Fare evasion actually dropped in SF after they introduced all-door boarding. It wouldn't make sense on every route in the vast city of Chicago, but the most congested ones could certainly benefit.

CTA would have to hire fare inspectors, so it's not a zero-cost item. Easier to do with Ventra though... Either riders have a pass loaded or they have tagged in.

People will oppose anything, but I think the reduced danger from third rail and the reduced delays to motorists would be attractive to neighborhood residents.

I think they would end up doing a concrete viaduct like this one so that they could build it while maintaining active service below.

Saw the Cermak station last weekend. Hmmmm, not really a fan. The geometry of it looks to be like it will get very dirty very fast. Also, that retail structure next to it burned down.

According to some posters on chicagobus.org, the Cermak Green Line station is opening on Monday.

--

I was doing some thinking about what will happen with the Loop in the future recently. I came up with a few possible scenarios,

1. Build a new tunnel from Armitage to Chinatown for a combined Brown/Orange/Purple route. It could take the old proposed Franklin route, or perhaps the more recent Clinton proposal. A reduced option would run in subway from Chicago Ave to Harrison, then run elevated through the new S Loop development area and onto the Orange Line. The Green and Pink would be left on the loop.

2. Combine the Orange with the Red. Red Line trains would branch at Roosevelt and go to either 95th or Midway. This would reduce congestion on the loop.

3. Build Orange/Brown/Purple subway as above, Branch the Red at Roosevelt between the Dan Ryan and the South Side Main. Douglas trains would become part of the Blue Line again. Lake St would run from Michigan/Lake to Harlem, and potentially dismantle the Wells, Van Buren, and Wabash sides of the loop.

Considering the way CTA is run, I don't imagine any of these will happen, but I suppose that #1 would be the most elegant solution. Any thoughts on what should happen to loop operations?

Combining Orange and Red seems so sensible that I wonder why it hasn't already been done? Running a pattern of one Orange Line train for every two Dan Ryan branch trains onto the State Street Subway would approximately match the ridership of each of the branches, and would more closely match the frequency needed to run trains on the North Side line. Not all red line trains run down the Dan Ryan line, right?

This could be implemented with no construction at all if it used the existing 13th street incline. But that has a conflict at 17th junction where Green Line trains and Orange Line trains would have to cross each other through a flat junction. That means Orange Line trains would have to coordinate with both Green Line AND Red Line train schedules. If schedules are tight, then this might make it hard for Orange Line trains to make their slots onto the State Street Subway.

Therefore a better way would be to build a new connection from Orange to Red near Wentworth & 18th, which would be short, above ground, and therefore (hopefully) not too expensive. The connection onto the orange line could be a flat junction since orange line trains would no longer use the 18th street elevated in revenue service, but the connection onto the red line would have to be a flying junction.

New Cermak-McCormick Place Green Line Station Opens Monday
 

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/02/...-opens-sunday/

Bob Roberts February 7, 2015 12:29 PM

(CBS) — Just in time for next weekend’s Chicago Auto Show, the CTA is opening its new Cermak-McCormick Place Green Line station.

The station, at 13 E. Cermak Rd., will be impossible to miss, thanks to the distinctive tube-shaped canopy that encloses the platform. CTA spokesman Brian Steele said there has been no station on the Green Line between Roosevelt and the 35th/IIT-Bronzeville station since the 1970s......

^ I think they had a soft opening already, I went by today and saw it was open. Took some photos - this station is huge and has a massive passenger capacity, it could handle as many pax as Clark/Lake possibly with three exits and two elevators. The tube element is cool and provided a nice shelter from the rain/wind. I love the suspended signage and lighting element that keeps the platform clear of obstructions.

The "auxiliary" exit to 23rd St is enormous and has its own attendant, but it is poorly marked inside the station.

Cermak/McCormick Place Station [Green]

http://i57.tinypic.com/dzghza.jpg

http://i58.tinypic.com/keu4xy.jpg

I have never understood why more of CTAs stations aren't covered. oh well...i like the looks of this one.

The best part of the Cermak station is the new bench seating:

http://www.trbimg.com/img-54d7d7c4/t.../1150/1150x647
Chicago Tribune:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...togallery.html

For $50 million, the seats should be heated. Maybe fine Corinthian leather. And give you a massage.

