[nomarandlee]

I am sometimes skeptical of the CTA and their spending however I agree that it is incumbent of Blago to specify how such an agency is wasting money. In not doing so he just increasingly makes himself out to be a faux-reformer trying to push away the blame of the transit crises. (not to be captain obvious to everyone here)

[MayorOfChicago]

So I was one of the first people to pay for a Chicago Card Plus.

I called over a week ago because my card expired today and I was wondering when exactly I was going to get my replacement. I got an e-mail weeks ago saying it was being sent, but when it gets down to a few days.....

So I get an e-mail the day before my "expiration" saying that it's being sent. I was excited I actually got multiple e-mails about this....but... WTF??? A day before?

Tonight my 30 day card doesn't work, and I have to sit there on the bus as "the guy" who has to dig around for money and pay cash for my ride home. Why? I have a 30 day pass. I've had had a 30 day pass with you pieces of shit for over 5 years. No one at the CTA seems to care at ALL that I've called to check up on you, I've worried that my stupid card is going to "expire" and I'm going to be sitting here paying cash for my rides even though I've been paying for a 30 day pass for YEARS.

WAKE UP. Sorry. I actually love having the CTA, but then you actually take time out of your day multiple times to inquire about the process, and then have your predictions come true....

When do I get my "new" Chicago Card Plus?

Do I actually have to file a lawsuit or something to at least bring to their attention the absolute stupidity?

[emathias]

...
When do I get my "new" Chicago Card Plus?

Do I actually have to file a lawsuit or something to at least bring to their attention the absolute stupidity?

No organization is 100% perfect. I got my card a little later than I'd have preferred, but still before the old one expired and I'd guess most people do, too. If you called or emails and complained after you get your card, with a tally of your cash payments, they might even credit your account with that amount.

I'm sorry you didn't get your card on time but, really, to threaten a lawsuit?

[MayorOfChicago]

Just because it's stupid I have to call twice to ask why my card is expiring after 5 years and they can't seem to at least send something BEFORE the 5 year limit is up.

Today I ended up getting pretty blasted drunk. Without thinking I was waiting for 25 minutes at midnight for the Broadway bus like I always would; had a 30 day pass for almost 8 years now.

The bus gets there and I am suddenly confronted again within as many days that my stupid pass was shut off, even though I paid my cash and had it reloaded last week.

I only had a $20 on me to get food at 7-11 when I got back to Uptown, so I ended up having to get off the bus after a confusing 20 seconds and the driver telling me I had no credit on my card. I finally found a cab and got home that much poorer and that much later than I should have.

Anyway, I've been with the CTA for 8 years now, and for the first time I feel extremely slighted and "over" the whole f-ing agency.

[jjk1103]

Just because it's stupid I have to call twice to ask why my card is expiring after 5 years and they can't seem to at least send something BEFORE the 5 year limit is up.

Today I ended up getting pretty blasted drunk. Without thinking I was waiting for 25 minutes at midnight for the Broadway bus like I always would; had a 30 day pass for almost 8 years now.

The bus gets there and I am suddenly confronted again within as many days that my stupid pass was shut off, even though I paid my cash and had it reloaded last week.

I only had a $20 on me to get food at 7-11 when I got back to Uptown, so I ended up having to get off the bus after a confusing 20 seconds and the driver telling me I had no credit on my card. I finally found a cab and got home that much poorer and that much later than I should have.

Anyway, I've been with the CTA for 8 years now, and for the first time I feel extremely slighted and "over" the whole f-ing agency.

.....the CTA is constantly doing stupid things like that......

[Mr Downtown]

Yes, the CTA is constantly doing stupid things like getting drunk and going out on the street with no money.

[schwerve]

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Pilot Program (http://www.transitchicago.com/news/whatsnew2.wu?action=displaynewspostingdetail&articleid=105349)

In 2009, the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Transit Authority will begin a pilot program to test Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) service.

BRT refers to a collection of improvements to infrastructure, vehicles and scheduling, that combine to provide bus service with reduced travel times, increased service predictability, and improved customer amenities compared to local bus service.

BRT will operate along certain high ridership corridors across the city that are not currently served by rail. BRT will connect key destination points such as employment centers, shopping destinations, rail stations, and significant CTA transfer points. The BRT Pilot Program is designed to examine and test BRT technologies and services to determine the best way to implement Bus Rapid Transit service in the CTA service area.

Open Houses

The Chicago Department of Transportation and the Chicago Transit Authority invite the public to a presentation on the Bus Rapid Transit Pilot Program, which will consider improvements and alterations to the bus routing for the #8 Halsted, #66 Chicago, #79 79th, #14 Jeffery Express and #15 Jeffery Local.

Open Houses are scheduled as follows:

Wednesday, September 24, 2008
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Gary Comer Youth Center*
7200 South Ingleside Avenue
Chicago, IL 60619

Thursday, September 25, 2008
6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Chicago Public Library, Near North Branch*
310 West Division Street
Chicago, IL 60610

*Facility accessible to people with disabilities.

Presentations will begin at 6:15 p.m.

CTA unveils digital advertising on No. 124 bus (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cta-digital-ads-websep23,0,4133669.story)

CTA officials hope to put digital wireless advertising screens on 100 buses by next summer and expand the program to include all 144 CTA rail stations.

But first the electronic technology must be road-tested on the one bus to see if it can take the wear and tear, officials said.

"It has to be able to go through the [bus] wash rack on a daily basis," Huberman said.

The screens on buses will be placed on the curb-side of the vehicle.

The rail station display boards also will tell riders how many minutes until the next train arrives.

In addition, beyond advertising, the screens represent the first step toward a new CTA digital communications network that would be used to issue alerts to the public in emergencies.

[MayorOfChicago]

Yes, the CTA is constantly doing stupid things like getting drunk and going out on the street with no money.

Well excuse me dear, I had plenty of money, but not two $1 bills. I get drunk every weekend, and have gotten home just fine for the past 7 years. That's why I invest $75 in a 30 day pass and make sure to never lose it so I'm not stranded. I filled my pass up last week, but I'm not the one who decided that on September 20th my pass was going to be shut off and I'd have to start using another pass that would arrive sometime in the week following September 20th.

[Taft]

Yes, the CTA is constantly doing stupid things like getting drunk and going out on the street with no money.

OK, Mr. Snarky. It is pretty clear that they screwed him on this one, his own drunken antics put aside.

MayorOfChicago: I'd be pissed, too. I will say, though, that early adopters of the Chicago Cards got screwed a lot harder than the general population. I was an early adopter myself and had issues with 2 different cards as well as billing problems. Once I got my third card, they seemed to have things worked out a little better and I haven't had problems since.

Taft

[Mr Downtown]

I was an early adopter, too (I was pissed when the machine ate my original original silver Chicago Card, issued in the four-station pilot program).

I got an email on July 17 saying that my CC+ would expire on August 31 and asking me to confirm my address so they could send a new one. I confirmed my address on July 22 and the card arrived a day or two later. But my reaction was not to take the emergency fiver out of my wallet, decide I would never ever need it, and spend it on beer.

I kinda miss the old days when I always kept an emergency token in my wallet, too.

[MayorOfChicago]

i said i had money, but i'm not dumping a $20 into the bus

i had the last laugh though, in the form of a lemon meringue pie chucked into the bus drivers face


http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f385/Candrson/me%202/1-49.jpg

[nomarandlee]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/1184268,CST-NWS-cta25.article

Standing ovation for new CTA cars?
TRANSPORTATION | Rush-hour riders like extra elbow room

September 25, 2008

BY MARY WISNIEWSKI Transportation Reporter mwisniewski@suntimes.com

CTA officials said Wednesday that the reaction they've gotten so far from riders to reduced-seat "MAX" L cars has been "very positive." Especially from some riders.

"We've heard from mothers with strollers and bicyclists that the MAX car is great because it's given us more floor space," William Mooney, CTA chief operating officer, told a CTA Citizens Advisory Board meeting.


Mooney also said riders boarding at stops close to downtown like Sedgwick have found it easier to get a spot on the new L cars.

.........Mooney said that reduced-seat cars could be useful on the Blue and Orange Lines to accommodate riders carrying luggage to or from O'Hare or Midway airports. CTA has looked at luggage racks on the Blue Line but found that people didn't want to be so far from their bags.

..

[Chicago3rd]

Well excuse me dear, I had plenty of money, but not two $1 bills. I get drunk every weekend, and have gotten home just fine for the past 7 years. That's why I invest $75 in a 30 day pass and make sure to never lose it so I'm not stranded. I filled my pass up last week, but I'm not the one who decided that on September 20th my pass was going to be shut off and I'd have to start using another pass that would arrive sometime in the week following September 20th.

They didn't decide on September 20th to shut your card off. It had been announced in the PRESS and CTA Webpage...back in June and July. It happened to my partner (and was a huge mess last year) and it will happen to my pass next August 2009. I figured that out in 2007 when they had all the press on it and my partner had to jump through hoopes to get a new card.

[harryc]

I kinda miss the old days when I always kept an emergency token in my wallet, too.

so do we all

[MayorOfChicago]

They didn't decide on September 20th to shut your card off. It had been announced in the PRESS and CTA Webpage...back in June and July. It happened to my partner (and was a huge mess last year) and it will happen to my pass next August 2009. I figured that out in 2007 when they had all the press on it and my partner had to jump through hoopes to get a new card.

Right, they decided that on Sept 20th it was to be shut off, they didn't decide on Sept 20th to shut it off.

I had known for weeks that it was going to happen. That's the reason I was most upset. I got an e-mail 4 weeks before saying a new card was going to be sent out and I had to do nothing. I thought, awesome, fine. So 2 weeks before I called the CTA very nicely, said I hadn't gotten anything yet and they had sent their initial e-mail 2 weeks earlier. I made sure I had the correct address, and the lady was really nice to me, said there were no problems, that it would be sent out soon. She said the e-mail was sent out a month early to alert people, but the cards were sent out much later.

