the manufacturer of the device misled the customer to believe the cycle would not require registration, the manufacturer would be held liable. 

“We’re in agreement with law enforcement in that this shouldn’t be a large, additional burden on police departments,” Simmons said “There’s a fairly long period of time to educate the public (including parents) via awareness campaigns and lean on soft enforcement techniques to chip away at the (mostly) teen boys who have gravitated to e-motos.”

The new legislation sets the minimum age for riding an e-bike to 16, just like driving a car. “Hopefully it won’t take one or more tragedies for the majority of adults to take these devices away from their kids.” Simmons said.

The bill would also prohibit riding an e-moto while intoxicated, with the same rules that currently apply to motorists.

Last month, the Illinois Senate unanimously passed SB3336. It awaits a vote in the House. If passed and signed by Gov. JB Pritzker, the bill would take effect on New Year’s Day.

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,701 with $17,299 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

• “Metra train collides with truck, injures 2 at Linden crossing in Wilmette” (Tribune)

• “A Community Celebrates the CTA Red Line Extension Decades in the Making” (WTTW)

• Very important! Suburbanite Roger Romanelli says the Grand Avenue traffic safety plan in Chicago’s West Town is “not equitable”! JK, this is actually a fairly balanced article. (ABC)

• “Yunus Emre Tozal: Milwaukee Avenue is changing. We can shape its destiny through its buildings.” (Tribune)

• “355-Unit Apartment Tower Proposed For Sheridan And Diversey In Lakeview” (Block Club)

• “‘Missing Middle’ Housing Project In Morgan Park To Break Ground This Fall” (Block Club)

•  Equiticity will lead a North Lawndale Ride on Saturday, May 30 at 9 AM at Green Tomato, 3750 W Ogden Ave., in partnership with Transport Chicago. Check out the new flyer.

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,701 with $17,299 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor

While Find The Right Bike paid the freelancer’s fee for this article, I was confident this was a topic that would interest Streetsblog Chicago readers. I appreciate the support, as well as FTRB’s new weekly ad on this site. We’ve still got about $17K to raise to meet our 2026 budget goal. If you haven’t already, please consider making a tax-deductible donation here. Thanks! – John Greenfield, editor

In 2024, Viktor Köves began a project of interviewing and photographing Chicagoans of all walks of life with their bicycles. His goal: demystify city riding for everyday needs and get more people on bikes. The Instagram and YouTube channel for Chicagoans Who Bike is filled with personal stories of families, children and elders from all corners of the city about why they ride and what they enjoy about it.

Now Köves has a new website to further nudge Chicagoans onto two wheels. Findtheright.bike uses a very short survey to recommend a style of bike according to the user’s needs, from e-cargo bikes to good old fashioned commuter bikes. The site includes brief guides on basic gear and maintenance, and links to product reviews. Find the Right Bike also makes a compelling case for the cost savings of bike versus car, all in Köves’ affable, encouraging tone. We spoke with Köves about the new tool and how things are going so far.

Sharon Hoyer: What gave you the idea for Find the Right Bike?

Viktor Köves: I’d been working on Chicagoans Who Bike for a while and I’m about to close out that project. I want to stop when I hit 100 interviews and I’m at about 92. I wanted to do more educational content about how to bike in the city. I keep hearing people say, “There’s no bike for me because I have kids or I need to haul things.” A lot of people don’t know what options they have. I wanted to distill the knowledge I have and the knowledge of the bike community into something really simple.

The other thing was integrating some financial data. One of the values of the site is showing people just how expensive cars are. I have two e-bikes – one that was about $4,000 and one that was about $6,000. When I tell people that they say, “That’s so expensive!” But I don’t own a car. One is my minivan; I haven’t needed to take a car-share for cargo since I bought that bike. If you’re interested in riding but know nothing, you can jump in my site and find something pretty reasonable. And before I show you models of bikes, I show price breakdown. 

I kept sharing the site with the bike community for feedback. I added the gear guide: Okay, you’re getting a bike but you don’t know about locks and helmets so I share links to the best resources for those. I added the basics on maintenance. The other thing was storage. Every time I talk about cargo bikes, people say it’s going to get stolen immediately. That’s not true, there are strategies to prevent that. I worked a lot with Bunch Bikes [electric cargo cycles], which has many articles about theft prevention.

The central idea is giving people a way of seeing that a bike can fit into their life and that it’s not a big expense, but a big money saver.

A lot of sites get into frame sizes. I don’t care. What are your life needs? And go from there.

