Sustainability

One of the great things about Oak Park is its connectivity to the Chicago region via rail and bus. But in 2019, more than half of Oak Park’s workforce drove alone to work, and less then a third of workers walked, biked, or took public transportation. Assuming those solo drivers each drove 20 miles round trip, guess how many metric tons of carbon they could have saved over the year if they left their cars behind? Almost 37,300 tons. Nationwide, transportation-related emissions make up more than a quarter of our carbon footprint. In a Village that cares about protecting the Earth from the effects of climate change, we can do better.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created seismic shifts in where people are working and how they commute. Public transportation ridership in the Chicago area has decreased by more than two-thirds. Moving forward, we encourage everyone to assess and re-balance how they commute and run local errands. Because every less vehicle-mile traveled makes a difference.