So 2 days before it's expiring I call the CTA, cause I had just dumped money on my 30 day card and didn't feel like paying as I go just cause they want to wait till the last minute. They said it was being sent out, and I should be fine.

yadda yadda yadda.

[spyguy]

http://westloop.org/news/contentview.asp?c=215898

UPDATE ON LAKE/MORGAN "L" STOP

* Funding source for project: local TIF money (100% active and healthy)
* Project Manager - Julian Silva
* Need for stop - gap between Clinton and Ashland stations
* Two entrance stations on NE/SE corners
* Bicycle racks on all four corners
* Customer assitance kiosks
* Concession venue
* 8 x 10 platforms
* 6-car canopy made of transluscent material
* Exterior in keeping with existing architecture (historic and contemporary)
- Perforated material to let in natural light
* Security and safety measures
- Security cameras monitored by CTA
- Lighting throughout station and surrounding sidewalks
* Station will be built entirely on the public way, using the existing parking lane as well as 7 ft. of sidewalk (sidewalk will be reduced from 15 ft. wide to 8 ft. wide)
* Possible traffic signal at corner
- Redirect trucks
* $34 million dollar project
- Cost is higher due to the lack of staging (streets and tracks will not be shut down during the length of construction)
- Value-engineered
* Bidding to be announced on CDOT website shortly
* Project timeline
- Construction documents: December 2008
- Advertisement: January 2009
- Notice to proceed: March 2009
- Projected completion: September 2010

[Chicago3rd]

^^ Way cool. It will be great to have that part of the loop more accessible.

[jjk1103]

...........I have a couple of track maintenance questions: on the Loop....are they going to replace the old track on Wells and Van Buren as well. also, I thought they were finished with the track repair on the O'Hare Blue ? ...how many more mile are left to repair ??? .......(or....how soon before I can go all the way from O'Hare to the Loop with no slow zones)? ......what parts of the Red Line (north of Addison) are they working on and when will that be done ? .......inquiring minds want to know !! :D :D :D

[ginsan2]

In general, for people living in Chicago (and as someone shortly about to move there), would anyone say that the Chicago transit system has actually improved? In the most general sense, do all these news clippings amount to improved service over the past 5 years?

Secondly, does anyone see the bus rapid transit system as a means to cut funding for light rail within the city, should it become successful?

[OhioGuy]

In general, for people living in Chicago (and as someone shortly about to move there), would anyone say that the Chicago transit system has actually improved? In the most general sense, do all these news clippings amount to improved service over the past 5 years?

For me it's a resounding yes, though that's not to say it's as good as I'd like it to be (oh how I'd love to have a system as smooth & clean & efficient as the DC Metro). The resounding yes stems from the fact I can ride the red line through the subway now without creeping along at an astoundingly slow pace. I don't know if anyone has seen the Seinfeld episode where Elaine is on the subway when it stops & in her mind she is screaming at the top of her lungs? Well every time I rode through the subway before they eliminated the slow zones, I found myself absolutely fuming in utter disgust as the excruciatingly slow speed the trains were traveling. Now for the most part I seem to be able to ride without experiencing those overpowering moments of sheer anger. And by the end of the year we should be back to four track operations from Belmont to Fullerton which should speed things up again, especially for the morning & afternoon rush commutes.

[alex1]

Secondly, does anyone see the bus rapid transit system as a means to cut funding for light rail within the city, should it become successful?

BRT is many times a poor solution to transit but in Chicago's case, it hopefully makes existing bus operations smoother and faster. Especially considering that Chicago would have never gotten a rail system where the proposed BRT target areas.

fyi, Chicago has little light rail in the city. In fact, I don't think it has any outside of O'Hare's rail link.

[jjk1103]

i was just checking out megabus' website, and it looks like if you book early enough, you can get a one-way ticket to milwaukee for a buck! that means a daytrip up to milwaukee will set you back 2 measely friggin dollars, how sweet is that? take that amtrak, and your obscene 40 dollar chicago-milwaukee roundtrip train ticket.

when this service starts up, we're gonna have to set-up a chicago invasion forum meet up in brew city. shit, for two bucks, i'm gonna be making daytrips up there once a month.

...Megabus has been in Chicago for a few years....

[jjk1103]

In general, for people living in Chicago (and as someone shortly about to move there), would anyone say that the Chicago transit system has actually improved? In the most general sense, do all these news clippings amount to improved service over the past 5 years?

Secondly, does anyone see the bus rapid transit system as a means to cut funding for light rail within the city, should it become successful?

..i think the CTA has really improved over the last 2 years.......the slow zones almost everywhere has been eliminated (or will be soon)....over the last 15 years the CTA has almost completely re-built itself (Douglas, O'Hare, Brown, Red South, Green, and Orange)....just let the current construction finish and a few improvements like GPS and digital signaling get widespread and it will be doing very well.....rolling stock replacement is probably the biggest problem now......

[jjk1103]

.in general people are so used to bashing the CTA (particularly the press) that it has almost become a religion......

[MayorOfChicago]

I see we just shelled out Midway Airport today!

I'm glad the city proved I wasn't crazy when I rationalized selling my car was the only way to pay for next months gas.

[ardecila]

^^ 90% of the proceeds have to be used for infrastructure... I'm sure the city can bend these rules (we're good at that in Chicago) but that basically means $900 million for CDOT projects - streetscapings, US-41 South Works extension, bike paths, riverwalk improvements, new overpasses, etc.

[honte]

I see we just shelled out Midway Airport today!

I'm glad the city proved I wasn't crazy when I rationalized selling my car was the only way to pay for next months gas.

Yeah, I agree... it's like a mini national debt. I'm not really seeing long-term gain here.

[Mr Downtown]

Chicago has little light rail in the city. In fact, I don't think it has any outside of O'Hare's rail link.

No light rail at all, as that term is usually understood. O'Hare's peoplemover is usually categorized as automated guideway transit.

[jpIllInoIs]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-amtrak-funding_01oct01,0,7784079.story

Improvements on track for busy Amtrak routes
Federal grants help speed ride to St. Louis
By Jon Hilkevitch | Chicago Tribune reporter
October 1, 2008
About 30 minutes will be shaved off the 5 1/2 -hour Amtrak trip between Chicago and St. Louis when train speeds increase to 110 m.p.h. within about a year on parts of the route, state officials said Tuesday.

Two federal grants totaling $3.4 million were awarded to Illinois for passenger rail projects aimed at boosting train speeds and reducing delays from south of Chicago through Springfield. The state must provide $3.4 million in matching funds to get the federal funds.

Ridership has grown 15 percent on the Chicago-to-St. Louis route, where Amtrak operates five round-trips daily.
.....
The improved technology will also boost train speeds from 79 m.p.h. to 110 m.p.h. on sections of 118 miles of track between Mazonia and Ridgely, near Springfield.

Illinois has invested about $100 million on track improvements to make way for high-speed rail on the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation.

[pip]

Yeah, I agree... it's like a mini national debt. I'm not really seeing long-term gain here.


the long term gain here is another service that is not run by the city. There will no more unaffordable pensions, bloated expensive work forces, etc for the city to pay for. Governments are inefficient at running things, and labor is extremely expensive and cumbersome. Its off our back now. You notice part of the proceeds from the sale have to by law go towards pensions. Chicagio is about, off the top of my head, about 7 billion in the hole for underfunded pensions.

[the urban politician]

Good news on the Amtrak article. For those of you too lazy to read the article, federal money will also go towards improving service reliability and (to a small degree) speed between the Chicago-Milwaukee route.

Looks like the Midwest High Speed Rail Coalition may finally have its first 2 routes if all goes well in the next couple of years.

[the urban politician]

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask a question for those of you in the know. Last week I spent a lot of time driving the 294 and 88 tollways in the suburbs. The monumentous traffic that I saw (and yes, I really think legends can be written about what I witnessed) caused me to wonder why the tolls were so cheap ($0.30 in some places, but mostly $0.80 to $1.00).

Seems as if the state could easily get away from raising tolls if even by a small amount (a quarter?). I read somewhere that tolls haven't been raised for 30 years. Is this all true?

[VivaLFuego]

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask a question for those of you in the know. Last week I spent a lot of time driving the 294 and 88 tollways in the suburbs. The monumentous traffic that I saw (and yes, I really think legends can be written about what I witnessed) caused me to wonder why the tolls were so cheap ($0.30 in some places, but mostly $0.80 to $1.00).

Seems as if the state could easily get away from raising tolls if even by a small amount (a quarter?). I read somewhere that tolls haven't been raised for 30 years. Is this all true?

Tolls are about 1/3 what they should be, at least during peak periods. The tollway board is de facto run by politicians, not businessmen nor planners. So, the anti-tax yahoos in the suburbs who threaten to storm the bastille whenever anyone deigns mention a toll increase make sure the system is chronically short of adequate money and failing in its ability to control congestion. There hasn't even been a nominal toll increase since the early 1980s, except for a significant hike to commercial vehicles a few years ago to pay for the current ongoing reconstruction of the whole damn system because it all crumbled to hell because there wasn't enough money for adequate maintenance or phased rehabilitation.

I love toll roads in principle, but not when they're run like political playthings.

[Chicago3rd]

Tolls are about 1/3 what they should be, at least during peak periods. The tollway board is de facto run by politicians, not businessmen nor planners. So, the anti-tax yahoos in the suburbs who threaten to storm the bastille whenever anyone deigns mention a toll increase make sure the system is chronically short of adequate money and failing in its ability to control congestion. There hasn't even been a nominal toll increase since the early 1980s, except for a significant hike to commercial vehicles a few years ago to pay for the current ongoing reconstruction of the whole damn system because it all crumbled to hell because there wasn't enough money for adequate maintenance or phased rehabilitation.

I love toll roads in principle, but not when they're run like political playthings.

1. Again....implying business people run a business better seems kind of ironic in these days of massive financial problems in this country.

2. Money should NEVER be used to create order. If we raise the fare on tollways to "control congestion" what we are basically doing is creating a private tollway for the wealthy.

