^ $2million/43 = over $46,000 per machine.

Damn, taxpayers! Whodathunk I was in the wrong line of work? A friggin vending machine costs more than a BMW!

Even if that includes installation with electrical work and pulling in networking, that seems awfully high.

A casino-quality slot machine costs about $10,000 - why would a machine with fewer moving parts need to cost 4.5 times as much?

^ Because taxpayers are paying.

Clearly there is somebody who is well-connected getting this contract. Illinois is disgusting

It doesn't seem too far off, especially if installation costs are included. Comparable prices for full service transit vending machines that handle cash can hit upwards of $100k even before installation. This pricing is not unique to Illinois or Chicago.

e.g. 15 seconds of googling finds this story of approx $60k/machine in 1999 for MetroCard machines in NYC.
http://www.voy.com/125692/6/1124.html

I don't have a link handy but I believe Vancouver Translink paid well above $100k/machine to outfit the Canada Line.

A slot machine sits in an insanely well-supervised area where any troublemakers are escorted out. They also perform only one function.

A transit-card vending machine has numerous functions, a touch screen, internal computer, cashbox, and it all has to withstand the onslaught of teenage vandals and still work after 20 years.

I don't know if that all adds up to $43k, but it seems like a TVM has far more worth to a transit agency than a singular slot machine does to a casino, and the prices reflect this.

I just hope the machines do in fact live up to the cost. Gotta love getting on at Clark and Division when not a single fare machine is working.

In the past, I've used the TAZ data for these types of comparisons...yes...it's definitely quite the exercise. Now that I'm in the A&E Industry it's behind me, lol.

I don't know if this is appropriate, it was done in 2001/2002 by then NIPC:

http://community-2.webtv.net/@HH!B6!...oymentCenters/

CTA 'L' Trends
 

Here's some mid-term growth statistics for the CTA 'L' lines.

Total System Ridership Numbers calculated from branch numbers (instead of taking the CTA's official system-wide numbers). The CTA's earlier years' numbers seem to have either zero or far fewer cross-platform numbers in the official system-wide totals. Indeed, in 2011, cross-platform transfers inflate the ridership numbers by 17.5% as compared to station entrance figures. Adding up by line gives a better comparison across years.

System Total
2000: 147,194,341
2010: 173,561,960
2011: 182,212,627 (up 5.0% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 23.8%

Some on this forum have posited that the City couldn't have lost as many people as the Census said we did because ridership is up so much. However, the majority of the losses were on the South Side, and if you look at the numbers for closely, it certainly seems plausible that the South Side did, unfortunately, lose as many people as the Census claims.
North Side

Blue Line O'Hare Branch **
2000: 19,336,087
2010: 21,892,551
2011: 23,577,843 (up 7.7% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 21.9%

Brown Line
2000: 12,875,518
2010: 16,294,400
2011: 17,529,237 (up 7.6% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 36.1%

Red Line North Main
2000: 32,070,998
2010: 38,772,384
2011: 40,856,785 (up 5.4% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 27.4%

Purple Line Evanston
2000: 2,959,272
2010: 3,155,103
2011: 3,236,061 (up 2.6% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 9.4%

Yellow Line
2000: 664,634
2010: 780,454
2011: 787,208 (up 0.9% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 18.4%

TOTAL NORTH SIDE
2000: 67,906,509
2010: 80,894,892
2011: 85,987,134 (up 6.3% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 26.6%

West Side

Green Line Lake
2000: 5,659,662
2010: 7,992,036
2011: 8,160,292 (up 2.1% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 44.2%

Blue Line Forest Park
2000: 6,624,052 (Congress Branch)
2010: 8,468,092
2011: 9,196,945 (up 8.6% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 38.8%

Pink Line
2000: 2,483,418 (Douglas Branch, Blue Line)
2010: 4,560,865
2011: 4,823,666 (up 5.8% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 94.2%

