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-   -   CHICAGO: Transit Developments (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101657)

ardecila Nov 19, 2008 11:44 AM

^^ That shouldn't be too hard to do. Mies' shed isn't very big, the stairs could easily just shift to the north a little bit.

nomarandlee Nov 19, 2008 4:14 PM

Quote:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...0,967349.story

Just charge it: CTA to offer more ways to pay with plastic
All-in-one 'smart' credit/debit cards could be used for more than commuting
By Jon Hilkevitch | Tribune reporter
November 19, 2008


In a society addicted to buying on credit, the Chicago Transit Authority is hoping to cash in big time.

A "smart" version of those credit cards and bank debit cards stuffed in your wallet will be accepted for payment of CTA bus and train fares in about a year, transit officials told the Tribune on Tuesday.

The card, which will contain a computer chip that allows the user to pay for rides on the CTA, Pace and other participating transit systems, is otherwise a standard credit or a debit card that can be used at all other businesses where it is currently accepted

........The change, which is expected to take place over a period of years, marks a step toward what some financial experts envision as a mostly cashless society. It will also free up the CTA to focus exclusively on providing transportation, while generating new income through long-term contracts with the corporations that issue and manage the cards

...........
"Moving away from producing our own fare media and maintaining transit card vending machines across the system will save the CTA at least $10 million a year over time," Huberman said.

The CTA also could reap substantial royalties by offering a credit card company a half-billion transit-fare transactions a year, Huberman said. In addition to royalties, the companies would be expected to help pay for card-reading machines on buses and at rail stations, he said...........
rest in link

nomarandlee Nov 19, 2008 4:22 PM

Quote:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...0,285431.story

Minnesota's tiered tollway charges are likely coming to Illinois roadways
Plan by Gov. Rod Blagojevich may be approved Thursday
By Richard Wronski | Tribune reporter
November 19, 2008

......Her experience could serve as a model for Chicago-area drivers who may get a similar system by 2010 under a proposal by Gov. Rod Blagojevich. The Illinois tollway board is expected to green light the plan Thursday.

One lane on each of the four Chicago-area tollways would be reserved for ride-sharers and buses, which would pay the normal toll. Drivers of hybrids and other vehicles deemed "environmentally friendly" could use the lane if they pay an extra charge.

Motorists who drive alone also could use "the Green Lane" at an even higher toll, depending on congestion.

In operation since 2005, MnPASS (pronounced Min-pass) lanes that run 11 miles on Interstate Highway 394 have helped reduce peak-period congestion 50 percent, officials said.

"The heavier the traffic, the more you pay," said Salo, 47. "So it means I don't stop at Caribou [coffee] some mornings."

Q What is a Green Lane?

A The governor has dubbed them "Green Lanes," but most transportation experts refer to them as HOT lanes, for high-occupancy toll. The plan is to install them on much of the 80 miles of Chicago-area tollways where traffic is heaviest. The lane would be designated for mass transit and vehicles with carpools—two or more passengers. Solo drivers could use them but pay a premium depending on the level of congestion. The concept, "congestion pricing," is already used in Minneapolis, Denver, Orange County, San Diego and Houston.

Q Why are Green Lanes needed?

A Despite a $6.3 billion widening and expansion program, the local toll roads remain badly congested, and there's no way to build more lanes. Green Lanes, experts say, would promote ride-sharing and public transit and cut emissions by providing free-flowing lanes of traffic.

Q Do these lanes really ease congestion?

A Peak period congestion was reduced 50 percent in Minneapolis after the MnPASS lanes were set up on Interstate Highway 394, officials said. The far-left lane is set aside along with two reversible lanes for part of the distance.

Q How much time will a Green Lane save?

A Travel times were reduced about 12 minutes on I-394 during peak periods, officials say. Results are even better in Orange County. Federal highway officials report that the HOT lane on California Highway 91 moves at 60-plus m.p.h. during rush hour while traffic in adjacent lanes crawls at 15 m.p.h. or less. This saves about half an hour each way on the 10-mile trip, or as much as an hour a day.

Q How would Green Lanes work?

A Basically, just like regular I-PASS lanes do now. The far-left lane would be the designated Green Lane, separated from the other lanes with striping or barriers. The updated tolls would be posted on message boards. Drivers would need a transponder..............
More in link

nomarandlee Nov 19, 2008 4:25 PM

Quote:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,7575832.story

Canadian National may be asked to pay bigger share of construction costs to seal rail deal

Railway urged to pay more for overpasses
By Richard Wronski | Tribune reporter
November 19, 2008

Federal regulators could ask the Canadian National Railway to shell out a much larger share of the cost to build overpasses than railroads traditionally have paid as a condition for allowing CN to buy a suburban rail line.

Consultants hired by the Surface Transportation Board said Tuesday they would recommend that Canadian National pay 15 percent of the so-called mitigation costs resulting from the railroad's proposed $300 million purchase of the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railway.

CN officials say they are willing to pay about 5 percent of the cost of overpasses or underpasses, with the rest coming from federal, state and local funds. The railroad has offered to pay $40 million for such mitigation efforts.

