Sarah FioRito, Evanston’s new transportation and mobility coordinator, doesn’t own a car. Instead, she’s a frequent biker and wants to improve the city’s roads for cyclists.
“The city of Evanston has a great foundation,” she said. “Now, we need to move as a country as a whole and beyond from having streets designed primarily with car movement in mind to streets that are designed for all modes of transportation to move safely, comfortably and harmoniously with one another.”
FioRito, who joined the city last month, also spoke to The Daily about her goals for transit upgrades and parking changes in Evanston.
This interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
The Daily: When it comes to the Chicago Transit Authority, Pace and Metra, what are your goals?
FioRito: I want to see transit much better for this region. I want to see transit serving people a lot better. A lot of people who are currently using transit are not being sufficiently served by the service levels. And also, a lot of people who would consider using transit are not currently using it because of the service levels.
The Daily: Once the city’s operations move downtown — a transit hub — will that change your perspective a little bit?
FioRito: I’m really excited for the city’s offices to be in downtown Evanston. From a transportation perspective, being in a more central, accessible area of Evanston is just going to make the city’s offices more accessible and easier to reach.
The Daily: There are people who say the downtown Metra station is rundown. What are some projects you want to collaborate on or have ideas for in that area?
FioRito: I’ve definitely received a lot of thoughts from different community members and business partners about the condition of the Metra station not just there, but also at Main Street. We are actively looking at next steps on that. It’s really expensive. It’s lead paint that needs to be completely redone. We are in conversation with Metra and also in conversation internally about how we can fund those improvements.
The Daily: You might have heard about the idea for setting a maximum amount of parking. Is that something that’s been on your mind?
FioRito: There are a lot of ways to be creative with parking policy. I am very mindful of people’s fears around changes … that’s where smart policy and really communicating with people comes in. Things do need to change, and also I respect people’s concerns about change.
The Daily: What brought you to Evanston?
FioRito: I was born in Evanston. I’m an Evanston Township High School graduate. I was raised in the area, and I’m very familiar with this area.
Email: [email protected]
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