Quote:
Originally Posted by the urban politician
^ I think this is a dangerous assumption, don't you?
After all, don't hundreds of thousands of Chicago suburbanites already drive to Metra park n rides instead of saying "well, I may as well drive the whole way"?
My whole point is, sure perhaps there may not be a demand for a bus from the SW suburbs to Streeterville, but Streeterville is a legit employment district downtown and it would behoove the city to not take it for granted that more and more parking can keep being provided. Even the new Central Area Action Plan does little to address transit to Streeterville besides the already existing bus service. The proposed Lakefront busway, for example, stops way too far south of the job-rich NWU/Prentice/Childrens Memorial area.
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Yes, again I do not disagree, but my point is there already are services providing transit connections between Streeterville and Metra, including Northwestern's own bus. If someone drives in despite all of these services already being provided, then I yes, would assume they will still probably drive. Assuming the Pace express would take the same path as the current I-55 flyer, then the park n' ride location in Romeoville is really not that much farther away from existing Metra stations on the Heritage Corridor. Would more people ride the bus if commute time was guaranteed with didicated lanes? I certainly believe so. Will many more people ride it if the bus goes all the way up to Streeterville to justify the additional cost when other service already exists? Doubt it, although I could be wrong. I suppose a survey could be distributed among Northwestern's staff to determine if any live in the southwest suburbs, how they currently get to work, and would they chose to ride an additional bus option?