CHICAGO: Transit Developments - Page 414

CTA Gray Line · #**8261** Posted **Sep 27, 2011, 7:42 AM**

What about extending the North end of the Washington/Wabash station (or a
walkway) to provide an enclosed connection (stair & elevator) to the Pedway.
This would provide an all-weather connection to both the Red Line Lake Station
and Millennium Station.

I wonder about CTA planners in that they didn't include this from the start.

I will be contacting CTA and CMAP.

denizen467 · #**8262** Posted **Sep 27, 2011, 12:11 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

the Loop stations are all one continuous platform anyway.

I haven't looked since the Block 37 Red-Blue cutover was built - did they fence off and end up shortening either of the Red stations adjoining it or was only the minimum necessary removed?

emathias · #**8263** Posted **Sep 27, 2011, 6:52 PM**

I noticed the City Inspector General's report estimated that making LSD a toll road might net the City around $80 million a year, depending on how much it discouraged driving on the Drive.

At that rate, that alone (assuming a typical range for State and Federal matching) would be enough to finance the rebuilding of the North Red Line. Which would seem appropriate, given a better-performing Red Line would be necessary if LSD started charging tolls since I think a lot of people would switch.

Thoughts?

k1052 · #**8264** Posted **Sep 27, 2011, 7:18 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

I noticed the City Inspector General's report estimated that making LSD a toll road might net the City around $80 million a year, depending on how much it discouraged driving on the Drive.

At that rate, that alone (assuming a typical range for State and Federal matching) would be enough to finance the rebuilding of the North Red Line. Which would seem appropriate, given a better-performing Red Line would be necessary if LSD started charging tolls since I think a lot of people would switch.

Thoughts?

As part of a more comprehensive expansion of the CTA such a radical idea might be tolerated. Combined with the possible casino revenue it wouldn't be impossible to clear something like $225M per year for transit projects in local money alone.

ardecila · #**8265** Posted **Sep 27, 2011, 9:37 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by denizen467

I haven't looked since the Block 37 Red-Blue cutover was built - did they fence off and end up shortening either of the Red stations adjoining it or was only the minimum necessary removed?

They never finished the crossover. They never built the bellmouth structures on either side. If they wanted to actually use the thing, it would be at least another $100 million in work.

In the Blue Line, I believe they cut through the platform north of Washington. In the Red Line, they never did anything to the platform (but still closed the Washington stop anyway).

Actually, my guess is that the Washington closure was more about speeding up service than the actual availability of platform space. Having a station at Lake is just more convenient for transfers and for serving the river corridor.

CTA Gray Line · #**8266** Posted **Sep 28, 2011, 6:06 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by CTA Gray Line

What about extending the North end of the Washington/Wabash station (or a
walkway) to provide an enclosed connection (stair & elevator) to the Pedway.
This would provide an all-weather connection to both the Red Line Lake Station
and Millennium Station.

There is plenty of room along the east side of the Wabash Ave. 'L' tracks north of Washington for a walkway over the street with room in the planter area for stairs/escalators and an elevator to access the Pedway that crosses underneath Wabash just north of mid-block (there is a street entrance on the east side of Wabash): http://g.co/maps/zb3e7

ardecila · #**8267** Posted **Oct 3, 2011, 8:33 PM**

Nobody posted this awesome news...

Quote:

CTA to install tracker screens at 400 bus shelters
Posted by Greg H. at 9/30/2011 11:32 AM CDT

Under an initiative unveiled Friday morning by CTA President Forrest Claypool and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, light-emitting diode displays will be posted at 400 bus shelters around the city.

With four lines of text, the displays will provide bus arrival information and, eventually, customer alerts on service, transfer points and the like.

The displays -- which will somewhat resemble displays in some subway and el stations -- will face outward, so that everyone waiting can get a look.

The $3.8-million project will be funded by the CTA and grants from the Regional Transportation Authority and Federal Transit Authority. The city will operate and maintain the screens, in cooperation with bus-shelter owner J. C. Decaux.