The consultants mentioned two crossings where significant traffic delays would prompt a need for overpasses: Ogden Avenue (U.S. Highway 34) in Aurora and Lincoln Highway (U.S. Highway 30) in Lynwood...........
More in link

denizen467 Nov 20, 2008 1:28 AM

Speaking of major changes in local rail infrastructure ...

Obama Administration + public works to heal recession = CREATE finally gets some serious funding ?

honte Nov 20, 2008 7:23 PM

I'm posting the article to ask a question: What are we doing wrong? How can NY/NJ get together nearly $9 Billion ($3 Billion of federal funds) for a single tunnel and the CTA rejoices when it gets a few hundred million to renovate an entire line? As a transit novice, I'm just not clear why the disparity... but it's seriously annoying.

http://enr.construction.com/news/oth...SMContentSet=0

Taft Nov 20, 2008 7:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honte (Post 3924597)
I'm posting the article to ask a question: What are we doing wrong? How can NY/NJ get together nearly $9 Billion ($3 Billion of federal funds) for a single tunnel and the CTA rejoices when it gets a few hundred million to renovate an entire line? As a transit novice, I'm just not clear why the disparity... but it's seriously annoying.

http://enr.construction.com/news/oth...SMContentSet=0

:hell: :hell: :hell:

I'm sure the answer here is simple: politics.

Taft

nomarandlee Nov 21, 2008 12:01 AM

Quote:

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...oll-lanes.html

Tollway OKs high-occupancy toll lanes
November 20, 2008 at 12:45 PM |


The Illinois Toll Highway Authority board today approved a plan for high-occupancy toll lanes, known as HOT Lanes or Green Lanes.
The plan is to install the lanes on much of the 80 miles of Chicago-area tollways where traffic is heaviest. Conversion will begin in 2010.

One lane on each of the four Chicago-area tollways would be reserved for buses and ride-sharers, who would pay the normal toll. Drivers of fuel-efficient vehicles like hybrids or others deemed "environmentally friendly" could use the lane if they pay an extra charge.........
..

jjk1103 Nov 21, 2008 2:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taft (Post 3924669)
:hell: :hell: :hell:

I'm sure the answer here is simple: politics.

Taft

.....a "single commuter rail tunnel" .....but under the Hudson river !!!!!!! ...it's about 2 miles across the Hudson at that point then it has to get deep into Manhatten.......no surprise that it costs that much.....

ardecila Nov 21, 2008 3:23 AM

New York has political will behind its transportation projects. Chicago, meanwhile, has only a bunch of planners behind its transportation projects.

When was the last time planners went to Washington and brought home the pork?

VivaLFuego Nov 21, 2008 5:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honte (Post 3924597)
I'm posting the article to ask a question: What are we doing wrong? How can NY/NJ get together nearly $9 Billion ($3 Billion of federal funds) for a single tunnel and the CTA rejoices when it gets a few hundred million to renovate an entire line? As a transit novice, I'm just not clear why the disparity... but it's seriously annoying.

http://enr.construction.com/news/oth...SMContentSet=0

Politics has a lot to do with it. When Nelson Rockefeller put the bridges under the MTA umbrella, he not only took away most of Robert Moses' power: he gave an immense and fairly reliable source of funding for multi-modal regional transportation.

Basically, imagine if all Chicago area tollroads had double or triple the toll rates, there was a commuter toll to drive downtown from outside the city limits , and all that money could back bonds to pay for transportation (both road and transit). It's not that the money isn't there in this region, it's that it's not mobilized to pay for infrastructure. Illinois Tollway is under political pressure to keep tolls as low as possible for non-commercial drivers at all times (aside from the tollway simply not being under a regional transportation umbrella), and there are no convenient large bodies of water separating the region's main employment center from the bulk of the population.

Chicago Shawn Nov 21, 2008 5:52 AM

Good news on the HOT lanes, perhaps the first step towards a fully functional and reliable BRT system linking suburban business parks. Man the tribune commentators are really tearing into this concept. Some of them are pretty ignorant, but none the less its building support for blago's removal from office. :)

ardecila Nov 21, 2008 6:37 AM

The bulk of complaints around construction headaches, but those should be minimal. If you look at the schematic of how the Green Lanes will be set up, it's really just some green paint and some I-Pass towers. The I-Pass towers will be set up in the center barrier and cantilever over the traffic lanes, like a traffic light. A double-solid line will separate the Green Lanes from normal traffic. Green Lanes will not be installed on 80/90 in the Southland, where they would make little sense due to the heavy volume of truck traffic. I disagree with putting these HOT lanes on the Northwest Tollway (i.e. Addams) which is only 6 lanes wide, and will be reduced to 2 regular lanes each way after this.

Really, this isn't that complicated or expensive. The lofty "Congestion Relief Phase II" program has a huge pricetag of $1.2 billion, but most of that money is going towards the two massive new interchanges.

