If I ran Transit for one day...

[BusExpert32]

1) Would merging the 84 and 85A be viable? Or extending the 85 to Central/Caldwell?

2) Service on Kedzie from Howard/McCormick to Ogden/Washetnaw?

No point of changing the 85, especially to Caldwell?!. It's Forest Glen's garage feeder that takes drivers to FG's east-west routes.

[Guest]

If I ran CTA, very simple! I would make sure the bus and rail service CTA provides plus all bus and rail equipment whether new or aged, is distributed equally to all parts of the city so that riders all over Chicago will be entitled to the same level of service and equipment! Clearly that's not what were seeing today!

I would restore all "X" express bus service. In addition, add more routes as needed. Eliminate the BRT plan in favor of express bus service along the busiest routes providing the streets are adequate. Use only articulated buses for express service while locals run with 40ft equipment.

Eliminate the ridiculously stupid $5.00 surcharge for riders coming in from OHare Airport.

Start up express bus service from the Rosemont/CTA Blue Line station along the NW tollway to Rockford connecting with the Rockford Mass Transit System(RMTD) at its newly constructed Eastside Transit Center just off I-90 on Lyford Rd. in Rockford.

[strictures]

If I ran CTA, very simple concept! I would make sure the bus and rail service CTA provides plus all bus and rail equipment whether new or aged, is distributed equally to all parts of the city so that riders all over the city can have the same level of service and equipment! Clearly that's not what were seeing today!

What do you say is misdistributed?

I see there are far too few runs on Clark. Before the cutbacks of three years ago, was the first time in my life that Clark actually managed to run properly.

Of course, with the lunatic aldermen adding a stop sign to every single intersection that doesn't have a traffic light from Montrose to Bryn Mawr, the bus now runs unbelievably slow due to half mile backups due to the stop signs.

Just last week, yet another stop sign was added at Clark/Gregory, which is a T intersection that had a pair of the "Stop For Pedestrian" signs & just about every car did stop for pedestrians there.

The city pulled that crap about 8-10 years ago with the insane idea of removing the traffic lights at Clark/Bryn Mawr & Clark/Balmoral. What was supposed to be a 4 month test ended after about two weeks due to mile long backups in the rush hour.

I'm waiting for the inevitable disaster when the street is totally clogged with cars & the fire department can't get through & people die. Maybe then the idiots in traffic engineering will realize you can't do this on such an important arterial street!

As for the other changes I would make, turn the seats on the 5000s, which could be done for the seats at the car ends quickly & change the seats on 4150 & up. Those are even worse than the 5000 seats.

Then bring back all the X routes, but get sensible with the X80 when the Cubs play. I was on one & it took 15 minutes to get from the Irving Park Brown Line station to Clark, because they have the cops or the incredibly useless traffic control fools let NB Clark go for up to 10 minutes, thus blocking Irving Park for 10 minutes.

[Busjack]

1) Would merging the 84 and 85A be viable? Or extending the 85 to Central/Caldwell?

2) Service on Kedzie from Howard/McCormick to Ogden/Washetnaw?

No point of changing the 85, especially to Caldwell?!. It's Forest Glen's garage feeder that takes drivers to FG's east-west routes.

Reference was to 85A, not 85.

However, 84 is a fairly heavy route (not as heavy as say 155), while 85A is extremely light (was run with Optimas until the decision to get rid of them). If one wanted to argue anything, they could have killed 85A and given it to Pace 225/226, just like what they did with 56A.

Similarly, a through Kedzie bus has been argued before (apparently no demand for an 82A when 82 is 2 blocks away), but the part of 11 that's left is only there because there is light demand in that area, mostly to get to Target on Howard (even though it does not pull in). Besides duplicating most of 52, people in West Rogers Park have no inclination to go to Mt. Sinai Hospital.

One has to again consider that the emphasis (especially with the Crowd Reduction Plan) has been to consolidate bus service, and, of course the Community Guideline that justification for any change is necessary, Mt. Sinai Hospital needed some sort of service, for instance, but that doesn't justify a duplicative line through the length of the city.

[Busjack]

The viaduct is going to get replaced once Metra finishes the current bridge project in Lakeview & the south part of West Edgewater, so buses wouldn't have a problem negotiating a new, angled viaduct. Plus, the Red Line is only a mile away from Western at Howard, most of the rest of the way, it's 1.75 miles away.