3. Tollways stink to high heavan. Get all the revenue from the gas tax get rid of tollways or make all the down state roads and Interstates tollways.

[VivaLFuego]

1. Again....implying business people run a business better seems kind of ironic in these days of massive financial problems in this country.

Poor, unsupportable logic, but we won't go there in this thread.


2. Money should NEVER be used to create order. If we raise the fare on tollways to "control congestion" what we are basically doing is creating a private tollway for the wealthy.

A trip on a road should be priced to include 1) construction/maintenance cost, or the fixed cost, and 2) the amount of congestion that additional marginal trip will cause thereby imposing costs on every other user of the system, the variable cost. Creating order or reserving roads for the wealthy has got nothing to do with it. A marginal trip on a roadway creates a certain amount of congestion and delay, and presently that marginal trip is underpriced - the person causing congestion should have to pay for it.


3. Tollways stink to high heavan. Get all the revenue from the gas tax get rid of tollways or make all the down state roads and Interstates tollways.

The gas tax, while decent, is not nearly as good as tolling in capturing the cost of a trip. It has no means of factoring in the cost of congestion, and furthermore becomes less effective as the auto fleet become more fuel efficient.

All I'm advocating is drivers pay their fair share, nothing more nothing less. Our current system is rife with immense amounts of cross-subsidization, between drivers at different times of day, between drivers and transit users, and so on.

[Chicago3rd]

Poor, unsupportable logic, but we won't go there in this thread.
Your initial statement seemed political.


A trip on a road should be priced to include 1) construction/maintenance cost, or the fixed cost, and 2) the amount of congestion that additional marginal trip will cause thereby imposing costs on every other user of the system, the variable cost. Creating order or reserving roads for the wealthy has got nothing to do with it. A marginal trip on a roadway creates a certain amount of congestion and delay, and presently that marginal trip is underpriced - the person causing congestion should have to pay for it.

Again I am not for privatized Tollways for the rich. It should only be based on use....not economical status.


The gas tax, while decent, is not nearly as good as tolling in capturing the cost of a trip. It has no means of factoring in the cost of congestion, and furthermore becomes less effective as the auto fleet become more fuel efficient.. When that point comes we will raise the tax. It is the same way our home gas is. If we use a lot the price goes up yet on mild winters when we don't use as much the gas company gets a rate hike to offset the lower usage.

All I'm advocating is drivers pay their fair share, nothing more nothing less. Our current system is rife with immense amounts of cross-subsidization, between drivers at different times of day, between drivers and transit users, and so on.

Fair share to me is usage. Not how much money people make. Chicagoland area needs to stop building and maintaining roads outside of our area and put that money to our infrastructure.

I do agree with you 100% about your assessment of where we stand currently and the mess we are in.

[honte]

the long term gain here is another service that is not run by the city. There will no more unaffordable pensions, bloated expensive work forces, etc for the city to pay for. Governments are inefficient at running things, and labor is extremely expensive and cumbersome. Its off our back now. You notice part of the proceeds from the sale have to by law go towards pensions. Chicagio is about, off the top of my head, about 7 billion in the hole for underfunded pensions.

Yeah, I agree with this. But I do sense risks... perhaps because this is a newish concept for me, critical infrastructure being owned by third parties.

[VivaLFuego]

Yeah, I agree with this. But I do sense risks... perhaps because this is a newish concept for me, critical infrastructure being owned by third parties.

It's still owned by the city, just operated under a contractual agreement. In theory the city could terminate the contract if the operator breaches the terms. Of course that would be a very costly process, but I'd like to think the actual concession agreement will protect the city pretty well.

[the urban politician]

Never fear! Midway Airport will be back in Chicago's hands in 2107! By then, of course, it will offer regular discount service to Mars, the Moon, and Alpha Centauri (the latter being a bit of a longer flight, but they have deluxe meal service)

[honte]

It's still owned by the city, just operated under a contractual agreement. In theory the city could terminate the contract if the operator breaches the terms. Of course that would be a very costly process, but I'd like to think the actual concession agreement will protect the city pretty well.

OK, thanks.

I must be the most annoying person in this thread, since I know so little about transit and only follow it casually lest I get depressed. I usually try to keep my mouth shut!

[ardecila]

Hey guys, I just wanted to ask a question for those of you in the know. Last week I spent a lot of time driving the 294 and 88 tollways in the suburbs. The monumentous traffic that I saw (and yes, I really think legends can be written about what I witnessed) caused me to wonder why the tolls were so cheap ($0.30 in some places, but mostly $0.80 to $1.00).

First of all.... the majority of Chicagoland's traffic is carried by local arterial roads, which have equally heinous traffic. This is because our interstate network is drastically under-sized for a metro area of 10 million people. Metra and CTA pick up some of the strain, but they don't work to carry people from suburb-to-suburb, and so we have terrible traffic on our arterial roads as well.

Honestly, I don't know why there isn't a massive regional attempt to stagger work hours. LA did this during the 1984 Olympics and had fantastic results on their gridlock. Our traffic would virtually disappear.

[the urban politician]

Chicago should be proud of its expressways--they scream out "you are near a very large and wealthy city". Never ending billboards advertising Movado watches, steakhouses, and casinos, and seemingly every other car is a Lexus, Mercedes, or some other European luxury car

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

1. Again....implying business people run a business better seems kind of ironic in these days of massive financial problems in this country.

2. Money should NEVER be used to create order. If we raise the fare on tollways to "control congestion" what we are basically doing is creating a private tollway for the wealthy.

3. Tollways stink to high heavan. Get all the revenue from the gas tax get rid of tollways or make all the down state roads and Interstates tollways.

Holy shit dude, are you fucking kidding me? The best (and, IMO, what should be the only) use of taxes is to serve as a disincentive of behavior/consumption with high spill-over costs. And what's currently worse for our society than car-dependence? It's one of the greatest sources of pollution and international conflict, not to mention anathema to (highly desirable) urbanism.

Our current highway-oriented transit system already disproportionately serves the wealthy by demanding car ownership; what we should be doing is taxing the fuck out of roads and using that revenue alone to provide for their maintenance: you play, you pay. Those priced out would necessarily gravitate towards and agitate for public transportation, "bottom-up" change which, in a democracy, is the best way to effect it.

Anyway, your internal logic doesn't even make sense. The sales tax you refer to in 3 is just as regressive as a highway toll, so why the outcry of social injustice for the latter and not the former?

VivaLFuego is smart not to get into 1 but I'm a little less tactful: Our current crisis is just as much if not more the result of a culture of self-entitled, irresponsible spendthrifts who live beyond their means because of the misplaced sense that they deserve to. Businesses may serve them, but government enables them.

[Chicago3rd]

Anyway, your internal logic doesn't even make sense. The sales tax you refer to in 3 is just as regressive as a highway toll, so why the outcry of social injustice for the latter and not the former?


Let's walk you through this....
Tollway fees are specific to the roads being used.

By raising the price of Tolls, to control congestion, people will start using adjacent roads like Highway 41.

This will cause less congestion on the tollways and give rich people a better driving experience on the tollways, while creating a huge head ache for the local routes.

Let's get rid of tolls and jack up gas taxes. Using the taxes for use and maintence of the roads is a great idea.....and it will apply and cover all roads from local, free, to tollways. That way....we wouldn't be able to create tollways for the elite rich.

Haven't owned a car since 1989 and haven't driven since 1996 so that should tell you what I really think should happen to both tollways and highways and roads and strip malls and all that garbage.

[Dr. Taco]

Haven't owned a car since 1989 and haven't driven since 1996 so that should tell you what I really think should happen to both tollways and highways and roads and strip malls and all that garbage.

aaaanndd you might as well just shut the hell up then, because if you're that openly biased, you might as well help power a wind turbine

[Chicago3rd]

aaaanndd you might as well just shut the hell up then, because if you're that openly biased, you might as well help power a wind turbine

Love you too.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Let's walk you through this....
Tollway fees are specific to the roads being used.

By raising the price of Tolls, to control congestion, people will start using adjacent roads like Highway 41.

This will cause less congestion on the tollways and give rich people a better driving experience on the tollways, while creating a huge head ache for the local routes.

Let's get rid of tolls and jack up gas taxes. Using the taxes for use and maintence of the roads is a great idea.....and it will apply and cover all roads from local, free, to tollways. That way....we wouldn't be able to create tollways for the elite rich.

Haven't owned a car since 1989 and haven't driven since 1996 so that should tell you what I really think should happen to both tollways and highways and roads and strip malls and all that garbage.

Tolls = apartheid/class warfare. Got it. :koko:

[honte]

I believe I side with Chicago3rd's overall notion here, if not some of the details... I think increased taxes on the toll roads will hurt the working poor, and as conditions continue to erode in the US, the middle class. Why? Because of proximity of affordable housing to jobs and the fact that in many cases mass transit is simply not workable.

If I live in Dalton and have to get to work near O'Hare, how efficient is it for me to take mass transit? Not so much, especially if I have a life to live with a family to raise etc. The high price of gas is already taking a disproportionate toll on the working poor due to simple percentages of their income levels.

Sure, we can effect change from the "bottom" up, but is this really a fair way to proceed? Just like we are supposedly now making a change on Wall Street (yeah, sure), only after thousands of unnamed Americans got duped into mortgages they can't afford. Not a good process at all, quite wrong if you ask me.

[Chicago3rd]

Tolls = apartheid/class warfare. Got it. :koko:

Seems like you are trying to take this off topic...but please reframe from that. You have not addressed the issue that people will take alternatives such as HWY 41...making the parallel running roads much more congested.

And you haven't explained why having roads paid for by one massive tax that is assigned to gas, a usage tax, wouldn't help out. I am against parking garages in general but am extrememly against raising the price to keep people from driving. What would you call the fact that in my office all the folks who make in the six figures pay for parking in the building while the admin take public transportation? Higher doesn't = less parking. Higher parking = parking for the rich.

