If I ran Transit for one day...

[Busjack]

...

Next, I'd permanently cancel the ridiculous plans for the Yellow Line extension and Orange Line extension, and focus any future rail development plans into areas where there can be a payoff through reducing excessive amounts of bus service (i.e. 95th Street, Lake Shore Drive/Michigan Avenue)...

In that neither has been mentioned in any source since about 2009, and the Mayor of Skokie got a big turnout to demonstrate that the "locally preferred alternative" was not preferred by the locals, it appears you got your wish on those two.

CTA gave the justification for the Orange Line extension that the Midway station was overcrowded, but since the main benefit would have been that Pace wouldn't have to go north of Ford City (and thus could have cut off a half hour from each run) we know that CTA isn't doing Pace any favors, notwithstanding your valid point that extensions should be for the purpose of reducing the excessive need for bus service.

But if I were running it, I would either say that the Red Line south of 95th is fantasy, or cancel the $240 million 95th St. bus terminal project, which involves about $200 million in borrowing, but would not be necessary if the extension were forthcoming.

Another thing that would be interesting would be like NYC does, when you have buses bunched up you make the late buses run express just like the "L" and put those riders on the follower. Short turning may be nice to regain schedule but what happens is you penalize every rider past the short turn that has to wait double time for the same bus. What also happens by shorturning is you just make the follower late because he has to pick up double passengers.

Definitely. I have been saying that for about 12 years. The fantasy was WTTW at the "highly secret" control center at 120 N. Racine saying that the bus bunching problem had been solved. I see that See is advocating a better communications system.

[TripleTransit1]

You All Are Doing It, So I'm Gonna Have A Go At This..

Bus Ideas

1.) First, I Must Agree On TripleTransit1 Idea To Restore The Express Routes That Were Discontinued. There Was Never An X14 Route, Only The #14 Route So I Won't Go On That. Plus Don't Really Agree On The X20. But All The Other Routes Should Come Back, & I Am Interested To Hear More On The Idea On The X29 & X66 Routes. But You Forget About The X80 Irving Pk Exp, X54 Cicero Exp, & X28 Stony Island Exp, Which I Think The CTA Could Have Just Added Limited Stops Along Stony Island Ave, Instead Of Combining Service With The #28 Local.

2.) I Would Do Some More Studying On Trying To Find A Way To Restore A New 31st Street Bus Route That Could Operate Between Cicero & The LakeFront Or Perhaps The Mercy Hospital. Either That Or Restore The Old East & West 31st Routings, Having The East Route Operate via Ashland (Orange Line), Archer, Lock, 31st, Wentworth/LaSalle, 35th, State, 31st, King Dr, Between Mercy Hospital And/Or The Lakefront, & The Ashland Orange Line Station, Serving Red And Green Lines On 35th. West Route Would Operate Between Cicero/24th Pl Or Cermak/Kenton Where 54B Terminates, and 35th/Archer Orange Line Station via Cicero, 31st, Western, 35th, & Leavitt (Orange Line). Its One Of Those Options.

3.) These Are A Few Bus That I Think Should Have Overnight Owl Service, Extended Days/Hours Of Sevice, And/Or Route Changes:

-#9 Ashland Northbound Terminal Should Be Changed To End At Edgewater/Clark Or Devon/Clark;

-#11 Lincoln Should Be Restored To Continue South To North Ave./Clark Or Fullerton Station (Red, Brown, Purple Lines);

-#49 Western End Some PM Rush Trips At Western Brown Line & Continue North To Howard As #49B North Western;

-49B North Western Changed To #49B N. Western/Asbury And Extend North To Davis Purple Line On Weekdays, Plus End Some AM Rush Trips At Berwyn & Continue South To 79th As #49 Western.

-#57 Laramie Extend From Cicero Blue Line To 54th/Cermak Pink Line But Still Serve The Blue Line;

-#72 North Ave. Run Overnight Between North/Clybourn Red Line & Cicero Or Narragansett;

-#86 Narragansett/Ridgeland Add Saturday Service For Saturday Classes At Wright College And Operate Between Wright College & North Ave./Narragansett Or Ridgeland Green Line;

-#90 Harlem Overnight Service Between Harlem Blue Line (O'Hare) & Grand/Nordica To Accommodate Riders During Late Nights & Early Mornings On The Harlem Ave Corridor;

-#155 Devon Run 24/7 Overnight Service Along Entire Route Between Morse Red Line & Devon/Kedzie And/Or Extend Route West To Central/Caldwell;

-#53 Pulaski Extend North To Devon/Kedzie To Connect With #11, #82, #96, & #155;

-#44 Wallace/Racine Extended North To Roosevelt/State (Red, Green, Orange Lines) Serve Ashland/63rd Green Line Or Reopen Racine Green Line Station

Rail L' Ideas

1.) Purple Line:

-All Stations Between Howard & Linden Made Accessible.

-Add Weekday Midday Service For Certain Trips To Run Purple Line Express Service Between Linden & Downtown.

2.) Blue Line:

-Reconstruction On California Station (O'Hare Branch) To Open Auxiliary Entrance On Fullerton Ave.

-Make All Stop On Forest Park Branch Accessible (Since Just About All Them Have Ramps).

-Reopen Central, & California Stations.

3.) Green Line:

-New Stops On Western, Damen (Lake Branch), 63rd/Woodlawn, And 63rd/Dorchester *Metra Electric Station (East 63rd Branch)

-Reopen Racine Station (Ashland Branch)

4.) Red Line:

-Close Thorndale Station & Open Up Glenlake Ave. Auxiliary Entrance/Exit At Granville Station.

