Will all regional buses (Van Galder, Peoria Charter, etc) be moved to the new CONRAC? If so, what will happen to the existing Bus/Shuttle Center?
According to PACE's Dempster Line
Open House, as configured the new CONRAC will have eight bus gates. Discounting the two PACE gates and the two "future" gates, four regional bus gates are available. If each gate can service thee or four buses/hour each (regional buses need time to board customers, stow luggage, and a small schedule buffer), 12 to 16 departures per hour are possible.
Coach USA-branded buses are scheduled up to twice an hour to Rockford and/or Madison, once an hour to Milwaukee, and once an hour to Indiana, for four "as printed" scheduled departures per hour. Peoria Charter and Suburban express each operate up to a bus per hour to Champaign. The former, along with a scattering of other companies, also operate a handful trips elsewhere. Counting only printed schedules, six buses leave every hour in the status quo.
But wait! During peak travel periods bus companies send out additional unscheduled trips in order to have enough capacity to meet consumer demand. I've personally seen Van Galder run two additional buses on a scheduled trip from Madison. If every company needed to run that many additional buses during the same hour, 18 departures per hour would be necessary. Note that I estimate bus gate capacity as up to 4 departures per hour, or 16 departures total. As planned, the regional bus facility appears to be undersized for peak periods today.
Arriving buses aren't considered. While they could drop off at the terminals, this creates room for confusion as customers would board their buses after their trips at a completely different location from where they alighted. If buses dropped off at the regional bus facility as well, bus gate departure capacity would be lower.
Am I missing anything? I haven't been able to find any EIS or studies that cover regional buses at O'Hare.