Next Thursday is Thanksgiving and I have a lot to be thankful for. This year, I am thankful for all of your hard work and advocacy. You didn't hear? WE DID IT!!!!! On Wednesday, November 18, 2015, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) announced the return of the #11 Lincoln Bus and the 31st Street Bus under a new pilot program. Bus service is set to resume in the Spring of 2016!

The CTA eliminated the #11 Lincoln Bus which ran on Lincoln Avenue between the Western Brown Line and Fullerton Avenue in the Winter of 2012. Since then, I have been partnering with elected officials, community groups, chambers of commerce, senior centers, businesses, and community members to advocate for the return of the bus line. The bus was a lifeline for many residents in our community and when it was eliminated, many people in our community suffered. So over the last three years, we wrote letters, sent emails, made phone calls, filled out surveys, knocked on doors, donned #11 Bus t-shirts, attended budget hearings, and linked arms with one another to advocate for the return of our bus.

In the Spring of 2015, we joined forces with Ald. Patrick D. Thompson (11), the Chinatown community, the Bridgeport Alliance, IIRON, and Rev. Tom Gaulke from First Trinity Church to form the Crosstown Bus Coalition. Why? We shared a common issue: each of our communities lost a critical bus line. Our southside neighbors had been working to resume bus service along 31st St since the route was eliminated in 1997. Our community had been working to restore the #11 Lincoln Bus since 2012. By joining forces, we saw an opportunity to advocate for citywide equity around bus service and show that northside and southside communities could work together around a common issue. And for the last 10 months, that's what we've been doing.

For the last five months, the Crosstown Bus Coalition has been attending CTA hearings and board meetings. At each meeting, coalition members discussed the need for bus service to ensure seniors could continue aging place. Business owners discussed how bus service could bring additional customers to their shops and restaurants. Community members described their hardships due to the loss of bus service. In October, I presented the CTA Board with a letter signed by every elected official representing the eliminated portion of the #11 Bus route. The letter was signed by: Senate President John Cullerton, Sen. Heather Steans, Rep. Ann Williams, Rep. Greg Harris, Com. Bridget Gainer, and Com. John Fritchey, and Ald. Michele Smith. Ald. Patrick D. Thompson presented a similar letter signed by elected officials from the southside.

And thanks to everyone's collective efforts, the CTA worked with us over the last couple months and announced a pilot program to restore both bus lines next spring. Ridership will determine whether the route/s are brought back permanently. To ensure we have strong ridership, I am going to convene a local task force made up of our community partners. More on the pilot program and the local task force soon!

But today, let's celebrate! We did this together and together we proved that grassroots community organizing can work. Most importantly, we worked with our neighbors from the southside to restore two bus lines! Thank you!

There are so many people to thank. So here goes:

I want to thank all the elected officials who made the pilot possible. They include: Senate President John Cullerton, Sen. Heather Steans, Rep. Ann Williams, Rep. Greg Harris, Com. Bridget Gainer, and Com. John Fritchey, Ald. Michele Smith, Ald. Tom Tunney, Ald. Scott Waguespack, Ald. Patrick O'Connor, and Ald. Patrick D. Thompson.

I want to thank all of our Bridgeport partners. They include: Bridgeport Alliance, IIRON, C.W. Chan, Coalition for A Better Chinese American Community, Ruby Pinto, Rev. Tom Gaulke, Rene Paquin, Toby Chow, Quade Gallagher, Benjamin Huey, and many more.

I want to thank all of our community partners. They include: Liza Martin, Christopher Bakker, Pierce Bakker, Rick Kallao, Sandra Adams, Jeff DeLong, Lindsay Eanet, Helene Wineberg, Karen Kolb Flude, Jean Rogers, Adam Walsh, Sandra Shifrin, Janise Humphrey, Brian Martin, Marilyn Bade, Winnie Thivel, Perry Raniere, Agnes Mamic, Paz Endriga, Marge Long, May Ogawa, Jean Fletcher, LaVerne Hickey, Lilly Young, John Mikols, Samantha Stenzel, Frank Sherman, Jerry Perkins, Marvin Childress, Laurine Clark, Deborah Stewart,

Finally, I want to thank Mayor Emanuel, CTA President Dorval Carter, CTA Board Chairman Terry Peterson, the entire CTA Board, and CTA Intergovernmental Affairs Director Jeff Wilson. I also want to thank the following people from the Mayor's team: David Spielfogel, Michael Rendina, and Sean Repelyea. Over the last few years I've asked you to make calls and send letters and emails advocating for the return of the #11 Lincoln Bus. Today, I am asking you to send a note of thanks. Let's thank Mayor Emanuel and the CTA for hearing us and for working so hard to restore our bus lines.

CTA - (312) 681-5022 or glonghini1@transitchicago.com

Since this is our last newsletter before the Thanksgiving holiday, I want to take an opportunity to thank a few more people and businesses who make our community great:

All the 47th Ward Front desk volunteers. We have a small army of volunteers that contribute to our constituent service operation. These volunteers donate hundreds of hours of their time to help you and the 47th ward office. I am so thankful for their public service. A special thank you to: Marilyn Donovan, Mary Kiley Wulffen, Bette Vidina, Joni Croll, Carol Rizzolo, Char Kawa, Ross Silverberg, John Diebel, Lenore Kimmel, Tana Durnbaugh, and Rhoda Friedman.

Our local small businesses for making our neighborhood such a great place to live! Remember November 28th is national Small Business Saturday - enjoy your local businesses.

My dedicated 47th Ward team and the 47th Ward Streets and Sanitation crew. A big thank you to Jim, Ernie, Brad, and Dara. Also, a major thank you to Erick Norton (47th Ward Superintendent) and the dedicated men and women of Streets and Sanitation. They work very hard to keep our streets and alleys clean and do so without any fanfare.

And, finally, I want to thank my wife and best friend Charna. I couldn't ask for a better partner.

As you can see, I have a lot to be thankful for this year. So one more time, thank you.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday.