Pledge to get active while getting around on Thursday, Sept. 22: Chicagoland Car-Free Day

 

Local communities pass Car-free Day resolutions                                                                            

 

(News from the Active Transportation Alliance)          

 

Thousands of people across Chicagoland will declare themselves car-free in favor of transit, walking and biking for Chicagoland Car-Free Day, Sept. 22. The event is part of World Car-Free Day — when people around the world pledge to go sans auto. For the 2011 Chicagoland Car-Free Day, the Active Transportation Alliance is again partnering with RTA, CTA, Metra and Pace to shine a spotlight on green, convenient, healthy, fun and affordable ways of getting around.

Anyone can declare him or herself car-free for the day at www.chicagolandcarfree.org and be eligible to win a $100 gift certificate to REI or an iPod Shuffle.

Communities around the region are also taking part in Chicagoland Car-Free Day. Skokie, Evanston and the Village of Wood Dale have all passed Car-Free Day resolutions this year. On September 22nd they will be encouraging their residents to rediscover their community by transit, bike or on foot.

“The Village of Skokie is committed to promoting alternate forms of transportation and we are glad to partner with Active Transportation Alliance in promoting Chicagoland Car-Free Day again this year,” commented Skokie Mayor George Van Dusen. “In the next several months, the new CTA Yellow Line Oakton Station in Downtown Skokie will open to provide even greater mass-transit opportunities to both Skokie residents and others living in nearby communities.”

To celebrate the event, the City of Evanston will be sponsoring a commuter pit stop in front of the 909 Davis Building in between the Davis Metra and CTA stops 6-9 a.m. on Thursday, September 22.

“Car-Free Day is a wonderful opportunity to highlight the many options to getting around that do not involve a car. Evanston is lucky that about 40% of residents already use other modes of transportation to and from work instead of driving, according to the 2000 U.S. Census,” says Catherine Hurley, Sustainable Programs Coordinator for Evanston.  

The website, www.chicagolandcarfree.org, provides commuters with biking, walking and transit resources that will make it easier to leave the car at home. Resources like RTA’s trip planner, www.goroo.com, and www.PaceRideShare.com will help commuters every step of the way.

Find out more about Chicagoland Car-Free Day at www.chicagolandcarfree.org

ABOUT ACTIVE TRANS
The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. The Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by 6,800 members, 1,000 volunteers and 40 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

ABOUT RTA
The RTA provides financial oversight, funding and regional planning for the three public transit operations in Northeastern Illinois: The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and train, Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban bus and paratransit. For more information, visit www.rtachicago.com and www.MovingBeyondCongestion.org.

ABOUT CTA
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) operates the nation’s second largest public transportation system providing both bus and rail service. On an average weekday, 1.7 million rides are taken on CTA. The CTA is a regional transit system that serves 40 suburbs, in addition to the City of Chicago, and provides 81 percent of the public transit trips in the six-county Chicago Metropolitan-area region either with direct service or connecting service to Metra and Pace.

ABOUT PACE
Pace, the suburban bus division of the RTA, provides fixed route bus, ADA paratransit, dial-a-ride and ridesharing services throughout northeastern Illinois. Pace has the seventh-largest bus fleet in North America, one of the largest vanpool programs in the United States, and its regional ADA Paratransit service is estimated to be the largest such operation in the world. In 2008, total ridership on Pace service was more than 40.5 million, its second largest total in the agency’s 25 year history.”

ABOUT METRA
Metra provides more than 80 million rides annually on 11 rail lines serving more than 100 communities at 239 rail stations in the six-county metropolitan area. For complete schedule information, customers may contact Metra Passenger Services, 312-322-6777, during business hours, visit www.metrarail.com, or call the RTA Travel Information Center at 836-7000 (city or suburbs).