I am not opposed to the rich....love them see all the great things they do for our city...buildings.....organizations....capitalism can be great and rewarding...but when it comes to "public" things like roads and garages and services we should all be equal.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

^ Look, neither increased gas taxes nor tolls will happen anytime soon, so the debate really is academic. But the fact of the matter is we have a transportation infrastructure in place which rewards drivers and punishes mass transit users. Furthermore, as I stated in my original post, there is no difference between a sales tax and a toll inasmuch as both are regressive and therefore affect the poor in the same way. It really doesn't make sense that either of you would rail on one and not the other. Moreover, were any strategy to actually be implemented, I imagine a multi-pronged effort would be more effective than a single thrust, say, into the fuel market.

The point is to persuade people to change their untenable lifestyles. Money in the form taxes, as the only tool the government really has, will always be a greater issue for the poor; there's no way around it, unless you advocate for communism or some other redistributive monetary program (which we already have in place as far as incomes are concerned).

The other thing to remember-- and I suspect this is where we disagree-- is that "Main Street" is hardly guilt-free. The development of exurbs and far-flung suburbs occurred only because of a real demand for space, space, space. Ultimately, greed and irresponsibility on the part of many average Americans accounts for a huge part of the mortgage crisis you allude to. The same is no less true about our car culture. And, ultimately, the market will catch up to these people, the only difference being that when gas prices start increasing exponentially there will be nothing the government can do to help, at least in the immediate aftermath.

[Ch.G, Ch.G]

Seems like you are trying to take this off topic...but please reframe from that. You have not addressed the issue that people will take alternatives such as HWY 41...making the parallel running roads much more congested.

And you haven't explained why having roads paid for by one massive tax that is assigned to gas, a usage tax, wouldn't help out. I am against parking garages in general but am extrememly against raising the price to keep people from driving. What would you call the fact that in my office all the folks who make in the six figures pay for parking in the building while the admin take public transportation? Higher doesn't = less parking. Higher parking = parking for the rich.

I am not opposed to the rich....love them see all the great things they do for our city...buildings.....organizations....capitalism can be great and rewarding...but when it comes to "public" things like roads and garages and services we should all be equal.

What's there to address? Your argument is ridiculous. Of course higher cost equals less parking. Can you imagine how many people would be driving if parking garages only cost a dollar a day? Thank god the real estate market demands its at least twenty dollars or there'd be even more of them littering the Loop than there already are. And, sure, people who are more well-off won't flinch in light of those kinds of prices, but, like I said in my response to honte, that's life, kid.

As far as your argument about alternate routes, I thought a rebuttal would be obvious and not even worth mentioning but I guess I was wrong: All major thoroughfares should have tolls, whether you're talking north-south axes like Route 41 or east-west ones like Lake Cook Road. Again, purely wishful thinking on my part, but, in this climate, probably less so than hoping for a higher gas tax.

[honte]

Furthermore, as I stated in my original post, there is no difference between a sales tax and a toll inasmuch as both are regressive and therefore affect the poor in the same way. It really doesn't make sense that either of you would rail on one and not the other.


As I said above, I think that's a rather shallow argument. There is a difference, particularly to people who have few options concerning where they live and what they do with their money.



The other thing to remember-- and I suspect this is where we disagree-- is that "Main Street" is hardly guilt-free. The development of exurbs and far-flung suburbs occurred only because of a real demand for space, space, space. Ultimately, greed and irresponsibility on the part of many average Americans accounts for a huge part of the mortgage crisis you allude to.

No, I don't disagree with that. But I do believe the power structure should be more accountable because they 1) benefit more, 2) are generally better educated about the risks and responsibilities, and 3) generally speaking are sheltered and have less, on a basis of true sacrifice, to lose. The same applies to the transit situation.

Anyway, I don't think there is much to be gained by this argument, for the same reasons you state, so I will stay out of it from here on.

[VivaLFuego]

I believe I side with Chicago3rd's overall notion here, if not some of the details... I think increased taxes on the toll roads will hurt the working poor, and as conditions continue to erode in the US, the middle class. Why? Because of proximity of affordable housing to jobs and the fact that in many cases mass transit is simply not workable.

If I live in Dalton and have to get to work near O'Hare, how efficient is it for me to take mass transit? Not so much, especially if I have a life to live with a family to raise etc. The high price of gas is already taking a disproportionate toll on the working poor due to simple percentages of their income levels.

Sure, we can effect change from the "bottom" up, but is this really a fair way to proceed? Just like we are supposedly now making a change on Wall Street (yeah, sure), only after thousands of unnamed Americans got duped into mortgages they can't afford. Not a good process at all, quite wrong if you ask me.
I can sympathize with many of these arguments, but taken to a logical conclusion it means we're obligated to subsidize the transport costs of the working class regardless of their residence-workplace imbalance and mode choice decisions.

I'll extrapolate this logic further, just to be a bit provocative (not argumentative). The fellow going from Dalton to O'Hare really would have benefited from the Crosstown I-494, why not resurrect that plan to improve job accessibility for the working poor? Congestion impacts all drivers, but even moreso the one with long trips like our exemplar, here. If the working poor are impacted the most by congestion due to long trip lengths, aren't we then obligated to widen roads and build parallel routes to alleviate that impact?

Why stop there, why not use all the subsidy money spent for transit reconstruction and literally buy cars for the working poor? The ~$30 million spent to reconstruct each of the Pink Line stations serving only ~1,000 commuters a day could have purchased 5,000+ used cars to give or sell at subsidized price. Or, $30 million buys a heck of a lot of gasoline, or subsidized insurance, and so forth.

Where do we draw the line? I still maintain trying to have everyone pay their fair share is the most sound underlying philosophy for this. Land use policy has an important role, as there is a feedback loop between regional mode choice and land use patterns. The Canadian model, wherein Toronto rapid transit (steeply priced at $2.75) still draws significantly higher utilization than CTA while still obtaining greater than 80% cost recovery from fare revenue should be highly instructive. Both driving and transit are underpriced in the USA.


Thank god the real estate market demands its at least twenty dollars or there'd be even more of them littering the Loop than there already are.


I think it's quite a bit more complicated than that. Higher parking prices (as driven by market demand) increase the underlying value of land dedicated to parking, meaning higher parking prices increase the pressure for there to be parking lots. If parking were cheap, there would indeed be an increase the quantity demanded but the road network couldn't handle it, and the high number of people heading to the destination would cause the land to be valued higher with some sort of commercial improvement., thereby limiting the supply of parking. There actually is a market equilibrium based on the demand to be at a certain location at a certain time and the available system capacity to get people there (roads+transit). Government policy can impact this somewhat, and tinker with the geographic distribution, but can't really alter the underlying supply/demand fundamentals in the short run. For example, back when the city forbade parking garages/lots in the Loop proper it just pushed these into the surrounding areas of West Loop, River North, South Loop, and so on, because the demand for parking near the Loop existed regardless of government policy and it became economical to bulldoze buildings on the Loop periphery to provide a supply of available parking. By doing so, however, the city did improve the competitiveness of transit for loop-bound trips, thus bolstering it's mode share somewhat. Things bottomed out through the 80s and 90s after the city allowed huge parking garages in the loop starting around '85 or '86, thereby gifting the current generation both the loss of countless historic structures on the Loop periphery and striking a major blow to transit ridership that has only been clawed back over the last few years (on rail only, bus has yet to recover) - helped along by gas prices bottoming out after '83 or so which improved auto competitiveness with transit at the margins.

[jjk1103]

........I hate to interrupt this lively debate but...I rode the Red line north (from Addison to Argyle...there were many slow zones, but there was a large station rebuilding effort at the Lawrence Station......in general, can anyone tell me what is going on with the re-building efforts on the Red Line north ? many thanks.........

[Nowhereman1280]

There have been a lot of slow zones this weekend because of those rebuilding and some other track maintinece efforts.

They are basically just replacing the wall sections around the stairwells from the old wood and glass to the new galvanized steel and glass like you see on the new brown line and Fullerton and Belmont stations. It looks really nice. They have also been re-roofing some of the stations (Berwin I know for sure) as well as doing some interior repairs in some stations (Berwin they are rebuilding some rusted out tin sheets on the ceiling).

[ummagumma]

........I hate to interrupt this lively debate but...I rode the Red line north (from Addison to Argyle...there were many slow zones, but there was a large station rebuilding effort at the Lawrence Station......in general, can anyone tell me what is going on with the re-building efforts on the Red Line north ? many thanks.........

There's been several station closures for remodeling the past couple weeks. However, that's probably unrelated to the slowness between Lawrence and Addison. I'm not sure if it is a designated slow zone or not these days, but the trains usually crawl along that stretch (especially if you're heading southbound).

But even with that said, the time it gets me to get downtown from Bryn Mawr is usually no more than 25-30 minutes thanks to the subway improvements. I just hope after they finish the Blue Line slow zone work they take on the slow zones on the northern branch of the Red Line. I can't wait to see how fast things go once that stretch you mentioned is operating at higher speed.

[harryc]

Re-Roofing Lake/Ridgeland sta. Jul 21
http://lh5.ggpht.com/harry.r.carmichael/SOivzNpos-I/AAAAAAAA0Ac/YaFWO10LAt4/s800/IMG_3687.JPG

State/Grand Aug 05
http://lh5.ggpht.com/harry.r.carmichael/SOiwCtGGq0I/AAAAAAAA0BA/IdwpT39Q830/s800/IMG_5861.JPG

New track and ties and electric at Clark/Lake Sept 26
Anyone know what is with the blue stuff ?
http://lh4.ggpht.com/harry.r.carmichael/SOiv7CpbGII/AAAAAAAA0Ao/XAcv54KnmA8/s800/P1070405.JPG

The new ties (sleepers) are made out of plastic (recycled material ?)
http://lh6.ggpht.com/harry.r.carmichael/SOiv9HxJWoI/AAAAAAAA0A0/kCJKX8J3Ow8/s640/P1070409.JPG

[whyhuhwhy]

Chicago has the 2nd lowest highway lanes per capita in the country (http://www.tlcminnesota.org/Resources/Policy_Briefs/HighwayLaneMiles2004.pdf). I'm not really sure why this is because cities with much better public transit have more lanes. One of the very first things I noticed when I moved here 5 years ago was that there were plenty of highways but HORRIBLE bottlenecks and a real paucity of the number of lanes. 3 lanes in each direction for the amount of traffic the Kennedy carries has little equal in this country.

