Star:Line Chicago
@starlinechicago.bsky.social
Suburbanite. Sustainable transportation advocacy, for Chicago and Chicagoland. #BuildTheTunnel
“The smart, transit-oriented [social media] account” -Chicago Tribune
Planning, building, breaking, rebuilding.
“The smart, transit-oriented [social media] account” -Chicago Tribune
Planning, building, breaking, rebuilding.
Pinned
NITA needs a moonshot, a keystone capital project to demonstrate what a truly unified transit network can do to connect Chicagoland.
It's time to #BuildTheTunnel.
Read the whitepaper: yardsocial.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
It's time to #BuildTheTunnel.
Read the whitepaper: yardsocial.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
Friction is good and one of the most consequential tasks facing the designers and managers of social-technical systems in the 21st century is putting it back in in the right ways and right places.
I think one of the lessons that the huge success of congestion pricing in NYC is that charging a nominal upfront fee- even one far less the the levellized cost you are paying for elsewhere- is very good at cutting off the bottom 5% of bad behavior that makes things worse for everyone.
December 24, 2025 at 12:24 AM
Friction is good and one of the most consequential tasks facing the designers and managers of social-technical systems in the 21st century is putting it back in in the right ways and right places.
Here's the map that makes the case for Metra making a play on taking over the UP-N and UP-NW lines. Freight volumes south of Lake Bluff and Des Plaines rounded down to zero last year.
December 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Here's the map that makes the case for Metra making a play on taking over the UP-N and UP-NW lines. Freight volumes south of Lake Bluff and Des Plaines rounded down to zero last year.
"We can't talk about bus stop consolidation until we start consolidating North Side 'L' stops"
Pre-CTA North Side 'L' stops:
Pre-CTA North Side 'L' stops:
December 23, 2025 at 9:00 PM
"We can't talk about bus stop consolidation until we start consolidating North Side 'L' stops"
Pre-CTA North Side 'L' stops:
Pre-CTA North Side 'L' stops:
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
FULL STORY: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area to support its immigration crackdown. @wttw.bsky.social
Supreme Court Upholds Block of Trump’s National Guard Deployment in the Chicago Area, For Now
The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area to support its immigration crackdown.
to.wttw.com
December 23, 2025 at 8:38 PM
FULL STORY: The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to allow the Trump administration to deploy National Guard troops in the Chicago area to support its immigration crackdown. @wttw.bsky.social
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
BREAKING: Mayor Brandon Johnson surrenders budget fight, will not veto opponents’ package
Mayor Brandon Johnson surrenders budget fight, will not veto opponents’ package
Mayor Brandon Johnson announced Tuesday he will not veto the 2026 budget passed by aldermen, conceding a historic struggle that reached the brink of a government shutdown.
trib.al
December 23, 2025 at 5:11 PM
BREAKING: Mayor Brandon Johnson surrenders budget fight, will not veto opponents’ package
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
Traffic is down inside New York City's congestion pricing zone but sales tax revenue growth is up compared to areas outside the zone. Biggest 2025 US transportation sector success story? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
New York's Congestion Pricing Is Working. Five Charts Show How
Nearly a year ago, New York City embarked on a controversial program to toll drivers entering some of Manhattan’s busiest streets. The goal of the congestion pricing plan, the first of its kind in the...
www.bloomberg.com
December 23, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Traffic is down inside New York City's congestion pricing zone but sales tax revenue growth is up compared to areas outside the zone. Biggest 2025 US transportation sector success story? www.bloomberg.com/news/article...
