Good to know ;

CTA, Pace will complete transition to Ventra by July
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,2147918.story

By Jon Hilkevitch
Tribune reporter
6:23 p.m. CDT, March 14, 2014

Confident that nearly all of the bugs in Ventra have been worked out during a sometimes tumultuous seven-month rollout, the CTA on Friday said it will entrust the new fare-payment system to fly on its own by July without the safety net of the old fare system........

Chairman: No room for partisan politics at Metra
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,1515271.story

By Richard Wronski, Tribune reporter
March 16, 2014

One month into his chairmanship of Metra, Martin Oberman, a longtime Chicago Democrat, ventured into DuPage County, historically a suburban Republican bastion.

Few turf fights in Illinois' political wars have been more us-vs.-them than mass transit. Traditionally, Chicago Democrats have protected the CTA, while suburban
Republicans have jealously guarded Metra and Pace.......

Oberman needs to cut the shit with this political stuff. Guess what Oberman: both Republicans and Democrats ride METRA and neither care who is to blame politically, they just both look to you now to fix it. I am rooting for you to succeed, because Chicagoland needs METRA to work properly, but he should be running it as an a-political organization, rather than advertising it as the reverse.

Oberman mentioned later in the article, ""But I don't sense even in the Republican suburbs that people are unwilling to pay for the right service." Okay....thanks for that insight Captain Obvious.

And in earlier interviews mentioned something about "rich Republican friends in the western suburbs (DuPage) complaining about train horns bothering their horses." So much for non-partisan?

Yet he says, "This isn't partisan......." oh really? You sure make it seem like that...

Oberman says, "but the biggest enlightenment (for me) was the sheer complexity of the system. It just never occurred to me, and I bet it hasn't occurred to most of the people who ride the trains every day either." No, it doesn't occur to me because it isn't my f'ing just to ponder the complexities of METRA, it is your job.

DuPage/Western suburbs have the HIGHEST METRA ridership in the entire system, so how about making the trains run on-time, improve customer service (most METRA conductors are GREAT, some are real shit-heads), scrap visionary projects like the STAR line and instead run a train line down/near 294 from O'Hare to Midway, and improve Union Station to Ogilvie/Millennium Station standards.

Sorry for the rant, but it doesn't seem like he's getting off on the right foot here with this suburb (Republican) vs City (Democrat) stuff.

Did you read the article? Sounds like he's at least paying lip service to a more egalitarian, less hostile culture at Metra.

Of course, it's all well and good for a Chicago appointee to speak of equality while the city (CTA) continues to receive far more transit dollars per capita than the suburbs. It's understandable that a largely suburban agency would zealously guard the share it receives. Unfortunately the city/CTA still account for a majority of the transit usage in the region and that's not going to change because of anything Metra can change or even build... The very nature and culture of the suburbs needs to change and start accepting higher-density arrangements with less parking and smaller roadways, at least near rail stations and bus routes.

^Exactly. The Democratic city vs. Republican suburbs was a spin added by the Tribune reporter. But anyone who thinks transit policy in this region has been color-blind hasn't been paying attention. Sometimes the colors are white vs. black; sometimes they're red vs. blue.

Fair enough.......(regarding the spin from the reporter), and yes I did read the article.

But Oberman did say those quotes I outlined, casting a totally unnecessary dig at Republican suburbs in DuPage (again, the hand that literally feeds METRA with funds/riders).

And the suburbs are slowly adding density near train lines. Just take a trip out to downtown Wheaton, Elmhurst, Downers Grove, and Glen Ellyn. All have added and continue to add (in the near future) mid-rise condo/apartments in the last 5 years adjacent to or walking distance to the METRA stations, that have revitalized their respective downtown areas.

Still other suburbs are likely not to build near train stations (high density), like Hinsdale, Naperville (was tried once and shot down), Winnetka, and Lake Forest. It just isn't in the character of those towns for the areas around the train stations. Just like masses of spacious single family housing on 0.5 acres isn't in the character of the city.

It's not just condos and apartments that are needed by Metra stations, it's jobs. Large-scale office buildings just aren't gonna fly in most suburban downtowns. We have no Metropark, New Carrollton, or Stamford-type suburban job centers on the Metra network.

