Source: Chicago Humanities Festival
While Election Day continues, organizations prepare for change in the Midwest in regional travel.
The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning is hosting an event to discuss the possibility of a high-speed rail service as part of the regional GO TO 2040 transportation plan.
The discussion is part of the Chicago Humanities Festival and will be held on Sat. Nov. 8, 10-11:30 a.m. at the Chicago History Museum Auditorium at 1601 N. Clark St. Tickets are free for educators and students, and $5 for everyone else. One of the speakers is Rick Harnish, the executive director of the Transit Riders’ Alliance, a project of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, which works to improve transit systems in Illinois. You may remember them campaigning for more funding from the state during the recent CTA Doomsdays.
While you are at the museum, check out the exhibit called Burnham 2.0 curated by the Chicago Architectural Club. It is a display of new plans for the city based on the vision of Chicago’s original urban planner, Daniel Burnham. Featured in the exhibit are the top entries in the club’s Burnham Prize international design competition, which are ideas for a transit terminal in the West Loop where a regional high-speed train hub will connect with local highway, metro and riverway networks. Sounds futuristic, but feasible!
SansCar 
Sans, thanks plugging our session. We posted a short blog entry about today, too, at http://www.goto2040.org/blogs/blog.aspx?id=11558&blogid=618. Just FYI, that same day at the Chicago History Museum, the festival will unveil an exhibit with top entries from the Chicago Architectural Club’s biennial Burnham Prize international design competition, emphasizing the use of high-speed rail. Admission is free, and the exhibit will remain through January 19, 2009.
Thanks Tom. Let’s hope the Midwest will be next in getting high-speed rail!