CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[Taft]

Originally Posted by Marcu

^ I'll fill in for LaSalle. I Think what he is saying is most people within 14 miles of the loop already take transit whenever possible. The real cause of congestion downtown is people commuting from places like the NW suburbs or Will Co. that will not be able to benefit from the program in any way and will continue to drive. So the end result for at least the near term will be people that already take transit will have more options and people that drive will have to continue driving except will now have less lanes to do it in actually resulting in more congestion. I think LaSalle proposes creating some sort facilities farther out (skokie el?) where people can park and ride or otherwise switch to the BRT if driving in from farther out than 14 miles although I'm pretty sure Metra already serves this function.

Personally, I think dedicated bus lanes are a brilliant idea. They serve the same function as trains but for pennies on the dollar. As I said before, the key will be proper implementation.

I see where you guys are coming from, but I think you might underestimate the number of drivers coming from affluent neighborhoods in Chicago outside of the loop. I know a heck of a lot of people who drive to work from Lakeview, Lincoln Park and Wicker Park.

Coaxing these folks out of their cars will likely take more than BRT, though every little bit helps, I suppose.

Taft

[VivaLFuego]

^ To add to what Taft's saying, I think transit actually does -better- with the far-out suburban commuters, for whom Metra is substantially faster than sitting in expressway traffic. The high income folk from Lincoln Park, Bucktown, etc. can make it downtown faster than a bus/train most of the time, and thus a substantial portion of them do drive (being high-income, the high parking cost isn't a deterrent when time is money).

[the urban politician]

Many of you can't read the whole thing, but their basic issue can be summed up as such: you're getting a stick without a very good carrot

Daley's efforts to ease traffic woes fall short
May 05, 2008
Mayor Daley's plan to reduce traffic congestion is well-intentioned, but we all know where good intentions can lead.

We're all for faster commutes, fewer traffic jams and less pollution. But we're skeptical that the mayor's plan, as described last week, can achieve those goals.

[nomarandlee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...0,478355.story

CTA to add 18 routes to Bus Tracker system
GPS, Internet provide real-time info to riders
By Jon Hilkevitch | Tribune reporter
1:27 PM CDT, May 5, 2008


Chicago Transit Authority riders will be able to look up the whereabouts of buses on 18 more routes starting May 19 when the Bus Tracker system is expanded, officials said Monday.

The $24 million Bus Tracker program uses the global-positioning system and the Internet to provide real-time information to CTA riders about the locations of buses. It also estimates the arrival time of buses at specific bus stops, based on the distance of the closest bus and traffic flow.

........The 18 CTA bus routes that will be added on May 19 are:

No. 9 Ashland; No. X9 Ashland Express; No. X20 Washington/Madison Express; No. 21 Cermak; No. 44 Wallace/Racine; No. 47 47th; No. 48 South Damen; No. 50 Damen; No. 51 51st; No. 52A South Kedzie; No. 53A South Pulaski; No. 55 Garfield; No. X55 Garfield Express; No. 59 59th/61st; No. 60 Blue Island/26th; No. 63 63rd; No. 67 67th/69th/71st; and No. 75 74th/75th.

..

[OhioGuy]

I want the Addison buses (152) to have the tracker.

[VivaLFuego]

^If I had to guess, I would expect Forest Glen garage (the 152's home) is -probably- next in line. The phasing is generally just based on fleet considerations. North Park, 103rd, and Chicago have the oldest buses, so I would expect these to be the last garages to get Bus Tracker, since they don't want to install the equipment on buses that are about to be retired. That leaves Forest Glen, 77th, and Kedzie as the likely next garages.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by honte

^ Viva, do you think that the Kinzie bridge will be reconfigured somehow so that it is regularly in the down position? As much as I love it up all the time, it seems like an impediment to traffic flow on the Carroll route.

The Kinzie bridge IS normally in the down position. You're thinking of the railroad bridge that serves the rails on Carroll Street, which is normally in an upright position. It would probably have to be rebuilt to be put back into regular service, and it would certainly have to be reconfigured, since I don't think it currently takes non-rail traffic.

[MayorOfChicago]

I really wish they'd at least get ONE good northside route other than Western and Ashland. Strange how so many people who use the bus live between the lake and Ashland, and downtown and the north city limits, and yet they aren't including any of those routes.

Belmont...Fullerton....Clark....151....Iriving Park...Any of the 130's and 140's? They're all heavily used routes. Some of them they're choosing I've never even heard of as far as having high ridership.

[MayorOfChicago]

Originally Posted by emathias

The Kinzie bridge IS normally in the down position. You're thinking of the railroad bridge that serves the rails on Carroll Street, which is normally in an upright position. It would probably have to be rebuilt to be put back into regular service, and it would certainly have to be reconfigured, since I don't think it currently takes non-rail traffic.

I like that bridge in the up position, but I can't remember the story behind why it's always up.

I'm almost thinking they rose the bridge, and the insides basically blew to hell while it was up, and they literally couldn't get it back down without doing repairs - for which there was no immediate demand.

