CHICAGO: Transit Developments

[denizen467]

Well what about just connecting the Stevenson to MDW for starters? It's only a mile and a half. It's sooo third-world to have a major airport connected to the city only by local roads.

[Altauria]

Good point, I've always wondered why people are made to drive through dozens of stop lights just to get to Midway.

[the urban politician]

Originally Posted by denizen467

Well what about just connecting the Stevenson to MDW for starters? It's only a mile and a half. It's sooo third-world to have a major airport connected to the city only by local roads.

^ I've always found it easy to take Cicero to the expressway, but then I've only done it a few times

[bnk]

Originally Posted by Altauria

Good point, I've always wondered why people are made to drive through dozens of stop lights just to get to Midway.

For first time visitors to the city, Midway does not make a great impression if you are driving into downtown. Enough said.

[Altauria]

^I'm actually from Chicago (area). But coming from the south is a pain. 80 to a bit of 57, then Cicero for miles. Southwest Highway isn't much better because it's always torn up somewhere.

Originally Posted by the urban politician

^ I've always found it easy to take Cicero to the expressway, but then I've only done it a few times

Cicero is easy, it just takes longer than it should, and sometimes unpredictable. Again, this is coming from the south - as much us hicks down here don't matter, haha.

[Latoso]

Originally Posted by denizen467

It's sooo third-world to have a major airport connected to the city only by local roads.

Don't fly into LAX then!

[j korzeniowski]

Some run the CTA but rarely ride it

"I think it is helpful if board members have an experience with the system. But every individual is different, and sometimes lifestyle doesn't fit into it," said CTA chairwoman Carole Brown, who rode the CTA 53 times in 2006 using her agency photo ID badge.

Link

seems like hilkevitch goes to bat for kruesi a bit. as for ms. brown, well ...

after reading the above quote, on top of the quote from a few weeks back on how she saw buses broken down whilst driving to work, whatever opinion i had of her hasn't been helped by her own ridiculous comments.

pretty infuriating article, that. does carole brown still have that blog where you can leave comments?

[Taft]

Originally Posted by j korzeniowski

Some run the CTA but rarely ride it

"I think it is helpful if board members have an experience with the system. But every individual is different, and sometimes lifestyle doesn't fit into it," said CTA chairwoman Carole Brown, who rode the CTA 53 times in 2006 using her agency photo ID badge.

Link

seems like hilkevitch goes to bat for kruesi a bit. as for ms. brown, well ...

after reading the above quote, on top of the quote from a few weeks back on how she saw buses broken down whilst driving to work, whatever opinion i had of her hasn't been helped by her own ridiculous comments.

pretty infuriating article, that. does carole brown still have that blog where you can leave comments?

For all the shit people give Kruesi, he is one of the few at the CTA who consistently ride the system. Also, did you catch the passage in the article describing how Kruesi did away with the private car and driver previous heads of the CTA have had.

He may have made some missteps, and has done a poor job of managing springfield, but he is more of an in-touch leader than many make him out to be.

Taft

[j korzeniowski]

Originally Posted by Taft

For all the shit people give Kruesi, he is one of the few at the CTA who consistently ride the system. Also, did you catch the passage in the article describing how Kruesi did away with the private car and driver previous heads of the CTA have had.

He may have made some missteps, and has done a poor job of managing springfield, but he is more of an in-touch leader than many make him out to be.

Taft

precisely. this shows brown and the board (no historical legal pun intended) to be out of touch. 'lifestyle'? if your 'lifestyle' doesn't involve using chicago public transit, maybe you should not be in a position as a decision-maker for that very transit system.

i also like how kruesi wears a bright yellow jacket, inviting attention, as well as making his staff where cta badges even though they were afraid they might get complaints. (of course they would! what do they live in a vacuum? plus you are in a major city, even if it was running well, people find things to bitch about, anyways ... )

in any event, for the love of god, someone sort something out, and get the L the funds it needs, and get it running efficiently again.

all that said, my morning commute from lincoln square to the loop was a breeze today.

[Taft]

Originally Posted by j korzeniowski

all that said, my morning commute from lincoln square to the loop was a breeze today.

Get back to us in a few weeks.

Taft

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by Taft

For all the shit people give Kruesi, he is one of the few at the CTA who consistently ride the system. Also, did you catch the passage in the article describing how Kruesi did away with the private car and driver previous heads of the CTA have had.

He may have made some missteps, and has done a poor job of managing springfield, but he is more of an in-touch leader than many make him out to be.

Taft

Agreed. I understand the reasoning to remain incogneto to catch poor behavoir among bus drivers though. However, the numbers for some board members are pitiful. For the high salaries they make, they should be forced to take the system to work at least a majority of the time.

