Had no idea about this:
Express bus route will use I-55 shoulders
By Jon Hilkevitch | Tribune reporter
April 16, 2009
The Chicago region's first truly express buses will debut early next year, darting past traffic by using the left shoulders of Interstate Highway 55 between the Loop and the southwest suburbs, transit officials said Wednesday.
The idea is to draw commuters out of their cars and into buses traveling unimpeded by congestion on bus-only lanes at the speed of passenger trains.
In addition to much lower costs than building new rail lines, the anticipated benefits include fewer cars on the road tying up traffic, causing pollution and wasting the time of drivers stuck in congestion, the officials said.
The new service, operated by the suburban bus agency Pace, is scheduled to begin no later than spring 2010 and run initially during rush periods. There will be limited stops from the Bolingbrook area in Will County to a terminus as far east as the Dan Ryan Expressway or Lake Shore Drive, according to the Regional Transportation Authority, which plans to hold a meeting announcing the plan on Thursday.
The time savings for commuters are projected at up to one hour per round-trip, according to the RTA.
"That is an hour a day you get back—to spend with family—not to mention that if you get out of your car and ride this new service, you get to read, sleep or just relax," said Leanne Redden, RTA senior deputy executive director of strategic planning and regional programs.
Bus rapid transit, as the program is known, is also being considered on the Northwest Tollway (Interstate Highway 90) and on traffic-clogged arterial streets in Chicago that feed traffic into downtown.
The Chicago Transit Authority had planned to test bus-only lanes on four city corridors beginning this year, but the Daley administration forfeited a $153 million federal grant in January that was supposed to fund the project and pay for new buses and bus rapid transit stations. The lost money was caused by the city missing a deadline to approve a congestion-pricing ordinance aimed at discouraging driving in the central business district during peak hours by raising fees and taxes at parking garages and lots.
The I-55 corridor (Stevenson Expressway) was chosen for the RTA's demonstration project of a premium bus rapid-transit service because no major infrastructure improvements are needed and numerous segments of the highway rank as the most congested in the region, Redden said. An average of 178,000 vehicles use I-55 each weekday.
"This is announcement No. 1 in what we anticipate being a series of demonstration corridors for bus rapid transit," Redden said. "The I-55 service will be a high-end, point-to-point express bus initially, with opportunities later to introduce other attractive railway-like features."
Pace will use its over-the-road style coaches, which are equipped with more comfortable seating than traditional buses. Fares and other details still must be worked out, officials said.
During the 1999-2000 reconstruction of the Stevenson, the left shoulders alongside the expressway's median were built 12 feet wide, the same as the main lanes, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Officials said the express buses would vacate the bus-only lanes and rejoin vehicles in the regular lanes when there is no traffic congestion—a rare occurrence on I-55 during morning and evening rush periods.
The buses would also get out of the way of emergency vehicles needing to use the shoulders, officials said.
I-55 is congested more than 12 hours each day on average, according to data collected by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning. It means a trip on the Stevenson that would take about 16 minutes in free-flowing traffic often takes an hour or longer during peak travel times.
The experimental Pace rapid transit buses operating on a dedicated bus lane in each direction of the I-55 shoulder would travel at the posted 55 m.p.h. speed limit for the entire trip of about 30 miles between Will County and Chicago, said Patrick Wilmot, a Pace spokesman.
One option under consideration is to end the route in the city with a connection to the CTA Orange Line at the Ashland station, he said.
About 25 minutes each way are expected to be slashed from the 90 minutes it often takes during peak travel times for a bus rider using the existing Pace bus route No. 855/I-55 Flyer service that runs from Illinois Highway 53 in Romeoville to Chicago on I-55, Redden said.
Future plans call for extending the I-55 express bus route to a planned park-and-ride facility in downtown Plainfield, Wilmot said. The location has also been selected as a stop on Metra's planned STAR Line, which would be the first suburb-to-suburb commuter rail line in the region.
The RTA plans to unveil additional corridors, including on arterial streets in Chicago and the suburbs as well as on area toll roads, later this year as coordination continues with Pace, the CTA, IDOT and the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, Redden said.
The goal is to operate bus-only lanes as quickly as possible. "I don't want to wait until everything's perfect to launch bus rapid transit," Redden said. "Day 1 of service is getting the bus moving fast in the I-55 corridor.
"As we build the market we will incorporate premium vehicles into the mix, brand the product [with a special name] and explore expanded opportunities."
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