So they should really speed it up, but instead of Metra's piecemeal plan of replacing one track at a time, do all three tracks at once, the same way the CTA has done the two track Evanston bridge replacements.

CTA has managed to do them in a weekend & even managed two in one weekend a couple of years ago.

I know the people on the North Shore would scream bloody murder, but if I was running the bridge replacements for Metra, I'd shut down the UP North for 30-45 days & replace every single bridge at once, especially that insanity at Ashland.

The Metra Budget (page 52) says that 33,700 ride the UPN on an average weekday. Also, my understanding of the project is not just they they are going to shove one bridge structure out of the way and roll in a new one, but they are replacing the city part of the line.

A couple of years ago, they tried single track in preparation for the project and had to kill that. So, why don't you give us real engineering expertise, and tell us HOW IS THIS SUPPOSED TO WORK? Do you have enough buses for 33,000 commuters?

[Busjack]

What do you say is misdistributed?

...

If you had been reading along, his justified perception that all old buses and all old train cars are on the northwest side.

...

Of course, with the lunatic aldermen adding a stop sign to every single intersection that doesn't have a traffic light from Montrose to Bryn Mawr, the bus now runs unbelievably slow due to half mile backups due to the stop signs.

....

I'm waiting for the inevitable disaster when the street is totally clogged with cars & the fire department can't get through & people die. Maybe then the idiots in traffic engineering will realize you can't do this on such an important arterial street!

....

Not sure how much the alderman is involved, but that seems like part of Emanuel's plan of making the streets unusable for vehicular traffic all over the city (same done to East 55th). As I mentioned before, it will be impossible to bring back the X55 unless they paint over all the bike lanes, parking lanes, and crosswalks with those state law signs in the middle of the blocks.

[MetroShadow]

The viaduct is going to get replaced once Metra finishes the current bridge project in Lakeview & the south part of West Edgewater, so buses wouldn't have a problem negotiating a new, angled viaduct. Plus, the Red Line is only a mile away from Western at Howard, most of the rest of the way, it's 1.75 miles away.

So they should really speed it up, but instead of Metra's piecemeal plan of replacing one track at a time, do all three tracks at once, the same way the CTA has done the two track Evanston bridge replacements.

CTA has managed to do them in a weekend & even managed two in one weekend a couple of years ago.

I know the people on the North Shore would scream bloody murder, but if I was running the bridge replacements for Metra, I'd shut down the UP North for 30-45 days & replace every single bridge at once, especially that insanity at Ashland.

Your proposal not only doesn't address the issue of commuter alternatives, but doesn't address the turns after the bridge is complete. The amount of turning space after the fact is still tight and buses would still have a hard time getting through. See the attachment.

[strictures]

If you had been reading along, his justified perception that all old buses and all old train cars are on the northwest side.

Not sure how much the alderman is involved, but that seems like part of Emanuel's plan of making the streets unusable for vehicular traffic all over the city (same done to East 55th). As I mentioned before, it will be impossible to bring back the X55 unless they paint over all the bike lanes, parking lanes, and crosswalks with those state law signs in the middle of the blocks.

Stop signs are put up on arterial streets, unless the alderman requests it.

[Busjack]

Your proposal not only doesn't address the issue of commuter alternatives, but doesn't address the turns after the bridge is complete. The amount of turning space after the fact is still tight and buses would still have a hard time getting through. See the attachment.

When I lived on Ridge, I thought about it, but not very seriously. As indicated, the alternative was taking the 155 bus to Loyola.

[Busjack]

Stop signs are put up on arterial streets, unless the alderman requests it.

Are or aren't?

If you take something like Halsted south of 95th, there is a stop sign on almost every main cross street that doesn't have a traffic light. I'm surprised that Emanuel hasn't figured out a way to put "red light" cameras on the stop signs. I'm sure it could be done.

[NewFlyerMCI]

Combining the west portion of 112 and 111 and then abolishing the 112. Create a (32) Vincennes from 69th/Red Line to 127th/Kedzie (Blue Isd.) with short turns as 117th/Marshfield (current terminus for 111 and 115) OR 95th/Red Line to 127th/Kedzie. I could possibly see some use, with the bus running a 30-esque schedule and some use by students who attend school in the loop and surrounding area. However, I do also realize that that might be a duplication of service (Metra Rock Island)

[NewFlyerMCI]

What do you say is misdistributed?

