^ Well that came out of nowhere. Garfield's only 16 years old, and it was already cleaned/repainted top to bottom when it was used as a transfer point during the Red Line overhaul. It doesn't need another renovation, it needs development around it.

Renovating this station is far from being the most pressing need on the CTA system, or even on the South Side.

Seems like this is mostly cosmetic upgrades to the elevator towers and canopies, plus a big overhaul to the streetscape and the renovation of the historic stationhouse. Not a terrible idea... but you could also spend $50 million and subsidize a large Wilson Yards-esque mixed-use complex here on all the vacant land, and it would go a lot farther towards building this area up.

The Obama Presidential Library is coming to Washington Park, I'm calling it...

That's what I figured as well when I saw the news. It's odd that city leaders and Durbin would want a Green Line station to be rehabbed for that much money. I use the Garfield station a lot whenever I'm going to Hyde Park, but I know Hyde Parkers who still wouldn't use the station to this day. $25 million is enough to partially or completely fund a new 'L' station in a lot of areas close to downtown that desperately want one (Brown: Division, Pink: Madison/United Center, Green: Damen). I wonder if Obama asked for Durbin to apply for funding so that they wouldn't have to worry about applying for it after Obama finalized the library location just in case the funding wasn't approved.

Edit: That theory was completely thrown out the window in only a few minutes since this was just published

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...727-story.html

No, I think the station grant is a consolation prize for Washington Park. The U of C still seems like they want to invest in the area with the Arts Incubator, and we'll probably see some kind of master plan soon for all of the university-owned property around there.

Also - according to the Trib article, the full budget for this project is a whopping $50M, not just the $25M of the grant. That means either the city, state, or university is chipping in big-time as well. It's hard to believe it costs $50M for the modest improvements mentioned in the article.

blown out the water in epic timing. :haha: poor decision in my opinion.

After an investment this massive, there better be some serious TOD proposed around there.

NO "poor decision", you expressed your opinion -- Look at how many times I've had all my teeth kicked-out for expressing mine!

Zoning out? Metra consultants to rethink fare structure
 

http://www.dailyherald.com/article/2...rticlecomments

Marni Pike

For Metra regulars it's as simple as ABC. You pay to travel from Zone F in the suburbs to Zone A in the Loop every morning......

Jesus, the Garfield stop has already had lots of work and it's only 16 years old as pointed out.

It's basically a dead zone as far as built up areas, and the latest ridership report has around 1,300 a day using it.

What a huge waste of money. There's NO development in that area. EIGHT times as many people use the California and Western blue line stations and the usage is growing greatly - why not split the money and refresh those. At least someone would be around to notice.

^ Um, the California Blue Line stop was JUST refurbished top to bottom (not renovated but historically refurbished) while the Western Blue Line was also built on 2000 so it's the same exact age as Garfield. Those would be equally poor uses of money for CTA.

Why not rebuild some of the legitimately crumbling stations on the Purple Line, or finance a new infill station in some growing area?

OF course, Obama's USDOT has a directive to invest in underprivileged communities and fix problems created by past public works, so I guess the Garfield project fits with that while a project in affluent Evanston would not.

With how much these stations cost i would think their canopies wouldnt blow off during some strong winds.......

I'd vote for 18th/Orange or Damen/Green-Lake or Division/Brown, although a 31st/Green or State/Green-Ashland would fill gaps, too.

Also, apropos to nothing, the new Google earth satellite images seem to be some sort of weird composite or long-shutter collection - highways show up with no cars, there are no airplanes in motion at O'Hare, and even the Loop only has smudgy ghosts of cars stuck in traffic.

Very interesting. As the article points out, the purpose is to increase ridership. I can't think of a better way to increase ridership than to equalize fares to $2.25 within CTA territory (roughly Zones A/B/C) and offer transfers. Metra has a huge rail network on the South Side in areas far from any L line. The MD-W service is also far from L lines and could prove popular.

Of course, fares and transfers are only half the battle... if the frequency ain't there. And on most Metra lines it's hourly trains off-peak, or worse.

I've mentioned this before, but I'm super glad we have a Chicago resident (Marty Oberman) as the chair of Metra. The agency really needs to be pursuing growth within the City of Chicago and stop enabling sprawl development. Past chairmen were all suburban guys - Brad O'Halloran, Larry Huggins, Carole Doris, etc.

Thing is, Metra's nonfare money all comes from the suburbs. Whether the chairman lives in the city or not, the suburbs got custody of Metra in the big divorce of 1982.

The City (Chicago) must find some way to subsidize Metra's in-city services (over and above collected Fare revenues) -- if they expect Metra to increase and improve it's services there -- that's only fair!

