# Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety meeting, July 29, 2024 - When: Mon, Jul 29, 2024, 10:00 AM (Chicago time) - Where: City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, City Hall, 121 North LaSalle Street - Chicago, IL 60602 - Status: Scheduled & Published - Committee: [Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/committee/pedestrian-and-traffic-safety) - Video: https://vimeo.com/showcase/8928552/video/990278600 - Transcript: [full text](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/transcripts/990278600.txt) (24,362 words, official captions) ## Meeting notes > AI-written from the transcript. Speakers are inferred from cues in the recording, so treat names as estimates and check the video at the linked time. The Committee on Pedestrian and Traffic Safety, chaired by Alderperson Daniel La Spata, held a subject matter hearing on bus infrastructure improvements and their impact on mobility and traffic safety; no votes were taken. Seventeen public commenters spoke, most of them supporting bus priority streets, bus rapid transit, more bus shelters and safer crosswalks, while several urged the city to preserve the Greyhound intercity bus terminal and others raised unrelated concerns or criticized stop sign installations. CDOT and CTA officials presented the Better Streets for Buses plan, covering 17 corridors and a toolbox of bus stop, intersection and corridor treatments, and reported results from Loop Link, Jeffery Jump, and the Western and Chicago Avenue bus lanes, along with plans for a bus priority corridor study, transit signal priority and queue jump pilots. Members asked about signal priority, congestion pricing, BRT timelines, quick-build pilots, procurement, and the redesign of North Lake Shore Drive. Topics: bus priority streets, bus rapid transit, Better Streets for Buses plan, transit signal priority, congestion pricing, Greyhound bus terminal, North Lake Shore Drive, pedestrian safety, public comment ### Agenda items discussed - [23:01](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=1381) Public comment - [1:13:19](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=4399) Subject matter hearing on bus infrastructure improvements and their impact on mobility and traffic safety: discussed ### Alderpersons who spoke - [Daniel La Spata](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/1) (chair): Said 251,000 average weekday riders use the Better Streets for Buses corridors and described his own bus trips with his daughter, including unreliable arrivals. ([1:13:29](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=4409)); Asked CTA to explain what the ridership map shows about how bus service has recovered. ([1:28:51](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=5331)); Asked what approaches peer cities have taken to delivering BRT. ([1:36:45](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=5805)) - [Jason C. Ervin](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/28) (alderperson): Asked whether bus signal technology is similar to emergency vehicle signal preemption and whether Chicago's public safety vehicles have it. ([1:53:09](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=6789)); Asked what other cities such as New York and Philadelphia are doing that Chicago could adopt to speed transit. ([1:55:56](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=6956)); Asked what congestion pricing could do to speed bus and rail service into downtown and elsewhere in the city. ([1:59:37](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=7177)) - [Andre Vasquez Jr.](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/40) (alderperson): Asked how many traffic signals would be needed to cover the full network with transit signal priority, and asked for regular progress metrics. ([2:06:39](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=7599)); Asked for a realistic timeline from study to construction for BRT. ([2:09:42](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=7782)); Proposed a working group of alderpersons along Western Avenue, noting 17 of 18 had signed on in support of BRT. ([2:15:23](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=8123)) - [Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/ward/48) (alderperson): Said transit and bus issues are the top reason constituents contact her ward office and thanked CDOT for school-area safety work. ([2:28:33](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=8913)); Asked whether bus rapid transit is possible on Lake Shore Drive. ([2:34:24](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=9264)) ### Exchanges between members - [2:03:59](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=7439) Alderperson Jason C. Ervin thanked the panel and the chair after his questions. - [2:16:52](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=8212) Alderperson Andre Vasquez Jr. said he was glad Chairman Jason C. Ervin raised congestion pricing and built on the topic. - [2:27:01](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=8821) Alderperson Andre Vasquez Jr. thanked the chair after his questions. - [2:28:16](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=8896) Alderperson Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth thanked the chair before her remarks. - [2:32:22](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=9142) Alderperson Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth asked the chair whether IDOT could come to the committee about the Lake Shore Drive redesign. - [2:32:26](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=9146) The chair answered that the committee is still building its relationship with IDOT and that her community would be included in Lake Shore Drive conversations. - [2:34:22](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D?t=9262) Alderperson Leni Manaa-Hoppenworth thanked the chair for his answer. ## Documents - [Notice](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/40da87f1-336d-404c-977d-22373009d9ca.pdf) - [Agenda](https://www.chicagopolitics.org/files/clerk/meetingattachmentspublic/4c3198bf-0f86-4bfe-9211-c01ed4432e95.pdf) --- Source: https://www.chicagopolitics.org/meeting/A7CD0735-D633-EF11-8409-001DD809B40D ยท Chicago Politics, an independent, nonpartisan tracker of the Chicago City Council. 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