Seriously. Is it really too much to ask for a canopy that at least extends the length of the platform? The Brown Line is a joke in this department.

Point taken, but given the size of the facility, the engineering challenges, complex construction techniques, difficult staging, and expensive materials, I have no problem understanding how CTA managed to spend $50M.

Amen. It should really be standard especially on the stations along the expressways. Cutting down on the noise and exhaust pollution while also cutting down on the wind chill should be a minimum expectation.

I would put this as perhaps priority number before any line expansions.

Metra set to debut app this spring
 

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...ews/150219275/

Marni Pyke 2/14/2015 7:31 AM


Metra is seeking volunteers to test a new mobile ticketing app for smartphones that will allow commuters to purchase and display tickets on their screens.

Interested riders can check the agency's website at metrarail.com/metra/en/home.html for details in the coming weeks, officials said.......

Three new infill stations have started operations within the past 3 years (Oakton-Skokie, Morgan, and now Cermak-McCormick Place). I know there has been some talk about infill stations on the brown line at Division, perhaps on the pink (or green?) line near the United Center, and on the yellow line somewhere in south Evanston, but there aren't any additional infill stations expected within the next couple of years, right?

The next station project in the queue is Washington/Wabash, to consolidate Madison/Wabash and Randolph/Wabash. This should start in the spring.

Also major replacements at Wilson and 95th, both of which are already underway.

One thing to note: CTA is not planning an infill station at the United Center, but CDOT is about to launch a big streetscaping project on Damen to better connect the UC to the existing Medical Center station on the Blue Line. This will widen sidewalks, with shortened crossing distances, crosswalk refuge islands, decorative streetscaping, etc. The Medical Center station will also get a medium-cost renovation in 2015.

Like I've said before, I just love how the disconnect between Transit Agency Planning allows them to move the station a block further away from Millennium station. The 2 block distance between Clinton Blue Line and CUS was not so much intentional as dictated by the location of the subway.

CTA is DESIGNING IN an additional weather-exposed block and a half walk for those transferring between those facilities; another reason for Agency consolidation??

I think having one less station for every train to stop at in the loop is more of an advantage than people walking another block.

VERY true, but they could have placed and staged it with the north end at Randolph in instead of Washington, so it could have had an enclosed ADA Compliant connection to the Pedway (and Millennium, Red Line, Blue Line, stores, etc., etc.....). To do that now would require a block long walkway alongside the tracks.

Obama Pullman National Park event on Thursday
 

It is going to be quite interesting to see how Public Transportation works for this event on Thursday, there will be thousands attending. Red Line to 95th, and then various buses. The MED is semi-useless because of it's scheduling format, and fare disconnect from CTA.

So the new Pullman National Park will gets it's first big test for visitor and tourist access on Thursday.

WOW! I never thought I would see you admit this. Maybe you see now I why I was so against you arguing that Metra Electric was better than the CTA Red line extension.

DH

I think it's fair to point out that the problems with Metra's Electric District line are organizational and aren't related to infrastructure at all.

The trains are there, the stations are there, the operators are there. It's simply a matter of Illinois politicians not caring to change the situation, and the transit leadership being territorial and working against the public interest because it is easy for them to do so.

But whatever, I guess it's ok for Metra and CTA to run duplicative services because they are separate agencies, but it's not ok for CTA to operate a Lincoln Ave bus and the Brown Line. Let's just throw money away and let the infrastructure rot.

The Metra Electric is useless in it's PRESENT OPERATING FORMAT as a suburban commuter rail service, and it would certainly NOT be better than the Red Line Extension OPERATING IN IT'S PRESENT UNALTERED FORM; That is NOT my plan for it, did or do you recognize that David?

I want to put big CTA Decals on the sides of the Metra Electric trains, run them every 10 minutes instead of every 1 to 2 hours, and install CTA/Ventra TVM's and Turnstyles in the in-city Metra stations. Did you even look at any of my websites, for you to be able to get the concept so COMPLETELY W R O N G!!

THAT IS NOTHING LIKE the present useless Metra suburban commuter train operation, the MED would become part of CTA's "L" system as the Gray Line; functionally just the same the same as any other CTA "L" line, except using CTA decaled Metra Electric trains; and some people seem to think that it is a very good idea, as it has E A R N E D second place in popularity in the Museum Campus Transportation Study (read all the comments on the Gray Line Project idea): http://www.grayline.20m.com/photo3.html
http://www.civicartworks.com/project...opular&phase=1

Understand now, or do you need further explanation David?