You: a journalist with a week of fluff stories to fill
Me: an advocate with a fully fleshed out proposal for thru-running regional rail, including tens of thousands of words and dozens of print-ready graphics
Let’s talk #BuildTheTunnel, my DMs are open
Me: an advocate with a fully fleshed out proposal for thru-running regional rail, including tens of thousands of words and dozens of print-ready graphics
Let’s talk #BuildTheTunnel, my DMs are open
December 23, 2025 at 2:29 PM
You: a journalist with a week of fluff stories to fill
Me: an advocate with a fully fleshed out proposal for thru-running regional rail, including tens of thousands of words and dozens of print-ready graphics
Let’s talk #BuildTheTunnel, my DMs are open
Me: an advocate with a fully fleshed out proposal for thru-running regional rail, including tens of thousands of words and dozens of print-ready graphics
Let’s talk #BuildTheTunnel, my DMs are open
Every day is an Airing of Grievances when you’re a transit advocate, so this Festivus, let’s celebrate the hard-fought wins and successes in 2025 instead: new CTA leadership, the CUS centennial, and of course #RevenuesAndReform.
Onwards and upwards my frents
Onwards and upwards my frents
December 23, 2025 at 1:41 PM
Every day is an Airing of Grievances when you’re a transit advocate, so this Festivus, let’s celebrate the hard-fought wins and successes in 2025 instead: new CTA leadership, the CUS centennial, and of course #RevenuesAndReform.
Onwards and upwards my frents
Onwards and upwards my frents
When someone calls me a “neoliberal” because I believe in good governance and making our region more efficient and equitable, I will stand by this sentiment.
I’m a pragmatic progressive. The movement needs to be large enough for some of us get down in the weeds while others shoot for the stars.
I’m a pragmatic progressive. The movement needs to be large enough for some of us get down in the weeds while others shoot for the stars.
If your solution is “just tax the rich”, great, I’m all in, and I can tell you the best way to take Amtrak to the statehouse to do some lobbying. In the meantime though, we have ways to make our system better tomorrow, and some of us need to focus on that while the movement changes the world.
December 23, 2025 at 1:43 AM
When someone calls me a “neoliberal” because I believe in good governance and making our region more efficient and equitable, I will stand by this sentiment.
I’m a pragmatic progressive. The movement needs to be large enough for some of us get down in the weeds while others shoot for the stars.
I’m a pragmatic progressive. The movement needs to be large enough for some of us get down in the weeds while others shoot for the stars.
Based on today's bus stop spacing conversations, which of the following would you most strongly support:
1️⃣ Stop consolidation for all buses
2️⃣ Converting 1/4 to 1/2 of existing buses on busy routes to an X pattern (stops every 1/2mi + key transfers only), keeping some all-stop local buses
3️⃣ No change
1️⃣ Stop consolidation for all buses
2️⃣ Converting 1/4 to 1/2 of existing buses on busy routes to an X pattern (stops every 1/2mi + key transfers only), keeping some all-stop local buses
3️⃣ No change
December 22, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Based on today's bus stop spacing conversations, which of the following would you most strongly support:
1️⃣ Stop consolidation for all buses
2️⃣ Converting 1/4 to 1/2 of existing buses on busy routes to an X pattern (stops every 1/2mi + key transfers only), keeping some all-stop local buses
3️⃣ No change
1️⃣ Stop consolidation for all buses
2️⃣ Converting 1/4 to 1/2 of existing buses on busy routes to an X pattern (stops every 1/2mi + key transfers only), keeping some all-stop local buses
3️⃣ No change
An interesting post about our Canadian doppelganger, with potential lessons for our doppelganger U-shaped line as well. Definitely could entertain the argument of splitting the Forest Park Branch off into a separate identity, especially considering how frequently 🟦🚇 trains short-turn at UIC anyway.
to inaugurate the new blog, i've written about a local and contentious topic that's been on my mind for years. at its heart, it's about understanding the information that transit riders need.
the case for splitting TTC Line 1:
the case for splitting TTC Line 1:
Line 1 is not one line
In the long term, treating Toronto’s Line 1 as two different lines would eliminate more confusion than it would create.
fernkhahn.medium.com
December 22, 2025 at 10:15 PM
An interesting post about our Canadian doppelganger, with potential lessons for our doppelganger U-shaped line as well. Definitely could entertain the argument of splitting the Forest Park Branch off into a separate identity, especially considering how frequently 🟦🚇 trains short-turn at UIC anyway.
Looking forward to listening to this soon
I spoke with Micheál Podgers (@michealpodgers.bsky.social) about how his experience of living in Europe has helped to inform his approach to advocating for walkable, bikeable, transit-friendly, urbanism in his hometown of Chicago.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
@betterstreetschicago.org
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
@betterstreetschicago.org
Micheál Podgers: Using Lessons Learned from Living in Europe to Advocate for an Urbanist Transformation of His Hometown of Chicago
Podcast Episode · City Dweller · 12/19/2025 · 32m
podcasts.apple.com
December 22, 2025 at 9:50 PM
Looking forward to listening to this soon
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
But if we cancel every good idea or genuine improvement because people are untrustworthy of it, then they'll never see the improvements that are needed to help rebuild that trust. If we let "better things are not possible" be our guiding principle, we go nowhere but down
December 22, 2025 at 9:31 PM
But if we cancel every good idea or genuine improvement because people are untrustworthy of it, then they'll never see the improvements that are needed to help rebuild that trust. If we let "better things are not possible" be our guiding principle, we go nowhere but down
Friendly reminder that this is how streetcar stops used to be built. Not everything about curbside bus operation was worse than streetcars.
December 22, 2025 at 9:18 PM
Friendly reminder that this is how streetcar stops used to be built. Not everything about curbside bus operation was worse than streetcars.
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
PSA for my fellow Illinois legislative advocates
You want to have your bills filed by 1/14 for the spring session
Draft the change you want to see in the world
Share it will your electeds. You never know, it could become law!
You want to have your bills filed by 1/14 for the spring session
Draft the change you want to see in the world
Share it will your electeds. You never know, it could become law!
December 22, 2025 at 9:07 PM
PSA for my fellow Illinois legislative advocates
You want to have your bills filed by 1/14 for the spring session
Draft the change you want to see in the world
Share it will your electeds. You never know, it could become law!
You want to have your bills filed by 1/14 for the spring session
Draft the change you want to see in the world
Share it will your electeds. You never know, it could become law!
Specifically with buses, a huge portion of transit riders – and politicians, and agencies, and even advocates – simply cannot imagine a world where buses don’t suck. “This makes buses better!” can’t resonate; the only visceral reaction is “the bus sucks but at least the stop is in front of my house”
And to circle back to this point, I think the long project of dismantling public services in this country means most people have experienced cuts to things they used, often accompanied by language about efficiency
And as a result are instinctively wary about a question like this
And as a result are instinctively wary about a question like this
A terrific article, although I admit I'm a bit surprised at how many people when asked "if you could walk an extra block for a faster, more frequent bus, would you do it?" apparently say "no"
December 22, 2025 at 8:05 PM
Specifically with buses, a huge portion of transit riders – and politicians, and agencies, and even advocates – simply cannot imagine a world where buses don’t suck. “This makes buses better!” can’t resonate; the only visceral reaction is “the bus sucks but at least the stop is in front of my house”
A terrific article, although I admit I'm a bit surprised at how many people when asked "if you could walk an extra block for a faster, more frequent bus, would you do it?" apparently say "no"
New from me! Chicago has far too many bus stops to provide efficient service for its riders—nearly twice the national standard. I reimagined what Chicago's bus network could do to make it look like its peers.
citythatworks.substack.com/p/a-plan-for...
citythatworks.substack.com/p/a-plan-for...
A plan for faster buses
We can speed up the bus at (almost) no cost
citythatworks.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:23 PM
A terrific article, although I admit I'm a bit surprised at how many people when asked "if you could walk an extra block for a faster, more frequent bus, would you do it?" apparently say "no"
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
FYI northside of Chicago, fed chopper flying northbound across Lake Michigan, maybe some more ICE bullshit incoming @unraveledpress.com
December 22, 2025 at 6:02 PM
FYI northside of Chicago, fed chopper flying northbound across Lake Michigan, maybe some more ICE bullshit incoming @unraveledpress.com
Park Manor (63rd Yard) going away opens up a fun Amtrak opportunity to do CHIP without dealing with CN freight traffic north of McCormick Place
December 22, 2025 at 4:33 PM
Park Manor (63rd Yard) going away opens up a fun Amtrak opportunity to do CHIP without dealing with CN freight traffic north of McCormick Place
If you're looking for a light beach read during holiday travels, the 6.692-page UP-NS merger application is available: www.up-nstranscontinental.com/surface-tran...
Surface Transportation Board Filing Hub
Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern prioritize safety, leveraging technology and innovation to protect employees and communities across the network.
www.up-nstranscontinental.com
December 22, 2025 at 4:03 PM
If you're looking for a light beach read during holiday travels, the 6.692-page UP-NS merger application is available: www.up-nstranscontinental.com/surface-tran...
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
New from me! Chicago has far too many bus stops to provide efficient service for its riders—nearly twice the national standard. I reimagined what Chicago's bus network could do to make it look like its peers.
citythatworks.substack.com/p/a-plan-for...
citythatworks.substack.com/p/a-plan-for...
A plan for faster buses
We can speed up the bus at (almost) no cost
citythatworks.substack.com
December 22, 2025 at 1:42 PM
New from me! Chicago has far too many bus stops to provide efficient service for its riders—nearly twice the national standard. I reimagined what Chicago's bus network could do to make it look like its peers.
citythatworks.substack.com/p/a-plan-for...
citythatworks.substack.com/p/a-plan-for...
See also why the SCAL Bridge is no silver bullet for Chicagoland regional rail, we need to #BuildTheTunnel
That feeling when your entire rapid transit system converges on one easily disrupted segment — like, say, a 123-year old bridge that lifts for tall boats.
Portland needs an rail tunnel under downtown. It’s the only megaproject in our region that excites me at this point.
Portland needs an rail tunnel under downtown. It’s the only megaproject in our region that excites me at this point.
December 22, 2025 at 2:42 AM
See also why the SCAL Bridge is no silver bullet for Chicagoland regional rail, we need to #BuildTheTunnel
Heading to the post office tomorrow to get the first batch out, let me know if you want to be included
Weekend long read: It’s Time to #BuildTheTunnel. The first edition of our whitepaper/zine/whatever you’d like to call it is now available.
Send me $5 and I’ll drop a dead tree version in the mail (with a few stickers) for you. DM for details.
yardsocial.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
Send me $5 and I’ll drop a dead tree version in the mail (with a few stickers) for you. DM for details.
yardsocial.wordpress.com/wp-content/u...
December 22, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Heading to the post office tomorrow to get the first batch out, let me know if you want to be included
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
Like Thomas said, weigh in on this important survey at the link below engage.cmap.illinois.gov/2026-rtp/sur.... Oppose NDLSD? Oppose more vehicle lanes? Support transit? This is the survey for you. Fill it out by 12/31 to make your voice heard.
December 21, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Like Thomas said, weigh in on this important survey at the link below engage.cmap.illinois.gov/2026-rtp/sur.... Oppose NDLSD? Oppose more vehicle lanes? Support transit? This is the survey for you. Fill it out by 12/31 to make your voice heard.
Reposted by Star:Line Chicago
The thread of this thread is that ~$500B in transportation capital projects for the Chicago region are in the process of being programmed for placement in the next CMAP long range plan and this seems like an important process to monitor and even weigh in on if so inclined.
December 21, 2025 at 4:37 PM
The thread of this thread is that ~$500B in transportation capital projects for the Chicago region are in the process of being programmed for placement in the next CMAP long range plan and this seems like an important process to monitor and even weigh in on if so inclined.