Looking through the eyes of a visitor, I've never been really happy with the payment/onboarding process for CTA stations. The vending machines, turnstiles, and signage all seem to be built with the idea that you already know how the CTA works.

I always cringe when I see visitors or tourists standing in front of those kafka-inspired machines trying to figure out what kind of pass they need and how to get it.

Now that they're starting to publicly admit that CTA stations are important for driving tourists around the city (with the new Cermack/McCormick station and now this one intended to be a "gateway to Millennium Park"), I really hope they're putting some thought into clear signage and layouts so that people fresh into town can figure out how to get on a train.

This isn't a Chicago problem, either. I've visited many cities and been bewildered by their transit systems and how/what to buy and where to go. LA's subway is probably the worst at it, but LA doesn't really try.

El Station
 

I also think it helps by eliminating 1 el stop. This also needs to be done on the north end of the red line. Condensing the stops will help speed up the trains and cost less in the long run to maintain less stops also. My gripe is they are going to refurb the redline stops on the north end, THEN decide if they are going to eliminate any, seems like a big waste of money to do it that way!

i dont understand how something like this happens. somehow a train rolls out of a maintenance yard AND the failsafe switches dont activate either? that should give you a warm fuzzy feeling.

Eliminating stops on the north side Red line is politically impossible, all will be retained. There is a shitstorm when the CTA even mentions it as an option.

Yeah, I think stop elimination is out. Instead, CTA's now considering turning the Purple Line into a full-fledged express service like the ones in New York. That's why Wilson is being rebuilt as a proper transfer station and eventually, Loyola as well. Doing it that way allows far Northsiders a quick trip to downtown while preserving the local stops on the Red Line.

I hope they move Purple back to the center tracks south of Belmont... Diversey and Wellington already have 8-car Brown Line service and they're maxed out on ridership for awhile unless there is some serious TOD.

There's also been some discussion over moving the Purple Line into the State Street Subway instead of the Loop, but that might be more difficult and it requires a turnback siding somewhere.

The red line is brutally slow when you get farther north, Granville could be easily eliminated in my opinion. I lived in Rogers park for a long time and always wished there was a faster way, i discovered the express bus to late!! I would think instead of making purple the express route, maybe have it stop at one of the red line stops, then eliminate Granville. I would think shaving off those 2 stops would save a lot of time. Oh well, what do i know.

This "Project" shows why there should be ONE Agency running ALL of Chicago's Public Transit.

CTA could have placed the North end of the Station near Randolph St., so it would be close to the Millennium Park Station entrance on the SW corner of Michigan & Randolph (and possibly connected to the Pedway).

NOW instead of being 600 ft from Millennium Park station -- it is 2 blocks away ( NO Coordination between the Agencies CTA and Metra ).

I'm sure a Mother alone with 3 small kids will Thank the Powers-That-Be ( CTA ) when it's 5 below zero in February and she has to walk 2 Blocks outside, instead of an enclosed connection!

It would have been better (from the rider's point-of-view) to have closed and demolished the old station, then build the new station in it's place.

Connection with the Pedway would give an all-weather enclosed direct access to Millennium Park station, and the Red Line -- But what Urban Planner would consider something like that?

Other cities (San Fran., Toronto, Boston, etc...) integrate their Transit Systems Regionally.

In Chicago IT'S ALL P O L I T I C S (See: Recent Transit Board Member Mess)

Retired CTA vice president is Preckwinkle pick for Metra board
 

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transpo...tra-board.html

Updated: September 30, 2013 7:09PM

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle says her next pick to served on the Metra board is a retired CTA vice president.

Romayne Brown has more than 30 years of work experience at the CTA, moving up from conductor to vice president of operations, according to a statement from Preckwinkle’s office.


As vice president of the CTA, Brown developed and administered policies and procedures to “ensure the timeliness and safety of rail transit service to more than 500,000 customers daily,” according to the Preckwinkle statement.