Maybe so, but the biggest growth potential and capital needs are in the city. Metra's not even considering suburban expansions really anymore, and the one that's been in the news recently (BNSF to Oswego) is not even in the RTA service area.

When you look at the capital improvements planned for the Metra system, they're almost all in the city or first-ring suburbs. I think there's a recognition that the rail system in the City of Chicago is broken and needs fixing before more trains to the suburbs can even be considered, and there may be an opportunity to grow the inner city ridership in conjunction with those fixes.

Chicago regional rail clings to 19th century fiefdoms well into the 21st cent -- and this at the peril of the city's overall mobility and competitiveness. I know not all share my thinking -- but the RTA is generally useless for addressing sensibly integrated regional transit and should be dumped -- sooner the better. But I know it won't happen in my lifetime .

Well, before being voted out of office, Governor Quinn did put together a Public Transit Task Force, to address. among other issues, the problem which you identify. Granted, nothing has happened since, but it provides a frank analysis of the situation.

And the report comes in two flavors - The Final Report to the Governor and The Final Report to the General Assembly.

Here is a scenario the report offers for a re-organized/consolidated transit board.http://i.imgur.com/YjeEFf8.jpg

With the general elections coming up this year, perhaps those with an interest in such things should press the candidates to include some of the task force's recommendations into their agendas.

---------------------------------------------------------

Also not sure if this has been discussed, but the Cook County Board issued its first transportation plan since 1940. The Final Report was released to the public on July 13, 2016.

Metra: It takes all of us to fight transit deserts
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...728-story.html

July 28, 2016

We applaud recent advocacy efforts that support enhanced public transportation on Chicago’s South Side and southern suburbs as noted in your July 22 editorial “South Side's transit desert” because we, too, believe that access to efficient mass transit has the ability to drive economic growth......

I've been spending a good deal of time in McHenry County lately and it blows my mind that Metra service actually rolls out even that far. I actually really like the Fox River and Chain O Lake towns but they are still more rural then suburban. There are miles of farmland even between the city centers themselves. I've been to lazy to look at the ridership from those locales but it can't be very high but I'm sure the cost is high to transfer the few riders that actually trek downtown on Metra routinely. I really question if Metra service shouldn't be rolled back to some of the outer burbs. Though I know politically that would never happen.

It is right to put on the shelf any of these extensions of Metra or even the CTA. The city and region needs to improve connectivity with what we already have rather then ramping up milage stats.

^That might be what a rational urban planner would do, but RTA and Metra are political creations. You don't get the suburbanites (or their state reps) to pay for something they don't see serving the places they live.

In the early days of RTA, they ran Saturday-only "country buses" through the cornfields of Kane and McHenry just so the map would show that everyone who was paying taxes to the new agency was being served by it.

Ex-Rep. Lipinski drops federal lobbying after Sun-Times/BGA story
 

http://chicago.suntimes.com/politics...imesbga-story/

Chuck Neubauer and Sandi Bergo

Former U.S. Rep. Bill Lipinski has dropped his federal lobbying practice after the Chicago Sun-Times and the Better Government Association reported the longtime Chicago congressman was paid $4 million since 2007 by clients with issues before the U.S. House transportation committee on which his son, U.S. Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Illinois, serves......

I think most outer suburbanites understand the value of the Metra service they receive in exchange for taxes. Even the majority of suburbanites that don't commute by train will still use it for Cubs games, festivals, and holiday trips to the Loop.

So far, most attempts to add service to the outer suburbs (remember the STAR Line?) have been so far-fetched they didn't even make it to boondoggle status. They can't compete effectively for limited government funding.

August Boards of Directors Meetings
 

I will be addressing the CTA's Board of Directors next Wednesday August 10th (10:30am), Metra's Board on Wednesday August 24th (10:30am); and the RTA Board the next day Thursday August 25th (8:30am) -- about improving Rail Transit service to the South Side, Jackson Park, and the new Obama Museum and Library, by utilizing the nearby Metra Electric District services as part of CTA's 'L' system: http://bit.ly/GrayLineInfo http://www.modernmetraelectric.org

Members who would like to see this "presentation" can watch it on the CTA Board channel via YOUTUBE within two hours of the Wednesday meeting.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCY6...NIgVixdHmp2V3w

If I was attending the Aug. 10 meeting, I would testify, "Why is it, only ONE citizen is always the only ONE present, advocating that the CTA should adopt over a failed transit service that results in a $64 million/year loss?.... deficit of $64 million in 2015, when the line generated $46 million in revenue but cost $110 million to operate."