THANK YOU Tcmetro, I can see that you understand the situation clearly and exactly, and what I am tilting-at-windmills in trying to change.

Sometimes I think DH purposely misunderstands what I am proposing, as if I were saying to use the MED IN IT'S PRESENT OPERATING FORMAT as an alternative to the RLE; and something like that would . n e v e r . E V E R . work! N O B O D Y would use that type of
service, so in M I S-interpreting it in his way he is correct.

David, can you please explain to us why >> WITH THE UPGRADES THAT I PROPOSE << that the MED could not become an integrated
part of the CTA "L" system? (and I need these contrasting opinions in order to form viable answers and solutions)

Have at me..... And P L E A S E don't fall off the face of the Earth and ignore/not answer the question!

If you want to get right down to it the cheapest way to do what you are proposing would be to leave the CTA out of it almost entirely. No turnstiles, no new decals, no new CTA lines, no new CTA maps. Plus this would benefit all Metra lines and riders, not just the ME.

1. Boost the ME schedule.
2. Use Ventra for fares on Metra (Tap-in/Tap-out)
3. Have Discounted CTA-Metra transfers when using Ventra
4. Reduce Metra fares within the city to match (or at least be more comparable to) CTA

Transfers would be handled as below:
Metra->CTA: All such transfers are free. tapping out activates a window (30-60 minutes?) in which the user can do a free transfer to CTA.
CTA->Metra: When tapping in for Metra, if the user has paid a CTA fare in some window (60-90 minutes?) the value of the CTA fare paid is deducted from the cost of the Metra fare.

Since the transfer works in both directions, CTA and Metra share the burden of the free transfers.

There certainly are organizational barriers to the above but I think they are no higher, and in fact perhaps lower than, the barriers for your Gray Line proposal.

BINGO!! Should have done this 15 years ago. You are NOT the CTA.

Rauner is going to make this thread painful

decades of Illinois politics catching up......

I was upset when I read about it yesterday afternoon....but really SOMETHING had to give on the spending side. I'm all for raising some new revenues, but the state dug itself into a hole FAR larger than just raising some revenue will help. It also dug that hole for YEARS longer than it ever should have.

I do think the transit agencies have trimmed themselves as much as they can though really. There's a lot of excess, waste and insane perks and benefits given via pensions, etc. in the state government, but I really don't see transit as a big culprit here.

What would 7% of the operating budget do as far as cuts? Would they probably try to cancel some projects and shove that money over? The buses always take the brunt of the service cuts I feel because the trains (at least the brown/red/blue) are a great deal of the service on the system and you don't really have room to cut there if you actually want to be able to cram people onto the trains - which is very hard now at rush hour.

I would agree if the pain was shared across transit agencies. Unfortunately most of the $128 Million cut from the RTA essentially went to increase the budget of road construction by $120 Million.

Or you raise fares to make up the difference. $80 million divided by the 500 million annual riders of CTA is only about $0.16 per trip.

The adoption of Ventra means that CTA doesn't need to set fares at round amounts - they can increase the fares by exactly what they need to make up the difference, even if it makes the rail fare $2.41.

Also of course the fact it's the house/senate agains the governor for the most part. Rauner is coming in guns blazing on his side of the fence, and the legislature will come back from their end.....and hopefully meet somewhere in the middle.

I would like to assume the pain of cuts will be mitigated a bit. Like trying to buy a house, each party hits the other high and low, and meet in the middle.

At least he said he was open to finding new revenue sources at some point.

QUITE CLEARLY on the lower-right corner of my fliers it says in small bold easy-to-read capital letters: "NOT AFFILIATED WITH CTA OR METRA":
http://www.grayline.20m.com/


I've known that I am NOT the CTA for a long time; that doesn't mean that I can't submit ideas for better operations; and whatever you
may say or think, a lot of people do support the idea -- the Project E A R N E D second place in the Mayor's Study (by votes, and people's comments): http://www.civicartworks.com/project...opular&phase=1 Which the Mayor stopped/halted/quashed because ALL the ideas in
the Study were to receive Analysis, and Detailed ILLUSTRATION in the Media by the end of December (in MPC and CDOT's own words).

orulz, over this weekend I will go over the reasons for the things in my plan.

