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Quote:

Originally Posted by Thundertubs (Post 5119984)

Does anyone know if it is available for smartphones yet? I looked on the Droid market, but did not find.

CTA hasn't made the data available to developers yet. The developer for TreKing has previously promised to incorporate the rail data as soon as it's available, though.

Until then, there is a mobile website. I have a link for it from the main screen on my android phone (G2).

City exploring slimmer, trimmer roads

January 9, 2011

Jon Hilkevitch

http://www.chicagotribune.com/images/logoSmall.png

Read More: http://www.chicagotribune.com/classi...,377920.column

Quote:

Like a bulging waistline, Chicago streets have gotten fat over the years, growing wider from curb to curb to handle more vehicles. With that additional girth, traffic-related dangers have expanded, too, especially for pedestrians and transit riders trying to cross busy streets and bicyclists sharing the road with cars and trucks. Sidewalks, meanwhile, often have been narrowed to accommodate more traffic lanes.

The unfortunate upshot is that the high priority placed on accommodating vehicles over other forms of transportation has in many cases backfired. The extra lanes have produced, at best, only short-term improvements in traffic flow due to the ever-increasing number of vehicles.

But a more inclusive approach to traffic management is starting to take root here, as city transportation officials prepare to launch the largest local experiment of its kind to slim down streets. It's called a "road diet." The battle of the bulge will be waged on an approximately one-mile stretch of Lawrence Avenue in the Lincoln Square neighborhood.

The existing four lanes on Lawrence (two lanes in each direction) between Western and Ashland avenues will be trimmed to three vehicle lanes — a single lane in each direction with a center continuous left-turn lane, according to the design under way at the Chicago Department of Transportation.

Removing one lane in each direction will make room for wider sidewalks to foster a more welcoming experience for pedestrians. In addition, a designated bike lane in each direction will be striped. In-street islands will be built along crosswalks to create a safe haven for people crossing streets. Other amenities will be added, including more than 150 trees, better lighting, benches and even enough space for sidewalk cafes, officials said.

It creates a picture of a place where people would want to shop and enjoy a good meal, instead of dart through as fast as possible, and a possible template for similar projects elsewhere in the city, officials said.

"The changes planned for Lawrence will help the development of more street life and make that section a place that pedestrians want to be," said Luann Hamilton, a deputy transportation commissioner responsible for creating new projects. "Now Lawrence has a cold feel to it, unlike the atmosphere around Lincoln Square where Lawrence intersects Western."

Construction of the new streetscape could begin as early as next year, pending funding from the city, state and federal governments, officials said. Elements of the road-diet concept have been used at about 10 other locations across the city, mainly on neighborhood streets rather than a major arterial such as Lawrence.

.....

Great news! Chicago's streets need to be rethought for the 21st century.

I'M IN LOVE WITH TRAIN TRACKER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i took the train this morning instead of my bike due to the weather, and i can't tell you how nice it is to know when then next purple line train is gonna arrive because sometimes it seems like the gap between trains can stretch up to 25 minutes when the CTA is up to it's usual tricks of totally fucking up everything that it does.

well, at least they got train tracker right. kudos, CTA, on a job (rarely) well done!

Riders demanded it and they delivered. I think CTA is fairly responsive to the public on a large scale (although obviously some individual employees are not).

It can be even better if they make their CTA app for mobiles have access to the system to know what train is coming or how long a delay is without having to actually enter the system. In addition to just having pre-planned bus schedules to look up in the app.

^ yeah, i've had no problems using train or bus tracker with my i-phone. well, not any problems beyond AT&T's truly craptacular service network.

Quote:

Originally Posted by M II A II R II K (Post 5122413)

The CTA doesn't write mobile apps. They provide data feeds and an API for any and all developers to use. As I stated above, the CTA has explicitly said that for this early Beta version, they are not adding the train tracker data to their developer data feeds or API until they have it working smoothly.

And your comment about "just having pre-planned bus schedules" makes no sense, since bus tracker uses live GPS data and not schedules.

Are you sure you know what you're talking about?

My app only has the schedule info for busses, but then there are no bus trackers for our system, subway has them though.

Indeed! I haven't really used train tracker during the day when wait times are pretty short, but it was definitely useful last weekend at night!

From the Tribune:

Ridership with Chicago Transit Authority down less than 1 percent in 2010

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Transit Authority officials say ridership was down less than 1 percent in 2010, despite the weak economy and cuts in bus and train service.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the agency gave 516.9 million rides in 2010. That is 4.7 million more than projected for the year, but 0.8 percent less than the year before.

CTA President Richard Rodriguez says the news is encouraging, especially when considering the impact of the recession.

Rodriguez says bus ridership was down 4 percent last year. The agency reduced bus service by 18 percent in 2010 because of budget cuts.

Meanwhile, train ridership was up more than 4 percent. Rail service was cut by 9 percent.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Downtown (Post 5119370)

Red/Purple Modernization project has a website (and a logo). Scoping meetings to be held the last week of January in four North Lakefront locations.
http://img193.imageshack.us/img193/7...ionproject.jpg

There's been a debate about this on the CTA Tattler website. CTA's identified 6 options, ranging from least to most ambitious.

