Tcmetro

The Northwestern Metra shuttle page does say the shuttles are ending but all the CTA alternatives are existing routes. Perhaps improved service levels for the 120/121. https://www.northwestern.edu/transportation-parking/shuttles/routes/chicago-campus/metra-stations.html

I guess it's still shorter than the 9 between Lawrence and 103rd. I thought that Pulaski & I-55 has pretty bad congestion. I would guess that reliability is going plummet if the 53 runs Peterson to Ford City.

One of the outcomes of the Vision Study is the creation of the "frequent service network" which basically means the route will have 10 minutes or better frequency from 6 am to 9 pm on weekdays and 9 am to 9 pm on weekends. CTA is targeting 20 routes for improvement in 2025. https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/03/03/cta-frequent-buses/ https://www.transitchicago.com/cta-launches-new-frequent-network-for-buses/ https://www.transitchicago.com/frequent/

On the agenda for the February 19, 2025 Pace Board meeting: https://www.pacebus.com/sites/default/files/2025-02/FOR WEB Agenda Board Meeting February 19%2C 2025.pdf Ordinance authorizing the award of a contract to Gillig, LLC for the purchase of up to 33 hybrid electric buses in an amount not to exceed $39,270,792.00.

CTA is probably never getting the electric LFS with the plant shutting down in a few months. Even though the money was earmarked for 6 buses and 103rd garage chargers, they never did put an electric Nova order up for board approval. There is, however, an outstanding order for 22 PhoenixEV (Proterra successor) buses that should be delivered later this year and would likely just be a continuation of the 600 series.

Carter wasn't exactly a visionary before the pandemic, but the past five years were basically crisis mode and try to get it fixed. I think the recovery could have been managed better, but at least full service has been restored which most cities haven't achieved yet. There were many worse CTA presidents in the past, so I am hoping for the best. The upcoming fiscal cliff is going to be even harder to figure out than the pandemic recovery so I'm not surprised Carter has decided to leave. We'll see if the MMA happens - it's going to be one of the bigger news stories this year.

Looks like the 6 Jackson Park Express map has already been cleaned up on the webpage and PDF schedule: https://www.transitchicago.com/bus/6/

CTA has known for several years now that electric buses will cost billions of dollars in garage upgrades and haven't made much progress on that front. What's going to happen is that there will be hundreds of buses on the street that are 20+ years old until real money is put in place to make electric a reality.

That at least helps to understand what the next order may look like. Based on the capital plan, CTA is planning to replace the 2008 New Flyer articulateds with electric buses, so it will be interesting to see if the RFP includes 40', 60', or some combo of buses.

A lot of the old downtown cores on the Metra lines have built up apartment buildings and shopping areas partially due to access to the train. I get that NWI is not the same as Arlington Heights, but perhaps there's an untapped market.

The city says that it will open in August 2026. It was in the initial plan for the project but was removed and revived by the city as a separate initiative. https://www.gohammond.com/hammond-approves-downtown-south-shore-station-designer/ https://www.gohammond.com/downtown/

The Downtown Hammond South Shore Monan Line station is expected to open in 2026 between Fayette and Russell Sts and would make a good replacement for the current Hammond bus terminal. Hammond Gateway would be even better, so that riders could connect to the existing "Lakeshore" line as well, but it would add quite a bit of operating costs for Pace.

Details coming on the 15th for open houses later in November and December. https://www.pacebus.com/revision

There's been a few times recently where the schedules don't get posted until after the start date and they don't bother with an advanced timetables page. It's not transparent at all (basically every other transit agency in the country has figured out how to communicate service changes) and causes confusion. In any case, as the schedule is loaded into the GTFS it will feed the train tracker and other apps tomorrow.

Looks like this is the service change to get back to pre-pandemic service levels. Will be interesting to see if this rolls out smoothly or not - CTA's initial resistance to cutting service led to uneven headways when runs could not be staffed. Good to see that Blue Line Owl service is actually coming back better than before the pandemic. Here's the other changes I was able to gather - service levels are going up pretty much across the board. Red: 7-8 min weekday evening (down from 10), 6-10 mins Saturdays (down from 10-12), 7-10 mins Sundays (down from 10-12). Blue O'Hare: 4 min peak (down from 5), 6 min midday/evening/Saturday (down from 7-8), 6 min Sundays (down from 10), 7-8 min night (down from 10). Blue Forest Park: 4-8 min peak (down from 5-10), 12 midday/evening/Saturday (down from 15), 12 min Sundays (down from 20), 15 min night (down from 20). Green: 7-8 min peak (down from 10), 10 min midday/evening/Sat/Sun (down from 12), 12 min night (down from 15). Orange: 7-8 min peak (down from 8-10), 9-10 min midday (down from 12), 10 min Sat/Sun (down from 12). Brown: 7-8 min midday/evening (down from 8-10), 10 min night (down from 12), 8-9 min Saturday (down from 12), 10 min Sunday (down from 15). Pink: 8-9 min peak (down from 10), 10 min midday/evening/Saturday/Sunday (down from 12), 12-15 min night (down from 15-20). Purple: 10 min midday/evening (down from 12), 15 min night (down from 15-20), 12 min Sat/Sun (down from 15). Purple Express: 6-10 min peak (down from 7-15). Yellow: 12 min peak (down from 15), 15 min off peak (down from 20).