Pace Market Surveys

[Busjack]

I noted on the Current/In Process Bids page that there is a listing for Market Analysis for Harlem, West Cook, and NW Cook.

While this clearly is for a market survey consultant, not restructuring, it appears to be a precursor to such. Anyway, I downloaded the request, and noted:

• The Harlem one is from Patriot Blvd. and Willow to 183rd and Harlem. Hence, the BRT proposal is still alive, even though it still suffers from the flaw I noted about 4 years ago that it involves CTA territory, and the controversy regarding overlap when 90-Harlem was extended to the Green Line. If the rationale for that was that people south of Grand Ave. wanted to get to the Harlem/Higgins Blue Line, then that rationale would be shot if the eventual aim were implemented by Pace. Hence, this is a study that should have been undertaken by the RTA, but we know won't. You can also add to that that since 423 is now pretty much all ElDorado, isn't that already an indication that the demand is not there north of Higgins?
• The other two surveys have some overlap with previous restructurings (i.e. the West one has as one corner of the defined territory, 79th and Cicero). More significant is that the NW one's boundaries are the North Central Line (probably better to think of it as U.S. 45, Mannheim and River Roads), Willow Road, the Kennedy Expressway, and Edens Expressway. However, most of the latter was already covered by the North Shore restructuring. Maybe restricting it to south of Willow leaves out 422, but putting the line at the NCS means that Des Plaines is split, and the Northwest Cook panhandle is completely ignored. That doesn't make sense to me.

At least it does not appear that the "ask the preachers" first method is the first step here, as it was in South.