Question: Why doesn't CTA use Tap-in/Tap-out system-wide on the "L", if it is indeed better and cheaper, instead of TVM's and turnstiles. Also tito would not keep non-riders (vandals, robbers) off the platforms, a security exposure for passengers and property.

And Metra is going for Apps in Smartphones, so they are not using tito either.

Loop 'Connector' Plan Back From the Dead, Again

Article: http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150...rom-dead-again

This really needs to happen. Period.

It's actually quite startling how ineffective Chicago's rail system is for getting you anywhere but the Loop

^What other corridors or employment centers have the kind of demand needed to justify rail lines?

N Mag Mile, Northwestern, Navy Pier.

Lets not forget recreational destinations. Are they not worthy of rail transit?

Most other "global" cities in the world don't have such criteria

I spend most of my free time in UK Village, West Town, Logan Square, Humboldt Park, Lincoln Square, and Bucktown. Many people that live along the lakefront would agree with me that public transit to these areas is awful. You essentially have to take a Red line out of your way and connect with an over crowded bus that is moving at a snail's pace due to East-West car traffic (#72, #70, #66, #80, etc.) or transfer to a Blue line train. How can you look at the rail maps of Paris, Tokyo, Moscow, Washington DC, NYC and London and not get jealous? This city desperately needs an outer loop that connects multiple rail lines. And please do not start an argument about the improved economics of BRT. People's perception will always be that rail is superior to bus. I take an express bus every morning to the office and my wait time is either 6 minutes or 22 minutes. The timing is always off. At least CTA rail provides consistent wait times and you can hide from the cold at most stations.

A downtown circulator would help with tourism, but a new rail line like the Circle Line would be a game changer in my opinion.

I essentially don't visit the neighborhoods you listed because it's a 3 hour round trip.

I don't go anywhere other than the loop by public transit, I drive everywhere else, unless it is off of the Red Line. If getting to Wicker Park was as easy as getting to the loop I would probably take PT.

And this is exactly my point. I have been living without a car for over 10 years. I occasionally will take a cab ride home if it is really late at night. Investing in rail transit outside of the loop will drive economic activity in other neighborhoods. I would love to visit Korea Town or the Thai places along Western Ave, but it takes multiple bus routes to visit these places. I can easily go from Queens to Brooklyn on the G train in NYC. Chicago needs to invest in a neighborhood rail line. Also, Chicago (assuming we enter an economic turnaround) should connect more neighborhoods to the Central Business District by expanding rail connections. I enjoy many night life options in Pilsen (Thalia Hall, Nightwood, etc.), but I would never live there because it would make my commute to work painful. But people can live in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn and still connect to Midtown and lower Manhattan. From a priority standpoint, I would invest in 1) red line extension, 2) circulator, 3) circle line, and 4) expansion lines (improve CTA rail access to Pilsen, Humboldt Park, Belmont Cragin, Southshore, Gage Park, etc.).

:???: These are exactly the destinations served by the circulator proposal, including the "recreational destinations" of the Museum Campus and Soldier Field.

This is an interesting plan... I'm trying to decide if I like the alignment down Wells/Clark Street through the South Loop, or if it should continue down Canal Street to Roosevelt and serve the Roosevelt retail district.

Very interesting stat that I hadn't known taken from the article.

.....As of 2008, Metra brought 165,000 people to the Loop every weekday, a higher volume than the "L," said Alex Francis Burchard, an undergraduate architecture student at the Illinois Institute of Technology who is specializing in transportation issues.......

If there already wasn't a good enough reason to build the Clinton/Canal rail L spur then I don't know what else could be. Like it or hate it Metra is the way that many suburbanites come to the city when going downtown. Right now for most suburbanites (who are not everyday commuters) its they get to Union or Ogilvie and its just a case of walk or cab it to where they are going.

Especially the more casual riders aren't at all comfortable navigating the many bus routes in this city. To them a bus going down the street is going from who knows where to who knows where. A rail line though is much easier to identify and predict where it will go and what it is near for the Transit for Dummies crowd. I know myself when I go to cities who I don't know well at all I am much more comfortable getting on a train then a bus line. We shouldn't build transit for these people but they are definitley part of the equation its not wise to ignore either.

I think this is, in part, my point, and what I feel Mr. D seems to be missing.