“Romayne Brown’s job was to make sure the trains ran safely and on time. Her decades of transportation experience will be a great asset to the Metra board, which needs someone who knows what it takes to operate a mass transit rail line,” Preckwinkle is quoted as saying in the statement.

While at the CTA, Brown also held the titles of superintendent of rail personnel and general manager of rail operations, overseeing functions for the Red, Purple and Yellow lines, according to Preckwinkle.

Brown, a South Side native who has lived in Dolton more than 20 years, retired from the CTA in 2010.

“There are few opportunities that could lure me out of retirement,” Brown said in a statement. “Taking on this new challenge appealed to me. I want to help Metra, one of the largest commuter rail systems in the country, return to its primary focus of providing more than 300,000 passenger trips a day to commuters.”

If Brown’s appointment is approved, she would replace Stanley Rakestraw, who resigned in August. Preckwinkle asked for Rakestraw’s resignation after learning he moved to a downtown Chicago condo after his home in suburban Flossmoor burned down.

Several Metra board members have resigned amid controversy over former Metra CEO Alex Clifford’s $718,000 buyout. Clifford resigned June 21, citing the pressure he was under to make political appointments.

Rakestraw held a seat on the Metra board representing the city’s suburbs.

Contributing: Associated Press

Yeah, the lack of connection sucks. This plan's been kicking around for decades, though... I guess there was too much inertia to overcome.

On the other hand, I'm guessing most of the Metra Electric riders are either transferring to buses that take them further north at Randolph St, or transferring to buses that take them further west at Van Buren or Roosevelt. The demand for a direct connection between Millennium Station and the Loop just wasn't there. I'm still glad there's an underground connection to the Red/Blue Lines, and you can actually take the pedway to the corner of Washington/Wabash if you cut through the Macy's basement and come up in the 25 E. Washington lobby (25 E. Washington used to be Field's Mens Store, so they needed a direct connection).

NOBODY used to transfer from the Red Line to the Green/Orange Lines at Roosevelt via the street (before they built the transfer tunnel) -- Does anyone use that transfer tunnel now?

Granville would make no sense to eliminate. It is smack dab in the middle of the second densest neighborhood in the city and acts as a Southern entrance to Loyola University and their recent Southward expansion. Maybe you could pick off a station or two on the Redline, but really I don't think it makes any sense to reduce service to such a dense part of town. If anything rebuild a few of the stations that were removed and restore skip stop A/B service to increase travel times.

I think the tunnel at Roosevelt is pretty well used, yeah - but a lot of the users are Red Line riders heading to the Roosevelt bus stop, which is mid-block at the Orange Line and not at State.

Like I said, I don't know whether there is a lot of demand for a direct connection from Millennium to the Loop. Building the connection might stimulate demand, but it's hard to say. Right now, Metra Electric riders have lots of other possibilities for transferring to CTA around downtown, usually by getting on a bus at Michigan/Randolph or at Congress Plaza.

I will be attending the Fri. Oct. 18th Metra Board Meeting (and also the Weds. Oct. 9th CTA Board Meeting) to testify and do my "Tilting at Windmills" thing again.

Please come (if you can), watch, and be entertained.....

Good God, Romayne Browne?

I worked with her once, and it was a nightmare.

Another former CTA official named to Metra board
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,3511674.story

By Richard Wronski
Tribune reporter
2:16 p.m. CDT, October 2, 2013

Cook County Commissioners representing north and west suburban townships said they have unanimously appointed retired CTA executive John Plante to the Metra board of directors.

Plante, 68, of Wilmette, becomes the second former CTA official named to Metra’s board.

Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle on Monday nominated former CTA official Romayne Brown from Dolton to serve on the scandal-plagued Metra board.

According to a statement from the commissioners’ office, Plante has served in a variety of capacities over a 35-year career with the CTA. Most recently, Plante served as the senior manager for system safety emergency preparedness. In that capacity, Plante coordinated the CTA’s planning and training for responding to emergencies.

Plante was appointed by commissioners representing Evanston, Leyden, New Trier, Niles, Northfield, Norwood Park, Maine, Oak Park and River Forest Townships.