"Name any alderman, any state rep, any mayor, any Congress member, any CTA board member, etc, etc, who supported it. I don't know how the idea lived so long. There is no retail business at any station from 63rd to 115th and down the branch to Ashland. Except three gas stations, all owned by outsiders, one Popeye's chicken....that's it. CSU at 95th put out fliers recommending students not use 95th station because of danger to their lives....robbery!!"

"Here's a video that shows what you can expect.....A NB Metra South Chicago service mid-day train.....Stops at seven stations on the branch, picks up all of four passengers. Pick eleven at three stops at Hyde Park. Three more at McCormick Place. Question...how many stops would it take the CTA Red line to have twenty passengers aboard. Well, see for your self.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wc9pplGpFNk
Fortunately, the Board members are familiar about the proposal.....they've seen it for decades. So, I'll stay home and watch it on YOUTUBE. It's sure to be the hit of the morning.

DH

The frequency and fare discrepancy / incompatibility are the main reason for poor ridership and lack of nearby amenities. How much money does the Red Line Dan Ryan branch lose? Not sure CTA has these statistics itemized by line. But the systemwide operating deficit was $236 million for rail last year.

That is incorrect. Metra Electric doesn't go where the people living nearby, want to go. Meaning, any location that is not in the Central Downtown Area.

What is the source for your $236 million figure?

DH

Chicago is a POLITICAL - PATRONAGE >> NASTY S E W E R <<

Chicago Politics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-9KPe3nwaQ
Every Nasty Spider has it's place, and none of them want to lose it!

How do you interpret this DH?: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...623-story.html

And I guess these people are Idiots also -- Right DH?: http://www.modernmetraelectric.org -- Please explain for us why they have NO CLUE!!

Remember Barbara Byrd-Bennett, she is B L A C K, remember all the WONDERFUL things she did for the B L A C K COMMUNITY (like closing F I F T Y BLACK Schools while she was busy E M B E Z Z L I N G Millions of Chicago School Dollars -- SOOO Honorable)

YES -- I most certainly TRUST Chicago "Politicians" (like Barbara); and I also believe in the Easter Bunny, and Santa Claus!!

I see I struck a chord with a truth.

Go to the meeting with a hundred in your party. Show them! Don't show me.

DH

Where do people want to go that the red line goes and the ME does not that doesn't involve a transfer? I guess the north side?

If the ME South Shore line frequency were increased and the fare integrated with CTA, many riders would find its service preferable to several existing bus routes such as the 6, 26, 71, and maybe even the J14 Jeffery Jump, which when taken together add up to quite a good number of riders (about 30,000 per day total across those four bus routes), all of which also require a transfer to go anywhere other than the Loop. Cut back or eliminate some or all of those bus routes and there you have a good chunk of the money to cover the cost of increased frequency.

As for the $236 million figure: On the chart at the bottom of Page 183 of the CTA 2016 Budget Recommendations
http://www.transitchicago.com/assets...Compressed.pdf

CTA Heavy Rail operating expenses are cited at $514 million while fare revenue is cited at $278 million. Subtract to get $236 million. Capital funds expended are $480 million but I didn't count that.

As usual, you did NOT respond to questions about the Tribune article, or the CMME Website; what chord is it you think you've struck??

I will be all by myself this trip, but columnists from the Chicago Defender, Chicago Reporter, and the Chicago Sun-Times WANT to be there to cover my testimony -- I'm satisfied.

There are not white schools and black schools. There are overcrowded schools and nearly empty schools. It's not racist nor is it a crime to advocate for closing nearly empty schools. The local populations race isn't and shouldn't be a factor.

As far as improving transit to the south side goes - I'm all for it within reason. I don't buy the argument that chicagopcclcar1 is making - that because usage is low today means it's a waste to invest in making it better. But that also doesn't mean the city should throw hundreds of millions at it instead of investing in where the riders are currently at. There is a balance.

BUT IT WAS RACE -- She would N O T have pulled that BullHockey on schools with more "influence", they picked on the weakest link in the chain.

And I imagine there will be MANY more riders in the future, there is precious little parking in the area -- and they are talking about drawing visitors Globally! You will need more than some bus routes.

A Red line customer can continue their trip without a transfer....use the Orange line to go southwest all the way to Midway...go west on the Pink line all the way to Cicero/Berwyn...go west on the Blue line all the way to Forest Park...go west on the Green line all the west to Oak Park...go northwest on the Blue line all the way to O'Hare...go north on the Brown line all the way to Kimball and Lawrence...go north on the Red, Purple, and Yellow lines all the way to Howard, Evanston/ Wilmette, and Skokie. That's a lot of traveling without a transfer.


