CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[VivaLFuego]

Lost in all the hoopla, and seemingly receiving no coverage anywhere, there is a 2008 CMAQ grant to support weekend Yellow Line service. I'm not sure when this service would start, but it's pretty cool news, I think. It certainly will go a long way towards supporting Skokie's efforts in making their downtown (anchored by a new Oakton station) into a retail/recreational/employment destination.

A $303,000 grant will help the Chicago Transit Authority operate weekend service on the Yellow Line rail branch. The CTA will implement weekend service on the Yellow Line and operate from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays with a frequency of approximately every 12 to 20 minutes. The service would link Skokie, the Howard Red Line station and several CTA and Pace bus routes the serve regional employers with the rest of the CTA rail network.

Also of interest in CMAQ:
- $17 million towards renovation of Clark/Division subway station (CDOT project). This is (potentially) really great news, because the money previously set aside for Clark/Division was reapportioned to support the Grand/State rehab. For $17 million, I doubt the renovation will be spectacular (considering Grand is costing $60mil), but anything is better than its current state, which is arguably the worst and most disgusting in the system. Judging by the progamming of the funds, construction would occur sometime between 2009-2011. The previous number I had seen for this rehab was $33 million, so I wonder if the revised amount is basically just elevator installation, a fresh coat of paint, some spiffed up light fixtures, and new signage. Of course, this isn't the first time this station has appeared in the capital program, so until there's a contract award for reconstruction, I won't hold my breath.
- $7 million for the replacement of the 35th Street Pedestrian Bridge over LSD with a new bridge that is ADA-compliant and will accomodate bicycles; a CDOT project. I'm of mixed opinion on this, because the old bridge is kind of cool, if a bit dilapidated. I have no idea what the design of the new bridge will be.
- Several signal interconnect projects on major Chicago arterials (Cicero, Roosevelt, 79th), about $5-8 million each.
- About $1 million for "improvements" to the #47, #50, #52, #59, #73, and #152 bus routes. I don't know what these improvements are, but I would guess a combination of improved frequency and above all, expanded hours of operation (the #73 and #152 for example end mysteriously early in the evening).

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

It's actually a pretty complicated proposal, but you wouldn't get that by listening to Blagojevich. By having seniors ride free, and costing CTA about $20 million a year (those seem to be the estimates floating around), that actually messes with the statutory recovery ratio of system-generated revenue, which means implementing such a thing would require either a fare increase or service reduction to maintain the recovery ratio, unless the RTA Act were amended to specifically allow free senior rides to be credited as system-generated revenue, or something of that sort. Of course, such legislative minutia is of no interest whatsoever to Rod, given that he keeps pulling all of this last minute shit out of his blagojevich.

It would be real nice if we could just bill medicare $0.85 for each ride and send the charges to Washington. Seems fair considering the feds axed the paratransit subsidy. Which actually brings up another question to mind, does the free rides idea include paratransit too? I know PACE took over that respsonsibilty, but the extra money needs to come from somwhere.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

Lost in all the hoopla, and seemingly receiving no coverage anywhere, there is a 2008 CMAQ grant to support weekend Yellow Line service. I'm not sure when this service would start, but it's pretty cool news, I think. It certainly will go a long way towards supporting Skokie's efforts in making their downtown (anchored by a new Oakton station) into a retail/recreational/employment destination.



Also of interest in CMAQ:
- $17 million towards renovation of Clark/Division subway station (CDOT project). This is (potentially) really great news, because the money previously set aside for Clark/Division was reapportioned to support the Grand/State rehab. For $17 million, I doubt the renovation will be spectacular (considering Grand is costing $60mil), but anything is better than its current state, which is arguably the worst and most disgusting in the system. Judging by the progamming of the funds, construction would occur sometime between 2009-2011. The previous number I had seen for this rehab was $33 million, so I wonder if the revised amount is basically just elevator installation, a fresh coat of paint, some spiffed up light fixtures, and new signage. Of course, this isn't the first time this station has appeared in the capital program, so until there's a contract award for reconstruction, I won't hold my breath.
- $7 million for the replacement of the 35th Street Pedestrian Bridge over LSD with a new bridge that is ADA-compliant and will accomodate bicycles; a CDOT project. I'm of mixed opinion on this, because the old bridge is kind of cool, if a bit dilapidated. I have no idea what the design of the new bridge will be.
- Several signal interconnect projects on major Chicago arterials (Cicero, Roosevelt, 79th), about $5-8 million each.
- About $1 million for "improvements" to the #47, #50, #52, #59, #73, and #152 bus routes. I don't know what these improvements are, but I would guess a combination of improved frequency and above all, expanded hours of operation (the #73 and #152 for example end mysteriously early in the evening).