[Haworthia]

I'm rather fond of it too. I wouldn't want anyone to touch it, it's a landmark of sorts now. It adds charm to the river. I'd be curious too if anyone knows the story behind it.

[k1052]

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago

I like that bridge in the up position, but I can't remember the story behind why it's always up.

I'm almost thinking they rose the bridge, and the insides basically blew to hell while it was up, and they literally couldn't get it back down without doing repairs - for which there was no immediate demand.

In the down position there is not adequate clearance to allow river traffic up the north branch.

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago

Belmont...Fullerton....Clark....151....Iriving Park...Any of the 130's and 140's? They're all heavily used routes. Some of them they're choosing I've never even heard of as far as having high ridership.

They probably want to implement it on the less frequent routes first since it will be most useful on those. I don't need to know when the next 151 will be here because you can usually see one in each direction down the street it runs so frequently.

[MayorOfChicago]

^ makes sense. That's what I was thinking as well after I wrote that response.

[harryc]

Originally Posted by emathias

The Kinzie bridge IS normally in the down position. You're thinking of the railroad bridge that serves the rails on Carroll Street, which is normally in an upright position. It would probably have to be rebuilt to be put back into regular service, and it would certainly have to be reconfigured, since I don't think it currently takes non-rail traffic.

Carol st Bridge photos

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by Haworthia

I'd be curious too if anyone knows the story behind [the UPRR bridge near Kinzie].

What story do you mean? When built, by whom, dimensions, etc.?

[jjk1103]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

^If I had to guess, I would expect Forest Glen garage (the 152's home) is -probably- next in line. The phasing is generally just based on fleet considerations. North Park, 103rd, and Chicago have the oldest buses, so I would expect these to be the last garages to get Bus Tracker, since they don't want to install the equipment on buses that are about to be retired. That leaves Forest Glen, 77th, and Kedzie as the likely next garages.

.....when do you think #81 Lawrence will get bus tracker ? .....also, what about the trains ?

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago

I like that bridge in the up position, but I can't remember the story behind why it's always up.

I'm almost thinking they rose the bridge, and the insides basically blew to hell while it was up, and they literally couldn't get it back down without doing repairs - for which there was no immediate demand.

It was an active rail spur until 2001 when the Sun-Times moved printing operations to the Southwest Side near Ashland and the south branch. The bridge only has 6-8 feet of clearance between the river and the bridge deck, necessitating the upright position.

[jjk1103]

.......can anyone provide a quick update (or a website that I can refer to) on the status of the Blue (O'hare) track re-hab / the Red Loop re-hab (I think there are two projects going on ?) / and the Red Dan Ryan re-hab work ?

........I need to know because I volunteer on the weekends (as a "Greeter") for the City of Chicago and take people from around the world on tours of the city, and I frequently get asked by the tourists about transit "status" questions.

....thank you......

[ardecila]

As far as I know, the Dan Ryan Red Line rehab work is done. There might be a few random checklist items remaining, but all major construction and delays are over. Same goes for the reconstruction of the Dan Ryan itself.

Currently, the Red Line has a track rehab going on in the subway, and between Diversey and Wellington on the North Side, that should also be done by the end of 2008. After that, track rehab will work on portions further north.

The Blue Line has two projects going on - a signal system replacement and a track rehab. The track rehab is expected to be completed by the end of 2008. The signal project might extend into 2009, since the track work is getting priority, but I don't think it will cause significant delays.

If major construction on the city's two busiest lines wasn't enough, there is also a rehab project that's set to start work on the Lake/Wabash half of the Loop, so all trains will be shifted to the other half (Van Buren/Wells). Service patterns will change while construction is ongoing. The interesting thing about this is that, when the Lake/Wabash side is closed, Brown and Orange Lines will essentially be combined, with trains operating from Kimball to Midway. The Pink Line will not go to the Loop, and will terminate at Ashland/Lake. This project is also planned to complete by the end of 2008.

In short, 2008 will be absolute transit hell, between North Side 3-tracking, city-wide slow zone work, and a few other projects, with every line affected except Yellow. But come January, the system should improve by a tremendous amount. In the meantime, improvements will come in the form of increased Bus Tracker, new Brown Line stations opening, and maybe the installation of station improvements like the ad/info screens. The Loop closures will also make it a bit easier for the Wabash repainting/streetscaping to continue.

Complete information can be found here, along with links to the latest closure/delay updates. http://www.transitchicago.com/news/motion/szep.html

[schwerve]

Originally Posted by ardecila

The interesting thing about this is that, when the Lake/Wabash side is closed, Brown and Orange Lines will essentially be combined, with trains operating from Kimball to Midway. The Pink Line will not go to the Loop, and will terminate at Ashland/Lake. This project is also planned to complete by the end of 2008.

I'd make the argument that the cta should/will in effect combine the orange/brown/pink lines. with the ability to run 8 car trains throughout the brown the cta can combine the brown and the pink lines (running at pink freq) while through-routing the orange line. in essence it would retain the exact same train frequency (orange line and pink line being approx half the brown) and allow for greater connectivity in the system.