Thanks for the info. We still don't know how the original reporter arrived at his figure and the CTA does not break their info by routes/lines.

DH

I live in Downers Grove, if I ride down to CUS -- I have to walk a couple of Blocks to get to ANY 'L' Line -- and guess what, I DON'T DIE because of it.

The guy who was robbed in Gary waiting for a South Shore train was traveling from Gary to get to his Job at O'Hare; he obviously had to walk from Millennium Station to Dearborn, to get to the Blue Line: http://www.fox32chicago.com/news/crime/154769870-story He didn't DIE because of the transfer either -- tell us, was there another ALL CTA 'L' way for him to get to O'Hare from Gary?

Sometimes people have to walk a few blocks for a non-direct transfer -- IT'S NOT THE END OF THE WORLD DH

When I lived on 77th & South Shore Dr. the closest 'L' was the Red Line THIRTY blocks away, it took 45 minutes on the #79 to get to it (including waiting 20 minutes for the bus) -- and now I'm still on 79th Street.
.

btw: The wonderful #26 operates ONLY in the Rush direction (NOT reverse), and ONLY on Weekdays -- on Weekends you are truly S O L!

For those of us actually paying property taxes, you know, not the paltry $150 per year or whatever that many lower income people may or may not be paying while complaining about everything that is wrong with the city that failed to rescue them, it sure as hell matters. And it will matter more as they raise property taxes, water fees, sewage fees---raise raise raise!

So yeah, close empty schools. We need to cut the budget.

Having said that, I 100% disagree with Chicagopcclcar1 in that investing in better and more frequent transit on the south side is a waste. I think there is a case to be made that if such an investment is made along the south lakefront, and we can shut up those idiots who keep whining about gentrification as if vacant lots, gangs, and liquor stores are some sort of nirvana we should strive towards, WE CAN PERHAPS HAVE POSITIVE CHANGE on the south side for the first time in a century.

Maybe not but don't you think location, access, and convenience should be though?

I don't think anyone is celebrating those things. People in poor neighborhoods desperately want to see investment and positive change. But they want to be around to enjoy that change without being priced out in five to fifteen years. I agree there are many benefits of gentrification, but it's also a runaway train. Once it gets going and builds momentum, it can't be stopped. Hispanics have experienced this in neighborhood after neighborhood across the city. How do we find a balance between improving neighborhoods and allowing poor and lower middle class people to remain?

You can't.

Most non-poor simply don't want to live near large concentrations of poor people.

I agree with you 1,000%, I work midnight shift in a gas station, and from my experiences there I would like to see Greyhound Buses SHOVED-UP into everybody, until the Buses started popping out of their GD mouths.

SORRY!!

Thank you for your responses....in light of your input, I will amend my criticisms and offer that the ME South Chicago is far enough from the CTA Red line, and has been equipped with passenger facilities, in line with the faded proposals called "Silver" line, "Gold" line??..... that line might be salvaged... as Metra Electric operation, not a CTA "L" line. It has not been shown that ME equipment can be operated in a rapid transit mode....they are running four car trains when only a single car is utilized. Can ME car consists be broken down easily?

The main line, from 75th to Kensington has no value worth saving and is within the CTA Red line catchment area and someday, residents will get the one-seat ride on the extended CTA to 130th St. Those timber platforms and "third-world" passenger facilities can be dispatched in weeks with construction bulldozers and front loaders....a they would be only dreams of yesterday.

DH

When I created the Gray Line I lived 3 blocks from the Woodruff MED station (87th & Cottage Grove); didn't we learn enough about demolishing Transit Facilities from that I D I O T Brazier destroying the Eastern end of the Green Line? (which now everybody wants back)

N E V E R . E V E R destroy a Transit Facility, unless it's being immediaetly replaced like the Congress Expy. Line replaced the Garfield Park 'L'. The West Side has the Pink, Blue, and Green Line triumvirate, which are much closer together than the Red and 2 Metra Lines on the South Side? According to the way you seem to think, one of the West Side Lines should be eliminated -- because their catchment areas overlap -- Right?



WHY are you so blasted determined to ELIMINATE Transit services in the Black Community?



The Capital Cost of RTP ID# 01-02-9003 INCLUDES updating the Mainline stations also (except 91st, and 107th, which would be closed)

What is it, the Black people along the Mainline don't deserve the Jobs and Economic Development that are ALWAYS created around A N Y New 'L' station. There's ALL KINDS of new TOD along the Milwaukee Ave. Blue Line; and now even at the 63rd & Cottage Green Line -- but you would ELIMINATE any possibility of that happening along the Mainline with your misguided actions.

