CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[Busy Bee]

On the topic of the 7000 contract, here's the bid images from Sumitomo. I really dig that first exterior rendering, though they resemble an awful lot like some German S-Bahn cars from the '70s. The interior proposals were also pretty nice, especially those red seats—they seem to grasp how human torsos are actually shaped:



http://chitransit.org/uploads/monthl...d298ef371.jpeg


http://chitransit.org/uploads/monthl...6ac0e1a1c.jpeg


http://chitransit.org/uploads/monthl...efcc3ac2c.jpeg


http://chitransit.org/uploads/monthl...5b65c3f4a.jpeg


http://chitransit.org/uploads/monthl...83e12a6b4.jpeg

[UPChicago]

That's certainly not Wilson, but other than that looks good! I wish they would give up the fabric though, I hate feeling afraid anytime I smell piss and my seat is abnormally cold.

[UPChicago]

If CSR was only $226 million under Bombardier, that does not sound like an underbid to me, relatively speaking.

[ardecila]

This is suburban, but interesting nonetheless. The new Barrington Road interchange on I-90 will have an "in-line" bus station with a park and ride. This facility is out for bid right now. The pedestrian underpasses are nice, and then there is a large signature pedestrian bridge over I-90 as well.

This kind of infrastructure is common in other cities like Seattle, LA and Minneapolis but this is the first one in Chicagoland.

No renderings, but from the bid drawings it will look like this, the style is similar to other Tollway structures like the new toll plazas:
https://goo.gl/maps/mktasZzxdXy

The site plan looks like this:

[orulz]

Fascinating piece of infrastructure. I have long thought that things like this should be built everywhere.

Even taking Seattle and Minneapolis into account, this is the first one I've seen that ties into existing exit ramps like this. This is important, because it doesn't require any extra right-of-way to build, instead using surplus land that just sits around unused at most interchanges.

I wonder if some special AASHTO permission was needed to allow this on an interstate highway, particularly one of the caliber of I-90. Or could it be that this this all kosher with the most recent/relevant interstate standards?

What sort of barrier (if any?) exists between the platform and the fast moving highway traffic?

Those are ramp meters in the drawings, right? I wonder if there will be a sensor that causes them to turn and stay red whenever a bus is leaving the platform.

My personal vision for this concept would eschew the pedestrian overpasses and underpasses in most cases, and instead tie the platforms in with the existing sidewalks of the surface street with simple, cheap, ADA-compliant ramps and stairs. Leaving out the over/underpasses is not desirable in this case because the interchange is a SPUI, but for a standard or folded diamond interchange on an urban freeway in a relatively dense area, it could be done. Combine that with Bus On Shoulder operations and you have a gold standard BRT with 55-65mph line haul speeds and fully dedicated right-of-way for very little money.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by orulz

Fascinating piece of infrastructure. I have long thought that things like this should be built everywhere.

It's hard to see, but there is a bus lane in each direction on the tollway that acts like a distributor. Separated by jersey barrier from the mainline. The entrance to the bus lane is accessed from the exit ramp instead of the mainline, so I think the geometry should prevent most drivers from zooming past the platform. It's weird to have these accessed from a right-hand exit ramp when the bus-on-shoulder is on the left shoulder, though. Under congested conditions it could take the bus many minutes to merge across four lanes.

No ramp meters, you're looking at electronic toll gantries. The mainline doesn't really back up to the point where ramp meters would be needed.

My only hesitation here concerns actual ridership. These buses will only go to the O'Hare/Rosemont area, and most jobs there are not concentrated near transit. I do see this working as a really nice remote park-and-ride for the airport, though, like LA's FlyAway or Boston's Logan Express. We really don't have an option like that in Chicago to serve suburban residents, you're expected to take a cab, park at the airport, or kiss-n-fly.

[Mr Downtown]

I don't really get this; the 610 already has several park-n-ride lots just a mile west of there, and ridership is really modest: 440 per day, only a few of them park-n-riders. Doesn't help that it has a dozen routing variations.

[ardecila]

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown

I don't really get this; the 610 already has several park-n-ride lots just a mile west of there, and ridership is really modest: 440 per day, only a few of them park-n-riders. Doesn't help that it has a dozen routing variations.

There's a whole series of new park and ride lots planned along with new services. Most of them are the traditional style next to the interchange, but this one has a unique "in-line" design that doesn't require buses to exit the expressway.

http://www.illinoistollway.com/docum...ion+Nov+10.pdf

[Mr Downtown]

I feel like that sort of scheme is pointless without walkable density around the nodes.

I'll mention again my own pipe dream of serving this corridor with an Ottawa-style busway in which the routes do useful origin and destination work before interchanging passengers at stations along the line-haul corridor:

[Busy Bee]

^This makes so much sense. So of course it will never happen.