Officials say the 400 displays will be installed by next September, with some in each of the city's 50 wards. Locations were selected based on ridership, transfers and location of multiple bus routes.

emathias · #**8268** Posted **Oct 3, 2011, 8:53 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by ardecila

Nobody posted this awesome news...

If that's a static display like that, then I like it.

I just hope they're not like the stupid "L" ones that flash the arrival time for like 2 seconds every minute, so you have to stand there and literally stare at the sign for a minute just to know the arrival time while the date and time slowly scroll past.

Speaking of which, the CTA MUST know that method in the "L" stations is completely stupid - when will they fix it?

N830MH · #**8269** Posted **Oct 3, 2011, 10:36 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

Speaking of which, the CTA MUST know that method in the "L" stations is completely stupid - when will they fix it?

My guess there is technical problem. They didn't fixed it correctly. It was not CTA fault.

ardecila · #**8270** Posted **Oct 3, 2011, 11:35 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

If that's a static display like that, then I like it.

I just hope they're not like the stupid "L" ones that flash the arrival time for like 2 seconds every minute, so you have to stand there and literally stare at the sign for a minute just to know the arrival time while the date and time slowly scroll past.

Speaking of which, the CTA MUST know that method in the "L" stations is completely stupid - when will they fix it?

All 400 of the new displays will be similar to the one pictured. They won't be the single-line scrolling displays, and they won't be the Titan Outdoor screens that show ads.

I'm more frustrated by the constant reminders to renew my Chicago Card. That's information better relegated to a poster.

MayorOfChicago · #**8271** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 12:21 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by emathias

If that's a static display like that, then I like it.

I just hope they're not like the stupid "L" ones that flash the arrival time for like 2 seconds every minute, so you have to stand there and literally stare at the sign for a minute just to know the arrival time while the date and time slowly scroll past.

Speaking of which, the CTA MUST know that method in the "L" stations is completely stupid - when will they fix it?

I also hate how you can't read the things on the fullerton and belmont stations unless you're standing in a certain area. The supports and lights block the information.

denizen467 · #**8272** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 11:22 AM**

I've always thought Chicago's encouragement of major arterials as bike routes as rather crazy. Buses, trucks, and 6-way intersections, on top of the usual rush of passenger cars, are incompatible with 200-pound blobs of metal and flesh. There is no overriding reason why the major arterials are where bicyclists' routes need to go. Instead, designating a side street, just 1 block over, into a major bicycle arterial would seem to be a better solution (assuming you could get past NIMBY issues, including loss of street parking). This could be repeated at regular intervals throughout the street grid. Bicyclists could still have access to arterials, but ideally it would be people whose origin/destination was there, while thru traffic would use the side streets.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...enways01m.html

Seattle plans side-street pathways for cyclists
By Mike Lindblom
Seattle Times transportation reporter

For several years, Seattle has painted bicycle lanes or icons on nearly all major streets, in hopes of encouraging people to ride.

Cycling has increased, but a lot of people remain ambivalent, including Jennifer Litowski of Ballard. She's comfortable riding some of the less-busy arterials. But when her 5-year-old son's bike is attached to the rear, she's not so nimble. The two detour to a calmer side street.

That's the idea behind "greenways" — networks of residential roads outfitted with speed bumps, landscaped curbs that make portions of a street narrower, or stop signs to give cyclists and pedestrians priority over cars.

Seattle is building its first greenway across the Wallingford area this fall and will install signs for a future route on north Beacon Hill, while advocacy groups are suggesting routes in at least three other neighborhoods. Mayor Mike McGinn is proposing $150,000 for design and public outreach on a route in Rainier Valley next year.

...

"It's not about getting people out of cars, it's about letting people who want to ride bikes get out and ride their damn bikes," said a smiling Eli Goldberg, a University District greenway advocate who encouraged an audience last week to campaign for Proposition 1. ...

MayorOfChicago · #**8273** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 2:20 PM**

and the slow death continues.....two sets of fare increases and two sets of service cuts in 4 years is a lot to take.