Grand Crossing, Chatham, Avalon Park, Burnside, CSU, Roseland, and Pullman Nat. Park also need adjacent CTA Rail services for Jobs and Economic Development - WHY would you leave them out?

Highliners can be operated as 2, 3, 4 or more units, so there is much flexibility in consists, and 1 (one) Highliner seats more than THREE little toy 'L' cars, and on only 2 trucks, instead of 6 trucks, and the associated mechanicals like Air, AC to DC power conversion, braking, power collection, etc.; please describe for us the "rapid-transit" mode you question if the Highliners could (or could not) be operated in? The MED has stations every 4 blocks (rapid-transit spacing), and EMU (rapid-transit type) Rolling Stock -- what is the issue? The AC powered Highliner II's have acceleration equivalent to any CTA 'L' equipment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pjH2AO6DCQ

Even CMME put their video along the MAINLINE specifically relating to Pullman Nat. Park; we want a Transit System - not crumbs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHNxL3JHUek

You didn't notice I responded to two other posters...not to you. A year ago there were complaints.....about the endless bickering and arguments about the Gray line. I took those complaints as worthy and set about to just read but did not post. I saw a legion of stories laced with political persons now incarcerated, block 37, questions about plans in other metropolitan Chicagoland areas....lastly a school CEO, school closings, and Greyhound bus and the human body. What does all this have to do with transit?? I'm glad I resisted.

Finally, I posed the question...."How could a deficit operation be considered?" I was told, "why not." Then I questioned, who here would used ME as a rapid transit....no response...meaning all the people favoring....no one lives in SE Chicago.

It's no secret, there's no groundswell support for this idea. Support from people who live in the area and would use the service. At least I supplied the YOUTUBE to view the CTA board meeting.

DH

I am sooooo hurt that you didn't respond to me!!!

NO groundswell: WOW, so you manage to I G N O R E the inputs of MULTIPLE South Side Chambers of Commerce: http://chicagoreporter.com/revamped-...he-fast-track/

Chambers of Commerce are staffed by leading business owners of local areas, but they don't understand what THEIR O W N COMMUNITIES NEED according to you -- Right?

You manage to ignore anything that doesn't agree with your thinking; and anybody of course would listen to MULTIPLE Chambers of Commerce before they would listen to ONE individual. And like always you ignore questions about exactly what the "rapid-transit mode" you describe means to you? You love "posing" questions, BUT won't "answer" them!

I've seen you at CTA Board Meetings before, so you are perfectly welcome to show-up Wednesday and oppose my testimony.

And if you hadn't noticed, it's out of my hands -- CMME PAID to have their video made, and formed a Coalition; if I stopped, do you think they would stop also?

And I did not create this Tribune article, but the Gray (and Gold) Lines were mentioned in it: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...623-story.html So now you have to contact City Hall and tell the Mayor that he needs to forget the idea -- Good Luck!

Many posters here are glad too!
CTA Aug. 10, 2016, will be broadcast two hours after on YOUTUBE.

DH

Are you going to contact and school the Mayor DH?

No need to do that...unlike a solo presentation "long in tooth", municipal officials from mayor, administration personal, CEO's, board members, elected officials, etc, etc, are all onboard.

"In 2015 the CTA continued its work on the proposed $2.3 billion Red Line Extension (RLE) project that would extend the Red Line from 95th Street to the vicinity of 130th Street. The proposed 5.3-mile extension would include new stations at 103rd Street, 111th Street, Michigan Avenue and 130th Street. The project would provide a one-seat ride for far South Side residents from 130th Street to downtown. The Red Line Extension would also foster economic development and revitalize communities, improving resident access to jobs and education."

Source: http://www.transitchicago.com/assets...Compressed.pdf

DH

I am going to ignore that, like you are able to ignore this:

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...623-story.html

And DO YOU READ what you advertise....Chicago Tribune article....Coalition For ME??? Seems that they are at different ideas than what you have proposed for decades....Coalition DOES NOT propose a CTA takeover.....Coalition does not propose CTA fares on ME. Sounds like they are more interested in ME connected to Union Station and ME being used to power an O'Hare rail service.

Yes, the Coalition wants rapid transit headways, but they seem to know the service would be provided by Metra Electric trains, run by ME personnel, and run under the ME name.

"The main problem with the Metra Electric is that the trains just don't run frequently enough. Trains should run every 10-15 minutes, like a CTA rail line, to unlock the potential of the entire region."

"Ventra card on the MED, Metra will be able to integrate MED fares and provide transfer discounts with the CTA and Pace." Source: ModernMetraElectric...

I don't see CTA takeover. Does any one else???

DH