Like it or not, over 2/3 of metro Chicagoans live in the burbs, and I think better east-west rail connections downtown would encourage more of them to use transit when headed downtown for shopping & entertainment, not just for work. Not to mention the boost this would give to the E. Loop and N. Michigan Ave/Streeterville employment districts.

Look at how many self parks we have right now downtown. They are all over the place, and people are often paying $36-$48 dollars just to park for several hours. If the rail option were better, you'd see a TON more suburbanites not only using it, but also appreciating its value more.

I also think its a matter of poor signage. The Clinton Blue Line really isn't too far from Union. And the Green Line especially not too far from Olgovie. Yet I guarantee that 90% of casual commuters from Union/Olgovie never think about getting on either to go where they need to. Many probably have no idea that the stops are even there as amazing as it is. There should be a 30 foot blinking kiosk's and "this way to LOOP" signs along Clinton to advertise the fact that there is a Blue Line stop hiding out under Congress.

But the Green and Blue line don't take you to Streeterville, Northwestern, or Navy Pier.

And who wants to transfer outdoors when it's 15 degrees outside?

I'm telling you, if there was a seamless transfer between Metra and an E-W running rail line that crosses the Loop, then heads up to the Mag Mile area, and then down into Streeterville and Navy Pier, you would see hordes upon hordes of suburbanites using it. HORDES.

You brought up a good point based on people's habits. I visit NYC, San Francisco and Philly many times a year and never take a bus. I naturally gravitate towards rail.

We can't afford to build rail lines for folks who visit Chicago once or twice a year. Or to keep families from having to pay for parking at Navy Pier. Or to get random hipsters to their girlfriends' places, or back home quickly from drinking in East Pilsen. Rail lines are for travel corridors where the demand is so great that it can't be met with buses.

It would be nice to have a more seamless or sheltered connection between Union or Ogilvie and the L, but the one we had (Northwest Passage) wasn't terribly missed when it was torn out in the 1990s. The vast majority—probably two-thirds—of the suburban commuters arriving at downtown Metra stations have an easy walk (less than a half mile) to their offices. There are special shuttle bus lines that run on Lower Wacker, and dozens of other bus lines suburban commuters can and do use for that last mile. Does the casual visitor to the city immediately know about all the possibilities? No, but once you've worked somewhere more than a week you probably do.

It's also hilarious to contemplate building new rail lines "to open up new areas to development" when we already have L trains stopping every few minutes at stations surrounded by vacant land, entire lines of stations where fewer than 1000 people board on an average weekday. The Green Line South has so few riders it wouldn't even qualify as one of the top 30 CTA bus lines.

I used to think Ashland would be a logical corridor to run an neighborhood circulator connecting the great concentrations of density in the city. However, the Ashland BRT will basically do the same thing. Honestly full BRT seems like the most realistic and cost effective way to achieve true connectivity in the neighborhoods.

The only places that could really benefit from the capacities of the high capacity of heavy rail is the central area essentially as far out as the circle line proposal. Everything else can much better served by BRT, it's essentially what Chicago was built for: street level transit like cable cars and street cars... and BRT...

This is an interesting proposal. (re: Loop Connector Plan)

I think the line south of LaSalle Station is unnecessary. I can't imagine that the museum, Soldier Field, and McCormick Place stops would be used heavily. Despite being traffic generators, demand is much more spread out during the day, and it's probably better served with a BRT service.

I think that the north end of the line should turn north into Streeterville, and terminate somewhere near Water Tower Place. Certainly there is much better commuter demand from that neighborhood, and Michigan Ave is a year-round destination unlike Navy Pier.

In reality is this actually going to happen? Certainly Red North, Blue Forest Park, and the 130th St extension are going to preoccupy the CTA for the next decade or two.

Personally, I think that outer city transit expansion needs to happen. Buses are too slow to connect the city (recently took a Western bus that took 1.5 hours to go a whopping six miles) and need reform. Supposedly, the Ashland BRT plan is undergoing revisions to allow more left turns, so there may be some hope for that project. Would the "Mid-City line" from Montrose Blue Line to Midway be useful, or is that too far out from the core?

--

In other news, Pace launched their website for the Milwaukee Ave Pulse Line (supposedly BRT, but not really). It will launch in 2017.

http://pulse.pacebus.com/