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Old Posted Aug 9, 2022, 4:05 PM
TR Devlin TR Devlin is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2018
Location: Chicago
Posts: 73
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Downtown View Post
“Organization before Electronics before Concrete”

The Chicago region (comparatively speaking) is shrinking rather than growing; we don't really need any rail extensions. We do need to make better use of what we have, by integrating fares between Metra and CTA, and by putting new office and residential growth next to the stations we already have, rather than letting developers build where there's cheap land but no transit (Lincoln Yards, I'm looking at you).

So were I in charge, the first thing I'd do is make Metra more of a regional rail system rather than a bunch of commuter trains. I've sketched the basic concept of a Chicago S-Bahn that would have frequent service all day long. Obviously, this is pointless if it's not fare-integrated with CTA to get South Siders to job centers north of the river or in the Medical District.



Second, I think the movement of the office core that's already taken place justifies a Larrabee-Clinton Subway.


Thank you, Mr. Downtown.

What I find frustrating is that I think a lot of people look at your maps and say to themselves
“I drive to work; I hardly ever take mass transit; This looks like an expensive plan and I don’t see any benefit in it for me; So I don’t support it.”
But think about it. In Chicago there are about 1.7 million mass transit trips every day (750,000 CTA bus, 700,000 CTA rail and 250,000 METRA). What would happen if one day, the whole system shut down and most of the mass transit trips became car trips? Traffic would gridlock, commute times would skyrocket and it would be a complete disaster.

My point is that everybody benefits from a good mass transit system – both the people who use it and the people who don’t.
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Nelson Algren: "(Loving Chicago) is like loving a woman with a broken nose. You may well find lovelier lovelies. But never a lovely so real."

Last edited by TR Devlin; Aug 9, 2022 at 5:16 PM.
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