What do you believe are the greatest transportation challenges facing the City of Chicago right now?

We need to fix the CTA. That starts with doing better in terms of hiring when it comes to City workers from police to bus drivers to CTA maintenance workers. Bonuses for hiring or longevity, better benefits and increased salaries should be on the table to attract and retain talented, committed people who want to work in public service. We need transit police, bus drivers, CTA maintenance workers, we need more staff at CDOT - the City can’t function if it’s not fully staffed.

Increasing the number of police and security workers on the CTA while increasing the frequency of trains and buses and promoting ridership will make it a more appealing option for users. We are losing riders and it’s wrong for us to fail the workers and students and others who rely on public transit and are subjected to criminal activity and delays. The City is paying for private security on trains and stations - that work should be reviewed to make sure security workers are doing their jobs and being dispatched effectively and I would like to see that $100 million investment we have made in private security transition into an investment in full time jobs.

Other state governments are helping boost public transportation and the State of Illinois should do the same. Massachusetts Gov Maura Healey is hiring a search firm to find workers for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). Her state is budgeting to hire 1,000 new employees - we need to push leadership in our City and State to put that kind of funding into the state budget that will be proposed later this month. Budgeteers with the State of Illinois report nearly $5 billion in additional, unexpected revenues in FY2022. A portion of that money needs to go to supporting the CTA and public transportation.

The last three years have been the deadliest in decades for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians. We must address this crisis on our roadways. Adding protected bike lanes and building a real network of safe routes for cyclists and pedestrians.

I have voted for additional funding for the CTA through my budget votes and voted in favor of the historic proposal to extend the Red Line. Thanks to our advocacy, for the first time ever, CTA officials will have to appear before the City Council on a quarterly basis - I was a strong supporter of this important accountability measure.

Do you or members of your family regularly use sidewalks, bike, take transit, drive, or a combination of any/all to get around? Does this correspond with your preferred/ideal modes of getting around? If not, what barriers do you and your family face in using your preferred mode of transportation?

My ward is unique in that it includes one of the largest Orthodox Jewish populations in the country. During Shabbat, we walk. Driving is prohibited, so, in all types of weather, we are out walking.

Being very much a first-generation immigrant community a large percentage of multi-unit homes are households with one car or no car at all.

Those are major challenges in today’s built environment. We’ve worked to improve lighting in many parts of the Ward. We took steps to make Devon Avenue significantly safer for pedestrians - our budget for the streetscape was relatively small, but we maximized those dollars.

We’re also looking to add protected bike lanes to add a critical East-West route to the bike network on the far north side.

As Alderman, we have partnered with the Chicago Park District and since I was elected in 2011 I’ve worked to provide our open spaces with $10 million in supplemental funding, including millions of dollars for Warren, Indian Boundary, Rogers, Chippewa, Lerner and Green Briar parks. Notably, we established a new 1.8-acre park along the North Shore Channel near Devon Avenue and McCormick Road and added a nature play area at Indian Boundary Park.

Under my leadership, we secured funding and completed a much-needed bridge connecting a gap in the North Shore Channel Trail. The $3.4 million Lincoln Village Pedestrian Bridge opened to users in 2020. We are in the process of starting construction on a second bridge at Pratt that will connect to Lincolnwood. We are adding protected bike lanes on Pratt to create a safe east-west route through the ward.

I spearheaded an initiative to create a more green and pedestrian- and bike-friendly corridor along Western Avenue – you may have seen it recently highlighted in The Chicago Tribune. This ongoing series of meetings with key City departments and other stakeholders will hopefully provide a long-term blueprint for transforming a five mile stretch of one of the busiest streets in the City of Chicago. I’m very pleased to see how we have engaged hundreds of residents in this process.

Can you share a personal experience that changed your opinion about a transportation related policy matter?

In December I introduced the Chicago Fatal Crash Legacy Report Ordinance. This is first of its kind legislation in Chicago that will require a formal safety plan for sites where pedestrians and cyclists are killed.

The concept was inspired by the death of a 9-year-old boy who was struck by a driver more than a year ago as he was biking in a crosswalk in our community. We struggled to find solutions to make the neighborhood safer. I am not a transportation expert and the guidance and funding sources were not readily available.

We’ve experienced too many tragedies in our neighborhoods and there is a clear need for leadership from experts to make sure they never happen again. On top of an accounting of what took place, these Crash Legacy Reports will be a blueprint to make our neighborhoods safer. Protecting Chicagoans – especially our children – from traffic violence is a fitting way to honor the memory of people we’ve lost.

I will be happy to provide updates but we are making some changes to this ordinance with City departments with the goal of reintroducing it as a substitute ordinance in February and making it law in March. We have 12 co-sponsors and I’m hopeful this novel legislation can help make Chicago safer.

Chicago is a snowy city, and even one stretch of uncleared sidewalk can make it impassable – particularly for folks with disabilities, the elderly, and parents with young children. What is your position on implementing a universal city-wide sidewalk snow/ice removal service?

I support a universal, city-wide sidewalk snow and ice removal service. It would meet a need for many Chicagoans, allow freer use of sidewalks and bike lanes during winter months and create jobs.

It is now widely recognized and understood that interstate highways were used to physically divide urban communities from one another – often along racial and class lines. How do you propose we overcome these divisions to restore the urban fabric of Chicago and reconnect our segregated neighborhoods?