TOTAL WEST SIDE
2000: 14,767,132
2010: 21,020,993
2011: 22,180,903 (up 5.5% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 50.2%

South Side

Green Line South (including both branches)
2000: 3,351,374
2010: 3,689,060
2011: 3,837,669 (up 4.0% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 14.5%

Red Line Dan Ryan
2000: 16,512,340
2010: 16,705,352
2011: 16,700,120 (down -0.0% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 1.1%

Orange Line
2000: 8,080,569
2010: 7,851,925
2011: 8,222,990 (up 4.7% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 1.8%

TOTAL SOUTH SIDE
2000: 27,944,283
2010: 28,246,337
2011: 28,760,779 (up 1.8% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 2.9%

Central Area ***

Red Line subway
2000: 12,970,398
2010: 16,413,998
2011: 16,839,383 (up 2.6% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 29.8%

Blue Line subway
2000: 6,782,031
2010: 6,995,366
2011: 7,547,816 (up 7.9% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 11.3%

Loop
2000: 16,823,988
2010: 19,990,374
2011: 20,896,612 (up 4.5% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 24.2%

TOTAL CENTRAL AREA
2000: 36,576,417
2010: 43,399,738
2011: 45,283,811 (up 4.3% vs 2010)
Increase 2000-2011 23.8%

** I'm including the O'Hare branch in the North Side instead of the West Side because it, for the most part, is ridden by people who fit the demographics of the North Side than the rest of the West Side. Even if it were included in the West Side instead of the North Side numbers, though, the North Side would still have far more total ridership than any other side.

*** Using the name "Central Area" is a little misleading. A more rigorous accounting would account for the ridership for all stations within the Central Area, for example moving the Chicago Brown Line numbers from the North Side to the Central Area, and moving the Division Blue Line numbers from the Central Area to the O'Hare Branch. However as shorthand I've just incldued all subway numbers and Loop numbers as Central Area and all other numbers as part of the line they're on. If anyone else wants to make those adjustments, feel free.

Fascinating. Can you break the West Side lines down by station and pinpoint where the ridership growth is occurring?

For example - is the Pink Line growth due to an increase in frequency (ridership gains would be consistent across the line) or due to localized population growth? Frequency improvements make the most sense to me, but those wouldn't explain the growth on the Green Line. I suppose the creation of the Pink Line modestly improved frequency on the Forest Park branch, but not by much.

I'll post my maps when I make them, but that'll be at least a few weeks.

In the mean time, here are a few things to think about:

Re: Green Line
If you look at the Census numbers for Garfield Park and that area, much of that area has finally stablized instead of suffering population decline and there is other evidence that gentrification has begun in and around Garfield Park. If that's the case, then it would be expected to see Green Line Lake ridership to start to increase strongly in that area. It's also the case that the West Loop, both the near (Clinton) and western edge (Ashland) have a lot more going on than they did 10 years ago. The numbers bear this out: Since 2000, Clinton has increased by over 150% and Ashland by over 80%. Of course both of those are influenced by the Pink Line, too.

The gentrification theory starts to show west of Ashland. California is up about 52%, Kedzie up by 26.6%, Conservatory up by 314% (!), Pulaski up by 42.8%, then we start to see the numbers be less aggressive, though at least still grow over 10% since 2000, with Cicero up 19.2%, Laramie 14.5%, Central 10.2%, and increases are in that range the rest of the line, with Oak Park and Harlem slightly better.

Re: Pink Line
As you mentioned, it benefited from increased frequency, but also increased speed (no super-slow zones anymore), lots of publicity, and a more pleasant experience all around at the station levels. Polk was only up about 50%, but it was and remains the highest-used station on the line, with over double any other Pink Line station except 54th. Pink Line is also now open on weekends - the stations weren't in 2000.

Another thing that helped as additional station entrances, or moving entrances to major streets. In 2000, the train stopped on Hoyne - now that the station is at Damen there was a 136% increase in usage. And I do think there is some gentrification continuing as Pilsen's influence moves west into the Douglas Park area. This bears out in the fact that stations east of Pulaski have greater than 100% increases in ridership, while stations west of there do not.

