On weekdays I've mostly seen them on the 156. On weekends, I've seen them on some of the north lakeshore routes (151, 147).

And less stinky for pedestrians, too.

Yeah the new Hybrids are all over the 147 route. I'd say about 50% of 147's are now Hybrids. If you are looking to ride one check there or try for a 151 at rush hour. I love these new buses! I actually look forward to riding the bus in the morning now!

Question about Chicago's BRT plan:

How is it that Cleveland's Euclid BRT corridor is costing $200 million to build while Chicago will manage to build BRT on 4 different routes with $150 million in Federal dollars?

Come on obvious...Cleveland is so much bigger...and Chicago is known so well for its thrifty spending unlike our spendthrift friends over on Erie

Chicago's plan is MUCH less ambitious than Cleveland's. The Health Line in Cleveland is a real BRT, with 100% dedicated lanes and stations, along with bike lanes and major streetscaping along the entire length of Euclid from Downtown to University Circle.

Chicago's plan, on the other hand, simply involves clearing the parallel parking lanes during rush hours. At off-peak times, these streets will function exactly as they do now. The plan, of course, will include a few shiny new shelters and maybe a new paint job on some of the new hybrid buses, but the actual construction for this project is minimal.

Most of that $150 million will go towards:
1) signal priority to allow buses to extend green lights
2) the shelters and new buses
3) signage to prohibit street parking during rush hours
4) police enforcement/towing of violating vehicles.

Is it impossible to make this pay for itself (via fines)? Or do such fines usually cover just towing/impounding/administration costs and no police?

The new buses currently being delivered aren't the BRT buses. The BRT buses, to be delivered on the same contract, will have 3 doors to facilitate pre-paid boarding at high-volume stops.

^^ But they will be hybrid and of a similar design, right?

Yes - same manufacturer and I believe delivered under the same contract. I was just pointing out that there will be a little extra brand differentiation for the "BRT" service - special buses, prepaid boarding, at least a few beefed up facilities, lane markings, etc. Not a full BRT like Cleveland, but definitely a step up from a regular limited stop "X" route.

I was looking at the slow zones map and it seems that the biggest bang for the buck now (as far as benefiting the most riders) is the Red Line, especially North Main. Purple Line needs a lot of work, but ridership relative to the Red Line means the Red LIne should happen first. Ideally, they should be looking at completely rebuilding the North Main, but I'm guessing that would take at least a billion dollars.

I kinda hope that, if the CTA gets nothing else from Obama's massive stimulus, it gets Federal dollars to eliminate slow zones across the entire system. It would be nice to also get Federal funds to accelerate planning and execution of the Ford City Orange Line, and the Red Line extensions, and also for the City to accelerate planning of the West Loop Transportation Center, but just getting money for slow zone elimination would be great. As someone else pointed out, "planning" doesn't sound as grand or stimulating as building does, but planning does create or at least maintain skilled jobs which are at least as important to the economy as construction jobs are. In fact, since China and other emerging economies are getting huge experience for skilled planning jobs with their infrastructure build-outs, keeping those skills fresh with U.S. workers is probably even more critical.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2...-railroad.html


Two more suburbs strike deals with CN railroad
December 16, 2008 at 1:04 PM
--Richard Wronski

...Hoffman Estates and Frankfort are the latest communities to negotiate separate deals with CN over noise, traffic and safety issues. The agreements were announced Monday night.

That brings to eight the number of communities that have negotiated their own deals with the railway. CN said it is continuing talks with several other suburbs.

^Excellent, at least there are now 8 municipalities who see this as a necessity that will be approved, and will work with the railroad and not against it. I hope Barrington and all other opposition communities drown in debt from needless legal fees.

^ Easy. I live in one of those opposition communities.

Let's hear it for the CTA in the snow, baby! Thank goodness I'm not driving to work.

More towns look to deal on EJE
 

The dominoes keep falling.....

