AEG Chicago 21Q4 Stakeholder Challenge Recap
Author: Jack Jordan, Lead Fellow, AEG Chicago
Leaders across Chicago’s clean energy and transportation sectors gathered last December for AEG Chicago’s Mobility and Transportation Stakeholder Challenge. The primary focus of the discussion? How to achieve greater social equity in mobility.
To set the stage for the day, Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) Chairman Carrie Zalewski provided Opening Remarks on the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act and the Reimagining Electric Vehicles Act. Zalewski argued that this legislation could put Illinois at the forefront of a cleaner and more equitable energy economy, but that greater stakeholder participation is needed to make this promise a reality.
“I do believe that if the ICC and the utilities and the stakeholders get this right, Illinois can be a leader in this space. Now is the time to act and participate.”
Above: Chairman Carrie Zalewski, Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) provides Opening Remarks at the AEG Chicgo 21Q4 Stakeholder Challenge on Mobility & Transportation at Chicago-Gold Coast Tesla.
Chairman Zaleweksi also discussed the ICC’s ongoing Beneficial Electrification Workshops. Chairman Zalewski encouraged all interested attendees and Illinois residents to participate in the process to have their voices heard.
“Under the legislation, we are required to bring together all different types of backgrounds and perspectives and invite everyone to speak at our workshops… There are different mechanisms for how these dockets will work, but right now we are really in the workshop phase, and this is the opportunity to have these candid and open conversations.”
Following Chairman Zalewski was Kyra Woods, Policy Advisor for the City of Chicago. Woods highlighted the current opportunity to advance social equity in the region’s climate planning efforts.
Woods briefly summarized the City of Chicago’s efforts to develop a new citywide climate plan in 2022. The new plan aims to advance environmental justice, improve community health and increase household savings on energy costs all while reducing overall carbon emissions. Woods discussed the need to provide an array of mobility options as part of this effort:
“We know that the car is not the best option for everyone, and we want to see communities with economic vibrancy where taking your bike or walking is as viable or more viable than the car option. We want to ensure we are investing in trail networks and bike networks to connect communities, to mend communities, and to provide for overall well-being for residents.”
Above: Kyra Woods, Policy Advisor for the City of Chicago provides Opening Remarks at AEG Chicago 21Q4 Stakeholder Challenge at Chicago-Gold Coast Tesla.
Following Woods’ remarks, four speakers went head-to-head in a Speaker Challenge. Each speaker presented to the group of 60 Stakeholders what they believed to be Chicago’s most critical obstacle to overcome to achieve the city’s carbon and equity goals (regarding mobility and transportation). These speakers included Erin Aleman, Executive Director of the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), Mark Braby, Head of eMobility at Itron, Laura Mooney, Director, Strategic Planning & Policy at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), and Roberto Requejo, Executive Director of Elevated Chicago.
While all four speakers won votes from the audience, it was ultimately Leah Mooney’s focus on public transit that participants selected as the most critical obstacle to overcome.
Selected obstacle statement from the December 9th AEG Chicago 21Q4 Stakeholder Challenge at Tesla-Gold Coast, Chicago, IL
The focus of Mooney’s presentation was how the push to make CTA’s spending as efficient as possible has led to less frequency, and thus less access to reliable transit for communities in Chicago that need it most. Mooney’s role as Director of Planning and Policy for CTA gives her a unique perspective on these constraints:
“I came to policy by way of budgeting, and from this I understand that budgeting is not just about math, but about our policy choices, our priorities, and what we value.”
One manifestation of this push for spending efficiency is the enforcement of what is known as the fare recovery ratio, which is the fraction of a transit system’s operating expenditures that are met by fares paid by passengers.
According to Mooney, the CTA and other transit agencies are required by Illinois legislation to cover at least 50% of their operating expenses through system-generated revenues (largely passenger fares), a requirement much higher than that of other transit agencies around the country.
In many ways, this requirement means that the CTA must function more like a business and less like a public service, which can often come at the detriment of providing frequent, accessible service.
“Treating transit more like a public good could allow us to program additional frequency where it's needed; promoting high access where there is high need instead of just trying to meet our efficiency goals”, Mooney explained.
Slide from Mooney’s presentation depicting areas of Chicago with access to frequent bus or rail service. Notice gaps on the Southwest and far South Side.
While reforming the fare recovery requirement is important, Mooney reminded the audience that this was a larger issue of how we view and value our public transit systems:
“This isn’t just a Springfield issue; it is not just about passing legislation. It’s about changing the story and changing our narrative.”
To address Mooney’s problem statement, a volunteer Task Force of more than 20 leaders in Chicago’s clean energy and transportation sectors will dedicate the next 12 months towards the research of funding models and transit data from other US cities with the goal of developing a public information campaign for clean and equitable transit. Volunteers hope that bringing awareness to how this issue impacts Chicago’s climate change and equity goals could help bring needed changes to the policies and perceptions of public transit in Illinois.
Above: Winners of the Breakout Challenge, Table #4 pose with their free Tesla for-a-day certificates, and Zero Carbon Coffee. Table #4 developed the winning 12 month solution that will work as a Task Force for 12 month to Leah Mooney’s selected obstacle statement.
To join the 21Q4 Transit Task Force or to get involved with future AEG Chicago events, reach out to Chicago Lead Fellow Jack Jordan at jack.jordan@goadvancedenergy.com
Join us for the AEG Chicago 22Q1 Stakeholder Challenge on Critical Infrastructure, Equity, and Resilience on March 18th @ Holland & Knight (Chicago). Register here.