There are true highway related bottlenecks in this metro that need to be solved and I'm not really sure why they are not being brought to the table. Or are they? The Kennedy is an absolute mess and the express lanes reversed create huge problems for inbound traffic on just about every weekday. 90 minutes from O'Hare to downtown is unacceptable. Not everyone is flying in from O'Hare and taking the Blue line to downtown so more transit for this particular bottleneck is not the answer--there is already great transit running right through the thick of it. I am curious as to why there are two express lanes that literally waste 4 shoulders total (one on each side of each lane, and then the barrier, and then another shoulder on the local). Seems to me if you eliminate express you could make the Kennedy six lanes in each direction without buying any land.

This metropolitan region seems to be forgetting that it is a transportation hub and has a significant portion of its traffic related to business and people from other regions of the state and country passing through. I know people that have been passing through and wanted to spend some money downtown but didn't because when they see 86 minutes from O'Hare to downtown on the signs they just say "forget it." Is there any solution on the table to the Kennedy? It is drastically undersized and the express lanes idea may have been a good one in the 80's when downtown Chicago was billed as just a place for suburbanites to work, but now it is a place for people to live. I live with 3 roommates. All of us live downtown and work in the suburbs (which is where most of the jobs are!), and looking at horrible inbound traffic in the afternoons, which ironically is MUCH worse than outbound at the same time (!), I can tell we are not alone. When you have horrible congestion at 8PM at night inbound to the city on a Wednesday you know you have a problem. It seems we are expanding all the freeways in the suburbs but when it comes to making it easy for all those people living out there to go downtown, and all the people coming in from out of state to go downtown, and all the people living downtown to go downtown, we have just given up. That's the sense I get from living here 5 years now.

[the urban politician]

Is there any solution on the table to the Kennedy? It is drastically undersized and the express lanes idea may have been a good one in the 80's when downtown Chicago was billed as just a place for suburbanites to work, but now it is a place for people to live. I live with 3 roommates. All of us live downtown and work in the suburbs (which is where most of the jobs are!), and looking at horrible inbound traffic in the afternoons, which ironically is MUCH worse than outbound at the same time (!), I can tell we are not alone. When you have horrible congestion at 8PM at night inbound to the city on a Wednesday you know you have a problem. It seems we are expanding all the freeways in the suburbs but when it comes to making it easy for all those people living out there to go downtown, and all the people coming in from out of state to go downtown, and all the people living downtown to go downtown, we have just given up. That's the sense I get from living here 5 years now.

^ Convince your employers to move downtown.

All of those office parks in the suburbs are part of the problem, IMO. You can't just blame the expressways. Why did Brenda Barnes move Sara Lee from downtown to a site close to her home? It's NIMBYism, but the opposite--(Nothing in my backyard except my job, regardless how much it affects everybody else's commute). This office park phenomenon is the greatest problem and, in my observation, a major cause of this whole congestion mess. I don't see any inadequacies in the highway system, it's just fine as far as I've seen.

More companies need to do what BP and United Airlines just did. BP in particular is moving 1000 employees downtown because many of those employees are traders who live in the city and pressured the company to do so.

[ardecila]

New track and ties and electric at Clark/Lake Sept 26
Anyone know what is with the blue stuff ?
http://lh4.ggpht.com/harry.r.carmichael/SOiv7CpbGII/AAAAAAAA0Ao/XAcv54KnmA8/s800/P1070405.JPG

The blue thing is a piece of rubber that isolates the rail from the tie, to reduce vibrations and noise. :tup:

[harryc]

The blue thing is a piece of rubber that isolates the rail from the tie, to reduce vibrations and noise. :tup:

Thx

[Chicago Shawn]

^ Convince your employers to move downtown.

All of those office parks in the suburbs are part of the problem, IMO. You can't just blame the expressways. Why did Brenda Barnes move Sara Lee from downtown to a site close to her home? It's NIMBYism, but the opposite--(Nothing in my backyard except my job, regardless how much it affects everybody else's commute). This office park phenomenon is the greatest problem and, in my observation, a major cause of this whole congestion mess. I don't see any inadequacies in the highway system, it's just fine as far as I've seen.

More companies need to do what BP and United Airlines just did. BP in particular is moving 1000 employees downtown because many of those employees are traders who live in the city and pressured the company to do so.

Exactly! It doers not matter how many lanes we add to the Kennedy, it will still back up because the 90-94 merge will always be a bottle neck during rush periods. Remember when the Hillside Strangler was "fixed"? It only moved the slow period further east. After all the money that went into it, your average time savings is about 1.5-2 minutes. Adding lanes to expressways rarely is a long term solution, it only adds traffic volume that must be dumped somewhere else be it surface streets, major expressway interchanges or a narrow section farther away. The only real solution to rush period congestion is a massive region wide staggering of work hours, or better land use planning in conjunction with transit upgrades. Allow more people to live closer to work in higher densities and stop allowing major super-low density business parks to step up shop wherever they please in the exurbs forcing everyone to drive.

[Chicago Shawn]

On a transit note, has anyone else noticed how much the El noise has dampened on Wabash Avenue with the new rails, plastic ties and rubberized clamps? The trains ride noticeably smoother now too.

[whyhuhwhy]

^ Convince your employers to move downtown.

I believe suburbs need hospitals no?

All of those office parks in the suburbs are part of the problem, IMO. You can't just blame the expressways. Why did Brenda Barnes move Sara Lee from downtown to a site close to her home? It's NIMBYism, but the opposite--(Nothing in my backyard except my job, regardless how much it affects everybody else's commute). This office park phenomenon is the greatest problem and, in my observation, a major cause of this whole congestion mess. I don't see any inadequacies in the highway system, it's just fine as far as I've seen.

The 2nd lowest highway lane per capita in the country with a weekday average inbound of 90 minutes from O'Hare to downtown with a transit option in place during rush hour shows inadequacy.

More companies need to do what BP and United Airlines just did. BP in particular is moving 1000 employees downtown because many of those employees are traders who live in the city and pressured the company to do so.

I'm not sure if moving all the jobs to downtown is an answer. Not every employer is the size of and has the income of BP or United Airlines!

[whyhuhwhy]

Exactly! It doers not matter how many lanes we add to the Kennedy, it will still back up because the 90-94 merge will always be a bottle neck during rush periods.

That's the whole point... you fix the bottleneck of the merge if you add lanes to the Kennedy. Right now you have two 3 lane freeways going into 4 lanes. That's a problem. I'm not sure why we need an extra 4 shoulders on the Kennedy for express when we could easily have 6 lanes in each direction and hence no bottleneck. Everyday I angioplasty vessels to get rid of bottlenecks in a very ironically similar fashion. It is important to keep things free flowing for efficiency in the body and I'm sure transportation is no different. It is interesting seeing people in this region that just don't care and think we should let things get worse without talking about solutions.

Remember when the Hillside Strangler was "fixed"? It only moved the slow period further east.

You are right that's the whole point, it was never "fixed" it was just moved east. The problem was always the 3 lanes at the Avenues, and still is. They never fixed the bottle neck, they just moved it. The Eisenhower is not what I'm worried about as the real fix to the strangler is coming soon: http://www.eisenhowerexpressway.com/project_overview/default.asp

Adding lanes to expressways rarely is a long term solution, it only adds traffic volume that must be dumped somewhere else be it surface streets, major expressway interchanges or a narrow section farther away.

It is quite the opposite actually, highway CONGESTION dumps volume and clogs our arterials. The reason people even use them is because the highway system is so backed up. My friend lives downtown with me and works in Rosemont, a perfect candidate for using the Kennedy. But instead he uses surface streets and saves about 5 minutes to get there. Amazing. My other room mate works in Berwyn. He clogs up Cermak Rd with the rest of them because of the strangle at the Avenues on 290.


The only real solution to rush period congestion is a massive region wide staggering of work hours, or better land use planning in conjunction with transit upgrades. Allow more people to live closer to work in higher densities and stop allowing major super-low density business parks to step up shop wherever they please in the exurbs forcing everyone to drive.

Or how about instead of proposing "massive" change that will take an entire generation we just fix a few of the horrible bottle necks in the region? What is your solution right now to the bottle necks I'm curious?

Anyways I'm not sure how were are going to "stop" suburban business expansion, nor why we would even want to. One thing that is not helping against it is the congestion getting into downtown. It isn't exactly a major selling point to an employer to keep transportation bottlenecks due to either poor planning or underfunding so that it takes an hour and half to get into the city during rush hour. But I guess we could "force" companies to locate downtown in this metro and force the people too, or just get the hell out of our state I suppose? And what do we do about all the business that are out there already? Close 'em up and tear down everything? Rosemont where my room mate has a job for instance isn't exactly a ripe new exurb. Neither is Berwyn where my other room mate works.

[ardecila]

It doesn't take an hour and a half to get into the city using Metra, unless you live way the hell out in suburbia... Metra is $12 round-trip from any point 1 hour away from downtown, and even less if you live closer to downtown, plus about $3-5 for station parking, so roughly $16 total. Buying a monthly ticket will reduce your costs even further. Driving downtown, even with no congestion, will still probably cost about $8-10 in gas and $20 for parking, and that's the absolute best deal... most people pay more. Roughly $28 total. Taking transit to get downtown is always gonna be the better deal, unless you carpool and split gas/parking costs.

I'm actually in favor of the Eisenhower widening to some degree. First of all, it is an actual bottleneck - 290 is 4 lanes coming out of downtown until Central Ave, and then narrows down to 3 lanes for 7.5 miles, then widens to 4 again just before 88 splits off in Hillside. It seems justified. Plus, the additional lane would be HOV (ie carpool lane).

