Morgan Green/Pink station....

[qwantae]

The Morgan Station is OFFICIALLY OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, Friday May 18th, 2012 is the date, i will have the timetables uploaded this weekend

YAAAEEEE!!!!!!!!!

[jajuan]

The Morgan Station is OFFICIALLY OPEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah, Friday May 18th, 2012 is the date, i will have the timetables uploaded this weekend

Yes indeed it is open. Passed through it this morning on the Pink Line on my way to get a Purple Line Express. It is a nice station though in some ways it had a clinical feel to it and felt like something missing.

[dauber]

I saw on Facebook that the Red Eye reported the station was open "to no fanfare." Had I known that I wouldn't have driven to work today! (My wife and I are a one-car family, and she usually needs the car for her job, but she was off today.)

Regarding the prior comment about how this won't save commuting time...I don't quite understand that. I live in Andersonville. The commute to work as it is is a NIGHTMARE. Trying to get the Halsted bus at North & Clybourn is a challenge itself -- my rule is, track the bus right before the train dips into the tunnel after Armitage. Then, subtract 5 minutes from the number of minutes it reports for the Halsted bus. That's how much time you ACTUALLY have to get to it. Chances are the bus is jammed and you can't fit.

If you CAN fit in the bus, you can bet that it will stop at EFS*. And with the construction on Halsted, that just makes things worse. And after I get off at Washington/Randolph, I still have to walk an additional two blocks to Morgan.

Or I can stay in the Red Line until Monroe and grab a Madison bus. Hand to God, they time the bus so that just as I'm getting out of the subway, there's a bus at the stop that takes off, with the next one nine minutes away. It NEVER fails.

Or there's another alternative...transfer to the Brown Line at Fullerton. Three advantages: 1) The Brown Line is much cleaner than the Red Line. 2) It's elevated at that point; I HATE the State Street subway. 3) I can get off at Washington and Wells, two blocks closer than where I'd be if I'd stayed on the Red Line.

But the problem...the Madison bus is also ungodly slow. So much stop and go (mostly stop). Honestly, my bus rides now going from either State or Wells to Morgan are now just as long as my Red Line rides from Bryn Mawr. It's terrible.

But dig this...get off the Red Line train at Lake Street. Go upstairs, grab the Green Line west bound. No traffic lights. No road construction getting in the way. Just THREE STOPS -- Clark/Lake, Clinton, and Morgan -- instead of having to deal with traffic lights, traffic, the bus having to stop because someone's running for it right when it takes off, constant construction downtown, cab drivers downtown wreaking havoc, the possibility of all the stops the bus would have to make to discharge or unload passengers (Wacker, Wells, Clark, Franklin, Halsted, Peoria, Clinton, Jefferson, etc) and whatever else have you.

Or if I do my Brown Line switch, I can get off at Washington and Wells and grab the next Pink Line train. Or I can transfer to the Purple Line and then switch at Clark & Lake. Either way, that's only two stops.

How is that NOT better?

* EFS = "every stop"

[westing]

I think this new station might offer the impression of reduced travel times for a commute from the north side but looking at estimated times make the benefit marginal at best. Google estimates taking the Red line to the Halsted bus from Andersonville and walking to Morgan at 54 minutes. Using the Red and transferting to the Green is estimated at 49 (Morgan is not listed yet so I'm adding a minute from the estimates to get to Clinton).

The transfer at Lake, much like the bus experiences, is not very appealing. Lake is terribly busy during rush hour and depending on the car you exit might take another minute to leave the station, not sure if Google includes that in their estimate. Then there is the walk across the street and waiting at State/Lake which has to be the most depressing station in the system. If you are able to get a Green Line really quick you might make the estimated time.

The Halsted bus wouldn't be so bad if the route had artics and the diversion around the bridge construction was done. There were usually several days in any week when I caught the bus in the morning without being crush loaded and found the ride to be fairly quick and comfortable. It's much easier to remember the awful experiences that make the ride miserable but they are not always that bad. The estimated time using the bus also accounts for the diversion, without that lets assume it takes about 4 minutes off conservatively. That leaves us at 50 vs. 49 for the train. Keep in mind these are ideal figures and nothing ideal happens too frequently on transit.

For riders in Lakeview or Lincoln Park the Halsted bus would still be a good option since it's likely you could get a seat the closer you get to the start of the line and the offering of a one-seat ride usually trumps any marginal improvement in travel times.

Perhaps the greatest benefit Morgan brings to north siders is not a huge reduction of travel time but a reduction in stress. Removing buses from a commute makes things smoother. Also, the Halsted bus going north didn't have a shelter and walking along Lake street is not very inviting at night, so Morgan would be a better alternative in each situation.