I see there are far too few runs on Clark. Before the cutbacks of three years ago, was the first time in my life that Clark actually managed to run properly.

Of course, with the lunatic aldermen adding a stop sign to every single intersection that doesn't have a traffic light from Montrose to Bryn Mawr, the bus now runs unbelievably slow due to half mile backups due to the stop signs.

Just last week, yet another stop sign was added at Clark/Gregory, which is a T intersection that had a pair of the "Stop For Pedestrian" signs & just about every car did stop for pedestrians there.

The city pulled that crap about 8-10 years ago with the insane idea of removing the traffic lights at Clark/Bryn Mawr & Clark/Balmoral. What was supposed to be a 4 month test ended after about two weeks due to mile long backups in the rush hour.

I'm waiting for the inevitable disaster when the street is totally clogged with cars & the fire department can't get through & people die. Maybe then the idiots in traffic engineering will realize you can't do this on such an important arterial street!

As for the other changes I would make, turn the seats on the 5000s, which could be done for the seats at the car ends quickly & change the seats on 4150 & up. Those are even worse than the 5000 seats.

Then bring back all the X routes, but get sensible with the X80 when the Cubs play. I was on one & it took 15 minutes to get from the Irving Park Brown Line station to Clark, because they have the cops or the incredibly useless traffic control fools let NB Clark go for up to 10 minutes, thus blocking Irving Park for 10 minutes.

I agree with changing the aisle-facing seats on the buses. It, in my opinion makes it worse, because you have more standing passengers which is more dangerous than sitting passengers. I have no feelings about seating placement on the train, but they do need to have a dedicated cleaning staff, especially on the Red and Blue lines. I boarded the train the other day at Loyola and two seats were filled to the brim in throw-up

I still say new buses should be ordered, placed/redistributed to other yards. I passed by 77th today to confirm some saying about them losing their artics and they were correct; the only one left was 4052. Routes 3, 4, 8 and 79 all run out of 77th and dearly need artics in my opinion. 74th needs them too for the 9 and 49. Kedzie could afford some more for the 82, since the 66 and 151 seem pretty set. Chicago needs some for the 53 and Forest Glen (needs a new fleet entirely) needs some for the 77.

[andrethebusman]

Instead of extending the 155, I'd rather see in the short term, extending the 53 to Devon Kedzie.

The only reason the 53 ends at Peterson/Pulaski was that the C&NW Mayfair cutoff crossed Pulaski at grade & Surface Lines didn't want grade crossings on streetcar lines except in unusual circumstances. Such as where the 22 crossed the Milwaukee Road Seminary Ave. branch by Wrigley Field.

I would also extend the 50 north on Ridge to Howard/Western. It's mostly a mile between N/S routes north of Foster.

Actually a better reason 53 ended at Bryn Mawr (not Peterson) in streetcar days was that when that line was built in the 1910's, the big traffic generators were the cemeteries, with the Municipal TB Sanitarium and Chicago Parental School(a reform school, as I understand) and north of Bryn Mawr was basically nothing but open fields, into the 1940's. Remember, Skokie had probably a couple of hundred residents at the end of WW2.

[andrethebusman]

7th: Condense 95W/95E/100 into single (95) route btwn Chicago Ridge Mall and 112th/Ave C and rush hour short turns between 95th/Western and 106th/Mackinaw

95th was split because at the time riding on the west half was much, much heavier than the east with weekend service between Ryan and Evergreen Plaza being of the 4 to 6 minute variety in November and December. Well, Evergreen Plaza is abandoned, and while there are Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Meijers on the other side of the 95th, they are nowhere near as much a transit destination as EP was.

[strictures]

I agree with changing the aisle-facing seats on the buses. It, in my opinion makes it worse, because you have more standing passengers which is more dangerous than sitting passengers. I have no feelings about seating placement on the train, but they do need to have a dedicated cleaning staff, especially on the Red and Blue lines. I boarded the train the other day at Loyola and two seats were filled to the brim in throw-up

I still say new buses should be ordered, placed/redistributed to other yards. I passed by 77th today to confirm some saying about them losing their artics and they were correct; the only one left was 4052. Routes 3, 4, 8 and 79 all run out of 77th and dearly need artics in my opinion. 74th needs them too for the 9 and 49. Kedzie could afford some more for the 82, since the 66 and 151 seem pretty set. Chicago needs some for the 53 and Forest Glen (needs a new fleet entirely) needs some for the 77.