Commissioner Larry Suffredin said Plante was the unanimous choice from a field of 14 individuals.

“ John has the experience and skills to ensure that Metra has what it needs to prevail over its difficulties,” Suffredin said in a statement. “His emergency preparedness work and legal background will help Metra to work through its current problems and foresee any potential future problems. He is an excellent choice.”

Plante will replace Metra board member William Widmer III of Evanston.

His appointment does not need confirmation by the entire Cook County Board.

Preckwinkle’s appointment of Brown to replace Stanley Rakestraw will need confirmation.

Six of Metra’s board members stepped down since June when the board negotiated a controversial $871,000 exit package for ousted CEO Alex Clifford.

Clifford has alleged that he was pushed out because he would not go along with patronage hiring requests and interference in contracts by the board.

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2013/10/...t-train-crash/

(CBS) — Investigators are much closer to pinpointing the cause of Monday’s CTA Blue Line collision involving a runaway train that was supposed to be standing still waiting for repairs.

CBS 2 Chief Correspondent Jay Levine reports.

The National Transportation Safety Board and CTA investigators have virtually ruled out sabotage. And now they believe the runaway train actually stopped and started several times before the crash because of some kind of control problem.

A CTA bulletin posted Thursday in all train yards orders employees to isolate all defective cars and put chocks on all wheels to make sure the defective cars can’t move.


Witnesses, CBS 2 is told, have reported that the four-car train –- two defective cars and two others towing them — stopped and started several times on the run from the Forest Park yard to the crash site at Harlem. The cars were stopped by the interlocks on both sides of the Forest Park Station, which worked as they should have, but then powered back up, starting up again apparently on their own.The bulletin has led to concern among employees that the control problem may not be limited to the cars involved in the crash, but could be something that affects the computer control systems of other cars as well.

The eastbound rogue train collided with a westbound train with 40 passengers aboard.

Surveillance cameras showed no one was aboard the runaway train either that morning or the preceding 24 hours.

Thursday’s bulletin caught CTA workers by surprise, something that probably wouldn’t have happened had there not been a government shutdown and all the NTSB communications personnel on furlough.

The NTSB is well known as one of the most transparent government agencies, with daily briefings constantly updating investigators’ findings.

Small Business in the City Featuring Bill Kurtis, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Mario Batali
 

https://www.chicagoideas.com/events/279

Just got my Ticket to this event -- This is going to be a TRULY interesting Adventure, and I will be bringing the MED EMU Prototype, and Gray Line literature to distrbute: http://www.grayline.20m.com/photo3.html

Any suggestions as to how to handle the Game?

The L isn't an express route to anywhere. It is part of a comprehensive system. The north side Red line borders some very dense areas and serves many people who already live more than 1/2 mile away from each of those inconvenient stops you think are in your way. A great denser city was built on an L with even more stops. Wish our culture would realize it is all about what is between A and B and not just getting from A to B on public transportation. P.S. Yes I use Granville frequently...lol

My point was not to get rid of Granville just to get rid of it. You have Granville and Thorndale stops only a few blocks from each other. Get rid of them both and put a new stop inbetween them would be my idea. It allows you to do construction without much interruption. Gets rid of a station and reduces cost over the long run. I guess you may need them on the main streets for the bus routes to drop passengers off at though. Also, the idea of alternate A/B stops would work also. I thought that was not well received by some though. I did not mind since my stop was not one of the ones alternated. 8)

Yes, a few hundred people do every weekday morning, its very well utilized. Orange Line trains empty out at Roosevelt with people transferring for travel to points north of the Loop.

I do believe there is a plan to build an elevator connection to the Pedway with the new station at Washington/Wabash. It was certainly discussed before. They have to build elevators anyway for ADA compliance.


I for one though believe it is mistake to eliminate a station on the Wabash side of the Loop. Grant Park/Millennium Park festivals require lots of CTA capacity, I seriously wonder if 2 stations can handle the load of 3. Those stations are packed when the events empty out for the evening.