Quote:
Originally Posted by Abner
That's interesting. I often use the Halsted stop, which is busy most of the day; I'd guess that it's the busiest after Midway and Pulaski (and maybe Roosevelt). The park and ride stations may be full by 7:30, but in my experience the trains are still full well past 9:00. It's obviously not a neighborhood line, but it clearly takes a lot of people off the road over a pretty long distance.
Do you have any guesses as to what freight alignments may possibly be considered for transit at some point besides the Red Line expansion? I'm guessing that mayoral caprice will largely determine whether the city pushes for the Mid-City Transitway or the Crosstown Expressway. The Bloomingdale tracks are likely to become a park. Are there others that might enter consideration over the next decade or two?
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As percentages (these fluctuate throughout the year, so consider them approximations):
Midway - 33%
Pulaski - 19%
Western - 12%
Kedzie - 11%
35/Archer - 10%
Halsted - 10%
Ashland - 5%
Thus it's pretty clear that it really functions as a connecting feeder service to downtown for trips originating at least several miles from the loop.
Of course that still makes it worthwhile, though it would have been nice if it could have stayed along Archer between Western and Pulaski rather than veering off into never-never land to follow freight ROW.
In terms of future Chicago transit projects along existing railroad ROW, you basically know them already: Carroll Ave. transitway downtown, Mid-City Line, and the Red/Orange/Yellow extensions. I made the comment more in regards to transit projects in this country in general; the majority of new lines that don't seem to be following a frieght ROW are either street-running light rail, very short subways, and in NYC's unique case the Second Avenue Subway, the latter whose ridership projections are off the charts.