4 not only needs artics, it just needs more runs. Cut the runs on the 3 & transfer them to 4. Whenever I see them NB at Roosevelt, the 3 is packed & the 4 not so packed. I'm guessing some of this is due to the 4 running only a long block from the Green Line from 63rd north.

[Busjack]

Combining the west portion of 112 and 111 and then abolishing the 112. Create a (32) Vincennes from 69th/Red Line to 127th/Kedzie (Blue Isd.) with short turns as 117th/Marshfield (current terminus for 111 and 115) OR 95th/Red Line to 127th/Kedzie. I could possibly see some use, with the bus running a 30-esque schedule and some use by students who attend school in the loop and surrounding area. However, I do also realize that that might be a duplication of service (Metra Rock Island)

Again, people are playing with the map without any concept of the area.

In the general case of Beverly, the part in the city is Mike Madigan's district, and if you don't think the politicians out there would have demanded service if it were necessary, you are acting foolish. They, unlike Pawar, actually have clout.

127th is essentially Pace territory (route 348).

You could merge 111/112 if the 111/Stewart station was built on the Red Line. However, the point of the current routes of 111 (in the Crowd Reduction Plan) and 112 (used to go to 79-Halsted, or thereabouts, and Andre was going to tell you, at one point part of the Halsted line) was to get riders to the 95th Red Line station. You want to anger those people?

[artthouwill]

Combining the west portion of 112 and 111 and then abolishing the 112. Create a (32) Vincennes from 69th/Red Line to 127th/Kedzie (Blue Isd.) with short turns as 117th/Marshfield (current terminus for 111 and 115) OR 95th/Red Line to 127th/Kedzie. I could possibly see some use, with the bus running a 30-esque schedule and some use by students who attend school in the loop and surrounding area. However, I do also realize that that might be a duplication of service (Metra Rock Island)

There are two problems with this. First, you are taking away the quickest connection for those residents and Morgan Park High School to get to the 95th/Red Line. The second problem is that there was low ridership connecting the southern portion of Vincennes to the northern portion of Vincennes. The 24 Wentworth used to run along Vincennes between Wentworth and 103rd, but was scaled back to 79th/Perry. Rush hour trips were extended to 87th/Racine, primarily to serve Simeon High School. Apparently there was little ridership along Vincennes among Julian High School students to justify service along Vincennes north of 95th, I believe there are school trippers from Julian along the 8A that would serve any students that lived that way.

[artthouwill]

4 not only needs artics, it just needs more runs. Cut the runs on the 3 & transfer them to 4. Whenever I see them NB at Roosevelt, the 3 is packed & the 4 not so packed. I'm guessing some of this is due to the 4 running only a long block from the Green Line from 63rd north.

You have to remember that the 3 runs all the way to Chicago Ave and the 4 terminates at Randolph. Also keep in mind that during ther rush periods, the 1 Bronzeville/Union Station route supplements the 4 north of 35th street to Jackson. Also keep in mind the residential density is higher on King Drive north of 35th (Lake Meadows, Prairie Shores) than along Michigan/Indiana (South Commons).

[Busjack]

4 not only needs artics, it just needs more runs. Cut the runs on the 3 & transfer them to 4. Whenever I see them NB at Roosevelt, the 3 is packed & the 4 not so packed. I'm guessing some of this is due to the 4 running only a long block from the Green Line from 63rd north.

Only point where that's the case is north of 35th, where 4 took over what was 1, for the most part. Otherwise, the L is at 300 East, King Dr, is 400 East, and Cottage Grove is 800 East. Also, Washington Park separates King Dr. and Cottage Grove south of 51st.

You have to remember that the 3 runs all the way to Chicago Ave and the 4 terminates at Randolph. Also keep in mind that during ther rush periods, the 1 Bronzeville/Union Station route supplements the 4 north of 35th street to Jackson. Also keep in mind the residential density is higher on King Drive north of 35th (Lake Meadows, Prairie Shores) than along Michigan/Indiana (South Commons).

As art implies, the real function of 3 and 4 is serving the residential areas on the south side. The issue probably is how many get on each route north of say, 59th.

