Tcmetro

Pink Line could benefit from six-car trains at peak. Is there any reason CTA can't do it?

The Fast Tracks project page specifically mentions power upgrades on the O'Hare branch.

I believe that the Pink Line was rerouted to Racine for Saturday morning and afternoon. -- As for the Blue and Orange discussion - Orange Line has more opportunity to pull problematic trains from service because it has a single three-track terminal and comparatively short run times. Also, I would imagine that the track and power conditions are much better than on the Blue Line. As for 5000s/7000s and the Blue Line - there are a number of projects underway and being planned. Remember that the "rideshare hailing fee" is in effect and has already funded track and power projects across the system this year. Blue Line will absolutely need upgrades to handle the new fleet and CTA is aware of this.

I've finally had a chance to look through the new budget. Some interesting things I noticed: Web/app-based call-and-ride reservations New/updated Ventra app ADA will take Ventra Third Pulse project looks like it will be 95th, entering the project definition phase Future restructurings will be larger scale than the previous sub-regional efforts New park and ride in Burr Ridge Joliet express bus study New website in 2019 Transit Signal Priority expansion to 10 more corridors (159th, Sibley, Roosevelt, Cicero, 95th, Grand-Lake Co, Dempster, Cermak, I-90, Halsted) The service cuts are explained as offsetting recent service improvements and Milwaukee Pulse, so perhaps the public hearing notice note about service being reinvested was a little misleading

Pace has yet to publish the 2019 budget on the webpage, but has posted the public hearing notice. Pace is planning to cut the following routes and reinvest the service elsewhere: Route 209 Busse Highway (Saturday service discontinued only) Route 304 North Riverside-LaGrange Route 326 West Irving Park Route 348 Harvey-Riverdale-Blue Island (Saturday service discontinued only) Route 362 South Park Forest Route 504 South Joliet (Saturday service discontinued only) Route 532 Illinois Avenue Route 540 Farnsworth Avenue (Saturday service discontinued only) Route 546 Orange-Walnut (Saturday service discontinued only) Route 590 Round Lake Area Call-N-Ride (On-Demand) Route 661 Southwest Westmont Route 681 Lincoln Park-Naperville Metra Route 809 Richmond-Fox Lake Metra Station Route 824 East Bolingbrook-Lisle http://pacebus.com/sub/news_events/public_hearings_upcoming.asp

I believe work was being done in the West loop, so Pink line was turning at Racine and Congress. SB Red Line running over the top for subway work. I believe these are track improvement projects related to the ride-hailing fee.

Bus lanes will only work on N Michigan with prepayment. There are so many routes, that the buses end up delaying each other. If they do go through with bus lanes, they should be in the median to prevent conflicts with other turning vehicles. A set up like Loop Link won't work. In the short term, leap frog stop patterns should be pursued.

Central Harlem Avenue Corridor Study Open House October 4, 2018 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm Oak Park Public Library (Community Engagement Room) 834 Lake Street Oak Park, IL 60301 http://pulse.pacebus.com/images/Harlem/Pace-HAC-PM-flyer-9_2018-FINAL.pdf This open house will present the study recommendations.

I didn't notice any reaction on the Jeff Park trip surprisingly. It was empty getting into Jackson and crush loaded leaving Monroe, so I think it was too full for most to notice. I also don't get why these aren't running all day. Just a round trip or two then sit in the yard for the rest of the day? Also, the 5000s do nothing to mitigate the insane noise levels in the Milwaukee subway.

Currently on car 5219 on run 322. It's handing the crush load much better than a 2600. They made sure to put a Blue Line strip map in too.

According to the board presentation on the 12th, the 21 locomotives will arrive between October and December. https://metrarail.com/sites/default/files/assets/about-metra/leadership/board_meetings/20180912/13_board_presentation_-_rolling_stock_procurement_update_-final.pdf

Ridership has been falling on the ME and RI faster then any of the other lines. The claim of "closing a line" sounds like posturing more than anything.

I would imagine that a deeper look at ridership patterns would be that peak ridership is consistent and off peak ridership is falling. This creates a situation where the same capital budget is needed for fewer riders. CTA/CDOT really need to focus on bus improvements like off-board payment, bus lanes, signal priority, and consolidated stops to keep up with the traffic that has been getting really bad with Uber/Lyft and having more wealthy people in the city.

The 30 South Chicago extension on Sundays is for a J14 connection. Previously a trip from the East Side or Hegewisch to downtown required a connection to the 95, then to the red line.

The 62 Archer gets a good crowd from Chinatown and also has an unsurprising Bridgeport-Loop ridership because the Orange Line stations were not planned around serving the neighborhood. There's another wave of ridership between the 35th St Orange Line station and Brighton Park, then again from the Pulaski station out to Harlem. I think some attention should be paid to splitting the 62 up, because the high passenger turnover and route length absolutely kill reliability.