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

Our streets should be safe for everyone whether you walk, roll or drive. Our greatest challenge is implementing a citywide strategy to dismantle structural racism through equitable use of our resources for the benefit of the people and the planet. Some ideas towards that end are below.

City council and the City must work together to implement a citywide bike grid of protected bike lanes to prevent more tragic deaths from happening and to encourage non-car alternatives to transit.

Incorporating Bus Rapid Transit alongside protected bike lanes DuSable Lake Shore Drive north terminus will offer alternatives to cars.

Ridership on the CTA trains and buses is down and maintenance is lacking. Buses are unreliable means of transportation for my employees. While equitable transit oriented development promises more access to jobs, schools and other city amenities, CTA must do its part now to hire staff to make public transportation work for everyone.

We must decrease our carbon footprint by electrifying not only our CTA buses, but must also do the same for our entire city fleet of vehicles.

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?

The 48th ward is one of the densest in the city, and is extremely walkable. My children walked to their elementary school, and take CTA to high school. My employees walk, bike, or take the CTA to work. My husband and I walk when we can, take the CTA when we can, and drive when we must.

One of the greatest issues for pedestrians and bicyclists in the 48th ward and our city is safety. A citywide network of protected bike lanes and pedestrian crossings is critical. We need a massive public awareness campaign on sharing public spaces, including sidewalks, roads, and trails.

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

While driving at dusk last year, I almost hit a biker while turning right because I didn’t see them. We need protected bike lanes and also a massive public awareness campaign to help prevent accidents and save lives.

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/ice removal service.

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?

To dismantle our racist infrastructure must prioritize people over cars and mass transit over highways. Equitable Transit Oriented Development and Connected Communities Ordinance promises to increase the diversity of housing options, providing more equitable access to public transportation, and tackling Chicago's racial and socioeconomic segregation. Removal of highways would restore the urban fabric of Chicago’s neighborhoods and address environmental racism. Massive structural changes such as this will take political will, public funds and a strategy implemented over many years.

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

It’s incredibly important. Enabling zero-emission transit and fleets plays a central role In Chicago’s Climate Action Plan, reflecting its criticality. And unlike some other facets of emissions, transit and delivery vehicles are visible to every Chicagoan every day. This makes them the public face of environmental stewardship.

Buses are due to be electrified by 2040, but the entire city fleet should be electric.

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?

We need to continue to ask the bicyclists and the pedestrians for input on these proposals and listen carefully to what those communities need.We need to incentivize mass transit by making it a better alternative to driving; save time, money, and the planet is a win for all of us.

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?

Lack of political will and followthrough. Time and understanding will move the needle – building on conversations that have gone on before and continuing to have them and enact the commitments that we make.

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 would work with the mayor and the rest of Chicago City Council to ensure that we do not privatize public services in the future.

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?

Address infrastructure. Protected bike lanes and a predictable, strategically implemented citywide plan for bicyclists with a massive public awareness campaign.

It may seem obvious, but one of the best things that can be done here is to simply get people out of cars. Equitable transit-oriented development holds great promise to do just that, transforming disconnected and distracted drivers into pedestrians and bicyclists, hopefully with greater community attachment.

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?

Many of our streets are not designed for big trucks; in the north side of my ward, arterial streets are not designed to accommodate trucks and now they are in disrepair because of overuse.

Nothing requires businesses to use large trucks for their deliveries. In most cases, they are simply replicating patterns used in other cities or less dense suburbs. Smaller options like smaller, EV-based vehicles or even bicycles, are already used by some forward-thinking companies. We need a phased approach that combines regulations with incentives to get these types of vehicles into broader use.

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

Let’s do it!

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

It has to be community-driven.

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

CTA must be held accountable. While equitable transit oriented development promises more access to jobs, schools and other city amenities, CTA must do its part now and invest in people with short and long term strategy to make public transportation work for everyone.

Once service has improved, we need a city-wide public awareness campaign about the benefit of taking public transit in Chicago. The more people who use it, the better it will be.

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 health of the CTA is dependent on the Connecting Communities ordinance, but in the meantime they need to be held accountable to the commitments that they’ve made to bring their workforce back to acceptable levels. The city should work with Federal, State, and local governments to find funding that reflects the critical role transportation plays in growing healthy, sustainable cities. The 5-year Build Back Better bill passed in 2021 is one example of a potential funding source to help these transit agencies.

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

I support a citywide network of Bus Rapid Transit along with reimagining a city that is not divided by highways like the way Hollywood and Ridge divides our neighborhoods. We have a chance to implement a better vision for neighborhood use of our lakefront with the reconstruction of the North DuSable Lake Shore Drive terminus.

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

Yes