Several towns stop fighting Canadian National Railway plan and cut deals
CN to spend millions on addressing problems with safety, noise and trafficBy Richard Wronski | Tribune reporter
December 17, 2008
Some communities that had opposed Canadian National Railway's plan to run more freight trains through their towns have decided to stop fighting and negotiate their own deals to ease noise, safety and traffic concerns.

As of Tuesday, eight communities—from Mundelein to Frankfort and Schererville, Ind.—have approved individual agreements with the railway that are worth millions of dollars.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...,7925208.story

CTA sucked last night. Waited 45 minutes at Ravenswood Metra for the Lawrence West Bound. How do 5 west bound bus #81 get bunched up together? How after 1/2 hour when I got home to look at Bus Tracker could 5 bus #81's still be bunched together? If I can see that on Bus Tracker why couldn't CTA? Heard horror stories about 151 and the Irving Park bus.

Plowing...didn't see it until after 6:30 on major streets. That is 6 hours into the storm.

Bus Tracker was working. We paid managers both watching bus tracker and on the roads to keep things running smoothly. Cell phones were working.....and we live in a city that gets snow. Why does this city act like Hawaii everytime we get snow?

I wouldn't blame the CTA for this. I happened to drive to work yesterday (damn bad luck for an appointment in the suburbs!) and it took me an hour and 45 minutes to get to Lakeview from the loop.

It seems to me that traffic control just totally breaks down when snow starts falling. People get frustrated at the slow traffic and begin acting like idiots: making dangerous lunges into traffic, blocking intersections and stopping cross traffic, etc. Order breaks down incredibly fast in these circumstances. On busy arterial streets downtown, backups are severe and probably cause a lot of bunching for buses traveling through downtown.

On the plus side, the trains run fantastically in the snow. A co-worker's 30 minute commute took...30 minutes last night. Boy was I jealous!

Taft

Yeah, its hard to expect buses to run properly when there are massive traffic jams everywhere.

If you took the train yesterday you were in great shape, whizzed right by everything...

^^^Yeah Gotta love Metra

How did 5 buse that means 60 minutes of buses all get bunched together? This is only 1.5 miles from the eastern terminus. If I saw it on bus tracker why weren't buses turned around at the halfway point to start picking up passengers running east? So after someone answers the first question....let me know.

Snow makes things slow down....not bunch up. Driving is like a conveyor belt...it can go slow or fast. Not bunch up for 90 minutes worth of lost service.

The converyor belt slows down to 2-3 miles an hour.....there should not have been a total work stoppage for 60 minutes.

Here is a layman's guess. People were arriving at bus stops at the same rate as usual, but the buses were going much slower. That means that as the first bus arrived at each stop, there were many more people than usual. So each stop took longer, which made the trip even slower. Since the first bus made such long stops, the second bus eventually caught up with it, and the rest would have caught up after that. Once the buses get bunched together there's not really a way to un-bunch them.

The bus tracker would have been wrong yesterday because its estimated arrival times are based on typical traffic and would not have taken the complete gridlock caused by the snow into account. It's not realistic to expect a bus tracker to account for chaotic conditions like that in real time.

Actually, the first part of your answer sounds very logical. So thanks.

The bus tracker is pretty much live...that is why it showed all the buses bunched up together. It estimates bus stop arrivals...but it still reflects where buses actually are via satellite.

Abner's response is very good, but only part of the story. Particularly with the #81 for example, the route begins from the west end headed eastbound: every bus leaving Marine Drive headed west is turning around from an eastbound trip.

Now apply the The Abner Effect headed eastbound the whole length of the route: it's possible all 5 buses arrived at the eastern Marine Drive terminal far behind schedule, and thus all turned right around and left headed westbound

In cases like yesterday, the schedule becomes meaningless - and generally speaking, the quality of the schedule is the main determining factor with the transit agency's control in whether buses get bunched. Buses arrive at the end of the line so late that they have no hope of starting back in the other direction on time. Writing a "snow" schedule, with extra long route running times that would actually be possible to follow on days like yesterday, is out of the question for two reasons: (1) against union work rules based on how bus drivers are assigned to operate certain bus runs, and (2) CTA wouldn't have enough vehicles to meet the scheduled frequency of service.