"We have no Metropark, New Carrollton, or Stamford-type suburban job centers on the Metra network. "

Nor do I think we will ever, unfortunately, unless the Blue line (rather than METRA) is extended out to Yorktown Center in Lombard (and past Oakbrook Center), and Woodfield in Schaumburg.

"It's not just condos and apartments that are needed by Metra stations, it's jobs"

I agree, but that is very tough, considering the "corporate poaching" game that Rahm has engaged on (and rightfully so), moving jobs from the suburbs to the city, i.e. Sara Lee, United Airlines, AT&T, Motorola, Guggenheim Investments, and the list goes on......

Okay, but the centralization of employers in downtown Chicago is still beneficial, since the downtown is the one location that everyone in the region can access by transit easily.

Politically, it is difficult to tear up a suburban downtown and redesign it for high-density employment, and the results (Stamford) are unappealing. What we should do is look at underutilized stations for employment growth, those that are near industrial zones or have large park-n-ride components. Route 59 in Naperville would work well for a large-scale office TOD, but it needs to be planned as a real TOD and not just an office park with sidewalks. Belmont Road, Cumberland, Dee Road, North Glenview, etc. Larger cities like Elgin, Joliet, and Aurora can also host larger buildings as they already have the infrastructure in place.

Instead of dreaming of ways to extend transit to employment centers, maybe we should not allow employment centers in places with no transit. That's the real scandal of the last half-century: how developers have been allowed to turn farmland, inaccessible except via highways, into office space. But that would require some sort of regional planning, the last thing the suburbs would ever allow.

Bingo, Motorola's Harvard fiasco, for example. Pure genius... :uhh:

So Shore expansion update
 

Looks like the NICTD plans for extending the South Shore to Dyer and eventually Lowell & Valparaiso is getting a funding boost.


NWI Times
U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky, D-Ind., has renewed a push for extending the commuter rail line to south Lake County and a number of other major improvements are planned all along the line.
The proposed eight-mile extension to Munster and Dyer that Visclosky is advocating is less ambitious than previous proposals, but he and others see it as just the start for eventually laying tracks all the way to Lowell and Valparaiso.


Indiana Economic Digest
Local leaders have until March 31 — the deadline to submit the project for the Federal Transit Administration’s New Starts program — to raise half of the funds for the estimated $571 million project. So far, commitments from the RDA, Lake County, Munster and other municipalities have brought it within $5.5 million of their goal.

Interesting. If built, the line to Dyer would probably use dual-mode locomotives that run on diesel and overhead electric wires, a first for Chicagoland. The "new" section of the line, built on the now-abandoned Monon corridor, might be constructed as electrified track. I'm glad to see it moving forward.

https://web.archive.org/web/20071006...s/image003.gif

I don't think there would be any reason to electrify the new trackage. Nor would there really be any reason to use dual-power locomotives. The section under Millennium Park is really short, and there'd only be a few trains a day—if any of this in fact ever comes to pass. It would be no different than Union Station in needing electric propulsion.

Task force: Create superagency for transit
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,3006718.story


By Richard Wronski
Tribune reporter
6:15 p.m. CDT, March 17, 2014

In what would be the biggest reshaping of the Chicago region’s bus and train system in 30 years, a Public Transit Task Force is recommending abolishing the Regional Transportation Authority and the boards of the CTA, Metra and Pace in favor of a new superagency in charge of policy and funding.........

The original West Lake Corridor study called for dual-mode locomotives and suggested the possibility of electrification, I'm not just imagining things.

I don't know if that would actually come to pass, but NICTD has experience doing electrification on the cheap.

Any idea what role Mike Pence would play in all of this?

LSD flyover starting construction in spring and finishing in 2018 is official. http://www.navypierflyover.com

Goodness is that ever true. They've got to be the only electrified commuter line outside of the third world using wooden poles for the OCS.

Stop beating around the bush. Why not forcibly relocate residents to areas nearer to public transit and ban them from owning a vehicle? Your sentiment is as good an argument for NOT having a transit super-agency controlled by Chicago politicians as I've ever seen.

