What types of transportation do you use during an average week, and how has this shaped your view of transportation policy?

I moved to Chicago in part because I wanted to reduce my reliance on a car and live in a more transit-oriented way. In reality, my weekly commute shows both the promise and the limitations of our current system.

I drive about 20 minutes from Edgewater to the Milwaukee District North Metra line because reliability matters. To keep my total commute manageable, about two hours each way, I need to be certain I’ll make my train. From there, I take Metra north, sometimes arriving early and transferring farther north to reach Grayslake, then rely on a company shuttle to get to work. I’m fortunate my employer is accommodating. Many workers do not have that flexibility.

On weekends and days off, I bike, take CTA, and walk whenever possible. I actively try to minimize car use, but the system has to make that realistic.

This experience shapes my view that transportation policy must prioritize reliability, frequency, and regional coordination. Transit should compete with driving not just in theory, but in practice. When trains are frequent, connections are seamless, and streets are safe for biking and walking, families gain time, affordability, and freedom of choice.

Transportation is not just infrastructure. It is access to opportunity.

What are some transportation challenges in your district?

The 9th District faces a unique mix of urban and suburban transportation challenges.

In Chicago neighborhoods, reliability and safety are top concerns. CTA service gaps, bus bunching, aging rail infrastructure, and inconsistent headways make it difficult for workers to depend on transit. Our system is still heavily oriented toward the Loop, which makes north–south commuting easier than east–west travel between neighborhoods. We need stronger crosstown options so people can reach jobs, schools, and healthcare without routing downtown first.

In suburban portions of the district, Metra is essential but often infrequent outside peak hours, limiting flexibility for workers with nontraditional schedules. Pace buses play a critical role, yet many stops lack shelters, lighting, or safe pedestrian access. If we want people to use transit year-round, especially in winter, protected and well-designed bus stops are not a luxury, they are basic infrastructure.

Across the district, aging bridges, stormwater flooding, and funding instability compound these issues.

The common thread is reliability and dignity. Transportation should be safe, frequent, and connected. Whether in Uptown, Skokie, or Crystal Lake, people deserve a system that expands opportunity rather than constrains it.

How do you view Congress’s role in setting priorities for public transit, passenger rail, and strengthening accessibility in transportation?

Congress plays a foundational role in shaping national transportation priorities. While local agencies operate transit systems, federal policy determines funding stability, capital investment, accessibility standards, and long-term vision.

First, Congress must provide predictable, multi-year funding for public transit and passenger rail. Uncertainty undermines planning and leads to deferred maintenance, service cuts, and safety risks. Federal investment should prioritize reliability, modernization, and expansion, not just highway capacity.

Second, Congress should strengthen passenger rail as a competitive alternative to driving and short-haul flights. That includes investing in frequency, electrification, station modernization, and regional connectivity.

Third, accessibility must be treated as a core requirement, not an afterthought. The Americans with Disabilities Act set the standard, but many stations and stops remain noncompliant or difficult to navigate. Federal funding should be tied to measurable accessibility improvements.

Finally, transportation policy must reflect climate and public health realities. Investments in transit reduce emissions, improve air quality, and expand economic opportunity.

Congress’s role is to set clear priorities, provide sustained funding, and ensure accountability so local systems can deliver safe, reliable, and equitable mobility for everyone.

What’s your position on the Federal government and Illinois’ current transportation infrastructure spending, and if you could change anything, what would it be?

Recent federal infrastructure investments, including the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, have provided critical funding for transit, roads, bridges, and rail. That investment was necessary. Illinois has also committed substantial state funding through Rebuild Illinois. The scale of need required action.

That said, funding levels alone do not guarantee the right outcomes.

If I could change one thing, it would be how we prioritize projects. Too often, federal and state dollars still favor highway expansion over transit frequency, maintenance backlogs, and accessibility upgrades. Expanding road capacity can induce more traffic and emissions, while underfunding transit undermines affordability and regional equity.

I would shift more funding toward reliable, frequent transit service, station accessibility upgrades, safer street design, and true regional rail coordination. We also need stronger federal incentives for east–west connectivity and better integration between Metra, CTA, and Pace.

Finally, infrastructure spending should be climate-aligned. Projects should be evaluated not just on traffic flow, but on emissions reduction, safety outcomes, and long-term resilience.

The goal is not just to spend more, but to spend smarter in ways that expand opportunity and reduce long-term costs.

What is your position on investing to expand passenger rail service in Illinois, including the development of high-speed rail?

I strongly support expanding passenger rail in Illinois, including targeted high-speed connections where they make economic and environmental sense.

One opportunity is better airport-to-downtown connectivity. Cities like London demonstrate how fast, reliable rail linking major airports to the urban core strengthens business travel, tourism, and regional mobility. Chicago should think similarly about stronger rail connections between O’Hare, Midway, and downtown.

Federal policy is uniquely positioned to coordinate multi-state regional rail across Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, and Michigan. Our economies are interconnected, but our rail planning is often fragmented. Congress can align funding, standards, and long-term strategy to build a coherent Midwest rail network rather than isolated projects.

At the same time, we must address the passenger–freight tension. Much of our rail infrastructure is privately owned freight track. Clear federal guidelines, fair compensation structures, and shared infrastructure investments are essential so passenger expansion does not undermine freight efficiency and vice versa.

Rail is economic policy, climate policy, and regional development policy. If we approach it strategically and cooperatively, the Midwest can lead the country in modern rail connectivity.

Federal funding for Illinois transportation projects – such as the Red Line Extension and Red-Purple Modernization projects – has come under threat from the Trump administration. How do you plan to shore up funding for critical infrastructure projects under a hostile federal climate?

Major transit projects like the Red Line Extension and Red–Purple Modernization are not partisan favors, they are long-term economic investments. They create union jobs, expand access to opportunity, reduce congestion, and strengthen regional competitiveness.

If federal funding becomes politically unstable, Congress must reassert its authority over the appropriations process. Infrastructure dollars approved by law should not be selectively delayed or withheld for political leverage. I would work with Illinois’ delegation, regional partners, and bipartisan allies in other states who rely on transit funding to defend those commitments.

We also need diversification of funding strategies. That includes strengthening federal formula funding protections, expanding low-interest financing tools, and ensuring projects are structured to meet rigorous cost-benefit and resilience standards so they are harder to undermine politically.

At the same time, Illinois must continue building broad coalitions, including business leaders and labor, to demonstrate that these projects are economic drivers, not ideological statements.

Critical infrastructure cannot become a casualty of partisan conflict. My role would be to defend authorized funding, build cross-state alliances around transit investment, and ensure projects are structured to withstand political volatility.

Our streets have become increasingly militarized in the past several months as the Trump administration has ramped up DHS and ICE activity in our cities. This past summer, Congress voted to increase the ICE budget larger than most of the world's militaries.

What is your position on ICE and related immigration enforcement?

I believe ICE should be abolished and its functions reassigned because its current structure enables unchecked use of force that has cost lives and eroded community trust. In Minneapolis, two U.S. citizens were fatally shot by federal immigration agents during enforcement operations. Many more deaths have happened by ice that were not caught on camera.

When enforcement resembles a militarized occupation of our cities, with masked federal agents conducting operations that terrorize neighborhoods and end in death, that is not law enforcement; that is a threat to civil liberties. We cannot accept a system in which poorly supervised enforcement actions uproot families, instill fear, and result in fatal outcomes without transparent oversight or accountability.

DHS and immigration enforcement responsibilities should be restructured so that serious criminal investigations remain with agencies trained and accountable under strict constitutional standards, and civil immigration matters are handled through humane, court-based processes.