Project Information

Rick Maloney told us he was fed up with the rapidly deteriorating service on the CTA. His commute was getting longer and more erratic, and the trains were getting dirtier. Read his story here.

So Neighbors Project helped him bring the issue to the attention of the mayor and aldermanic candidates over the winter of 2006-2007. We flyered, met with Rick’s aldermen to ask for help, and eventually developed an innovative e-mail system that allowed people to simply text their name and zip code to an e-mail address to automatically kick of a letter to their elected officials – including the mayor – asking for help. We generated over 2,500 messages in just a couple of weeks and helped turn the problem from a non-issue to a top issue in the 2007 municipal elections. The mounting public outcry helped sway the mayor to appoint a new head of the CTA, who is already making good on his promise to turn the agency around. Our specific recommendations seem to have been taken seriously.

We also developed partnerships with the Lakeview Citizens Council and other community groups concerned about the issue; these groups mounted active campaigns in their neighborhoods. We were pleased to convene a group of interested transit advocates from around the city to discuss the formation of a new full-time transit advocacy group for the city. There are now two new full-time groups working on the next stage of the campaign, which is to get the governor and general assembly to properly fund the CTA and the other transit agencies in the region.

The full project story, including press coverage, is here.

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Photo courtesy of smussyolay from flickr.com.