Quote:

1. No Action Alternative: Maintains the status quo. It includes the absolute minimum repairs required to keep the lines functional. This alternative is used as a basis for comparison for the other alternatives.
2. Basic Rehabilitation Alternative: Provides strategic mix of repairs, rehabilitation and replacement for a useful life of 20 years. All stations would receive a basic level of ADA compliance.
3. Basic Rehabilitation with Transfer Stations Alternative: Same as Basic Rehabilitation Alternative plus the addition of transfer stations at Wilson and Loyola.
4. Modernization 4-Track Alternative: Provides modern amenities at station, increases speed of service, includes new transfer stations at Wilson and Loyola and major repairs, reconstruction and new construction would extend the useful life to 60-80 years.
5. Modernization 3-Track Alternative: Similar improvements as Modernization 4-Track Alternative except with 3-tracks in the North Red Line area and no reverse-commute express service. Includes many of the same station amenities with less right-of-way acquisition.
6. Modernization 2-Track Underground Alternative: Similar improvements as Modernization 4-Track Alternative except with a 2-track subway between Belmont and Loyola and a 2-track elevated between Loyola and Howard.

Additional details were given in the comments. Alternatives 4 and 5 would entail a total reconstruction of the decaying solid-fill viaduct as a concrete aerial structure, and possible closures of South Blvd, Foster, Jarvis, Thorndale, and/or Lawrence, in conjunction with the opening of new entrances at nearby stations.

Alternative 6 would build a subway between Belmont and Loyola with a portal just north of Belmont, then running underneath Sheffield/Sheridan to Broadway, then up Broadway to Loyola where it would return to aerial structure. New stations would be built at Addison, Irving Park, Wilson, Foster, Bryn Mawr, Glenlake, and Devon.

I assume cost estimates will be given at the community meetings a week from now. If a two-track subway costs less than a new 4-track elevated, that may be a smart choice. The paring-down of stations and the smoother alignment might result in enough of a speed boost to offset the loss of express service. The life expectancy of an underground concrete subway structure is also extremely long - Chicago won't have to worry about rebuilding the damn thing in another century.

CTA might come up with new alternatives after they receive comments, too. I'd like to see them price out an option with a shorter subway between Belmont and Lawrence to eliminate the Clark Junction conflicts and the dead-man's-curves at Sheridan.

^ Exciting stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 5126800)

If a two-track subway costs less than a new 4-track elevated, that may be a smart choice.

Is that realistically conceivable?

Incidentally, I can't picture riding the el to Wrigley and the climbing out of a subway station ... the elevated station is such a part of the Wrigley environs. Even just the rumble as heard from the ballpark. How about a portal around 3800 North...?

Quote:

Originally Posted by denizen467 (Post 5126855)

Is that realistically conceivable?

Possibly. A 4-track elevated built to modern standards would be enormously wide at stations. The property takings alone could get into the hundreds of millions. What do you do in Edgewater and Rogers Park where there are high-rises or mid-rises directly abutting the tracks?

A TBM-bored subway is relatively inexpensive. The bulk of the cost usually comes from the stations, which are typically done through cut-and-cover method. The cut-and-cover is very expensive in a dense city where you must re-route traffic, move utilities, deny access to adjacent buildings, and prevent the ground from collapsing around the dig site.

Nowadays, though, there are large-bore TBMs where you can fit two tracks and platforms into the round tunnel in a stacked arrangement, avoiding the high cost of cut-and-cover. The platforms exit out to escalators and elevators in a shaft built under a lot next to the street. Conceivably, CTA could even recover some of its costs by partnering with developers to build atop the access shaft.

Here's a graphic from a Barcelona subway currently under construction. The shaft wouldn't be nearly this expansive and the tunnel wouldn't be nearly as deep, but you get the picture (even if you can't read Catalan).

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9084/barcelonapp.jpg

Perhaps I am misunderstanding...why would they close Lawrence?

IS the subway in addition to the L or is it to replace the L between Belmomt / Loyola

I love this idea...I think it would be nice great to have an extended subway all the way up to Loyola. But I do think it would be weird to be going north on the Redline and to come above ground for 3 stops and then tunnel right back under? If that is the case why not just extend the tunnel to connect with the existing one?

If we are getting into talk of building a 2 track elevated and 2 track subway, then we may as well just separate the purple line and the red line and run a subway up Clark from just north of Belmont to Howard. I mean at that point you may as well use it as an oppurtunity to expand the service area of the system. can you imagine how useful it would be to have alternating stops along the current red line ROW and along Clark Street? I mean the new stations they would build along the subway would be perfect for Clark Street:

Addison, Irving Park, Wilson, Foster, Bryn Mawr, Glenlake, and Devon... Those are all almost perfectly placed to service the Clark Street Corridor. They are so perfect it almost makes me think that might be the plan. God can you imagine how awesome Andersonville would be with Subway stops at Foster and Bryn Mawr?

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila (Post 5126861)

A TBM-bored subway is relatively inexpensive. The bulk of the cost usually comes from the stations, which are typically done through cut-and-cover method. The cut-and-cover is very expensive in a dense city where you must re-route traffic, move utilities, deny access to adjacent buildings, and prevent the ground from collapsing around the dig site.
[/IMG]

Its my understanding TBMs are a significant disadvantage when dealing with ground which requires significant reinforcement, Chicago's soil being one. The bulk of the machine itself makes reinforcement extremely difficult and thus the operation is slow and unproductive. I say this generally but don't know the particulars of how deep they'd be digging or the exact characteristics of the ground therein.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280 (Post 5127149)

If we are getting into talk of building a 2 track elevated and 2 track subway

No, no... the 2-track subway would replace the elevated completely. The elevated would be torn down afterward.

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