CHICAGO’S NEW TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY TASK FORCE
Section 1: Executive Summary
Mayor Emanuel created the New Transportation and Mobility Task Force in September 2018 to present a forward-looking and innovative roadmap for the future of mobility and transportation in Chicago. Chicago is renowned for its world-class transportation system, but in order to maintain its leadership in mobility, the City needs to thoughtfully address existing challenges and pioneer an innovative vision for the future.
The Task Force is comprised of 20 experts and thought-leaders from government, business, neighborhood and civic organizations, research institutions, and not-for-profits in the transportation, mobility and technology sectors. The Task Force met over six months to develop this report, and over 40 industry experts and stakeholders provided information and consultation to the report, ensuring this report is a comprehensive and focused vision for Chicago’s transportation system.
To prepare this report, the Task Force examined existing challenges within Chicago’s transportation system from accessibility concerns to rise in ride-hailing trips and congestion issues and the need for additional funding for infrastructure. The Task Force also discussed the future of transportation, including the advent of autonomous vehicles, expansion of electrification, implementation of new micro-mobility services, growth of freight delivery, and need for uniform data collection and data sharing. The Task Force is presenting recommendations that will allow the City to modernize and expand its multi-modal transportation system to ensure affordable, accessible, reliable, and efficient service options for residents, businesses, and visitors now and into the future.
The Task Force grounded its recommendations in a set of principles for government leaders and stakeholders to follow when developing policy, planning for infrastructure, launching programs and pilots, and studying new innovations and services. These principles are:
- A transportation system that is safe for all users;
- Mobility choices that are accessible, equitable, affordable and non-discriminatory;
- Economic development that is inclusive and innovative;
- A city that is efficient, smart and reliable;
- Communities that are sustainable, healthy, and built using universal design principles;
- Data and information that is actionable, transparent, shared, and secure, and
- Regulation of private providers that is guided by public benefits.
Based on these principles, the Task Force developed a set of seven interdependent recommendations to support an efficient, affordable, reliable, and accessible multi-model transportation system:
- Streamline governance and management of transportation system and policies within and across city departments, agencies and private sector;
- Develop uniform, detailed, and secure data sharing requirements between public and private entities;
- Support investments in transportation infrastructure to meet the City’s mobility goals;
- Encourage mode shift to right-sized capacity and increased passenger mile efficiency;
- Build an accessible, affordable, and convenient multi-modal transportation system;
- Advance a transportation and mobility system that promotes the environmental health and sustainability and improves overall livability of the city; and
- Prepare Chicago for Connected and Automated Vehicles.
These recommendations are supported by over 50 specific actions, policy changes or studies, including:
- Increasing the State of Illinois’ Motor Fuel Tax and look to develop alternatives (such as Vehicle Miles Traveled tax — VMT) for future implementation. Today, user taxes on gasoline are the most effective and reasonable method to raise significant and stable funds for infrastructure. The Task Force supports an increase in the federal and state motor fuel taxes in 2019, indexed to inflation, to fund statewide investments in infrastructure and transportation. The City and the region should also actively work with state and regional partners to pursue new methods, pilot or test various solutions to the gas tax for the future. For example, Vehicle Miles Travel tax.
- Incentivizing businesses to provide public transit benefits to employees. Many businesses in the downtown area offer parking incentives to its employees, which contributes to high levels of single-occupant vehicle use and congestion. A number of cities have developed “Travel Demand Management” programs in order to reduce overall demand for low occupancy vehicle trips. These programs include a variety of strategies, including working directly with employers to align incentives for employee travel choices with citywide transportation policy goals. The City and CTA should promote adoption of such strategies among corporate sector and large institutions, including expanding participation in existing CTA and Metra transit benefits programs, reducing the practice of providing free or subsidized parking which encourages employees to drive to work, and identifying other incentives.
- Determining a governance framework for uniform data-sharing. The future of mobility is rapidly evolving through new information and technology. Data systems have increasingly become as much a part of our transportation infrastructure as roads, bridges, and rails. The City should capitalize on this development by establishing more uniform and transparent data-sharing between public and private entities. A data-sharing and system integration model should realize the potential for mobility payment, pricing, and trip planning to be integrated and centralized in various ways; and provide for safe and easy testing, implementation and licensing of new mobility methods and leverage date to better manage infrastructure, improve planning and expand access.