#2 is important: even if CTA somehow created and performed a perfect blizzard schedule that buses could actually follow, they could only do this if the interval between buses was incredibly long. So either way, short of CTA having hundreds of buses waiting in the wings to operate on snow days, it is more likely than not that a rider will wait much longer for a bus. Maybe CTA could unbunch the buses, but then the buses would be running every 40 minutes instead of every 8 minutes. Pick your poison.

I just took two trains yesterday.

^^^
Before the storm I have noticed that bunching is still occuring. The tracker should help manage this. That was what CTA said it would do...get the managers out and turn some of the buses around...keep the conveyor belts going.

I don't think there should be schedules on buses period...just intravals of time...with or without snow.

So are what you telling me is that at the halfway point CTA couldn't have turned a few of the buses around so that east bound wouldn't be effected too?

I noticed tonight that in addition to fare increases, the CTA is bumping up the parking fees for the park-n-ride lots. An idea I fully support, since $2/day was absurdly low. It appears $4/day is the new minimum.

CTA New Parking Fees

Obama reportedly picking LaHood for transportation chief
 

This would be good for Illinois and the many Amtrak, Metra and CTA projects on the back burner. And also for CREATE. The Transportation Secretary is one of the most powerful domestic policy positions in the government.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/n...,4429068.story
By Mike Dorning | Washington Bureau
December 18, 2008
WASHINGTON — Peoria Republican Rep. Ray LaHood has been chosen as Barack Obama's transportation secretary, placing him in a key role in an administration that has signaled plans for an ambitious public works program, according to Democratic and Republican officials.

LaHood, 63, who planned to step down from Congress at the end of the current session, is a Capitol veteran, a former chief of staff to then-House Minority Leader Robert Michel (R-Ill.) who was elected to his former boss' seat in 1994.

Among those with whom LaHood maintained a friendly relationship over the years is Emanuel, whose aggressive approach to politics infuriated many Republicans; LaHood, however, praised him publicly for competence and pragmatism. LaHood and Emanuel co-hosted a series of bipartisan dinners for members of Congress and worked together on legislation to expand funding for children's health insurance.

Unlike many Republicans in Congress, LaHood has a record of supporting funding for Amtrak and public transit.
Tribune reporter Jon Hilkevitch contributed from Chicago.

mdorning@tribune.com

^ Glad that you posted that. I was a little concerned to see that a Republican was appointed, but reading this relieves a lot of that.

..

More pain parking downtown?
TRANSPORTATION | 'Congestion reduction' fee considered as part of effort to get people to change their driving habits

December 19, 2008
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter
Motorists who insist on parking in downtown Chicago -- either on the street or in commercial lots or garages -- would pay a "congestion reduction" fee for the privilege, under a mayoral plan in the works to ease traffic jams and generate transportation funding.

Truckers who make downtown deliveries during peak periods would also pay a fee for every minute they block traffic, under the ordinance quietly introduced by Mayor Daley at Wednesday's City Council meeting.

CTA President Ron Huberman said the fees would go into a so-called "congestion reduction fund" to finance an array of improvements, including more trains and buses serving the Loop, turn lanes and synchronized traffic signals.

The mayor's ordinance makes no mention of specific congestion fees. It merely gives the city's revenue director unbridled power to set the rates and adjust them without City Council approval. A study under way by the Civic Consulting Alliance will determine the size of the increase.

"The price can be moved regularly until we find that sweet spot where it alters behavior. We're trying to have the minimum amount we need to charge in order to encourage people to drive a little earlier or a little later and use mass transit," Huberman said.

The timing of the increases could not be worse.

Daley's $1.15 billion plan to privatize Chicago parking meters already includes steep rate hikes that will force downtown motorists who now pay $3 an hour to cough up $3.50 Jan. 1, pay a whopping $6.50 an hour by 2013 and feed the meters 24/7, including holidays.

(Click link above to read whole article)

^ In regards to the article I just posted above:

This probably isn't the best timing for this, but I'm pleased to see a congestion pricing plan that does what it's supposed to to--fund TRANSIT.