Very cool news all around. The new bridge at 35th Street was designed by Teng and Associates, and is a pretty slick design.

[Mr Downtown]

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

does the free rides idea include paratransit too?

No, according to this morning's Tribune.

[Chicago3rd]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

It's actually a pretty complicated proposal, but you wouldn't get that by listening to Blagojevich. By having seniors ride free, and costing CTA about $20 million a year (those seem to be the estimates floating around), that actually messes with the statutory recovery ratio of system-generated revenue, which means implementing such a thing would require either a fare increase or service reduction to maintain the recovery ratio, unless the RTA Act were amended to specifically allow free senior rides to be credited as system-generated revenue, or something of that sort. Of course, such legislative minutia is of no interest whatsoever to Rod, given that he keeps pulling all of this last minute shit out of his blagojevich.

Which means those of us who are paying more taxes for the CTA/RTA will have to pay more at the fare box to bring that ratio up. I tell you he came up with this plan yesterday morning when he was taking his morning crap.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

Very cool news all around. The new bridge at 35th Street was designed by Teng and Associates, and is a pretty slick design.

These came up online, is this what you remember seeing?


If so I won't mourn the loss of the old bridge, but I'm skeptical this could be built for the $7 million appropriated by CMAQ, so presumably there would be other funds coming from somewhere.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Chicago3rd

Which means those of us who are paying more taxes for the CTA/RTA will have to pay more at the fare box to bring that ratio up. I tell you he came up with this plan yesterday morning when he was taking his morning crap.

Actually he claims he came up with it November:
http://thecapitolfaxblog.com/2008/01...e-of-the-month

“I was reading a book not long ago about Ronald Reagan’s summit with Mikhail Gorbachev and how it began a whole process of nuclear arms reductions and it was a historic second term for president Reagan in reducing the nuclear arsenal between the Soviet Union and the United States ... So I thought about that and then I thought about real life circumstances, people who take public transportation, thought about my own background growing up with a mother who was a ticket agent for the CTA, thought about the story I just said about my dad when he was a senior citizen and envisioned the possibility that we could find ourselves where this was the only option I had as we approached the precipice of a scenario where there would be drastic service cuts and fare increases, and I thought why not then see what you can do, as I said, turn a lemon into lemonade and make it better, and the idea for seniors came up and that’s where it began and it’s been an idea that I’ve had since before Thanksgiving and one that we are really happy now to have a chance to be able to execute and implement.”

I'm reminded of a few months ago, when he compared himself to Roosevelt. Now he's Reagan, for insisting seniors get free transit rides.

[Pandemonious]

Springfield is fucking useless to those of us in Chicago.. perhaps its about time we look back to the ideas thrown around in 1925 and just go ahead and finally secede from the rest of this crappy state and start our own state of Chicago.. we even already have our own cool flag. Chicago is by far the econonomic engine of this state anyway, and we can just start buying our crops from other states too.

Something like 64 percent of Illinois businesses and 70 percent of Illinois employment are located in the Chicago area.

I have heard downstaters whine about having to redirect funds to Chicago, when those funds and more probably came from here anyway. They can go ahead and have the rest of the state, and Blahdickovich can run that into the ground for all I care.

[Nowhereman1280]

I don't think he was comparing himself to Regan, I think he was comparing himself to Gorbachev, fucking communist...



That's right, Blago is a commie...

I'll vote for secession in a heartbeat! The worthless bums in Springfield have never done us any good and they just take Chicago's wealth and waste it on building more highways for their SUV's!

[VivaLFuego]

It's (unfortunately) against the U.S. Constitution for a new state to secede from another, right? Meaning, a Chicago secession would require a constitutional amendment, not just a referendum.

[Chicago Shawn]

^^^Yes, that is the bridge.

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

It's (unfortunately) against the U.S. Constitution for a new state to secede from another, right? Meaning, a Chicago secession would require a constitutional amendment, not just a referendum.

