Another takeaway – regardless of whether a jury decides Madigan was corrupt – is the political importance of leading without becoming poisonous.

One day recently when I picked up my granddaughter from kindergarten, for some reason she was in no hurry to leave the building. So, I simply seated myself in the hallway while she stood around, peering in some other classrooms, lingering, processing something in her young mind.

No idea should be off the table. Think beyond trains and large fixed-route buses to paratransit and potentially even subsidized taxi service. Explore how community planning and civil engineering might evolve to increase the efficiency of public transportation.