Chicago Aims To Combat Downtown Traffic Congestion

Multiple news outlets, including Chicago Curbed, reported last week that Chicago’s new Mayor Lori Lightfoot is looking decrease downtown traffic congestion with improvements to the CTA bus system and an overhaul of ride sharing laws.

First, the city announced a $20 million budget for the Bus Priority Zone Program. This budget aims to add additional bus-only lanes, queue jump signals, and better traffic light timing to some of Chicago’s highest ridership routes. These traffic improvements aim to remove slow zones, bottlenecks, delays, and bunched up buses that come one right after the other.

Safety improvements will make it easier to walk and bike to bus stops as well. Riders will notice new pavement markers, clearer street-level and overhead signs, safer bus stop locations with curb extensions and pedestrian refuge islands.

This is a huge step by the city’s Department of Transportation as it continues to battle ride sharing companies for ridership. The amount of congestion seen on our roads can easily pointed to the number of rideshare vehicle on the road. Commuters don’t mind paying a few extra dollars for an Uber or Lyft ride in order to avoid a packed bus that is constantly in traffic gridlock during peak rush hours. Why not attempt to improve buse rides with bus only lanes, which will then lead to a quicker commute. This will then lead to less congestion on the road which is decrases commute time and better for our environment.

If you or a loved one has been seriously injured in a Chicago car crash or Chicago bus accident, then call Chicago personal injury lawyer, Aaron J. Bryant, for a free legal consultation at 312-614-1076