To the extent the argument is based on who uses the buses to ride through downtown, I'm not sure how CTA picks the terminals. For instance, at one point nothing from the south side ran north of Wacker, and nothing from the north side ran south of Congress, and solely downtown routes such as 149 Michigan-State-Wacker served the Soldier Field area. At some time, someone decided to kill many of the downtown shuttles and extend 3 and 146. However, with the various restructurings, I can't figure out (except historically) why 6 Jackson Park Express still ends at Wacker-Michigan formerly used by 6 Jeffery Express, etc. The only one where a rationale was given was X28,which was originally to the Illinois Medical District, but apparently that didn't work, as it was cut back to Union Station. I can see why someone from the south side might want to get to IMD, but I can't see a rider coming from south of 67th having any preference between Illinois Center, Ogilvie or Union Station, or Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Fairbanks-Ontario).

At one time, I thought that the frequency on 3 was inadequate, but now it is better than on 4.

[BusHunter]

Currently I would try to retire as many ex 77th #6400's as I could. I would gather what's left for the oldest equipment and send it to the next garage to get #8000's. I would do this right before they start getting the new buses, then all those would retire. I would try to get FG 60 #1000's to help in any bus shortages due to old equipment this winter.

For the #5000's, I would try to put as many seats non longitudinal as I could. I was looking at a MTA transit video and they actually have a car (orange seats) that has 4 sets of 2x2 seating so this has actually less longitudinal seating than the #5000's!!

I would try to get a few more elevators on the O'Hare branch maybe one more in each section. (Milwaukee elevated, Kimball subway, Kennedy, and Dearborn subway) if money were an issue I would swap two subway stations for open air stations. I would try to make all the recently rehabbed stations have doors so they could be warmer places for people to wait for the bus. I would get Bustracker displays or just the info into all "L" stations so people are informed when the bus comes that connects to it. I would put this in the bus waiting areas or in the station mezzanines.

Then yes I would restore X service and expand it under the #X80, #X55, #X9 model of more express less locals. I would order some more artics for those routes.

Lastly I would try to mix the #5000's with the #2600's and try to make the #2600's my back up fleet running mostly in the rush hour. This would only happen on the Red and Blue lines and possibly could happen on the Brown if I made the Orange and Brown line one line which could be possible. I would also put all evanston express' as #2600's. Only the shuttles would get #5000's about 30 cars. Green,Yellow, Pink would remain all #5000.

[artthouwill]

Only point where that's the case is north of 35th, where 4 took over what was 1, for the most part. Otherwise, the L is at 300 East, King Dr, is 400 East, and Cottage Grove is 800 East. Also, Washington Park separates King Dr. and Cottage Grove south of 51st.

As art implies, the real function of 3 and 4 is serving the residential areas on the south side. The issue probably is how many get on each route north of say, 59th.

To the extent the argument is based on who uses the buses to ride through downtown, I'm not sure how CTA picks the terminals. For instance, at one point nothing from the south side ran north of Wacker, and nothing from the north side ran south of Congress, and solely downtown routes such as 149 Michigan-State-Wacker served the Soldier Field area. At some time, someone decided to kill many of the downtown shuttles and extend 3 and 146. However, with the various restructurings, I can't figure out (except historically) why 6 Jackson Park Express still ends at Wacker-Michigan formerly used by 6 Jeffery Express, etc. The only one where a rationale was given was X28,which was originally to the Illinois Medical District, but apparently that didn't work, as it was cut back to Union Station. I can see why someone from the south side might want to get to IMD, but I can't see a rider coming from south of 67th having any preference between Illinois Center, Ogilvie or Union Station, or Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Fairbanks-Ontario).

At one time, I thought that the frequency on 3 was inadequate, but now it is better than on 4.

In regards to the 3, that route was extended to Chicago Ave and Northwestern Hospital (along with the 3 Limed or X3) when the local was rerouted via Indiana between 16th and Roosevelt.

[strictures]

Only point where that's the case is north of 35th, where 4 took over what was 1, for the most part. Otherwise, the L is at 300 East, King Dr, is 400 East, and Cottage Grove is 800 East. Also, Washington Park separates King Dr. and Cottage Grove south of 51st.

As art implies, the real function of 3 and 4 is serving the residential areas on the south side. The issue probably is how many get on each route north of say, 59th.