[ardecila]

Yeah, I'm not sure about the usability of the planned service pattern either. But if Pace wanted to set up a network like the one you show, isn't the Barrington Road park and ride exactly the kind of infrastructure you want?

[Mr Downtown]

I suppose it could be adapted. But the emphasis on park-n-rides and call-n-rides seems misguided to me. It's the most innovative transit ideas of 1975—unlikely to even be considered a possibility by real people with jobs and lives.

Here's the scheme from the Illinois Tollway presentation:

[Chicago29]

The current I-90 construction along the Jane Addams from Rt. 31 in Elgin to the I-294/Kennedy is expanding the expressway from 3 lanes to 4 lanes, with the inner medians being dedicated to buses only.

The Pace system as it stands is not very comprehensive and ridership is low, but that makes sense. Hard to expand a system when it's not heavily used, and it's not heavily used because it's not an expansive system. Buses are not advantageous in most parts of the suburbs unless you live close to a stop or have a convenient or time efficient way of getting to one of the few 'park-and-ride' stations.

I think there's potential even if this new option along I-90 only has modest improvements. If Pace and the Tollway could expand routes along the expressway more people would consider using Pace. The tollway gets backed up everywhere at times, not just the I-290 interchange or north of O'Hare. I think those with long commutes could consider using Pace if: 1. Buses significantly cheaper than the tolls and 2. If it could 'swiftly' link commuters to their business in Schaumburg or Rosemont/O'Hare. There's the problem. "A bus that passes speeds by slow moving traffic on the expressway? I'm listening... But how do get from the expressway to my job 1-3 miles off the expressway? I think I'll just drive because that part isn't convenient."


Map of the Pace network around the I-90 corridor:

[SolarWind]

April 21, 2016

[M II A II R II K]

Could airborne cable car boost Chicago tourism?

Read More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...504-story.html

.....

A couple of local businessmen want to see the sky-high idea, which has been in the works a few years, finally become a reality. Calling it "The Skyline," Laurence Geller and Lou Raizin shared their idea this week at a luncheon of the City Club of Chicago — whose members include business, civic and government leaders — saying it could become a tourism centerpiece. Both men sit on the board of directors for Choose Chicago, the city's not-for-profit convention and tourism bureau.

- "The Skyline is a prime example of how we can move Chicago from old guard to vanguard," said Raizin, founder of Broadway in Chicago. "We kept coming back to the same question: What's our unique feature? Where's our Eiffel Tower? Where's our Big Ben? These ideas are our attempt to answer this question and are intended to start a conversation in the city about what we would like our reputation to be in the future." --- In 2013, members of Choose Chicago and others revealed they were looking at number of ideas to lure more visitors, including glass-bubble cable cars running on a line over the Chicago River from Navy Pier to the south branch of the waterway, the Tribune reported at the time.

- The year-round aerial gondola could accommodate 3,000 people an hour in the "pods" and operate on half-hour tours day and night along the south bank of the river, 17 stories above the water from Wacker Drive and Lake Street on the west and to Navy Pier on the east. There would be stops along the way, with Columbus Drive being the closest stop to Millennium Park, Raizin said. The cost to ride would be comparable to tickets for the observation decks at the Willis Tower and John Hancock Center, which are about $20. --- What's unique to Chicago is its waterfront, they said. The Skyline would be an attraction in the winter as well as the summer and alleviate the tourist frustration of conveniently getting to Navy Pier, the river and Michigan Avenue.

.....

[N830MH]

Wow! A cable car, huh? Unreal!

I am pretty sure about that. It will happens. I'm sure they will consider it. If they approved and they can have cable car all over city of Chicago.

[SkahHigh]

Way to disfigure the Chicago Riverwalk.

[J_M_Tungsten]

It's like something you see in a future movie. A bad future movie. Sweet renderings though.

[mousquet]

Originally Posted by J_M_Tungsten

It's like something you see in a future movie. A bad future movie.

They've been studying and planning the same over la Défense for a couple of years, but then it's not exactly the same older and more experienced high-rise district as that of downtown Chicago. It's like what you'll find ski resorts to me.

In la Défense proper, hanging over the tremendous pedestrian deck, I'd rather have a people mover à la Détroit and Vancouver. It would fit the spot very nicely and would be more efficient, I think.

[LouisVanDerWright]

Originally Posted by mousquet

They've been studying and planning the same over la Défense for a couple of years, but then it's not exactly the same older and more experienced high-rise district as that of downtown Chicago. It's like what you'll find ski resorts to me.

In la Défense proper, hanging over the tremendous pedestrian deck, I'd rather have a people mover à la Détroit and Vancouver. It would fit the spot very nicely and would be more efficient, I think.

Ah yes, the famed people mover. Admired the world over for it's visionary success. Idoled by many a city who wishes they had such a glorious mode of transit.