Well, MegaBus is $1.50 if you book in advance.

Amtrak's 7 roundtrips per day to Milwaukee aren't enough?

Speaking of, Crain's is reporting 24% year-over-year ridership increases on Hiawatha.

Hiawatha already has a station at Mitchell Airport - a bus shuttle connects the station to the terminal.

Ostensibly, if KRM is built, another shuttle will connect the terminal to the new station in Cudahy.

I've seen several trains during the rush hour that were standing room only over the past 6 months... Sucks to be stuck standing for 1.5 hours...

How sure of a thing is that Oakton Yellow Line stop?

A civil engineer for the Village of Skokie assures me that the Oakton Station project is still active. All necessary land has been acquired and funding has been set aside.

It's in the design phase right now, as architects and engineers work with the various demands of CTA, the Village of Skokie, and ComEd (which owns high-tension lines along the tracks). The design should be complete within the next 2-3 months, and then bids will be solicited from contractors. Keep an eye out on Bidclerk.

Based on the size of the project and likely scope of the project, construction should take 6 -9 months. I'm expecting a small "island" station like the new ground-level ones on the Brown and Pink Lines.

I'm very excited about this Oakton Station. It's three blocks from my sister's place which means I could now get there now without driving.

So, where will the funding come from for this station? Is this state or federal money or out of the capital budget of the CTA?

To my knowledge, Oakton will be dual side platforms, initially for 4 car trains but extendable at a future date to berth 8 car trains. It's possible it could be an island platform, I think there is room for it but I remember seeing preliminary plans with side platforms. The platform(s) will be on the north side of Oakton. Construction funding is coming from (someone correct me if I'm wrong) the Federal government with Skokie paying the 20% local match.

Speaking of the yellow line. Are there, or have there ever been, any plans to run it as a simple extension of the red line? I don't think I've read anything about it, but I've always kind of thought that's what the 3rd rail conversion was all about.

That's sort of how the Niles Center extension was run in the 30s and 40s, but it wouldn't make a lot of sense now to run eight-car trains all the way to Dempster and back.

It would make more sense to run the red line to Linden.

Dempster (and eventually Oakton) both have short platforms (max 4-car platforms, though expandable to 8), commensurate with the relatively light loading along the Skokie branch. As pointed out, from an equipment utilization standpoint it wouldn't make a great deal of sense at this point.

The third rail conversion was mostly just to (1) eliminate the last catenary in the system, which is less reliable than third rail and susceptible to getting damaged in storms, (2) eliminate the requirement to maintain cars in the fleet with pantographs to run on that small portion. A minor benefit (3) was that a slow zone for the crossing point between third rail and overhead power could be removed (either 25->55 or 35->55, but really not a huge deal in the scheme of things).

Purple Line platforms are only 6-cars in length, so it becomes logistically difficult for how you deal with the fleet. Running the Purple Express all day is probably more plausible operationally than extending Red to Linden.

Makes sense if you only look at a map, but not if you look at ridership. Until fairly recently, Evanston was handled at off hours by single cars (Cars 1-50) where you paid the motorman as you entered--essentially just streetcars up on the elevated tracks.

If train operations were selected by democracy, I'd vote for this. I kinda wish they'd consider it, and add Loyola and Wilson. They could more than make up the extra time spent at Loyola and Wilson by skipping Wellington, Diversey and Armitage (with good switching, I think you could run the Purple Line on the Red Line tracks between Belmont and the L/subway split). Then you'd have a real express train for the whole North Side instead of just a fast commuter shuttle between Evanston and the Near North.

..

When I change to the Purple from the Red on weekdays from around noon to three p.m., the platform at Howard can be pretty crowded with people making the same transfer. I don't have the ridership figures (and I doubt they exist for exits), but it seems to me that the number of passengers riding the Red Line north at that time of day with Davis as their final destination is higher than that of those bound for Morse or Jarvis. I agree though that it makes more sense for the Purple Line to be an all-day express with one or two more intermediate stops than to extend the Red Line to Linden.

Or at least run loop trains once every 30 minutes between 1030 and 330 (or whatever it is). Just do every 3rd train or something. That doesn't seem like that big of a deal, and it will give people an awesome option of timing their activities and making the quick trip downtown at the top and bottom of the hour from Howard.

Yeah, that purple line express is awesome and it gives a great option for people coming from the north shore/north suburbs.

Whenever my parents come in to the city (because they live on the North Central Line) they have no choice on the weekends but to drive in. Metra's schedules are too rigid and the cta ride from linden to the south loop without express is unbearable. Being able to go to linden and then express it in to the loop would be great. Hopefully after all the station work on the brown line is complete and we're back to 4 tracks they'll consider this.

"Evanston Express", "Skokie Swift."

Yeah, these names just don't have the same special ring as Purple Line Express and Yellow Line.http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/images/smilies/koko.gif

Do any of you know when the new Fullerton station opens, rather than the temporary one? I'm wondering because I'll be attending school right near there in the fall.