- Investing in critical infrastructure, establishing data sharing requirements and launching an autonomous vehicle (AV) pilot in Chicago. The City must take a proactive approach to understanding and guiding development of AV technology, while stressing that deployment must be in a safe and reasonable manner, considering a wide range of stakeholder interests. The City should set a vision for how AVs can transform Chicago and actively work to promote awareness around this technology. This includes the City pursuing pilot opportunities to better prepare for the launch of AV technology. Specifically, the City should pursue an AV pilot in Chicago that will expose Chicagoans, visitors, and businesses to AV vehicles and help build trust of the technologies, while providing an innovative testbed for a myriad of stakeholders.
- Ensuring micro-mobility services and new mobility options are accessible for all and do not impede the public way. The City should work to expand the availability of shared bike and other micro-mobility programs to offer a range of accessible bikes and micro-mobility devices. With the growth in micro-mobility options, these options can impede access to the public way. Therefore, the City should develop clear policies around right-of-way placement and use of micro-mobilities in the public right-of-way. These policies will help to ensure shared bikes, scooters and other dockless mobility devices are not an impediment to access of the public way.
- Requiring the City to lead in use of electric vehicles (EVs). The City must enhance its role as a leader in the use of electric vehicles. This includes supporting the CTA as they transition to 100% electric buses by 2040, testing electric charging infrastructure in the City, and investing in a municipal EV fleet through Drive Clean Chicago.
- Conducting a scooter-sharing pilot in 2019. To expand micro-mobility options in Chicago, the City should conduct a modest pilot of scooter-sharing in 2019 in an effort to collect data to understand: (i) safety issues (scooters should be capped at 15 mph), (ii) impacts on the visually impaired and other people with disabilities (including sidewalk clutter, accessible right-of-way and building access, and low-levels of sound), (iii) operator performance in managing sidewalk clutter and storage and access to buildings and the street, (iv) best locations or uses for these services, including storage and parking, and (v) effects on the Divvy system, transit and commuting choices.
- Evaluating the transportation-related taxes and fees to determine opportunities to restructure the rates to promote reduced reliance on single occupancy vehicles and encourage additional use of high-capacity, high-efficiency options (CTA, Pool Vehicles, Shared Vehicles, Bikes, etc.). The City should evaluate a restructuring of its Ground Transportation Tax (GTT), car rental taxes, lease taxes, parking taxes, and other mobility-related taxes and fees. The evaluation should be focused on identifying changes to existing structures to promote public transit and shared trips, encourage equitable, accessible and clean mobility services, and reduce reliance on single-occupancy vehicles and single-passenger trips.
- Establishing a Chief Mobility Officer. The City of Chicago should establish a Chief Mobility Officer within the Mayor’s Office to (1) coordinate transportation policy with identified mobility leads across city departments and sister agencies (2) lead engagement with mobility providers and (3) stay abreast of domestic and global initiatives to determine applicability to Chicago. A Chief Mobility Officer will provide the Mayor’s Office a resource solely dedicated to coordinating across the municipal government and the broader region to better align policy decisions. The role would not displace basic operations performed by departments and sister agencies, but rather, it would leverage these existing resources to define and implement unified mobility strategies.
Download full version (PDF): Roadmap for the Future of Transportation and Mobility in Chicago
About Chicago’s New Transportation and Mobility Task Force
https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mayor/press_room/press_releases/2018/october/TransportationandMobility.html
Chaired by former U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the Task Force focuses on identifying both immediate actions and long-term changes that support the Mayor’s overall goal of delivering safe, reliable, affordable, equitable, accessible and environmentally-sustainable transportation options that serve all residents and visitors, provide fast and stable movement of freight, and encourage inclusive economic growth.
Tags: Chicago, Chicago's New Transportation and Mobility Task Force, IL, Illinois, Rahm Emmanuel, Ray LaHood
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