Plus, the most recent talks about the project have included decking over the Eisenhower through Oak Park and a Blue Line extension to Lombard, coupled with a rebuild of Austin, Oak Park, and Harlem on the Blue Line (the CTA tracks would need to be moved, requiring new stations to be built).

I am NOT in favor of widening the Kennedy from O'Hare to the junction, although it would definitely benefit from a reconstruction project to replace overpasses and rebuild interchanges. Hopefully, this could be done in conjunction with the addition of express tracks on the Blue Line for the airport service.

[the urban politician]

I believe suburbs need hospitals no?



The 2nd lowest highway lane per capita in the country with a weekday average inbound of 90 minutes from O'Hare to downtown with a transit option in place during rush hour shows inadequacy.



I'm not sure if moving all the jobs to downtown is an answer. Not every employer is the size of and has the income of BP or United Airlines!

^ Ahh, you're also in health care. I share the unfortunate circumstance of likely having to work in a far suburban/exurban hospital since urban/inner suburban Chicago hospitals pay SHIT. Regarding the above bolded quote, downtown Chicago has plenty of older class C space that smaller companies can afford. Not every company needs a trophy tower, you know, and in fact the vast majority of them are companies you and I never heard of.

In regards to your other post, obviously you've thought this through. The fact of the matter is, how much can we build ourselves out of congestion? New or widened highways cost a LOT of money. So no, I don't agree with you that building more expensive highways is the answer. At a larger, national level, emphasis must be put on making better use of the infrastructure we already have in place if, for no other reason, we simply can't afford to build more. Where is the money going to come from to maintain it all? Look at the state of the economy as it is today--how are we even going to maintain what we already have?

If anything, I'm glad that congestion is such a problem in America today. It takes this exact stretching of our infrastructure to force a change in policy. Yes, I do believe that more incentives should be put in place to get companies of all sizes to move downtown, which is clearly served by some of the best transportation infrastructure in the nation.

[whyhuhwhy]

^ Ahh, you're also in health care. I share the unfortunate circumstance of likely having to work in a far suburban/exurban hospital since urban/inner suburban Chicago hospitals pay SHIT. Regarding the above bolded quote, downtown Chicago has plenty of older class C space that smaller companies can afford. Not every company needs a trophy tower, you know, and in fact the vast majority of them are companies you and I never heard of.

In regards to your other post, obviously you've thought this through. The fact of the matter is, how much can we build ourselves out of congestion? New or widened highways cost a LOT of money. So no, I don't agree with you that building more expensive highways is the answer. At a larger, national level, emphasis must be put on making better use of the infrastructure we already have in place if, for no other reason, we simply can't afford to build more. Where is the money going to come from to maintain it all? Look at the state of the economy as it is today--how are we even going to maintain what we already have?

If anything, I'm glad that congestion is such a problem in America today. It takes this exact stretching of our infrastructure to force a change in policy. Yes, I do believe that more incentives should be put in place to get companies of all sizes to move downtown, which is clearly served by some of the best transportation infrastructure in the nation.

Good post.

It's not really that I want to "build my way out of congestion" it's just that I would like to see local people and politicians at least discussing solutions to some of our very real bottlenecks that we have inherited, partly due to poor planning, partly due to underfunding. Whatever the reason is, we have them, and relieving choke points doesn't NECESSARILY mean you want to eliminate the CTA, lol, it's kind of a knee jerk reaction I see with some people on this forum (not saying that's what you did). But to answer your question I believe any new funding can come from toll sources. If you use it you should pay for it. I remember last year, even with all the tollway construction, the Illinois tollway system ran a $600 million dollar surplus!

Anyways it is amazing to watch almost all of the exurban tollway system go through a massive expansion at the moment yet we aren't even discussing getting something as important as the Edens/Kennedy junction flowing correctly so that people can actually choose to live downtown if their job is in the suburbs. It is not a good thing for anyone in the city if it takes someone an hour and half to get to downtown from outside of it on a Friday afternoon for instance. That's not helping anyone nor our city. I shudder to think what a Friday afternoon inbound will look like during the Olympics if the express lanes are in their current configuration. I don't even want to imagine it.

[the urban politician]

^ But there are other options to get downtown. Metra, for example. And yes, with the CTA fixing its slow zones, that will certainly once again be a better option soon. And didn't the Kennedy just add a lane during its recent reconstruction, or am a mistaken?

[whyhuhwhy]

^ But there are other options to get downtown. Metra, for example. And yes, with the CTA fixing its slow zones, that will certainly once again be a better option soon. And didn't the Kennedy just add a lane during its recent reconstruction, or am a mistaken?

I knew you would say that, but Metra is only good for a very specific need and that is for suburban commuters to specifically the Loop area. For reverse commute you not only have to live near the Loop or near a Metra station that is specifically on the line that you are using, but you also must have your work be near a suburban Metra station which is very rare. Metra is totally impracticable for where we live (Lakeview) unless I want to spend four hours of every day commuting all while having my car parked out in the suburbs at a Metra station. Not everyone "going into the city" is going to the Loop, otherwise highway exits like Armitage and Fullerton and Daman and everywhere else on the north side wouldn't be the complete clusterfuck that they are, pardon my french.

[VivaLFuego]

I'll use this opportunity to again pitch tollroads. Properly priced highway tolling could ensure a congestion-free commute for whyhuhwhy. What if the reversible lanes were instead High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes with variable pricing? What if the Tollway system switched to a revenue-maximizing variable pricing system which ensured a smooth flow of traffic? Not everyone on the roads at congested times has to be right there right then, not by a long shot, and the pricing would ensure a broader distribution of trips by time of day, with less congestion and more efficient utilization of existing infrastructure. Commuters stuck in the PM rush gridlock would be shocked and appalled by how many other people on the road could have timed their trip differently, and most of those commuters would gladly pay a toll to reduce their travel time. The difference between a crowded but fast-flowing LOS D and gridlocked LOS F is not very many additional marginal cars on the road.

[the urban politician]

:cheers:

Congress' boost to Amtrak fueled by high gas prices, too much traffic (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/transportation/chi-getting-around-06-oct06,0,6770105.column)
Chicago would be hub of nine-state, high-speed network
Jon Hilkevitch | Getting Around
October 6, 2008

Highway congestion, high fuel prices, dependence on foreign oil, pollution and global warming are creating perfect conditions for reforming stagnant transportation policies.

Is it any wonder that Americans are cutting back on driving and turning to trains in record numbers?

Congress got the message last week that the status quo, including an overreliance on the airline industry, is no longer acceptable for moving people around the state or across the country.

The awakening crystallized when lawmakers passed the Federal Railroad Safety Improvement Act by a veto-proof margin.

The landmark legislation, which the White House said President George W. Bush will sign, calls for almost doubling the federal funding provided to Amtrak—about $13.1 billion over five years.

Among other precedents, it authorizes $3.4 billion to create high-speed passenger rail corridors and provide rail capital-improvement grants to states.

The ambitious project proposed for the Midwest would cover 3,000 miles in nine states. All lines would radiate from a hub in downtown Chicago. The cost of a fully completed Midwest network is estimated at almost $8 billion.

"Finally people are waking up to the fact that we need to move people without their cars," said Richard Harnish, executive director of the Midwest High Speed Rail Association, an advocacy group.

Modern, comfortable, double-deck trains with wide seats and large windows would churn along at top speeds of 110 m.p.h. The faster trains would shave hours off trips, delivering passengers from one downtown to another hundreds of miles away.

Amtrak trains in most of the Midwest now operate at up to 79 m.p.h., although average speeds are much slower, especially around Chicago due to freight traffic.

Driving, which results in more than 40,000 fatalities a year, would take a back seat as a transportation choice, proponents say.

So, too, would air travel as consumers factor in the time it takes to go through airport security, the hassle of flying and the time spent traveling from outlying airports.

Travel times of almost 51/2 hours on Amtrak's route between Chicago and St. Louis would be cut to 3 hours and 49 minutes on a high-speed train, according to preliminary estimates.

In the past year, more than 501,000 rides were taken on Amtrak's Lincoln Service route between Chicago and St. Louis, a 284-mile trip, a 15 percent increase over the previous year. Some 1.2 million rides a year would be taken when the route is served by high-speed trains, according projections by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

In addition to the congressional action, the Federal Railroad Administration last week approved grants to Illinois to install train-control and cab-signaling systems on part of the route to facilitate high-speed trains.

A high-speed rail line between Chicago and the Twin Cities could be running within five years, according to U.S. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation Committee. The roughly eight-hour trip on Amtrak from Chicago to St. Paul would be cut to about 51/2 hours under the working proposal.

Planners envision the line running from Chicago up through Milwaukee, Madison, the Twin Cities and eventually Duluth, while separate routes from Chicago would extend east to Detroit, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

It's apparent there would be a strong market. Even today, with slow service and a poor on-time performance record, Amtrak finished fiscal 2008 last week with its sixth straight year of ridership growth.

The Midwest Regional Rail Initiative involves Amtrak and the nine states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin.

"A network of states produces much better results than each individual state going its own way," said Randy Wade, passenger rail manager at the Wisconsin Department of Transportation, which is coordinating the Midwest initiative.

"We now have a political network, too, comprised of at least 18 U.S. senators," Wade said, adding that high-speed rail projects would stimulate the economy by creating thousands of permanent jobs.

To keep up the momentum, the funding Congress authorized last week must be appropriated annually, and millions more added to the pot to pay for the 80 percent federal share of the high-speed rail projects.

Supporters such as Ross Capon, who heads the National Association of Railroad Passengers, likened the congressional authorization to issuing a "hunting license" to go after big game. While representing a start, it's not the same as bagging a moose.

What is needed to guarantee that the rail program continues to grow is for Congress to establish a rail title in the multiyear federal transportation legislation, Wade said. That would ensure that the passenger rail program benefits from the same steady funding that the highway and mass-transit programs receive, Wade said.

People who have been promoting high-speed rail in the U.S. for decades point to a convergence that cannot be ignored.