Re: Blue Line
As an aside, I think it's odd that Clinton is in the Forest Park/Congress stats and not the subway stats. Anyway, in addition to frequency improvements, this branch also benefited some from slow zone repair work.

Clinton is up 40%, Halsted 54%, Racine only 13.2%. The first two seem to point to the West Loop's growth more than anything else. The Racine number is surprising, although there used to be a Jewel there - I'm not sure when it closed, but it could account for the difference, or it could just be a shift in preference - taken together, the Halsted/Racine together increased 39% so still strong. Medical Center is up 60%, Western is up 74%, Kedzie up 28%, Pulaski up 47%, Cicero up 27%, Austin up 35.8%, Oak Park up 31.5%, Harlem up 32.6%, and Forest Park up only 14.5%. Again, like the Green and Pink Lines, although the drop-off isn't as steep, growth is definitely weaker west of Pulaski.

So, based on these numbers, it seems like the western edge of "global Chicago" is currently Pulaski.

Wow. What the hell is going on at Conservatory? It has no bus transfers, which was my first guess.

Historically, Clinton was built along with the Forest Park Branch and the Eisenhower, not with the rest of the Dearborn St subway. Operationally, there's an interlocking just west of LaSalle, and CTA has short-turned trains there in the past.

The interlocking is east of La Salle, not west; and was used constantly when La Salle was the end of the Dearborn Milwaukee line, before the extension out into the expressway was put in service.

Today, short turned trains are signed for UIC/Halsted, the first median station and trains are turned in the middle track west of the station in am rush only.

David Harrison

I looked it up. Seems it was closed half the year. Still nice increase, showing the power of even just one destination.

Ah, so a fairer comparison would involve doubling the 2000 ridership, and even that ridership would be artificially depressed because of the closure effects. Makes sense.

2 metra overpasses have been installed along Ravenswood ave so far. The west side overpasses at Sunnyside and Berteau are in. They look pretty good so far, though the old ones were more quaint. They removed the old stone retaining walls along the underpasses and put in concrete walls that look like small limestone blocks. They actually look really convincing. I had to look really closely to tell that they were concrete instead of limestone, they did a good job for precast.

I saw the one at Sunnyside last night after Spacca Napoli. It looks good, but the depth of the trusses is massive compared to the old ones. It really restricts your vision over the tracks.

It's quite similar to the newer overpasses on the UP-NW, which was reconstructed about 10 years ago. The premium limestone finish is new, though - it's actually not precast, the walls are cast in place with textured form liners.

I ate at ING over the weekend and checked out the Morgan Green Line progress while in the area. It looks really nice, although if I'm allowed one critique it's that the auxillary exit stairways on the east end of the platform exit back toward the west, on the same block as the main entrance. That just seems silly since a few extra feet to the east and they could have exited to the east and broadened the range and eliminated a street crossing for pedestrians. Seems like a lazy solution - or maybe just excessive value-engineering?

Metra UP-N Bridge Replacement
 

New Sunnyside and Berteau Metra/UP-N Bridges from Flickr user vxla.


Sunnyside

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7183/6...508d8029_b.jpg
Flickr


Berteau

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7192/6...db781eaa_b.jpg
Flickr


Berteau faux-stone concrete detail

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7046/6...6678f207_b.jpg
Flcikr

Anybody know what that big beam in front of the plate girder is for? I can only guess it's for billboards, but Sunnyside and Berteau are not exactly prime advertising spots, nor would the neighbors consent. Right now, they're just oh-so-convenient ledges for taggers - they've already struck at Sunnyside, in fact.

Another possibility is that it's a conduit for the signaling system - recent CTA stations have included similar tubes to get the conduit out of the way and to allow for future changes/expansion. Still, seems like a really boneheaded way to do it.