Thanks god. I wish it wasn't going to take 4 years.

Looks like they're going to do the most meaningful part of this first, the northern sections and the part over lakeshore to the west of Lake Point Tower. The portions through Dusable and the river bridge are later. At least those portions are already "open" to a degree, it's just a matter of pushing the trail out on the bridge and over Ogden Slip.

The real messy part now on the trail is getting over Grand and Illinois and squeezing by Lake Point Tower. Hopefully they get get that part wrapped up first.

^Yeah I don't even bike and I live on the south side of the river but I'm anxious for this to get done. Having to climb those stairs up the bridge to cross the river and ogden slip is a real pain in the ass, especially in the dark. Unifying the trail from museum campus/grant park all the way to navy pier might actually make navy pier more attractive.

Will Chicago need more cab medallions and a car service?
 

Lately I have been curious whether the absolute explosion of the city's core population as well as rising tourism and new hotels will spur the issuance of more taxicab medallions? Also, will Chicago ever get a car service industry the likes of what already exists in New York and Boston? I know that Uber will fill some of the demand, but there is nothing like the 'on the spot' service that cabs and car services can provide.

Thoughts?

The taxicab industry is politically powerful and will fight an expansion in medallions kicking and screaming, just as they are fighting Uber, Lyft, and Hailo.

Livery services would be interesting; among Chicago's upper crust after about 30 or so, it's virtually unheard of to live without a car, even if it's fairly common in my Millennial generation. I think we'd need to see an expansion of neighborhood retail where supermarkets and services are placed within walking distance of more wealthy Chicagoans, but if that happens and car services are established, then many 1%ers might give up their cars.

Could you or someone describe how those existing "car service" businesses are different from limo businesses that Chicago has - are they more on-demand and amenable to short-distance rides? Or are they just premium taxis, that can be hailed if they're empty? I know they are common with many white collar employees in NY but I assumed those were under a preexisting contract between their employer and the car hire business.

Black cars can't be hailed, only ordered. That's pretty much the only difference legally.

In New York, they offer a more luxurious experience. Yes, many employers and organizations have accounts with the car companies to avoid the indignity of having to pay at the end of a ride. The seamlessness and quality of the experience is a big reason that they could help encourage wealthy citizens to go car-free, who would otherwise never set foot in a subway or bus.

It's not the everyday shopping, nor (usually) the journey-to-work. It's the weekend special trips, to visit relatives, do suburban shopping, or get to summer homes. Auto ownership and off-street parking in Chicago is still cheaper—and a lot more convenient—than renting or carsharing for those trips. And if children are involved, it gets impractical pretty fast.

Seems to be pretty much what I always thought -- not sure what TUP meant by "on the spot" regarding car services.

If there's nothing regulatory that prevents New York type "car services" here and Chicago already has limos anyway, then I assume the only real difference is supply/demand? In other words, presumably not enough demand within the city (where taxis are often adequate anyway), and Metra (to a park-n-ride lot etc.) is a superior option for people who live in the 'burbs. Also, New Yorkers are more likely to be working past midnight, past the last commuter train and maybe past safe public transport, compared to Chicagoans.

Illiana Corridor Achieves Key Financing Milestone
 

The full press release is available here.

This is not entirely true.

The black cars aren't hailed like a cab, but you can approach one on the street and get a ride. The difference here is, you negotiate the price with the driver. You can also order a ride, but it is not true to say that you cannot get a ride from one of the black cars on the spot.

I lived in New York for 3 years and I can definitely tell you that, especially on busy nights when it is next to impossible to find a taxicab, the black car services are very helpful when you are walking around looking for a ride.

^ I saw that and was too depressed to post. Why Illinois wants to borrow money to build a massive roadway that will allow our logistics industry to migrate to Indiana is beyond me. AS soon as it is operational you will see companies coming to the state hat in hand for welfare threatening to move to Indiana which will offer their own brand of state welfare.

Meanwhile green fields will be torn up and paved over for schlock vinyl housing and worst of all will be the degradation of the Kankakee River watershed.This makes me ill.

It's 2014! The NYC subway and buses and as safe as ever. Even at 3 AM the subway has a good amount of people in them. :cheers:

I have a feeling this will not actually be built.

