[Norsider]

Regarding an extension of the Red Line, I don't think it's a question of whether or not the area "deserves" transit. First of all, there already is pretty decent Metra service up to 115th street so I'm not sure you won't just cannibalize the ridership there, but again, this really isn't the issue. What we need to remember when we talk about the CTA is that we are talking about city circulation, NOT commuter access. Now of course any transit system is going to concentrate on a central area and, largely, bring people to and from there. But what is the point of having the CTA compete against Metra? I would not prioritize an extension to 115th street, but I also wouldn't prioritize an extension to Schaumburg, Old Orchard, or Ford City. Until the CTA can provide convenient and direct access for all the little trips that make a urban area vibrant (think Paris, London, NYC, Tokyo, even an upstart DC), I will be vociferously against all of these things. And it frustrates me that building for these long-ass, Operating-expense-killing trips are all the CTA seems to talk about (other than the Circle Line of course, and Mid-City Transitway to a lesser degree). Let the Metra bring people in from the outer rings. What is the purpose of killing your Operating Expenses if people still(!!!!!!) can't get from the downtown Sheraton to McCormick Place/from Union Station to Navy Pier/from Humboldt Park to Midway/from Ogilvie Station to Soldier Field/from Ukrainian Village to the Metro/from Halsted in Pilsen to ANYWHERE and on and on and on. Duplicating service for suburban transit is wasteful and foolish (yes I mean you, Evanston Express), because to be honest, the Metra can do the long-trip commuting thing much better than the CTA ever could. Instead, let's concentrate on the great potential that the CTA has to be a circulator.