Interestingly enough, as a commute option it is about as heavily used for reverse-commute to Evanston jobs as it is for inbound. People coming inbound have the faster Metra option, but the Purple Express is as good as it gets for most people who live in the north side and work in Evanston.

Whats going on under the green line from western Ave what looks like all the way to downtown?

^ Please read your post and explain to anybody here how we're supposed to understand what you're asking.

The Lake Street Improvement Project. Repaving, new streetlights, parkway trees, and new traffic signals.

Trib digs into CTA
 

CTA's rail safety criticized

The worst part about this article for me is in the replies to the article in the comments section. One year into Huberman's tenure and so many people are already calling for his head. Give the guy a chance! I think the system is improving under his watch.

Taft

Are you talking about the above Lake Street improvement plan or are you talking about the workers who come out past midnight and run cable along the underside of the tracks? Some nights they are noisy! Been going on for a couple months.

Agreed. You can't expect him to turn the CTA totally around in such a small time after being mismanaged for so long. Things are improving but still have a long way to go.

It makes complete sense. I just got a quick glimpse of it when i was driving down wester ave, but it looked like paving of some kind.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=30019

Lawmaker has bill to block CN's suburban rail route buy
By: Bob Tita June 30, 2008

U.S. Rep. Peter Roskam will try to block Canadian National Railway Co.’s purchase of a suburban rail route by having the federal government restrict traffic increases on a portion of the route to just commuter trains

^ What a joke.

I hope the Chicago representatives come in and blow that bill out of the water... We need to start annexing the stinking suburbs and consolidating our power base...

The bill will go nowhere... little local issues are made into bills all the time in Congress, but most Congressmen recognize how small-time these issues are, and shrug off the bills - unless it's a "universal good", like naming a federal facility after a civil rights leader or founding father. Then, it's politically useful and it makes them look good.

Nobody's mentioned it yet, but Obama, despite all the credit we give him, is opposed to CN's purchase of the EJ&E. If he's elected president, he may install people at the Department of Transportation who will kill the purchase. For this reason, the protesting towns are trying to stall the decision as long as possible.

^ What is Obama's reasoning for opposing it?

^ Obama won't block the bill, IMO.

Once he's president he won't give 2 shits about this minor suburban concern. The only reason he made a statement now is because he is an Illinois Senator after all, and he doesn't want to lose anyone's support in this stage of his presidential campaign

:previous: Who's support is at risk of losing? You think Illinois in the one state he is seriously in jeopardy of losing in the general election? I simply think this is a case of him being misguided and sticking up for the little guy citizens against the big bad corporation. To bad in actuality its the corporation who is actually the more egalitarian in this case and the wealthy exurb citizens (at the least the loud Barrington contingent) who are the selfish obstructionist.

......Anyway I am not too worried and I think the pluses of the sale are overly clear compared to the minuses. Also the point in the article about blocking the sale as an impediment to private property rights without overwhelming compelling reasoning. I guess the Republican Mayor kinda lost the party mantra when it came to this case. A half baked idea which may not even come to fruition about superb train line that could likely still run even if the deal goes wouldn't warrant blockage I would think.

I was initially disappointed by Humberman's selection but he's been okay. At least the guy isn't as damaging as Kruesi was.

does the CTA no longer post ridership numbers for each individual bus route, rail line and stations?

performance metrics don't really mean s***. At least not compared to being able to view the old statistical breakdowns.

Maybe, maybe not. The President appoints all cabinet-level positions, including the Secretary of Transportation, and several positions below cabinet level within the Department of Transportation.

I checked up on this - the Surface Transportation Board is what makes the decision on whether CN can buy the EJ&E or not. The three members of the STB are also appointed by the President, although they have 4 year terms that Bush just renewed last year, so they will probably hang over into the next president's term.

However, I wouldn't put it past Obama to personally make sure CN loses... as long as this fits into an overall trend of Obama sticking up for communities over corporations, then it actually makes him look good. But if it's an isolated incident, then it just makes him seem to be pandering to Illinoisans.

HOWEVER - all of STB's actions so far seem to indicate that they favor the railroad. They refused to examine any other options in the Chicago region for CN, saying that no other route through Chicago would accomplish what CN wants. Plus, as I've said before, precedent also favors the railroad. The STB seems to be on track to make their decision in December, before Bush leaves office.

It's hard for me to see what criteria STB could legitimately use to deny CN permission to purchase the J. STB's mission is to oversee the competitiveness and efficiency of the nation's railroad network, not to resolve local grade-crossing disputes.

I think it's interesting that a century ago Chicago could simply require the railroads to elevate their tracks through the city, at the railroads' expense. Partly that was because the railroads came after the city was established, and in many cases actually occupy city streets. Illinois law apparently has changed since then, generally making grade separations a joint expense of both railroad and road agency. And expectations have changed a lot.