SH: The tone of the site is that this is not for gear heads, that biking is really approachable. You don’t have to measure or research anything before you take a quiz about what bike is best for you and how to get started. How did you structure the quiz?

VK: I have a lot of bikes, so I have a decision-making process for which bike I take outside. It’s a privileged position; I have a lot of experience with it. And I’ve had a lot of conversations with other people where they walk me through their needs. What problem are you trying to solve? If it’s just you riding into the wind, that’s a very different problem than moving you plus another adult. It’s a totally different class of bike. It’s my experience owning these different bikes and knowing what they’re good for, and consulting with other people. 

The other aspect was storage – some people might need a cargo bike but have to carry it upstairs. We offer a lightweight alternative but offer a storage guide for keeping it outside.

SH: You avoid endorsing any particular brand. Was that tricky in any way?

VK: Commuter e-bikes are easy, there’s so many at different price points. The one I struggled with was e-trikes because there are a bunch of cheap alternatives with mixed reviews. My goal is to build trust but not saying a specific bike to buy, but to say, “go try these, here’s some third-party reviews.” Leaning on existing resources and reviews. I give you a class of bike, but it’s not meant to be definitive. I don’t provide a purchase link. 

SH: How much traffic has the site received and what has the response been so far?

VK: The feedback has been fantastic. The most reassuring thing I’ve heard is people who already have e-bikes pulling it up and saying I recommended the type of bike they have, so it’s working well. We’ve had about 850 users over the last month and a half. I’m working on some cross-promotion with bike shops to be listed on the site. One of the cool things is that its unaffiliated so I can do partnerships like this. My goal is to play nice with everyone so everyone can promote this tool.

SH: What do you feel is key for convincing more Chicagoans to try out riding a bike or replacing more of their car trips with biking?

VK: Honestly, I think hands on stuff is the most powerful. Last year in the 40th Ward [on the Far North Side, represented by Ald. Andre Vasquez] we hosted an e-bikepalooza that was really successful. It was in partnership with my project Chicagoans Who Bike. We had J.C. Lind [Bike Co.] doing Urban Arrows. When people try out a nice e-bike and see what it can do, it opens their mind a bit. 

I think storytelling is key too, like showing that other people, like you, are doing just fine with their bike. And maybe they still have a car for weekend getaways, but they’re saying, “It’s way easier to drop off my kids at school in this Bunch Bike or Urban Arrow than sit in the car line.” If you are dropping your kids off at school in an SUV, and you see four or five of the cool parents roll by on an Urban Arrow and drop their kids off and leave before you can drop your kids off, you’re going to think about it. There’s adoption, there’s infrastructure, and there’s tools like this, that make it easy and approachable. 

I don’t think my website will get people to buy a bike, but my goal is to get them in the funnel of trying out a bike and seeing how freeing it can be.

SH: Is there anything else you’d like to mention?

VK:

One thing I’d mention is that I also have a car-free living FAQs section on the site. The most common thing I hear is, “What if I need to move a couch?”, but you can always rent a car! And I think it’s so important to use the financial lens. Look, if you use a car to haul a couch once a week, then a bike is probably not going to be sufficient for your needs. But once a year? Price that out. How much does a rental cost you? The other thing is when I talk about car ownership, people just look at the sticker prices, but that’s not the full price of a car. On my site, I use $25,000 as the initial purchase price for a used car. The five-year cost of car ownership is twice that. The bikes are more expensive upfront and then almost free to run. We forget about insurance and fuel. I talk about retirement savings a lot for my work, so I’m pretty financially literate. It was key to me to mention the investment – is your retirement funded? If you have the money for a new car that’s great for you, but put it in a 401k for ten years, my sense is you’ll have about $1.1M. I think that’s the question we should be asking people.

Visit Find the Right Bike here.

Read Streetsblog’s previous story on Chicagoans Who Bike here.

On November 12, SBC launched our 2026 fund drive to raise $50K through ad sales and donations. That will complete this year’s budget, at a time when it’s tough to find grant money. Big thanks to all the readers who have chipped in so far to help keep this site rolling to the end of 2026! Currently, we’re at $32,696 with $17,304 to go, ideally by the end of May.

If you value our livable streets reporting and advocacy, please consider making a tax-deductible gift here. If you can afford a contribution of $100 or more, think of that as a subscription. That will help keep the site paywall-free for people on tighter budgets, as well as decision-makers. Thanks for your support!

– John Greenfield, editor