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Replied at the same time.
Anyways, has anyone here actually ridden the Metra Electric to the end? Seriously, its like a ghost train. You have to flag the operator to stop at certain stops. I was waiting for them to serve Sweet Tea and Shoo-fly pie. Even if its convienient, it still costs more than CTA and has no compatibility with it. So no transfers, etc....
As GZA stated, 115th and Michigan is one of the most vibrant shopping districts most people (including me til last year) don't know about. Many people ride the bus from downtown to visit it. Nothing brings people on transit like development around stations, (as evident by DC having the 2nd largest ridership). Chicago is fortunate to have concentrated commercial areas like this, but so many of them are nowhere near transit. On that note, as painful as it is to admit, having transit terminate in a mall is an excellent way to boost ridership. I've seen the results of that in Toronto and Minneapolis. Of course if the mall fails............
Of course an extension will lower ridership at one station, but it will also boost the rest of the line. For instance, ridership at the Jefferson Park station (a similar hub) isn't reduced because it continues into Rosemont and O'Hare. 95th provides connections to the 95th/Commercial shopping district, Chicago State University, areas west of the Ryan like Beverly, and the South Suburbs. If you built a line down to Michigan/115th, it still wouldn't serve these areas, but it would have one hell of final stop, sort of like downtown Jamaica in Queens. Matter of fact, if it did get built, it would be the only such S.Side shopping district located near rapid transit besides 47th on the Green Line. There's more stuff in the 90's and 100's than the entire Orange Line stretch.
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