"Clearly the world has changed in the last year," Harnish said. "At the start of 2008, we didn't think there was a chance of this legislation moving. Having the runup in gas prices right before the Olympics has really opened up people's eyes. And the problem won't go away."

A 20 percent match by the states would be needed to help pay for the network, which is estimated to cost $7.7 billion, based on 2002 dollar estimates. About $6.6 billion of the total would pay for infrastructure, and $1.1 billion for new trains, officials said.

About 13.6 million passengers would ride the trains each year by 2025, according to ridership projections, and 90 percent of Midwesterners would live within an hour ride of a high-speed rail station.

[urbanactivist]

^Yeah, this is great news!!!

[whyhuhwhy]

I'll use this opportunity to again pitch tollroads. Properly priced highway tolling could ensure a congestion-free commute for whyhuhwhy. What if the reversible lanes were instead High-Occupancy Toll (HOT) lanes with variable pricing? What if the Tollway system switched to a revenue-maximizing variable pricing system which ensured a smooth flow of traffic? Not everyone on the roads at congested times has to be right there right then, not by a long shot, and the pricing would ensure a broader distribution of trips by time of day, with less congestion and more efficient utilization of existing infrastructure. Commuters stuck in the PM rush gridlock would be shocked and appalled by how many other people on the road could have timed their trip differently, and most of those commuters would gladly pay a toll to reduce their travel time. The difference between a crowded but fast-flowing LOS D and gridlocked LOS F is not very many additional marginal cars on the road.


See now that's a good plan and at least a proposed solution. I'm not really sure what solutions are being proposed right now by our local leaders other than more of the same. The nice thing about your plan is that it can theoretically pay for itself.

[ardecila]

Politicians have been reluctant to consider HOV/HOT on the Kennedy reversible lanes, although the idea has been pitched several times.

By the way, that Amtrak thing is great news! It definitely paves the way for high-speed rail around the country, but of course it's not exactly a green-light for the Midwest High-Speed Rail Network, merely an appropriation of funds for further studies, and certain improvements along the Chicago-St Louis corridor. Plus, our inept Midwestern state governments can still screw it all up!

[VivaLFuego]

Politicians have been reluctant to consider HOV/HOT on the Kennedy reversible lanes, although the idea has been pitched several times.


Transportation planners have, rightfully so, pointed out that generally Chicago is not a great place for HOV lanes because they could cannibalize rail ridership, particularly in corridors like the Kennedy which has both a rapid and commuter rail transit running roughly parallel. I-55 is probably the only expressway that makes a viable HOV lane candidate.

I don't recall a serious proposal for HOT though; the technology for continuously variable pricing employed by "open road tolling" has really only been out there in practicable form for the last 5-10 years anyway. HOT lanes, where you're actually charging people rather than simply limiting lane access to buses and carpools as with mere HOV, would change the game, though, in my opinion at least. I agree with whyhuhwhy that the reversible lane concept is probably outmoded, as at this point congestion in the reverse commute direction is generally as bad if not significantly worse than in the standard commute direction. The revenue-maximization potential of HOT lanes would further, in theory, provide additional revenue to support other portions of the transportation system, such as aforementioned arterial/intersection improvements to mitigate some congestion on local streets (Chicago proper could sure use a few more left turn arrows, couldn't it?). There is pretty obvious linkage in expressway drivers benefitting from other travelers taking parallel transit service, so a portion of toll revenue above maintenance/depreciation costs could be diverted to support transit, as in the NYC region.

But now, back to our brutal reality... of course the main reason NYC has it so good was a game of political gamesmanship to reduce the power and influence of Robert Moses rather than some sort of love for economically-sound transportation planning principles on the part of Rockefeller who made it happen. And given the political orientation of Illinois and the Chicago area, I just don't see any sort of regional effort to raise tolls to support mass transit. Depending on federal policy, however, it does seem conceivable that in our lifetimes I-90/94 could be tolled within city limits to support transit (e.g. the federal policy allowing for privatization of assets), but that would never happen due to any state-level action.

[NoSmallPlanner]

The blue thing is a piece of rubber that isolates the rail from the tie, to reduce vibrations and noise. :tup:

You beat me to it! :D

Continuing on with ardecila's explanation - the blue 'shim' not only reduces noise/vibration but also wear between the rail and the tie. It operates in much the same way as the NVH (Noise-Vibration-Harshness) isolation mounts on automobile engines.

Smoother and quieter is better - not just for our ears but for the components of the track itself.

As to high-speed rail - I'm all for it, having admired the trains in Europe personally (and those in Japan from afar.) However, wouldn't it be very, very expensive to implement given the size of the routes travelled and the need to isolate (for obvious safety reasons) tracks on which trains traveling upwards of 100 mph from cars, people and large animals (livestock)? In Europe and Japan sacrifices (high taxes, attitudes about the 'right' to drive *anywhere*) have been made to accomodate bullet trains and other high-speed rail - will Americans be willing to do the same? Maybe so - if gas prices continue to spiral upwards - at least I hope so.

I hope this all comes about. Traveling by train can be a quite pleasant experience as compared to the hell economy-class jet travel already is and the financial burden long-distance driving is now becoming.

NSP

[honte]

By the way, that Amtrak thing is great news! It definitely paves the way for high-speed rail around the country, but of course it's not exactly a green-light for the Midwest High-Speed Rail Network, merely an appropriation of funds for further studies, and certain improvements along the Chicago-St Louis corridor. Plus, our inept Midwestern state governments can still screw it all up!

You're right, but I can't believe there is anything exciting happening in this "thread of depression and angst."

[VivaLFuego]

As to high-speed rail - I'm all for it, having admired the trains in Europe personally (and those in Japan from afar.) However, wouldn't it be very, very expensive to implement given the size of the routes travelled and the need to isolate (for obvious safety reasons) tracks on which trains traveling upwards of 100 mph from cars, people and large animals (livestock)? In Europe and Japan sacrifices (high taxes, attitudes about the 'right' to drive *anywhere*) have been made to accomodate bullet trains and other high-speed rail - will Americans be willing to do the same? Maybe so - if gas prices continue to spiral upwards - at least I hope so.

I hope this all comes about. Traveling by train can be a quite pleasant experience as compared to the hell economy-class jet travel already is and the financial burden long-distance driving is now becoming.

NSP

In our context, "high-speed rail" means 110mph which is a pretty far cry in terms of geometry and grade separation from the bullet trains / TGV / etc. of Europe and Asia. 110mph can be substantially achieved along existing corridors with upgrades to track components, installation of improved signaling systems, and targeted construction projects to ease the geometry of curves and install sidings to allow trains to pass each other.

Frankly, a reliable system that reached 110mph for much of it's length would be such a vast improvement over the status quo that I'll still jump for joy to see real progress on this front. As part of the deal, let's get Amtrak to integrate ticketing with travel booking services and arrange for car rental and secure long term parking at various termini. These aren't major issues in downtown Chicago, but it doesn't do me much good to be dropped off at Michigan Central or New Center in Detroit without a car. Some of the suburban Amtrak stations (e.g. Glenview, Naperville), once Amtrak is a credible form of intercity transport, would be well-served by long-term parking facilities.

[ardecila]

Yes, New Center in Detroit and the St. Louis Amtrak station are really uncomfortable places...

Milwaukee recently rebuilt their downtown station. While it's still small, it's now modern, bright, and comfortable.

[whyhuhwhy]

Great news on Amtrak. 110 mph isn't exactly all the high speed though.

[nomarandlee]

Yes, New Center in Detroit and the St. Louis Amtrak station are really uncomfortable places...

Milwaukee recently rebuilt their downtown station. While it's still small, it's now modern, bright, and comfortable.

I just read on wiki that the owners are trying to get a rehab of the old station in Detroit. I wonder if it would feasible to utilizethe the station again as a terminal. It said that rehab would cost 80 mill. and it did look like it was a great station.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_Central_Station

[ChicagoChicago]

I have no idea if this belongs in the transportation thread, but can anyone tell me what effects long term vibration exposures from trains have done to existing structures around the tracks? I work in a building that backs up to Lake and Wells in Chicago, and the building constantly vibrates. You actually feel it more when you're in the core of the building than near the windows. I work on the 21st floor, and the vibration is quite remarkable.

[jjk1103]

I have no idea if this belongs in the transportation thread, but can anyone tell me what effects long term vibration exposures from trains have done to existing structures around the tracks? I work in a building that backs up to Lake and Wells in Chicago, and the building constantly vibrates. You actually feel it more when you're in the core of the building than near the windows. I work on the 21st floor, and the vibration is quite remarkable.

......maybe it's mice ?! :D :D :D :D

[honte]

I have no idea if this belongs in the transportation thread, but can anyone tell me what effects long term vibration exposures from trains have done to existing structures around the tracks? I work in a building that backs up to Lake and Wells in Chicago, and the building constantly vibrates. You actually feel it more when you're in the core of the building than near the windows. I work on the 21st floor, and the vibration is quite remarkable.


In most buildings, vibration is more of a nuisance than a structural issue.

[Attrill]

I have no idea if this belongs in the transportation thread, but can anyone tell me what effects long term vibration exposures from trains have done to existing structures around the tracks? I work in a building that backs up to Lake and Wells in Chicago, and the building constantly vibrates. You actually feel it more when you're in the core of the building than near the windows. I work on the 21st floor, and the vibration is quite remarkable.

I live in a house built in 1879 that is within 100' of the El. If you have a glass of water on a table you will see ripples in it when the El goes by. Our 129 year old stone foundation is still completely sound, we've had some tuckpointing done on it, but that was due to water, not the El.

[Attrill]

This (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2008/10/cta-fare-card-can-get-you-a-rental-car-too.html) is pretty good news!



The CTA board approved an unusual partnership today to create a new transit fare card that also can be used to rent cars.

The joint Chicago Card Plus and I-GO car-sharing smart card might seem at odds with the interests of fostering greater use of mass transit in the congested Chicago region.

