Arterial Rapid Transit

[west towns]

Bus rapid transit will have to make room for a new transit option at Pace - arterial rapid transit.

Pace officials outlined plans for six routes, with three expected to be up and running in 2013, at a Wednesday meeting.

While the bus rapid transit concept involves buses traveling along expressway right-of-way with limited stops - arterial rapid transit will put vehicles on arterial roads in the suburbs, planners explained.

The buses will use transponders to control traffic lights, prolonging green lights and shortening red lights when drivers are running late to shorten travel times.

The three routes expected to be ready in four years are: an Oak Brook corridor bus, which could use I-290 or 22nd Street to travel from west Cook to DuPage; a Milwaukee Avenue bus, which would travel between Niles and the Jefferson Park transit center; and a Dempster Street bus, which would run through Evanston, Skokie, Morton Grove, and Des Plaines, ending near O'Hare International Airport.

Pace Deputy Executive Director for Strategic Services Michael Bolton said Milwaukee and Dempster were picked because of significant ridership trends.

Pace hopes to obtain federal funding for the project. Cost estimates weren't available.

Other routes for arterial rapid transit are Harlem Street, 95th Street and Halsted Avenue. It will take about 10 years for all six to be ready, mainly because of changes that will be required at traffic lights. Arterial rapid transit buses will be painted or marked differently from regular Pace buses.

Pace is also planning to introduce a Bus Rapid Transit route running along I-55 between the southwest suburbs and Chicago next year.

Wednesday's meeting was the first held in the new Pace headquarters, just east of the old building on Algonquin Road in Arlington Heights. The two-story, 65,000-square-foot building cost $14.2 million with 56 percent of funding coming from the Federal Transit Administration, 25 percent from the Regional Transportation Authority and 19 percent from Pace.

Looks like Pace is at it again, this time with arterial rapid transit. It looks like Pace is getting their grove! Now maybe they will get the respect they deserve.

[RIPTA42]

Great news, although they changed the wrong part of the phrase. It's still a bus, and it's not rapid transit.

[west towns]

Great news, although they changed the wrong part of the phrase. It's still a bus, and it's not rapid transit.

yeah but its a new way of providing service. From the news articles they are going to planning the three short listed routes, does anyone know when they will implement?

[west towns]

Pace's board agenda listed BRT presentations from both Pace and RTA. Wonder what's going on, was anyone there?

[Guest]

Arterial Rapid Transit!!! Yeah Right!! With all the ongoing RTA financial problems!

[Busjack]

Arterial Rapid Transit!!! Yeah Right!! With all the ongoing RTA financial problems!

Actually not inconsistent, so long as they use existing routes rather than try an overlay, like the CTA X routes. Pace had said stuff like they were going to put traffic signal priority on the routes near Harvey. See the first message in this thread.

While I was not there, I have the feeling that this was show and tell to entertain the board.

[trainman8119]

Looks like Pace is at it again, this time with arterial rapid transit. It looks like Pace is getting their grove! Now maybe they will get the respect they deserve.

Always the big dreamers. The goal here is not to better service, the actual goal is to reduce service. Pace's position has always been, with signal premption, to operate the same base schedule with fewer buses. They believe that they can reduce a trip by so much using the SP, that they can reduce the number of trips made, hence less service and a bus or 2 off the street. Nothing new here...been like this for years, just a different name.

[Busjack]

Moving Forward, just received, said that the purpose of the presentation was basically to select 3 corridors, which were 250, 270, and 322. Basically those just move to the design and cost estimate phases, with possible implementation in 2012.

Also, they distinguished ART from BRT as ART stays in traffic lanes. There was also a picture of a Metro 45C as a Los Angeles example of ART.

Of course, you have to wonder if the Milwaukee Ave. one is coordinated with a prior plan by Niles.

One would also have to note that Niles is the only place where the community bus intended to do the distribution work from the limited ART stops* currently exists.

Reinforcing what trainman said, according to Pace:

Reduced travel times are more attractive to riders, and can mean improved efficiency if buses can make more trips during a driver's shift.

____________

*According to the Vision 2020 description of the various services.