Legally? Isn't that just the black car operating as a gypsy cab?

Aren't a lot of Uber vehicles just black cars picking up fares in their off hours?

"transit" usually means "public transit," not cabs and livery, right?

Just because we're eligible for TIFIA doesn't mean we get the award. USDOT has already been burned by several exurban toll roads that failed to meet revenue projections. The Illiana doesn't even look good on paper, unless you're CenterPoint or some other logistics company. Now TIFIA is going toward transit projects and even pedestrian projects like our Riverwalk.

The only surefire way we're getting a TIFIA loan is if Obama decides to push for it.

You're absolutely right that Illiana, if built, will be a sprawl trigger like none other. The only way for the road to possibly meet revenue projections is to develop vast cancerous tracts of cheap housing in Wilmington, Beecher, and Peotone. If built as a freeway, it would still be a colossal waste of public funds but at least officials would not feel the ongoing pressure to meet revenue projections through subsidized sprawl.

God I hope not, in its current form it's expensive and useless.

Exactly, jpi & ardecila. Pray this absurd and destructive boondoggle never happens!!!

There was some analysis done on how much tolls would have to be to cover the cost. I don't remember where I saw it, but the numbers were stupid high.

I think it is a campaign ploy by Quinn to win south suburban votes. After the election in November (especially if Quinn loses, which I hope he does), my guess is that this proposal will start to go away.

Perhaps But I've yet to meet a Republican Gov who did not favor road projects.

Rauner seems different. If Dillard was the nominee, I would agree with you.

I'm not sure if it's legal or not. All I know is that black car drivers will often roam around or call out to passersby asking if they need a ride.

I don't know much about Uber.

Uber offers multiple levels of service now, from medallioned taxis to stretch limos to "I own a car and wouldn't mind driving strangers around", but if you're talking about the original Uber black sedan service, it's almost entirely (if not entirely) licensed black sedan drivers looking to earn a few bucks between regular gigs. The legal arrangement that's made for your transaction is that you're hiring the driver, and Uber just acts as the referral agent and handles the payments. The drivers don't work for Uber, and you aren't hiring Uber, they work for themselves or XYZ Limo Service, and you're hiring them. Technically.

My dad ran a limo service when I was a kid back in Michigan so I'm only familiar with the laws there, but I do know that in Boston there's usually a few black cars parked outside of South Station who'll ask if you need a ride somewhere and will negotiate the price. I'm assuming that's legal, as long as they're licensed and everything. Since a lot of the pre-arranged work for drivers happens at night, during the day they've got to hustle for work. The drivers I've talked to all seem to love Uber for that reason. They might not get the same rate as someone calling their booking line out of the yellow pages, but it's better than having their car just sit there and not making them money.

Progress on Metra Southeast Service
 

From the Southeast Commuter Rail Transit District website -

http://i.imgur.com/dMSFdYz.jpg

And God knows that Beecher has already been infected by those huge housing subdivisions on the north side of town, ripping up all those old fields from families that have been there since the late 1800's. Then there's the gigantic golf course that did the same thing too, then the Knuth's grocer got bought out by Walt's...
These fringe rural towns have been losing some of their charm for some time now and it's been sickening me.

Quality of maintenance, staff, and equipment, over the long term, are additional reasons why just using the existing Blue Line ORD service in lieu of a more premium airport express is a lousy idea.

Today's accident is already being broadcast on BBC's worldwide news - as the train that jumped the escalator. Embarrassing.

Well, that is exactly what happened. :shrug:
http://www.suntimes.com/csp/cms/site...YPE=image/jpeg

Yeah im not sure how else you could describe it. It's not like the BBC went on some sort of diatribe about the Cta being some sort of pathetic second rate system that is stuck in the past, filled with lazy incompetent staff and in many cases falling apart due to lack of maintenance. Although that probably would be justified.

I'd say it's a gross, almost libelous misappropriation of facts, given that the train appears to have jumped the staircase next to the escalator.

O'Hare is a pretty famous airport, I'd expect pretty wide coverage of this. Lucky nobody was killed, if it was during rush hour there most likely would have been fatalities.