But the deal with the nonprofit I-GO will promote the "complementary nature of car-sharing and public transit," predicted Jim Fowler, CTA chief information officer.

[simcityaustin]

If anyone could, I would love to see some pictures of updated stations and work including new buses, and everything else related to improvements with Chi-town mass transit.

[VivaLFuego]

If anyone could, I would love to see some pictures of updated stations and work including new buses, and everything else related to improvements with Chi-town mass transit.

For pictures of stations, I'd recommend scoping out www.chicago-l.org

For everything else, browse the CTA pool at Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/chitransit/pool/

[alex1]

Chicago area transit averaged over 2 million trips per weekday in the 2nd quarter.

1,073,800 (CTA bus)
650,700 (CTA L)
-
1,724,500 Total for CTA


329,700 (Metra)
121,300 (Pace)
-
451,000 Total for Metra/Pace

2,185,500 combined.

[VivaLFuego]

^ And 3rd quarter is usually peak season... let's hope these trends continue. CTA is already getting 700,000+ ridership days on the rail system this autumn, and bus has continued its strong growth (which is remarkable after decades of nonstop decline leaving Chicago bus ridership merely half what it was only a few decades ago).

[pip]

if you people could just fix the fckn' slow zones than ridership would go up even more. Yeah I know you are working on it. But why is work listed as done when with the done work the trains crawl every single day!? Every single day year after year! Christ the Pyamids were built faster, Rome was completed 6 times.

from transitchicago.com

Work on the Red Line subway between Clark/Division and Grand, between Wilson and Sheridan, and on the southbound track between Morse and Loyola was completed in 2007. Progress was made on all four tracks (Red and Brown lines) between Armitage and Diversey during 2007.

Slow zone elimination on the remaining portion of the Red Line subway is underway. All construction between Clark/Division and Roosevelt is complete. Track upgrades between Clark/Division and the north end of the Red Line subway continues and will be complete by the end of 2008.

http://www.transitchicago.com/news/motion/szep.html#red

well thats just sad. I ride fromn Addison to Wilson and back weekdays and it is slow as anything. The Red Line tunnels going south, I only know from the beginning to Grand, is slow too.

Come one. Whats going on? Work completed?

[ardecila]

There is construction in the tunnels still, although it's not track-related. Construction at Grand/State and Block 37 creates construction slow zones, even though the tracks are in good shape.

[k1052]

The the Howard branch is scheduled for work in 09 I believe.

The State St. subway track work is done. The Red Line flies nicely though it when I take it at rush.

Priority is on finishing the Blue Line track restoration and fixing the Ravenswood branch so we aren't crawling through slow zones between shiny new stations.

[jjk1103]

...I would have to say as a somewhat frequent user....I'm in a certain amount of agreement with Pip.......I thought the O'hare Blue was finished with track restoration..yet it is constantly closed...and it seems that the Brown just crawls between Western and Southport (not just at the station reconstructions).....specifically what work is going to be done on the north Red (Addison to Howard) in 2009 ?? ....the lower half is absolutely terrible......

[ChicagoChicago]

...I would have to say as a somewhat frequent user....I'm in a certain amount of agreement with Pip.......I thought the O'hare Blue was finished with track restoration..yet it is constantly closed...and it seems that the Brown just crawls between Western and Southport (not just at the station reconstructions).....specifically what work is going to be done on the north Red (Addison to Howard) in 2009 ?? ....the lower half is absolutely terrible......

I know that they are still doing track work on the brown line North of Belmont. I've seen them out there on weekends replacing old wood ties with the new composite ones.

[aaron38]

My wife's commuting downtown this week, and yesterday waited 20 minutes for a #125 and said she was almost late, so she was going to take a cab today, cause she wouldn't know how long till the next bus.
So I bookmarked the CTA's bus tracker page on her iPhone, and this morning she'll be able to see exactly where the busses are as the train pulls in.
I was playing with it last night and it works great.

[jpIllInoIs]

The ridership increases keep on coming

October 13, 2008
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/News_Release_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1178294235288&ssid=180

Routes with Illinois-Sponsored Trains Continue Strong Growth; National Amtrak Totals Also Reach New High, Nearing 29 Million Riders
CHICAGO – Amtrak trains operated under a contract with the Illinois Department of Transportation are drawing more passengers in the last 12 months, more than a year after additional frequencies were added. Total ridership on Downstate Illinois routes with state-supported trains has topped one million passengers for the first time in at least 30 years.

In all, 1,079,778 tickets were sold on Chicago-Bloomington/Normal-Springfield-St. Louis, Chicago-Champaign-Mattoon-Carbondale and Chicago-Galesburg-Macomb-Quincy routes for the Amtrak fiscal year ending Sept. 30. That is an increase of 143,546 passengers from the previous year, a 15 percent improvement.

"We are very excited to see the increase in ridership." said Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Milton R. Sees. "This boost in ridership shows how important rail service is to thousands of people and Illinois DOT is proud to share in this partnership with Amtrak."

"We take great pride in operating a safe and reliable service that is giving travelers the best way to travel between busy downtowns and small cities; an option that avoids highway congestion and links communities," said Amtrak General Superintendent Daryl Pesce, who is based in Chicago.

On the Chicago-St. Louis Lincoln Service corridor, total ridership rose by 14 percent to exceed a half-million passengers at 543,642. Last month, the Federal Railroad Administration announced the award of $3.4 million in grants to improve reliability and decrease travel times on the route. It will fund the installation of a new trackside signal system between Joliet and Dwight and new on-train signal system from Joliet to Springfield that will allow top speeds of 110 mph.

Ridership between Chicago and Carbondale, the route the Illini and Saluki trains share with the City of New Orleans, is up by 15 percent for the corridor, totaling 304,435. For the Chicago-Galesburg-Quincy route of the Illinois Zephyr, Carl Sandburg and other trains, ridership has increased by 19 percent for the route, with 231,701 passengers.

The Illinois DOT also supports Amtrak Hiawatha Service trains between Chicago and Milwaukee which have gained more than 150,000 additional passengers in the last 12 months. That is an increase of nearly 26 percent, reaching a total approaching three-quarter-million passengers (749,659).

Amtrak Hiawatha Service trains offer seven daily departures in each direction Mondays through Saturdays, with six trains each way on Sundays. They are primarily funded by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

In all, including downstate Illinois and the Hiawathas, Illinois DOT supported routes have added nearly 300,000 passengers in the last year (297,869).

All Amtrak trains across the system saw increases in ridership. The 28.7 million total for the period October 1, 2007 - September 30, 2008, topped the 25,847,531 for the previous 12 months by 11.1 percent. Total ticket revenue for the fiscal year reached $1.7 billion, a 14.2 percent increase over the $1.5 billion in FY07.

"After another record-breaking year, in which the railroad achieved double-digit growth, Amtrak has solidified its role as a leader in the nation's transportation network and proven intercity passenger rail's relevance in today's world," said Alex Kummant, President and CEO of Amtrak. "Highway and airway congestion, volatile fuel prices and increasing environmental awareness all contributed to Amtrak's successful year, as did our continually improving service and on-time performance."

Kummant added, "With the recent passage of a reauthorization bill, which includes a significant state and federal capital matching grant program, we also look forward to expanding state partnerships to provide more rail service in growing corridors nationwide."

FY08 Ridership and Revenue Chart

[jpIllInoIs]

Amtrak Hiawatha Service Ridership Sets Record
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/News_Release_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1178294235258&ssid=180
National Amtrak Totals Also Reach New High, Nearing 29 Million Riders; Sixth Straight Year of National Ridership Growth
CHICAGO - Amtrak Hiawatha Service trains have gained more than 150,000 additional passengers in the last 12 months, an increase of nearly 26 percent, and reached a total approaching three-quarter-million (749,659) passengers between Milwaukee and Chicago for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30.

Amtrak Hiawatha Service trains offer seven daily departures in each direction Mondays through Saturdays, with six trains each way on Sundays. They are operated by Amtrak under contracts with the Wisconsin and Illinois state transportation departments.

"We couldn't be more pleased with the ridership increases on the Hiawatha Service," said Wisconsin Department of Transportation Secretary Frank Busalacchi. "It shows that there is strong support for passenger rail service in this corridor."

"We are very excited to see the increase in ridership for the Hiawatha Service " said Illinois Department of Transportation Secretary Milton R. Sees. "This boost in ridership shows how important rail service is to thousands of people and Illinois DOT is proud to share in this partership with Amtrak."

All Amtrak trains across the system saw increases in ridership. The 28.7 million total for the period October 1, 2007-September 30, 2008, topped the 25,847,531 for the previous 12 months by 11.1 percent. Total ticket revenue for the fiscal year reached $1.7 billion, a 14.2 percent increase over the $1.5 billion in FY07.

"After another record-breaking year, in which the railroad achieved double-digit growth, Amtrak has solidified its role as a leader in the nation's transportation network and proven intercity passenger rail's relevance in today's world," said Alex Kummant, President and CEO of Amtrak. "Highway and airway congestion, volatile fuel prices and increasing environmental awareness all contributed to Amtrak's successful year, as did our continually improving service and on-time performance."

Kummant added, "With the recent passage of a reauthorization bill, which includes a significant state and federal capital matching grant program, we also look forward to expanding state partnerships to provide more rail service in growing corridors nationwide."

Last month, the Federal Railroad Administration announced the award of a $5 million grant to further improve reliability on the Hiawatha Service route. It will fund the installation of nearly 18 miles of new track in Wisconsin and reprogram grade crossing warning devices. The project will eliminate delays associated with ongoing maintenance of jointed rail and reduce travel time.

"We take great pride in operating a safe and reliable service that is giving travelers the best way to travel between busy downtowns and vital suburbs; an option that avoids highway congestion on Interstate 94 and links two great cities," said Amtrak General Superintendent Daryl Pesce, who is based in Chicago.

[VivaLFuego]

^ Those numbers imply roughly 2,000 passengers riding the Hiawatha per day, or, perhaps 300 per roundtrip.

I'd be curious what the fare recovery ratio is.