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

^ 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).

Crains not thrilled about BRT plan
 

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.

..

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

^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.

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 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.

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.

:previous: 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.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

.......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......

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

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.