I agree TUP, And that includes the future of Gary. If anyone reads the consultants report on Gary it points out that the prospect are very dim for it to ever become a pax port. Both Gary and Peotone are positioning themselves as cargo ports to relieve Ohare.

But Rockford may be in a better position to capture more cargo from Ohare. It is in the pathway of growth and has unencumbered boundaries. And is close to the massive inter-modal yards at Rochelle and not too far from the 2 in Joliet. Infrastructure includes a 10,000 ft runway and it cradles I-35 and I-90.

Gary is 28 miles from the Loop, Peotone is 43 miles. Neither airport is in a location that generates much air travel, between the lack of wealthy residential areas and the lack of large office clustering.

Even if we are discounting the possibility of a third passenger airport, though, Gary is still better sited than Peotone or Rockford for cargo operations, with direct access to I-80, I-90, and I-65. Cline Avenue is basically an airport access expressway.

Is either spot really a good place for air cargo, though? A lot of air shipments are high-value, time-sensitive goods that are headed to specialty manufacturers and resellers - these tend to cluster around O'Hare to some extent.

Garcia floats sales tax for CTA improvements
 

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/artic...a-improvements

January 16, 2015 Greg Hinz on Politics

Mayoral hopeful Jesus "Chuy" Garcia today floated the idea of imposing some sort of regional tax, perhaps a sales tax, to pay for capital improvements in the Chicago area's often creaky public transit system.

In an interview with Crain's editorial board, the Cook County commissioner was vague on key details but suggested that "a dedicated revenue stream" is needed if outlying neighborhoods are to have access to rapidly growing employment in downtown Chicago, which has added 63,000 jobs since 2010.....

A Smart way to meet Transit Needs: The CTA Gray Line
 

The first new service listed on Transit Future's "Vision Page" is the "South Lakefront Service": http://vision.transitfuture.org

Please come and be part of a discussion on the basis of that idea -- this coming Wednesday January 21st, at the Henry George School in Downtown Chicago: http://hgchicago.org/event/a-smart-w...ay-line/?insta Your Questions, Comments, and Input are needed and invited.

It is also a major part of Mayor Emanuel's Museum Campus Transportation Study: http://www.civicartworks.com/project...opular&phase=1

Please attend Wednesday's meeting if you can,

Thank You

Metra testing out new seat configurations for passengers
 

http://chicago.suntimes.com/news-chi...configurations

Posted: 01/16/2015, 03:50pm | Rosalind Rossi

Metra officials want to test out a new train seat configuration that would place about half of riders in a backward-facing position, feature higher seat backs and possibly include armrests and cup holders.

Sample train seats were on display in November at five Metra stations, and 1,014 customers filled out surveys about them. Responses were mixed.....

Cermak–McCormick Place Green Line station opening now delayed until March, I hear.

RTA supports Union Station Master Plan
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/o...panel=comments

January 19, 2015 11:11am

The recent coverage in your newspaper of problems such as water leaks at Union Station compel me to remind readers of the Regional Transportation Authority’s support of the work now underway to improve the station and the area around it.

However, we are also keenly aware of the need for quick action to assure the landmark station, envisioned by Daniel Burnham, meets the standards of today’s passengers......

— Kirk Dillard, Chairman of Regional Transportation Authority's Board of Directors

RTA report: Metra, Pace, CTA falling behind in funding for equipment
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/c...122-story.html

By Richard Wronski January 22,2015


Chicago's three transit agencies have fallen $3 billion further behind previous years in investing in new equipment and maintaining existing trains, buses and infrastructure, a new report by the Regional Transportation Authority said Thursday......

Chicago Sun-Times RTA: Chicago Mass Transit Needs $36B In Infrastructure Upgrades T
 

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2015/01/...-through-2025/

January 23, 2015 7:54 AM Bob Roberts

CHICAGO (CBS) – A Regional Transportation Authority analysis released Thursday has determined that the CTA, Metra and Pace face $36.4 billion in capital needs over the next 10 years.

The numbers astonished two suburban RTA board members. Director Blake Hobson said the number seems “staggeringly high” and director William Coulson called it “arbitrary.” RTA Chairman Kirk Dillard said it’s not, but said it matters little if the figures are “off a bit......”

Metra onboard ticket-purchase penalty hike delayed
 

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/27...y-hike-delayed

Posted: Jan 24, 2015 9:11 AM CST Updated: Jan 24, 2015 9:18 AM CST

CHICAGO (Associated Press) -
Metra will delay its plan to increase the onboard ticket-purchase penalty until mobile ticketing is available this year.

Officials announced Friday the fee was scheduled to increase to $5 from $3 Feb. 1. That's when other fare increases and fare-policy changes take effect. They will continue as planned.....

Its painful how little these officials "get it".

It's more painful how decades of deferred maintenance, some on the part of Metra's predecessor railroads, has put us in this position.

On the other hand, I think the suburbanites are right to be somewhat skeptical of the huge cost figure. That number no doubt includes a lot of projects that aren't absolutely necessary to keep running service. Just like with our bloated road network, full replacement and/or expansion is not always the best choice for a given piece of infrastructure.

We really need to look at Chicago's transit system in terms of international best practices and start making investment choices based on that analysis.

http://my.chicagotribune.com/#sectio.../p2p-82628652/

Online maps will outline Chicago-area's transportation woes, need for money

Jon Hilkevitch
GETTING AROUND

12:01 am, January 26, 2015

The site http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/mobility/explore,

Online maps will outline Chicago-area's transportation woes, need for money
 

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/h...25-column.html

Jon Hilkevitch January 26, 2015 12:01am

A website launching Monday will turn wonkish government data into interactive maps on the quality of bridges, roads and rail transportation across Cook and six other counties with the intention of rousing the public to push for costly upgrades and expansions.

The Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning created the site because it contends that northeastern Illinois' deteriorating transportation network costs the area billions of dollars a year and that renewing and expanding it will require an unprecedented financial commitment.....

Sigh - the site is terrible. Pretty. But barely functional, and completely uninformative.

The really sad thing is that there is a ton of data on there, but it is used almost exclusively as window-dressing. For example, a "lite-brite" style map of walkability for the entire Chicago region? Kind of pretty. Completely useless.

The layout of the site also makes it prohibitively difficult to navigate and compare data from different areas. Just like the unfortunate transit future vision page.

Please, give me a PDF which I can scroll through and search! Maybe even print out, if it is good.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...128-story.html

They are rehabing Union Station. $12 million worth. Any repairs are nice but $12 Million won't do much imo

They do have a PDF if you read through the site.

One surprising thing on that PDF is that in the unscheduled future projects, they include "Brown Line Extension" with an estimated cost of just over $4 billion.

Ouch! Burn! You must mean I didn't read through the site! (why so snarky?)

Anyhow, what you provide is only a portion of the update that came out last October. True, it's the meat that we usually look for, but the actual site is culled from a variety of sources:

http://www.cmap.illinois.gov/mobility/explore/sources/

Which they do not summarize in a PDF, and is much more expansive than the capital project update.

For the Brown Line Extension: $4bn for 3 miles of subway from Kedzie to Jefferson Park, or $833M per kilometer. This falls between NY's Second Ave Subway and LA's Westside Extension, which is probably a fair estimate of the cost. Somewhat depends on the number of stations.

Wow, and to think I complained about the $300 million/km cost of underground subway in Toronto since it is so much more than the $150-$200 million in Montreal.