Cool! I'm happy to see this on several levels.

So, does anyone have any idea how much one of these costs, particularly compared to a conventional bus? Will the CTA see savings?

For buses, you have to remember deadhead mileage. In practice, that pushes bus gas mileage about 20% lower, although CTA somehow maintains the fiction (for its federal Section 10 report) that all buses are "in service" from the time they leave the barn until they pull in. As someone who spent every weekday morning in the 1990s trying to flag down a southbound #6 leaving downtown, I can testify that this theory is seldom proven correct by the actual bus drivers.

you know, as bad as the cta can be, i do think you have to give huberman and the cta credit for doing what they can to improve service and the experience of taking the cta. There isn't whole lot they can do to address the main problem of inheriting an outdated system but i have noticed cleaner cars and busses, and i've not noticed as much bus bunching on the routes i take (from the south loop to the loop).

They are at least being proactive which is loads more than i can say for metra or pace.

I know we covered this away back but it is still beyond me why metra can't figure out ways to incorporate modern technology, you know, like electricity. How the hell does metra get a pass on not accepting credit cards, at all?! If you don't want to have electronic fare collection at least have self-serve ticket dispensers at stations so i don't have to wait for Gladys or Blanche or Leroy to fumble around with a rubber stamp. Ooooooo, what an impenetrable security system, a star denoting male or female. I can't tell you how much i fume when i have to stand in line at union on a weekday morning behind 15 people for 2 open ticket windows. (like this morning, hence the post) I know the logistics are challenging for electronic fare collection, but you know what, i have a freakin' cell phone more powerful than what took man to the moon, figure it the heck out.

And pace, well, they just seem to care less about, well pretty much anything except for putting "Go Cubs!!" on their marquee and installing on-board TV's that tell me the weather in seattle for the mariners game...in spanish. THEY HAVE A DOME!!!! The people in seattle don't even care what the weather will be like for the game. But it's okay cause now they are going to give me the quote of the day telling me "patience is a virtue". Apparently they are being patient with rerouting any of their busses off the edens so they can run only the usual 10-15 minutes behind schedule. In fact, the busses were so late today, that i caught the earlier one. That is, the earlier one running 25 minutes late. Maybe that's their motto, "so late, you won't even notice"

phew, had to get that off my chest, i know my friends & coworkers are certainly tired of hearing about it.

thanks guys! :)

Try the meatloaf folks, it's great tonight. He'll be here all week, 3 shows a night...

But yeah, I mean everyone knows Metra is run by competent, shrewd professionals in distinct contrast to the drunk and/or high patronage hack mouth-breathing knuckledraggers stumbling headfirst into walls at CTA headquarters.... sigh :rolleyes:

(I mean to say, I agree with the general thrust of E-C's argument)

Train system proposals?
 

I'm curious if there have been any decent proposals for a new subway line or a way to link up the subway systems and/or replace the el.

personally, I think they need a new north south line along the river with stops at say minimally, Olympic village/McCormick, Museum Campus/Central Station, B37, LSE, Streeterville etc. The B37 site could be a transfer site. The metra/cta divide is just horrible.

I recently visited Hong Kong and that system is just light years ahead of what we have... anyone know where I can find proposals to radically overhaul the system here etc..???

much appreciated!

well if you go through this thread you'll see dozens of both realistic and hair-brain proposals. I would say the best bets for new cta service would be the circle line or some sort of lakefront line utilizing metra's ROW. This might be useful for someone like yourself in streeterville. Don't hold your breath for anything in the loop or near union station.

and yes, i think we all agree that most any other modern country has better transit then us.

I also believe that street cars or some type of light rail could happen if we are the host city for the olympics. There are some discussions happening about this issue.

Comiskey Park Metra station
 

Looks like Metra is taking bids for the 35th St station.

Has anyone seen any renders?

Chicago: Metra Rail Station: Rock Island District, 35th Street, new commuter rail station, August 2008.

http://www.chicagorealestatedaily.co...age.pl?id=2166

Based on the cost figures, apparently it will look something like this:

http://www.travel-destination-pictur...mahal_1307.jpg

^Taj Mahal probably wasn't built by union laborers in an age of inflated raw material costs.

Why would you need renders? As far as I know, this is just a couple of platforms with stairs. They probably won't even have a roof on the platform, since the Sox don't play in the winter.

^ Right. And no one works or lives near there either.

Surprisingly, I came across something:
http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/5...bsox2bsus0.jpg

After listening to Mr.Downtown and Viva I am torn between wanting to see BRT or light rail in some of the new transit corridors in the city where heavy rail isn't possible.

.......On another topic the "upgraded" airprot express service gave me an idea about Metra. Would it benefit Metra to have a a first class car (or half a car which would be easy on Metra car sets) of sorts on a few lines that would obviously charger a higher fee. A nicer interior, electric sockets, free newspaper coffee/orange juice perhaps, cushier individual seat, etc Does anyone know if this had been considered by Metra if there are commuter lines anywhere that have different class scales?

Whoa, that is f-ed up. Is this the north side of 35th Street? If so, there is currently a small and forgotten Mies van der Rohe-designed structure on that site. Great, another senseless loss. Has anyone heard anything about this? Relocation, moving the station to the vacant South side of 35th, etc?

The Mies building is not a masterpiece - or even really a building, just a "little shack" as I'm sure it will be called. But it is a Mies, for Christ's sake, part of the largest collection of his work anywhere. I will look into this...

Easy to see how that 35th Street station would cost $800,000 just to design. At $150/hour, that's 2.6 staff years.

^ Hello? IIT? Also don't forget about the huge mixed-income housing development going up nearby known as Park Boulevard

^ Yo, that was total sarcasm. I live near there too.

^ Ahh, sorry.

Sometimes sarcasm is hard to catch in these forums

http://maps.live.com/default.aspx?v=...____&encType=1
Seriously? That could be a Da Vinci and it'd still be fair game, in my book... :)

I'll note this isn't just a Sox station. It also serves IIT (who were the primary advocates for it, actually), and it is a federal pork project so Metra is only out the local 20% match (since Federal money comes out of thin air, natch). For a handful of passengers per day, it also provides a pretty good transfer point between the Red and Green lines and the RI and eventually the SWS - potentially useful for downtown distribution of inbound Metra commuters or collection of outbound reverse commuters if there were ever to be any jobs to the southwest.