Biking Chicagoland
 

Yesterday we rode our bikes from Palatine to Chicago and back, just cause I'd never done it before. It was quite an experience. Biking Chicago is a breeze. We flew down the bike lanes on Elston and Milwaukee and back up the lakefront trail. No problems at all moving within Chicago limits.

But the suburbs are so damn fragmented. There are bike trails and residential streets to ride on, but no good way to get from one to the other. We got to DesPlains easy enough, but from there, we basically had no choice but to ride on the gravel shoulder of Central road for about 2 miles because there's no other way past I-294 and all the rail lines.

There's plenty of room on the shoulders of a lot of roads for bike lanes. I'm hoping that with the higher gas prices, we start getting the political pressure to expand the bike lane network. Just 10 miles of bike lanes in a few key areas would knit the area together.

^ I wish I trusted my bike skills and auto/truck/bus drivers not to kill me, because biking is hands-down the fastest way to get around Chicago proper.

Cycling is my primary mode of transport and recreation. I always laugh at the people who express concern about cycling in downtown Chicago. That's easy. It's the suburbs where none of the side streets go through and where drivers seem to feel you're taking something away from them personally by being on their multilane arterials.

I recommend emailing ctahelp (at) transitchicago.com and also the FOIA officer, Terry Levin tlevin (at) transitchicago.com to request that they resume posting the detailed reports on their website. If enough of us contact them, they'll at least consider it.

Chicago-Milwaukee commuter line
 

..

Don't forget that most of the tracks in Chicago were grade-separated in an era before unionized labor and ridiculous costs for building materials. They were elevated on solid-fill embankments (only building material you need is dirt!) and the street overpasses used small amounts of stone/concrete and some short bridge girders that were probably made over in Gary.

Also, railroads were much smaller and more profitable back then. Since then, hundreds of small railroads either were abandoned or swallowed into a small handful of transcontinental mega-railroads, which today do not have the resources, the local commitment, or the organizational efficiency to oversee anything but the most essential building projects.

Besides, even around 1900, Chicago was one of the very few cities in the country that could afford to mandate grade-separation, because the city had already become the country's biggest rail hub, and placing a hardship on the railroads would merely make them grumble as they complied.

By the way - Viva asked a few days ago about how much money is being awarded to Chicago under the recently-passed Saving Energy through Public Transportation Act. A little blurb in "Inside Chicago" says that Rahm Emanuel has promised Chicago $88 million over the next two years to expand transit service and frequency.

That sound you hear faintly--in the distance--is this drop falling the in the massive and empty bucket for transit financing in Illinois.

Every little bit helps, I guess. But this is a big goal for such a little amount of money.

Taft

You do realize that the transit systems' financial problems are caused at the state level and not the national? This is the first time ever that the federal government has provided money for day-to-day transit operations. Usually, they just fund expansion or renovation projects.

Unfortunately much of what ails the L system is not a problem with service levels, but a problem with reliability and speed, as well as frequent downtime. However, Metra, Pace, and CTA buses would indeed get greater ridership with more buses and trains.

This line has been repeated ad nauseum in all the press materials regarding this latest transit bill, but it's just not true. Not only is it not true, but it's not even particularly ancient history. Federal operating subsidies were provided in varying degrees to varying agencies from the 70s-90s. In fact, I'm fairly certain CTA received federal operating subsidies all the way until the early 90s when they were gradually phased out nationwide during the Clinton administration (major service cuts to balance the budget in 1997 were related to this subsidy phase-out).

in re: this $88 million, it's still very worthwhile. Ideally, it will result in:

1. Allow CTA to push back a fare increase for another year, and if lucky with a few bucks leftover to run some extra peak period service on the most crushed routes.
2. Allow (force?) Metra to actually provide the extra off-peak service they were supposed to after the recent state funding bill, but backed out on because of 'fuel costs'.

Came across this video. Remember when Ald. Fioretti voted no on the real estate transfer tax increase for CTA pensions? Well, someone captured Daley's response on video, its hilarious....


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ashM23pslk

Gary Transit station
 

PUBLIC HEARING ON GATEWAY STATION PROPOSAL

http://www.nictd.com/info/delays.htm#Gateway

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) will hold a public hearing to gather comments on a proposed plan developed by Gateway Partners, LLC in cooperation with the City of Gary to consolidate Miller and Gary Metro Center stations into a new Gateway Station to be located at 4th and Broadway in downtown Gary.

The plan calls for the construction of a temporary station approximately 5-6 blocks west of the current Gary Metro Center while the new Gateway Station is constructed. Once the new facility is open, the plan calls for Miller Station to be closed. To learn more about the project click here. http://indianagateway.com/

The public hearing will be held on July 8, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. at Christ Baptist Church, 4700 East 7th Avenue, Gary. The general public may comment in person at the public hearing or mail their comments to the Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District, 33 East U.S. Highway 12, Chesterton, Indiana 46304. Comments must be received by NICTD on or before July 18, 2008.