The announcement of the finalists to build the O'Hare Express has critics even more concerned about the project's viability.

"Mayor Rahm Emanuel's grand plan for luxury express transit service to O'Hare could be a costly distraction from Chicago's more pressing transportation priorities," John Greenfield writes.
The city has announced that Elon Musk's The Boring Company is one of two finalists bidding to plan, build, finance, and operate the O'Hare Express. That fact alone worries Greenfield, who points out Musk's professed disdain for public transit, as well as his proposal's reliance on technologies that do not yet exist. The other finalist is an international consortium of investors and engineers.
Greenfield, who has previously covered the airport transit project for Streetsblog, is skeptical of the mayor's claim that public funds won't be used to construct the route. He also echoes other critics' concerns that the airport express is fundamentally the wrong project for the city; projects that "would actually improve transit access for ordinary Chicagoans," he writes, include rapid transit and speeding up buses.
"The express would be redundant to the existing Blue Line service, which could be made more attractive to visitors and business travelers via some relatively inexpensive upgrades…[I]t might not offer a significant reduction in total travel time. That, along with projected $25-plus ticket prices, could make it hard to generate sufficient ridership."
FULL STORY: Selection of Finalists for O’Hare Express Takes Us a Step Closer to a Muskian Boondoggle

Trump Administration Could Effectively End Housing Voucher Program
Federal officials are eyeing major cuts to the Section 8 program that helps millions of low-income households pay rent.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Ken Jennings Launches Transit Web Series
The Jeopardy champ wants you to ride public transit.

Making Mobility More Inclusive
A new study highlights the challenges people with disabilities continue to face in navigating urban spaces.

Texas Bills Could Push More People Into Homelessness
A proposal to speed up the eviction process and a bill that would accelerate enforcement of an existing camping ban could make the state’s homelessness crisis worse, advocates say.

USGS Water Science Centers Targeted for Closure
If their work is suspended, states could lose a valuable resource for monitoring, understanding, and managing water resources.
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