Glad Daley's finally on board with this :tup:

^^^
I'll hold my breath that it actually goes toward transit.

So what do you guys think of Ray Lahood as Trasportation Secretary? I've heard varying reports as to his credentials as a proponent of Mass Transit...


I'm watching his acceptance speech right now and he is really emphasizing Mass Transit and Amtrak expansions...

^^ Well, he is from Illinois. He's a Congressman, not a Senator, and his district is downstate, so lobbying for Chicagoland transit funding was not one of his priorities (it has nothing to do with his district). That doesn't mean he won't support transit and Amtrak, though. Obama's agenda favors transit and urban areas, and his selection of LaHood is meant to reflect this. Obama will be LaHood's boss, after all.

Also, I want to stress that the transportation problems and lack of expansion in Chicagoland is NOT a problem on the federal level, but merely a side effect of the lamentable state and local governments and the corruption that infiltrates them. ALL of CTA's planned projects have been tentatively green-lighted at the Federal level, but it is political gridlock here that is holding them up.

Unless rationality prevails down in Springfield and at City Hall, we won't see too much progress on the transit front here in Chicago. Look at Milwaukee. Their only hope of getting rail transit (the KRM commuter rail plan) was shot down by political resistance on the local level, even after the Federal government agreed to pay 80% of the cost. That's even more tragic than Chicago's situation, because of all the detailed planning that went into the KRM plan.

I never heard that about Milw...that is too bad

^^ Yeah Chicago is in a good spot with the CREATE program and Metra/CTA "New Starts" having identified some needs.But these projects always need a guardian angel, someone to carry the water and do the heavy lifting and all those other euphamisms. Usually that someone is a Senator or Govenor or Congressman. Unfortunately we are short a couple. Illinois/Chi could be in the position of having a homegrown Prez and Trans Secy, but not be able to pull off a major Fed investment because of the schizo Gov. and a vacant US Senator seat.

This runs the risk of being off-topic, but does anybody happen to know how much of CREATE is "shovel-ready" and could theoretically be part of the first round of the stimulus package? It seems like a pretty small investment on the government's part for a substantial benefit. Obviously this is completely speculative since none of us knows what the priorities and procedures are going to be for stimulus spending.

http://www.createprogram.org/PDF/Pro...s_10-07-08.pdf

that's the current status of create programs.

^ Well, Obama's presidency is 4 or 8 years, while Bagofshit's reign of terror ends in 2 (or sooner, depending on how this corruption case goes) years, so lets not lose hope

^ What "local political gridlock" is holding up the Red Line extension, Orange Line extension, or Circle Line?

The Damen brown line station reopened today, a week shy of being closed for 13 months. When I lived in Lincoln Square last year, the Damen station was my local stop. So I'm kind of anxious to check it out. They kept the old station house (à la Sedgwick) which is nice to see.

Also, I'm wondering if we'll be going to 4 track operation this weekend at Belmont? This afternoon I saw an empty brown line train partially into the new station. CTA workers were also removing the separator that divided the already-completed inner track platform from the nearing-completion outer track platform. I took a couple photos of the train partially in the station, but I can't figure out how the get the damn photos transferred from my new cell phone (with a 5 megapixel camera) to my computer. I can't get it to sync with my pc.

There's no state infrastructure investment program to handle the local match. There won't be a state infrastructure investment program as long as Gov. Tinyteeth and the legislative leaders are locked in a death match.

^ Not to belabor this, but does anybody else have any thoughts about this plan?

It seems as if it's intended in part to fund the CTA, but some doubts about that were expressed in the previous page. The usual chorus of Daley-bashing has already commenced in the commentary section, but I was hoping to hear what our more level-headed urbanophile SSP forumers think about this.

Just to summarize, Daley is trying to pass legislation that authorizes an increase in parking taxes (both in meters and garages) downtown and in a manner that will not require City Council approval in the future. This essentially gives the city's Revenue Director carte blanche to raise rates as (s)he sees fit in a way that attempts to squeeze people out of their cars and into transit, if you will.