[Busjack]

The February Minutes document the discussion about ART or BRT, including how the RTA got the lead role on Cermak (apparently to get federal New Start money, although they say that that project is more complicated), and how, as I indicated, TSP on Halsted and 159th was a first step down that route. The separate branding of the buses was also interesting, again supporting my surmise that the budget for 22 40 foot buses, while ostensibly to replace the Nova Classics, actually may be to get 42BRTs.

Although not on the first list, there was still chawing about Harlem connecting "the north with the south," which, if the original thought of Glenview to Tinley Park is still in force, would involve overlapping CTA, where Pace already complained about CTA overlapping it. I also am reminded about a prior post about the difference between Street and Avenue, and apparently this consultant couldn't figure that out ("Harlem Street," "Halsted Avenue").

Not on this subject, but one can determine from the presentation on paratransit demographics who the typical paratransit rider is (resulting in a stereotype being confirmed).

[rotjohns]

The February Minutes document the discussion about ART or BRT, including how the RTA got the lead role on Cermak (apparently to get federal New Start money, although they say that that project is more complicated), and how, as I indicated, TSP on Halsted and 159th was a first step down that route. The separate branding of the buses was also interesting, again supporting my surmise that the budget for 22 40 foot buses, while ostensibly to replace the Nova Classics, actually may be to get 42BRTs.

Although not on the first list, there was still chawing about Harlem connecting "the north with the south," which, if the original thought of Glenview to Tinley Park is still in force, would involve overlapping CTA, where Pace already complained about CTA overlapping it. I also am reminded about a prior post about the difference between Street and Avenue, and apparently this consultant couldn't figure that out ("Harlem Street," "Halsted Avenue").

Not on this subject, but one can determine from the presentation on paratransit demographics who the typical paratransit rider is (resulting in a stereotype being confirmed).

So could it be conceivably possible that Pace is looking to replace the Novas and Orions (and maybe even the 1999 Nabis in the near future) with only 30 footers and any 40 footers that come in this year and in the future would be used strictly on BRT with the exception of heavier routes? So that would mean major bus shuffling amongst the entire system, similar to what CTA did? It really goes back to another thread where it was said and I concurred that Pace needs to fix what's currently in front of them and not try to implement new stuff until the comfort level is there to do it. I'm sure the March minutes will probably focus on that heavily given the debacle of the 655 and 889, but who knows.

[Busjack]

So could it be conceivably possible that Pace is looking to replace the Novas and Orions (and maybe even the 1999 Nabis in the near future) with only 30 footers and any 40 footers that come in this year and in the future would be used strictly on BRT with the exception of heavier routes? So that would mean major bus shuffling amongst the entire system, similar to what CTA did? It really goes back to another thread where it was said and I concurred that Pace needs to fix what's currently in front of them and not try to implement new stuff until the comfort level is there to do it. I'm sure the March minutes will probably focus on that heavily given the debacle of the 655 and 889, but who knows.

...

I believe Pace should be looking for more 40 ft buses and the Eldorados and phase out the 35 ft NABIs.

The budget (for what it is worth) indicates that after the 58, that's that for the 30 footers. The five year plan seems only 40 footers, and seems to cover both 35 and 40 foot buses meeting their service life end at that point.

I was just commenting on the "separate branding" issue.

Update: I gave this a bit more thought. Obviously, there was the list of those that could run 30 footers. I don't have Pace's "top ten routes" list, but one can assume that 6 of them are on the initial BRT list, and others (such as 290) would qualify. That leaves a middle, such as 223, 606, 631, that need 40 footers, but, for one reason or another (such as 223 and 606 being partially express, as well as some school trips), don't fit a BRT profile. The question then would be how big that middle is.

Basically, though, it looks like Pace has to reach the equipment issue, first in 2011 for the 53 buses acquired in 1999, and then not until 2015 for the bulk of the buses acquired in 2003, since I am assuming that the 58 stimulus buses take care of the last of the high floor ones.

[west towns]

I'm sure the March minutes will probably focus on that heavily given the debacle of the 655 and 889, but who knows.

Based on Pace's press release, it would seem they would come out smelling like roses as doing the right thing to save money in these economic times by 'suspending' service