To the extent the argument is based on who uses the buses to ride through downtown, I'm not sure how CTA picks the terminals. For instance, at one point nothing from the south side ran north of Wacker, and nothing from the north side ran south of Congress, and solely downtown routes such as 149 Michigan-State-Wacker served the Soldier Field area. At some time, someone decided to kill many of the downtown shuttles and extend 3 and 146. However, with the various restructurings, I can't figure out (except historically) why 6 Jackson Park Express still ends at Wacker-Michigan formerly used by 6 Jeffery Express, etc. The only one where a rationale was given was X28,which was originally to the Illinois Medical District, but apparently that didn't work, as it was cut back to Union Station. I can see why someone from the south side might want to get to IMD, but I can't see a rider coming from south of 67th having any preference between Illinois Center, Ogilvie or Union Station, or Northwestern Memorial Hospital (Fairbanks-Ontario).

At one time, I thought that the frequency on 3 was inadequate, but now it is better than on 4.

I ride the 4 from 63rd north or from 55th south to U of Chicago Hospital. It's always bunched there & they're always packed & not that many get off at the hospital.

[NewFlyerMCI]

I never quite understood why that section of Indiana from Roosevelt to 16th needed bus service when there was Michigan, a block away with no fewer than 4 bus routes, then three (129 canceled) and then 2 regular ones (3, 4) and 1 rush hour service (1). The 12 ending at Museum Campus, was a good idea, in my opinion, and I have believed that the 18 should end their as well. The campus is currently isolated when there is no 130 service and since, during rush hour, the 146 makes a lot of turnarounds at Roosevelt, leaving employees waiting 20-35 for bus service to the campus.

I would also try to get access for the south Lake Shore Drive buses to utilize the "Bat Cave" (The McCormick Place Busway). There could possibly be stations built juxtaposed with the Metra Stations, whereupon, if heading south, buses could rejoin LSD at 31st.

I would extend the brown line (although there is no space to build) to connect with Jefferson Park Blue Line

Blue or rather, Green Line extension to Oakbrook

Blue line extension Schaumburg or Yellow Line Extension to Schaumburg via Old Orchard

Does anyone think that the "South Lakefront Service", which converts Metra Electric South Shore Branch to CTA service is a good idea?

[Busjack]

...

Does anyone think that the "South Lakefront Service", which converts Metra Electric South Shore Branch to CTA service is a good idea?

It might have been a good idea 15 years ago, but its advocate, not realizing the political obstacles involved, became a political obstacle, and it is now dead.

Last nail in the coffin was during the Red Line South closure, where basically neither CTA nor Metra offered a joint fare, all CTA offered was a 5 day CTA pass instead of a 7 day one, if you bought a regular fare Metra pass.

[strictures]

I never quite understood why that section of Indiana from Roosevelt to 16th needed bus service when there was Michigan, a block away with no fewer than 4 bus routes, then three (129 canceled) and then 2 regular ones (3, 4) and 1 rush hour service (1). The 12 ending at Museum Campus, was a good idea, in my opinion, and I have believed that the 18 should end their as well. The campus is currently isolated when there is no 130 service and since, during rush hour, the 146 makes a lot of turnarounds at Roosevelt, leaving employees waiting 20-35 for bus service to the campus.

I would also try to get access for the south Lake Shore Drive buses to utilize the "Bat Cave" (The McCormick Place Busway). There could possibly be stations built juxtaposed with the Metra Stations, whereupon, if heading south, buses could rejoin LSD at 31st.

I would extend the brown line (although there is no space to build) to connect with Jefferson Park Blue Line

Blue or rather, Green Line extension to Oakbrook

Blue line extension Schaumburg or Yellow Line Extension to Schaumburg via Old Orchard

Does anyone think that the "South Lakefront Service", which converts Metra Electric South Shore Branch to CTA service is a good idea?

Schaumburg officials have previously stated they want the Blue extended all the way out there.

The original plan for the old Jackson Park/Englewood lines was to move them to the IC Mainline tracks & go to Kensington [115th] once the Dan Ryan Line was finished. It never happened & then Daley let the South Side ministers talk him into rehabbing the JP/Englewood into the Green Line, which really goes to nowhere & ends in nowhere, both branches. Not to the U of Chicago campus or the Museum of Science & Industry.

But if & when the CN actually abandons the St. Charles Airline, I'd like to see the CTA buy it & preserve it as a possible direct rail route to McCormick Place & the Museum campus.