[Busjack]

Google estimates ...

I'm sure that has nothing to do with reality; based, possibly, at best, on the BusTracker estimating program.

Maybe someone can get Adham to run the route, if he can get some publicity.

[sw4400]

my rule is, track the bus right before the train dips into the tunnel after Armitage. Then, subtract 5 minutes from the number of minutes it reports for the Halsted bus. That's how much time you ACTUALLY have to get to it. Chances are the bus is jammed and you can't fit.

If you CAN fit in the bus, you can bet that it will stop at EFS*. And with the construction on Halsted, that just makes things worse. And after I get off at Washington/Randolph, I still have to walk an additional two blocks to Morgan.

Or I can stay in the Red Line until Monroe and grab a Madison bus. Hand to God, they time the bus so that just as I'm getting out of the subway, there's a bus at the stop that takes off, with the next one nine minutes away. It NEVER fails.

Or there's another alternative...transfer to the Brown Line at Fullerton. Three advantages: 1) The Brown Line is much cleaner than the Red Line. 2) It's elevated at that point; I HATE the State Street subway. 3) I can get off at Washington and Wells, two blocks closer than where I'd be if I'd stayed on the Red Line.

But the problem...the Madison bus is also ungodly slow. So much stop and go (mostly stop). Honestly, my bus rides now going from either State or Wells to Morgan are now just as long as my Red Line rides from Bryn Mawr. It's terrible.

But dig this...get off the Red Line train at Lake Street. Go upstairs, grab the Green Line west bound. No traffic lights. No road construction getting in the way. Just THREE STOPS -- Clark/Lake, Clinton, and Morgan -- instead of having to deal with traffic lights, traffic, the bus having to stop because someone's running for it right when it takes off, constant construction downtown, cab drivers downtown wreaking havoc, the possibility of all the stops the bus would have to make to discharge or unload passengers (Wacker, Wells, Clark, Franklin, Halsted, Peoria, Clinton, Jefferson, etc) and whatever else have you.

Or if I do my Brown Line switch, I can get off at Washington and Wells and grab the next Pink Line train. Or I can transfer to the Purple Line and then switch at Clark & Lake. Either way, that's only two stops.

How is that NOT better?

Enough said....

You make a good point, dauber. You are mentioning yourmultiple transit options and I'm not knocking the post, I just couldn't resist the sound effect because of how the transit options for you are literately all over the place. It's like if we had a customer who wanted beans but didn't like the canned store brand because of the salt content, didn't like the Green Giant brand because they cut them in a way he/she dislikes, didn't like the dried beans because he/she has to add water, and then they have to buy water because they hate tap water and can't buy store brand because it tastes funny, and the Hinkley Springs brand isn't distilled enough for them. But I digress... it's a great post, just caught me off guard with all the options you mentioned. I'm reading one, and see the other, then the other, etc...

[See Tea Eh]

The Halsted bus wouldn't be so bad if the route had artics and the diversion around the bridge construction was done.

The diversion has been over with for a few weeks now. No more detours, but there is some other construction on Halsted north of Lake Street that reduces lane capacity. That's probably adding to congestion, but I haven't been up that way during rush hour to really see how bad it gets. Last time I rode through there was a week and a half ago in the evening.

[dauber]

Yes, indeed, I agree with Busjack...and I don't know whether to sigh and shake my head or laugh at everybody who likes to dispute something because of SCHEDULES. (cf. my previous argument for moving the Purple Line -- or at least SOME other train -- to the outer loop) Schedules say one thing; reality tells you another thing.

Sure, Google estimates 54 minutes with a bus. That would be wonderful -- if it were true. The truth is I have absolutely NO HOPE of being to work on time (9:00) if I'm not in a Red Line train at Bryn Mawr BEFORE 8:00am, and my job is practically next-door to the Greek Line Morgan stop. (See what I did there? Green + Pink = Greek -- very fitting considering Greek Town is so close!)

Now...today I was extremely behind -- didn't get into the Red Line until 8:24. Switched to the Brown Line at Fullerton. Got delayed at Sedgwick for ten minutes. Got delayed again at Merch Mart for another 10 minutes. Switched to the Pink Line at Washington & Wells, slight delay - maybe about ten seconds -- due to "signal clearance," which at that point to me means, "Sure, we can go, but we'll ram right into a Brown or Purple." Got off at Morgan, and got into the office at 9:15.

@ sw4400 -- yes, the transit options are all over the place, but the bus options have made my life miserable for the past couple of years. Hoping the Morgan stop will ease things a little.

[Busjack]

This past weekend they installed those same train tracker signs I was happy with at Oakton.

The home page has a link to Grid Chicago, which gives the explanation that supports what BusHunter was saying about Titan vs. this type of sign.