I myself have logged every single ride on the RTA system that I have taken since August 24, 2004. I consider it a low budget hobby, but also a physical representation of much my life revolves around the opperations of public transit. For example here is a sampeling of my train rides in 2006:

---------------Counted Rides -------Uncounted Transfers
Train Line.......(Turnstyle passes).....from other train lines.........Grand total

Blue Line..............427.........................18...............................445
Red Line...............52..........................27................................79
Purple Line............06..........................04................................10
Brown Line............36..........................05................................41
Orange Line...........04..........................05................................09
Yellow Line............02..........................02................................04
Pink Line
(Initiated 06-26-06)..05........................00................................05

Train Totals...........532........................61................................593

That does not even include buses in 2006.

On a side note in the last 2 months I have called in 3 customer comindations for great service that I experianced on buses.

[VivaLFuego]

^ Cool, Shawn. You've got me beat on the Yellow Line.

re: managers wearing badges, there was probably a bit of jest in that whole exchange, but it is seriously sort of a waste when a middle-manager doing some beaurocratic paper-pushing administration is constantly getting acosted by irate customers or operators with a concern about their schedule pick.

Hilkevitch with a zinger:

"I don't think it is appropriate for me to put a minimum or a maximum on it," Brown said about how often her board members ride the system about which they make critical decisions involving millions of dollars and affecting transit commuters across the Chicago region.

I think there's about 250 work days in a year (maybe a bit less for executive types who've built up alot of vacation time), so you can do the math on the number of daily rides from some of those people at the top of the list (about what to expect for a 2-leg trip each direction).

[the urban politician]

A sign of more cooporation to come between CTA and Metra?

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=24108
March 05, 2007
By Lorene Yue
Metra expands service to aid CTA riders
(Crain’s) — Metra will boost its Union Pacific North Line to give commuters an alternative in light of construction-related delays in the Chicago Transit Authority’s elevated train service.

Starting April 2, three outbound and three inbound trains will be added to the weekday run of the UP-North, which runs between Kenosha, Wis., and Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago.

Those trains are scheduled to stop at the Clybourn, Ravenswood and Rogers Park stations in Chicago. In Evanston, the additional UP-North trains will stop at Main, Davis and Central streets.

In addition, more of the line’s regular trains will make those stops.

The changes add more than 1,000 Metra seats to accommodate regular CTA riders on the Red, Brown and Purple lines.

“Metra embraces the opportunity to welcome new riders to its UP-North route and assist commuters as the CTA expands capacity on its Brown Line,” Philip Pagano, Metra’s executive director, said in a statement. “Working together with the CTA, we can help minimize the disruption while encouraging the use of public transportation.”

Monthly passes cost between $52.65 and $82.35. Metra expects the higher number of riders to cover the cost of adding more trains and expanding service. Final service schedules should be published later this month, Metra said.

The additional service will continue indefinitely.

[Chicago Shawn]

Originally Posted by the urban politician

The additional service will continue indefinitely.

Nice!

[ardecila]

Bob O'Neill sent me some renderings for the new Roosevelt Road Metra station.





The station will be built onto the recently-built pedestrian bridge, slightly north of the old station. I might suggest a better name for this station would be 11th Street, but I'm not in charge of such things.

[OhioGuy]

Originally Posted by j korzeniowski

all that said, my morning commute from lincoln square to the loop was a breeze today.

Nice now, yet in 4 weeks it'll be a nightmare for the next 2+ years. If you're heading downtown for work, I guess it might be quicker to just head down Lawrence to the Ravenswood stop on the UP-N line. Might be a tad more expensive, but at least you won't have to put up with the sh*t that is soon to be Belmont to Fullerton.

[orulz]

Originally Posted by ardecila

Bob O'Neill sent me some renderings for the new Roosevelt Road Metra station.

The station will be built onto the recently-built pedestrian bridge, slightly north of the old station. I might suggest a better name for this station would be 11th Street, but I'm not in charge of such things.

Looks nice. Minimal, but modern.

It looks like the northmost end of the new platforms will be at the 11th street bridge. This would put their south end about at Roosevelt. Perhaps they're leaving the option open for a second entrance at Roosevelt (hence, they keep the name.)

[jpIllInoIs]

From today's Chi Trib.

Tribune staff report
Published March 5, 2007, 8:22 PM CST
A new study evaluating the possible resumption of passenger trains from Chicago to Rockford and Dubuque reported Monday that travel times would not be any faster than driving, but the rail service would help reduce traffic congestion on highways.

The study, conducted by Amtrak at the request of Illinois transportation officials, also laid out preliminary cost estimates for the first time.

Up to $62 million would be needed to improve the railroad infrastructure, but that does not include costs for railcars, locomotives or stations, the study said.

Operating costs to run a single daily round trip between Chicago and Dubuque via Rockford were estimated at less than $5 million annually.