Our community is largely unaffected by this issue, but I am aware that the impact is substantial in other parts of the City. I think capping expressways should be considered when possible - the proposal to reconfigure portions of I-290 should incorporate capping. I would defer to transportation experts, but the streets with access to CTA stations that sit between the expressways could be reconfigured for safety, ease of access and development. These locations are some of the most dangerous in the City for vulnerable road users.

What role do you believe transportation plays in Chicago’s collective greenhouse gas emissions, climate responsibility, and overall environmental health?

The City of Chicago, the United States and the world are in the midst of a climate crisis. We are a global city. What we do locally create a ripple effect across the globe both in terms of the message it sends and the pollution, or lack thereof, that we create. We have to make responsible decisions. The time to act is now and a big part of that involves moving away from cars and supporting mass transit.

What is your position on the Illinois Department of Transportation’s current proposals for rebuilding North DuSable Lake Shore Drive? Do you believe the proposed designs will reduce congestion, improve transit access and make pedestrians and cyclists safer? How do you think the current proposals will impact access to the lakefront?

DLSD as currently configured is a relic of the post World War II era.

It is by definition a parkway, not a commercial corridor - as you probably know, truck traffic is banned - and should be redesigned to permanently incorporate and highlight elements for mass transit. I would not be opposed to a DLSD that is significantly less car-centric.

We need a 22nd Century DLSD, not a mid-20th Century DLSD. I am open to creative solutions that let the lakefront shine and allow DLSD to serve as a roadway, but not an expressway.

What barriers do you believe the Illinois Department of Transportation presents to Chicago pursuing better safe streets design standards and transit investments? How do you plan to work with City Council, the Governor, and State legislators to overcome these barriers?

I was very pleased to see CDOT and IDOT come to an agreement earlier this month to give CDOT more authority over our roadways. That was a great first step to addressing some of the issues we are seeing.

The 99-year parking meter deal enacted by former Mayor Richard M. Daley has been a barrier to enacting safe street designs by privatizing large portions of Chicago’s streets. What is your plan to address this?

I think the City should look for creative ways to fight this agreement but at the same time we should make plans to try to create new metered spaces and free up existing metered spaces that need to be incorporated into bike lanes or other amenities. The City is in a very unfortunate situation due to this agreement but we can’t let it stop progress in terms of modernizing our infrastructure.

Studies show us that speed and distracted driving kill. What do you think are the most effective ways to reduce driver speed and increase safe driving behavior?

Lower speed limits; better enforcement; additional traffic controls, such as speed humps and narrower streets; car-free streets. In general, our streets should not be open to interpretation as to how they are navigated by drivers. Clearly designated routes that remove some of the dangerous choices drivers make are preferable. This seems to be an issue in downtown specifically where once car-jammed streets are now open and we see excessive speeding and dangerous behavior on the rise.

What is your position on the City passing ordinances that attempt to regulate the size, weight, and/or safety features of personal and private vehicles?

The fee structure for City Vehicle Stickers is out of date and must be reviewed. That would be one way to begin to regulate private vehicles. CDOT has identified larger vehicles among the causes for a historic increase in the number of crashes.

What is your position on establishing a dedicated funding stream for safe and universal pedestrian and bike infrastructure in Chicago?

For the first time in many years, I don’t know that money is the issue. The City Council approved a massive budget for CDOT in 2022. We also have agreed upon in concept the $600 million Complete Streets program as described in the 2023-2027 Chicago Works Program. I want to see these funds spent on shovel-ready projects that will create jobs and make Chicagoans safer. These dollars help no one if they are left unspent.

What is your position on creating select pedestrian-only streets?

I support pedestrian-only streets and was disappointed to see the City remove some of the streets that received this designation. I would be open to seeing proposals to revisit and expand this initiative.

What policy solutions would you implement to ensure CTA buses operate on schedule, frequently, and quickly?

The technology needs to be fixed so people do not “see” buses and trains that are not there. The ghost buses and trains phenomena must stop at least for the sake of giving people an honest chance at scheduling their trip to work or elsewhere.

We need to do better in terms of hiring when it comes to City workers from the police and fire department to bus drivers to CTA maintenance workers. Bonuses for new hires or longevity, better benefits and increased salaries should be on the table to attract and retain talented, committed people who want to work in public service. The City needs to be fully staffed to be efficient. As I mentioned above, the State of Illinois should help with this.

Considering the role the CTA, Metra, and Pace play in providing public transportation within the city, what are your plans to address the impending fiscal cliff – a deficit of over $700 million – that the agencies will be facing in 2025?

The City, State and federal government cannot let our mass transit system fail. Right now we are facing unprecedented challenges, but with substantial funding and creative solutions, we can have the greatest public transportation system in the United States. Our leaders have enough sense to know that for Northern Illinois to continue to grow, they need to invest in mass transit. USDOT, IDOT and other funding entities need to prioritize mass transit - we spend too much on expressways and focus on solutions that benefit Amazon and long-haul trucking when we need solutions for ordinary Chicagoans.

What is your position on establishing a network of Bus Rapid Transit lines in Chicago?

I support BRT. I would like to see BRT on Western Avenue and other routes that connect to the CTA, particularly the Brown and Red lines, which would benefit my community.

Will you commit to securing the funding necessary to implement CTA's plan to become 100% accessible according to ADA standards? (yes/no)

Yes