It's a boneheaded, poorly targeted policy that will make downtown Chicago a less attractive place for businesses and retailers.

It makes the simple-minded assumption that I often see on this forum: that everyone driving alone to a downtown job or store is a healthy person with no before- or after-work responsibilities who lives near convenient transit and places little value on her time—that she drives alone because she's too good for public transportation or because her driving is subsidized by the rest of us or because she secretly wants to speed global warming and sunburn the poor penguins under the ozone hole. But there are almost as many logical reasons for driving downtown as there are downtown drivers. People have complex lives that include children, multiple work locations, odd hours, dangerous neighborhoods, and carrying packages and purchases. Those of us who live downtown may have suburban jobs or hope to get visits from friends, family members, or service providers who need to drive.

If you want to attract discretionary riders, then attract them with speedier service, shorter headways, more comfortable vehicles and waiting areas. Punishing people for working or shopping or visiting clients or friends in the CBD is a shortsighted policy. If the mayor wants more money for transit, he should increase the city's laughable $3 million annual contribution to the CTA, or raise property taxes on downtown office buildings that benefit most from the service.

Yeah, we're all morons :rolleyes:

Moving on..

^ Sure, thats true (minus all the hyperbole) but lets face it. A LOT of people do drive because they just prefer their car. You can't tell me there aren't a hell of a lot of people like this; I haven't lived in Chicago for a while but I used to know plenty of people who lived in transit-rich north side neighborhoods like that--the $6 Early Bird Special was made just for them.

^ How will driving to your suburban job be affected? And friends/family members usually don't visit during rush hour on Monday-Friday, the hours that the congestion charge would be highest.

^ Right on. No argument there. But will high property tax not translate to higher office rents? I imagine that could also turn businesses away from downtown.

Unlike New York, Chicago doesn't exempt or rebate the downtown parking tax to residents. When my family comes to visit, we have to pay $24 every day they're here to store their car. My neighbor who's a state social services caseworker (visiting clients all over the county) pays $200 a month to park at night. Why not crank it up some more so he'll think twice about living downtown?

In economic theory, where information is perfect and all decisions are rational, they would have that effect. In real life, I think a 0.3% increase in rent seems much less dramatic to the managing partner than a $3/day increase in parking rates. When a Downers Grove office park is not only closer to home, cheaper, and much less hassle, the notion that a downtown office draws from a wider labor supply or offers more networking opportunities starts to seem rather abstract. When the insurance website says I can take mom to the orthopedist in Edison Park or the one with the $14/hour—no, wait, $17/hour parking, which one do you think we'll choose?

don't you just love it. Increase everyone else's taxes except mine

I think Mr. Downtown's argument here is a strong one.

I agree, Mr. Downtown has a point, but why not argue for exemptions instead of against increasing the taxes? The taxes are there either way, so isn't not having an exemption or rebate program really the problem?

Actually, I would rethink that, any reasonable person would be much more turned off by a .3% increase in rent, say a company rents 100k sqft at 30 dollars a sqft. That's 3 million dollars a year in rent. If you increase that by .3%, you are looking at a loss of $900,000 a year. Which do you think is really more disturbing to the management of a company? A personal loss of $3 a day (which could potentially be avoided by taking the Metra to Ogilivie or Union) or an unavoidable loss for the company of nearly a million dollars a year? People aren't as irrational as you assume, and even if they, they would have to be incredibly stupid to be more effected by $3 a day instead of $1000000 a year...

Certain physicians, attorneys, and some people employed in social services do tend to work out of several sites. But when you look at the vast majority of downtown office workers, I'm willing to bet they have one work site and do one commute every day. Regarding your family, again if they come on the weekend they theoretically shouldn't be affected by a higher parking tax.

And yes, a parking tax exemption to people with a downtown address does make sense, mostly because taxing them goes against the spirit of the tax itself--to encourage transit use for people commuting to the city, not to punish people who already have made their lives there. Has anyone ever pushed for that?