Celebrating Bike Advocacy in 2024 and Gearing up for More in 2025
Evanston Transit Alliance has had a very busy year in 2024 with lots to celebrate.
Downtown Evanston Association – Evanston Rides! adult social rides. ETA led monthly rides from Fountain Square on various local adventures. Rides ranged from under 10 miles to almost 20 miles depending on length of daylight available. Hundreds of riders joined the excursions combining exercise, sight-seeing and socializing.
Church & Dodge plans – Planners revealed plans for this multi-modal hotspot in September. ETA was there and offered feedback to help improve this area’s bike lanes, mass transit and safety. We will eagerly await next steps to see that bike lanes are extended, bus shelters are included and a DIVVY station is not eliminated.
Chicago Avenue plans – In response to a letter opposing the proposed bike lanes, ETA gathered signatures and support for the lanes. The city has quelled concerns about parking loss by maximizing spaces and reducing sidewalk width.
We recently gathered to celebrate at Ridgeville Tavern with a series of brief talks by a collection of local cyclists and sustainable transit advocates. It was like a TED talk on a variety of connected topics coming in at roughly 5 minutes each. As we map out future transit designs with the Envision Evanston 2045 project, it’s important to amplify a variety of community voices and consider diverse perspectives. This was an attempt to expand the conversation and hear from some interesting thought leaders. Thanks to Gabe Weiss, Evanston’s Youtube cycling advocate, we have videos of each presentation here:
John Fervoy – Connecting Evanston to regional trail network
https://youtu.be/taCQiWR9Ktc?si=GkC_5nt7iYf-NO3j
Nick Puglisi – An Evanston Bike Map
https://youtu.be/9RFytP4iPSY?si=EqqUCIjrJHn_T0Ap
Olin Wilson Thomas – ETHS student/Go Evanston member
https://youtu.be/kZv51y50BaM?si=rqY7pMAq-fWmifIC
Paul Boyd – Last Four Miles Advocate
https://youtu.be/w_hASwc60Dg?si=GsjqlXJ8Ua1h7jb2
Alan Cubbage – Long-time bike advocate and former President, Evanston Bike Club
https://youtu.be/ioxIOMTNlKM?si=rErZR2qICcjaNYur
Steve Hoffner – Evanston resident who biked every street in Chicago – every mile (and Evanston too)
https://youtu.be/ly263v3jSkA?si=JJOQSAL1eW46WMvJ
Aaron Rosen – “For whom do we build Evanston?”
https://youtu.be/I6Lm715rUVQ?si=VMi4TtPkZWr3uO-b
Naqui McMullen – New resident and sustainable transit fan
https://youtu.be/7twC_aNH9a8?si=fs3PVplhqCbLf5eO
Courtney Cobbs- Rogers Park advocate, Better Streets Chicago Co-Founder
https://youtu.be/dZCg8OnEbo8?si=5anBjkw6ZCKf25VC
Rob Keding – ETA member, BikePAC
https://youtu.be/sKIf53lgeUU?si=lGzebv6esTIVHqqE
Sarah FioRito – Transportation and Mobility Coordinator, COE, “Where do we go from here?”
https://youtu.be/ToOSahG6DNY?si=x0G2KBFDxXjPu6zi
Gearing up for 2025
Evanston Rides! Again - New season of social rides with Downtown Evanston Association.
ETA has been invited to guide another series of rides from Fountain Square on the first Tuesday of each month starting in May 6th, 2025. Mark your calendars!
The North Shore Channel Trail Feasibility Study will be shared with the public soon. ETA and other stakeholders got an early peek and it’s thrilling to see the concept sketched out in “feasible” diagrams with a few options to get around the current dead end at Green Bay Rd. Stay tuned.
Envision Evanston 2045 – This important planning document includes visions for future biking, pedestrian and mass transit. ETA plans to be engaged and share perspectives like those voiced at our year-end celebration to help envision a sustainable and safe Evanston.
Ward connections – ETA seeks representatives in each ward to monitor issues and offer support. If interested in joining the effort, please contact us and let us know your ward.
Evanston Bus Crawl - Go Evanston has a pub crawl via bus beginning 1 PM, Saturday January 11th at Bat 17. Find the details here.
ETA monthly meetings – Join us on the first Tuesday of each month to discuss these topics and more. Get involved! Be a ward rep. Team up on these important city streets or trail projects. Help plan our social rides. See you there beginning January 7th, 7pm.