Taft Nov 21, 2008 1:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jjk1103 (Post 3925566)
.....a "single commuter rail tunnel" .....but under the Hudson river !!!!!!! ...it's about 2 miles across the Hudson at that point then it has to get deep into Manhatten.......no surprise that it costs that much.....

Oh, I'm not surprised, either. I'm jealous! Just think of the improvements to the Metra/Pace/CTA that could be bought with 9 billion. My head reels.

Thanks for the info, Viva. That confirms my suspicions. I read the Trib and NYT every day and get the sense that even though NY has its problems, their political system isn't nearly as dysfunctional as ours here in IL. I think sensible transportation funding is just one area where we could improve greatly by having real leadership in Sprigfield and in Cook County. I'll just keep dreaming (and voting for fresh, ambitious voices).

Taft

the urban politician Nov 21, 2008 2:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego (Post 3925933)
Basically, imagine if all Chicago area tollroads had double or triple the toll rates, there was a commuter toll to drive downtown from outside the city limits , and all that money could back bonds to pay for transportation (both road and transit). It's not that the money isn't there in this region, it's that it's not mobilized to pay for infrastructure. Illinois Tollway is under political pressure to keep tolls as low as possible for non-commercial drivers at all times (aside from the tollway simply not being under a regional transportation umbrella), and there are no convenient large bodies of water separating the region's main employment center from the bulk of the population.

^ I gather the Chicago area could accomplish some portion of an equivalent if the CTA/Metra/Pace management were folded together under the RTA umbrella, and if the Governor somehow also put the Chicago area tollways under the RTA's control

VivaLFuego Nov 21, 2008 3:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the urban politician (Post 3926292)
^ I gather the Chicago area could accomplish some portion of an equivalent if the CTA/Metra/Pace management were folded together under the RTA umbrella, and if the Governor somehow also put the Chicago area tollways under the RTA's control

In theory, yes, but acheiving those includes a million little what-ifs along the way. I'd disagree with Taft that NYC's political culture is significantly less dysfunctional than ours (to wit: the City's recent humiliating failure in passing congestion pricing). New York has the MTA for a million reasons, and many of them are beyond the technically superior solution to regional infrastructure, involving rather personal idiosyncracies (e.g. Rockefeller v. Moses, Moses' prior leadership and development of the toll bridge cash cows under the Triborough umbrella, etc.).

Of course, all of the above does come down to New York having had several political leaders who could seriously get things done, working tirelessly and intelligently towards achieving their aims: Not only Rockefeller and Moses, but also LaGuardia, FDRoosevelt, & Al Smith, to name a few.

In fairness, Chicago has been "blessed" with two Daleys who could get things done in a serious way - but we've generally not benefited from the same sort of leadership in Springfield (either in the assemblies or the governor's mansion) as NYC has from Albany. Part of that is chance, part is geography, and part is demographics, with Chicago having a smaller percentage of our state's population than NYC has in New York.

It's an interesting topic, and I won't ramble any further so as not to threadjack. But I can recommend a reading list for those interested.

alex1 Nov 21, 2008 9:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honte (Post 3924597)
I'm posting the article to ask a question: What are we doing wrong? How can NY/NJ get together nearly $9 Billion ($3 Billion of federal funds) for a single tunnel and the CTA rejoices when it gets a few hundred million to renovate an entire line? As a transit novice, I'm just not clear why the disparity... but it's seriously annoying.

http://enr.construction.com/news/oth...SMContentSet=0

I understand what you're saying but in today's news, MTA is raising fares and cutting service. Not a good situation out in NYC.

Also very frustrating from an Illinois perspective is how often the state and municipalities drag their feet on matching federal funds.

OhioGuy Nov 22, 2008 10:01 PM

Wahoo!!! :banana: :boogy: :cucumber: :eeekk: :awesome:

CTA Completes Three-Track Operation at Fullerton Station

Quote:

Beginning Saturday, November 22 at 5 a.m., construction will be completed on the southbound track at Fullerton and service will be available on both southbound tracks signaling the end of three-track operation during rush hour at Fullerton. Three-track operation is still in place at Belmont.

Since March 30, southbound Brown, Red and Purple Express trains have been limited to one southbound track at Belmont and Fullerton while the platforms are being rebuilt and tracks reconfigured to allow room for the installation of elevators.

The restoration of normal southbound service at Fullerton means trains can operate more freely south allowing for smoother operation for Red, Brown and Purple Line Express trains arriving at the station.

The three-track operation at Belmont is expected to be concluded by the end of the year.
I can't wait to ride the red line to work on Tuesday morning. No getting stuck behind a purple or brown line train that gets slowed down due to stopping at Diversey. :)

ChicagoChicago Nov 24, 2008 4:47 AM

Hit up Fullerton on Saturday on my way downtown. Looks tight. The brown line trains were switching tracks south of Diversey though, so the red line trains were still backing up before Diversey. I imagine that's something they can fix quickly though.

OhioGuy Nov 25, 2008 3:50 PM

It only took 15-16 minutes to travel from Addison to the loop on the red line this morning. We cruised right along from Belmont to Fullerton - I felt like jumping for joy. :)


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