Perhaps a President Obama could drum up some support for it? It would be a very mutual break away from the majority of the state population. I have family in rural Illinois and the Chicago hatred is strong among the rural folks, most of which is totally unjustified, but nonetheless.

Check me up as another supporter for the State of Chicago, I think we should ask NW Indiana to join us as well, seeing we are well interlinked and Indianapolis could give two shits about them.

[VivaLFuego]

Originally Posted by Chicago Shawn

Perhaps a President Obama could drum up some support for it? It would be a very mutual break away from the majority of the state population. I have family in rural Illinois and the Chicago hatred is strong among the rural folks, most of which is totally unjustified, but nonetheless.

Check me up as another supporter for the State of Chicago, I think we should ask NW Indiana to join us as well, seeing we are well interlinked and Indianapolis could give two shits about them.

Our gross regional product is what, like $450 billion? We'd be the 18th largest economy in the world, just behind Turkey (about half as much as India, South Korea, and Mexico), subtantially more than Switzerland, Sweden, and Taiwan....

[Rail Claimore]

Originally Posted by VivaLFuego

It's (unfortunately) against the U.S. Constitution for a new state to secede from another, right? Meaning, a Chicago secession would require a constitutional amendment, not just a referendum.

No, it would simply require Congressional approval and the approval between the parties involved (Illinois and Chicago).

[honte]

^ Cool. Where do I sign?

I'm all for it, as long as the People's Democratic State of Chicago gets the biggest star on the US flag, and our state constitution guarantees free transit for seniors as long as this great country may live.

[Chicago3rd]

Can't we have the Constitutional Convention here in Illinois? It came up a few weekends ago in regards to being able to recall and petition amendments.

I am for all of that.

[spyguy]

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/skylinen...108-s1.article

GOP rookies set sights on Durbin

January 11, 2008
By JIM JAWORSKI

Andy Martin

...He supports a strong transportation system, specifically a high-speed rail system in Illinois.

"We need high-speed rail because it will tie this area together," he said. "That is why it is so distressing to see this nonsense going on in Springfield."

[Kngkyle]

Blago's Senior CTA Decision Is First Step In Plan

CHICAGO (CBS) ― After months of debate and disagreement, Illinois lawmakers have agreed on a way to fund public transportation. But Gov. Rod Blagojevich has thrown a wrench in those plans by agreeing to the bill, only if seniors ride for free. CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports on more of Blagojevich's last minute decision.

Ideally, Gov. Rod Blagojevich says everyone should be able to ride public transportation for free. This is a first step that he defends taking and defends waiting until the last minute to do so.

Full article and video:
http://cbs2chicago.com/consumer/cta.....2.628108.html


-----

Now I must say, making public transit free for all would be quite an awesome thing for the city. That is, of course, assuming the state actually funds the RTA the money they need to offer a decent service. A get-what-you-pay-for type deal would be horrible.

[ardecila]

If you think homeless, vandalism, and crime problems on the CTA are bad now, wait until CTA trains and buses become totally free and open.

[LaSalle.St.Station]

How quickly we forget our roots, Hog butcher, Cyrus McCormick, Grain Warehousing, Commodities trading..... We're all tied together... we advance together.

Originally Posted by Pandemonious

Springfield is fucking useless to those of us in Chicago.. perhaps its about time we look back to the ideas thrown around in 1925 and just go ahead and finally secede from the rest of this crappy state and start our own state of Chicago.. we even already have our own cool flag. Chicago is by far the econonomic engine of this state anyway, and we can just start buying our crops from other states too.

Something like 64 percent of Illinois businesses and 70 percent of Illinois employment are located in the Chicago area.

I have heard downstaters whine about having to redirect funds to Chicago, when those funds and more probably came from here anyway. They can go ahead and have the rest of the state, and Blahdickovich can run that into the ground for all I care.

[Nowhereman1280]

Originally Posted by LaSalle.St.Station

How quickly we forget our roots, Hog butcher, Cyrus McCormick, Grain Warehousing, Commodities trading..... We're all tied together... we advance together.

Are you referring to free rides or secession? Because in the case of the rest of the state, its more like "some of us drag the rest of us down and take our money"...

Chicago does not need the rest of the state, the rest of the state just harms us...