Quote:
Originally Posted by DHamp
Second: Let's not continue to tacitly support the marginalization of Chicago's South Side. North Siders have the Purple, Red, Yellow, Brown, and Blue lines. South siders have the Red and Green (which run less than a half mile apart for much of the run) and the Orange line which (barely) services westernmost parts of the south side. The Silver/Grey line is simply a way to start to fix what's wrong with the city's rapid transit service. Put the transit with the faster headways nearest the densest populations (the lakefront).
I guess the conversation is: should transit be proactive or reactive? South Side lakefront communities are gradually turning around and growing in density and prosperity.
#1 Should mass transit be reactive and wait until the areas are filled out? Pro: Your rider base is already there and transit makes projected revenues from fares almost instantly. Con: Acquiring ROWs and construction can be much more expensive and disruptive.
#2 Or should mass transit be proactive and search for ways to anticipate the future needs of areas? Pro: Planning and building are cheaper/less disruptive plus transit presence combined with good planning can bring around and area faster than otherwise. Con: There is greater risk that ridership will not meet goals for a while.
I support option #2. What do you support?
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The south lakeshore from about 35th to 47th really lacks density to justify rail rapid transit***, and from 35th on north, the built areas are too far away from the rail ROW to gain significant market share (people would still just take the 3/X3/4/X4 instead). Upgrading the ME to higher-frequency service is most justifiable if it's being used to alleviate the inefficiency of running the south lake shore express buses (paricularly the #6 and #26, and to a lesser extent 2, 14 and 28) in addition to commuter rail. North of about 35th, rail in that location won't be able to compete with quality bus service along King Drive.
Either way, given scarce funding, it's hard to justify major expenses to change the status quo considering that transit demand is being met by current service capacity. I disagree that the south side is marginalized in regards to transit. Routes from the northside already operate at capacity in the AM peak, on a whole order of magnitude above the south side routes (with possible exception of the 14 running standing loads at 2-3 minute headways). The 22, 156, 134-136, 145-147 are all crushed during the peak despite tight headways of 4 minutes or less, with rampant bunching and buses leaving passengers waiting at stops (156 is a joke...they start short trips southbound at North Avenue because buses from Belmont are already full by then, and the thing is crushed with 80+ passengers by Division. They added 'supplemental' service to the 22 when 3-track started, but even though the effects of 3track have subsided they still need the extra runs for the 22 and the thing is still jammed by North avenue, with people letting 2-4 buses by before getting to board). The Brown line and Blue line from the north are almost unmentionably packed (load factor of around 2x capacity) by their peak load points a couple stops out from the Loop; the Red is jammed, but at least I usually only have to let one train go by when boarding at Clark/Division. The UP-N line is standing room only (I think maybe one or 2 inbound ME trains consistently reach that point, though the South Shore is packed too). From the southside, the Red Line has at most a standing load (not crushed), the green line is often a seated load. The only routes that see consistent passenger loads comparable to any of the northside are the 3 and 14, though at least several have consistent standing loads (6, 26, 4, 2).
In terms of priorities, the Grey/Silver Line concepts can't be very high on the list relative to the Brown Line capacity expansion, procuring more articulated buses, etc.
Regarding your 2 transit strategies, #2 is ideal for top-quality TOD but the reality in this country (in this era) is that transit capital projects always operate closer to #1. In olde tymes, private rail companies would team up with private developers to essentially create new TOD, with the rail line leading development (Brown Line to Ravenswood and Albany Park being excellent examples of this), but it also often didn't work out (such as with the original failed rapid transit services to Westchester and Skokie, which had 3rd rail transit running through corn fields basically). #2 may some day be possible if the country/state/region ever became serious about integrating land use and transportation planning, which until now have been remarkably seperate. The recent creation of a unified CMAP regional planning agency hopefully means that a decade or 2 down the road there will be better integration in this regard.
***note: as an anecdote, if you take 3600 N vs 4300S (equivalent distance from the Loop), the population in a one-mile radius is 3 times higher on the northside.