Rahm on Transportation Policy

In the spirit of "be the change you want to see in the world" instead of just whining about the media not talking about where Rahm Emannuel stands on municipal issues I thought I should look into it myself. Here he is on transportation with a number of good ideas:

Every transit station attracts riders and development potential, but the City has not fully integrated the goal of improving rail lines and stations into its capital and economic development strategies. Rahm will issue an executive order that establishes clear and consistent principles for transit oriented development – expedited permitting, set-aside of city-owned property to expand car sharing and bike parking, assistance with land assembly, expanded use of tax credits and loan guarantees, and identification of instances where the City will jointly invest with CTA to improve the transit system. The order will recognize the clear link between housing and transportation costs in keeping neighborhoods affordable, and will evaluate improvements on their ability to reduce the combined cost of housing and transportation for Chicago residents. This policy will help to focus all investment – including in Chicago's TIF districts – around developments that integrate station upgrades with mixed-use developments.

The devil's in the details, always, but this is the correct spirit. Heavy rail mass transit is a potentially very valuable investment, but the value lies in the possibility of dense development near stations. Facilitating transit-proximate development is key.