The study mentioned travel times of about two hours between Chicago and Rockford, and less than 4½ hours between Chicago and Dubuque.

It has been more than 25 years since the last passenger train service from Chicago through northwestern Illinois ended. Amtrak Black Hawk trains ran through Rockford and Freeport to Galena and Dubuque from 1974 to 1981 using the former Illinois Central route.

full story link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...ck=1&cset=true

[jpIllInoIs]

Today Chi Trib


By Richard Wronski
Tribune staff reporter
Published March 5, 2007, 9:25 PM CST


Like many people who live in Chicago and work in the suburbs, Eric Rinehart likes to take public transportation to his job in Waukegan but feels hamstrung by a train schedule that favors city-bound commuters.

Come April 2, a new Metra schedule will help alleviate the plight of reverse commuters like Rinehart.
An early-morning line, dubbed the Sunrise Express, is expected to carry hundreds of Chicagoans a day to Waukegan and other Lake County communities early enough to be at work by 7 a.m., Metra and government officials announced Monday.

The new train also will give inbound commuters on Metra's Union Pacific North line an earlier run to downtown Chicago.

The unusually early inbound schedule will make it possible for early risers to be at their desks downtown by 6 a.m., officials said.

The Sunrise Express will be among six new trains daily on the UP North line, providing more than 1,000 more seats for Metra commuters, officials said.

The UP North trains also will help relieve pressure on CTA riders facing service reductions on the Red, Brown and Purple elevated train lines, officials said.

On the Sunrise Express, reverse commuters can get to work an hour earlier than the current Metra schedule allows. The line also begins to address a growing need caused by the growth of jobs in the collar counties.

"It's definitely something I would take advantage of," said Rinehart, 30, an assistant Lake County public defender.

The need for more reverse commuting options on public transit has grown substantially in recent years, experts said. Gone are the days when suburb-bound drivers faced open roads while expressways into the city were clogged.

From 1990 to 2000, the number of daily work trips from Lake County to Cook County grew from 83,000 to 84,000. But work trips from Cook County to Lake County rose more than 50 percent, from 40,000 to 64,000, according to U.S. census data.

A coalition of Lake County business, government and transportation organizations and leaders worked for two years to create the Sunrise Express, said state Sen. Susan Garrett (D-Lake Forest).

The train's $500,000 startup cost will be covered by a $250,000 federal grant and matching state funds.

The train is scheduled to leave Waukegan at 4:20 a.m. and arrive at the Ogilvie Transportation Center in downtown Chicago at 5:23 a.m., officials said.

It then will reverse direction, leaving Chicago at 5:40 a.m. and arriving in Waukegan about 6:48 a.m. Currently, the first weekday train arrives in Waukegan at 7:55 a.m.

Metra Executive Director Phil Pagano said the agency plans to add five additional weekday trains to the Union Pacific North line starting April 2 and insert new stops in North Side communities on five existing runs. Those schedules have not been announced.

The extra Metra trains will provide alternatives for CTA riders in April when work is scheduled to begin on the latest phase of the Brown Line reconstruction. The transit agency has warned of slower, more crowded conditions on Brown, Red and Purple Line Express trains through 2009 as it rebuilds the North Side elevated platforms between Belmont and Fullerton Avenues.

Pagano said that besides serving reverse commuters, the Sunrise Express would be Metra's answer to "the Wall Street scenario," with more Chicagoans in need of earlier transportation to get to their jobs in such professions as stock brokerage and commodities trading.

"We feel we're going to get a twofer out of this one train," Pagano said.

Stops will include Evanston, Highland Park and Lake Forest.

Besides downtown Waukegan, the seat of government for Lake County, major job centers include Lake Forest Hospital in Lake Forest, and Abbott Laboratories and the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in North Chicago, officials said.

Bill Baltutis, executive director of the Transportation Management Association of Lake-Cook, said 16,000 Lake County workers at 22 companies already rely on Metra trains and Pace shuttles to get to work.

Anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent of these workers could benefit from the new train because of a trend toward an expanded workday, he said.

The Regional Transportation Authority's strategic plan calls for additional reverse-commute lines over the next several years on other Metra lines.

Story link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/l...l=chi-news-hed

[alex1]

Originally Posted by Taft

For all the shit people give Kruesi, he is one of the few at the CTA who consistently ride the system. Also, did you catch the passage in the article describing how Kruesi did away with the private car and driver previous heads of the CTA have had.

He may have made some missteps, and has done a poor job of managing springfield, but he is more of an in-touch leader than many make him out to be.

Taft

yet he's managed to mess up the grand picture of things. Even tyrants do some good.

sorry, the system is crumbling and as long as he's the head of the CTA, adequate funding won't go our way (politicos dislike the man). He's a major problem for everyone who rides CTA at this stage of the game.