Quote:

Claypool: CTA faces $277M in red ink for 2012

8:52 a.m. CDT, October 4, 2011
The CTA faces a $277 million budget deficit next year, the transit agency's president disclosed Tuesday, without unveiling a strategy to close the gap.

CTA President Forrest Claypool told the City Club of Chicago that the transit authority has borrowed $554 million over the last four years and that its legal borrowing limit has been reached.

Claypool this month will present a proposed 2012 budget that is expected to include a fare increase and possible service cuts.

The CTA last raised fares in 2009 and cut service last year -- trimming bus service by 18 percent and rail service by 9 percent.

Claypool said the transit agency must cut costs -- in part by getting rid of "archaic and expensive work rules" -- to cope with increasing expenses and declining revenue.

He cited a Tribune story published Tuesday that chronicled a massive absenteeism problem at the CTA that has contributed to the cancellations of hundreds of bus and train runs this year.

The CTA is spending $40 million in 2011 to staff hundreds of extra workers every day to fill in for employees who call in sick, CTA officials said.

k1052 · #**8274** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 3:14 PM**

The unions are going to have to give, substantially, now that they can't enjoy the absence of a disinterested mayor. Claypool will certainly have Rahm's backing on getting the concessions he needs to maintain service levels...probably including a modest fare increase as well.

Vlajos · #**8275** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 3:20 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by k1052

The unions are going to have to give, substantially, now that they can't enjoy the absence of a disinterested mayor. Claypool will certainly have Rahm's backing on getting the concessions he needs to maintain service levels...probably including a modest fare increase as well.

This is correct

emathias · #**8276** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 3:59 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by N830MH

My guess there is technical problem. They didn't fixed it correctly. It was not CTA fault.

Since apparently English isn't your first language I won't criticize your grammar, however the content of your message is absolutely incorrect. There really is no one other than the CTA to hold accountable for the poor methodology used for the rail station arrival signs, and fixing it would be completely within the capability of the CTA. Technical aspects may make it harder to fix than it appears to the general public, but it is still absolutely the CTA's fault.

nicksplace27 · #**8277** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 4:46 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by k1052

The unions are going to have to give, substantially, now that they can't enjoy the absence of a disinterested mayor. Claypool will certainly have Rahm's backing on getting the concessions he needs to maintain service levels...probably including a modest fare increase as well.

Fare increases are a bad idea. It'll lead to a drop in riders which would outweigh any increase in revenue. We need to flex transit spending as a whole by taking money from highway tolls and funding to the CTA. We have a big enough rail worker and user base to give that idea credence and clout, right?

k1052 · #**8278** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 5:03 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by nicksplace27

Fare increases are a bad idea. It'll lead to a drop in riders which would outweigh any increase in revenue. We need to flex transit spending as a whole by taking money from highway tolls and funding to the CTA. We have a big enough rail worker and user base to give that idea credence and clout, right?

A fare increase in the range of 25 cents starting in 2012 wouldn't be too onerous, provided major concessions can be secured from the union. Claypool already indicated that it's on the table earlier this year.

The long term funding situation is something that needs to be addressed by the City however the mayor does not seem amenable to tolling presently free roads.

Nowhereman1280 · #**8279** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 5:17 PM**

Roads within the city should not be tolled. They should be tolled at the city limits to punish those who choose to live outside of the city.

nicksplace27 · #**8280** Posted **Oct 4, 2011, 5:21 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by k1052

A fare increase in the range of 25 cents starting in 2012 wouldn't be too onerous, provided major concessions can be secured from the union. Claypool already indicated that it's on the table earlier this year.

The long term funding situation is something that needs to be addressed by the City however the mayor does not seem amenable to tolling presently free roads.

25 cents isn't terrible but it isn't good either. If they could increase the one time fare by 25 cents but peg the cost of the one-week and one-month passes; so as to retain and encourage larger purchases and more use, I'd be in favor of that.

And I'm talking about something politically suicidal like putting new tolls on roads in the city. I'm talking about a metropolitan region, like the existing Kennedy tolls in schaumburg and elsewhere, be put into improving blue line service because they do benefit from it. That is flexing.