-Close Argyle Station & Open Up Foster Ave. Auxiliary Entrance/Exit At Berwyn Station, Make Accessibilty To Berwyn Ave. Entrance

-Make North/Clybourn Station Accessible.

System Ideas

1.) Discontinued Ventra And Return To Original Payment Methods.

2.) Add More Articulated Buses To Routes With High Ridership.

3.) Move Some Articulated Buses To 74th & Forest Glen To Accomodate Routes Within Those Garage That Could Use Them.

4.) Preserve & Return Atleast One Of The Past Bus Models That Were Retired (Flxible Metro B/E, TMC RTS, New Flyer D40LF, Orion I)

I'm Done. What Your Opinions On This? Share Your Thoughts & Ideas.

Great Ideas! I should have put "X14 Jeffery Express" in bold then. Plus, the Davis station on the Purple Line is already ADA-compliant.

[TripleTransit1]

I forgot to mention in my list of ideas to have a new Division Brown Line/Purple Line Express station and renovate State/Lake, LaSalle/Van Buren, Quincy (keep historical appearance, but make it ADA compliant), and Adams/Wabash so that they can all be ADA compliant. Also, I think that the #95W and #95E should be combined into one route. And a new "X" route would be on Roosevelt (X12 Roosevelt Express).

[Busjack]

I forgot to mention in my list of ideas to have a new Division Brown Line/Purple Line Express station and renovate State/Lake, LaSalle/Van Buren, Quincy (keep historical appearance, but make it ADA compliant), and Adams/Wabash so that they can all be ADA compliant. Also, I think that the #95W and #95E should be combined into one route. And a new "X" route would be on Roosevelt (X12 Roosevelt Express).

The Division one seems feasible, has been suggested before, and considering that the neighborhood has been redeveloped and Payton College Prep Academy is around there, I don't see why that didn't happen a long time ago. Probably can say the same for Madison on the Pink Line.

State and Lake has been an eyesore for over a century. I seem to recall some website publishing a concept for a modernistic station with sort of an arch bridge over State St., but, again, nothing has ever happened. I assume that to make it accessible and connect it with the subway, CTA would have to obtain rights in the adjoining buildings, as it has at the Thompson Center.

On the other hand, the 95E and 95W one has been discussed and debunked before, unless you want to take my suggestion above to abolish CTA and run route 381 between Moraine Valley College and South Chicago.

[TripleTransit1]

You All Are Doing It, So I'm Gonna Have A Go At This..

Bus Ideas

1.) First, I Must Agree On TripleTransit1 Idea To Restore The Express Routes That Were Discontinued. There Was Never An X14 Route, Only The #14 Route So I Won't Go On That. Plus Don't Really Agree On The X20. But All The Other Routes Should Come Back, & I Am Interested To Hear More On The Idea On The X29 & X66 Routes. But You Forget About The X80 Irving Pk Exp, X54 Cicero Exp, & X28 Stony Island Exp, Which I Think The CTA Could Have Just Added Limited Stops Along Stony Island Ave, Instead Of Combining Service With The #28 Local.

2.) I Would Do Some More Studying On Trying To Find A Way To Restore A New 31st Street Bus Route That Could Operate Between Cicero & The LakeFront Or Perhaps The Mercy Hospital. Either That Or Restore The Old East & West 31st Routings, Having The East Route Operate via Ashland (Orange Line), Archer, Lock, 31st, Wentworth/LaSalle, 35th, State, 31st, King Dr, Between Mercy Hospital And/Or The Lakefront, & The Ashland Orange Line Station, Serving Red And Green Lines On 35th. West Route Would Operate Between Cicero/24th Pl Or Cermak/Kenton Where 54B Terminates, and 35th/Archer Orange Line Station via Cicero, 31st, Western, 35th, & Leavitt (Orange Line). Its One Of Those Options.

3.) These Are A Few Bus That I Think Should Have Overnight Owl Service, Extended Days/Hours Of Sevice, And/Or Route Changes:

-#9 Ashland Northbound Terminal Should Be Changed To End At Edgewater/Clark Or Devon/Clark;

-#11 Lincoln Should Be Restored To Continue South To North Ave./Clark Or Fullerton Station (Red, Brown, Purple Lines);

-#49 Western End Some PM Rush Trips At Western Brown Line & Continue North To Howard As #49B North Western;

-49B North Western Changed To #49B N. Western/Asbury And Extend North To Davis Purple Line On Weekdays, Plus End Some AM Rush Trips At Berwyn & Continue South To 79th As #49 Western.

-#57 Laramie Extend From Cicero Blue Line To 54th/Cermak Pink Line But Still Serve The Blue Line;

-#72 North Ave. Run Overnight Between North/Clybourn Red Line & Cicero Or Narragansett;

-#86 Narragansett/Ridgeland Add Saturday Service For Saturday Classes At Wright College And Operate Between Wright College & North Ave./Narragansett Or Ridgeland Green Line;

-#90 Harlem Overnight Service Between Harlem Blue Line (O'Hare) & Grand/Nordica To Accommodate Riders During Late Nights & Early Mornings On The Harlem Ave Corridor;

-#155 Devon Run 24/7 Overnight Service Along Entire Route Between Morse Red Line & Devon/Kedzie And/Or Extend Route West To Central/Caldwell;

-#53 Pulaski Extend North To Devon/Kedzie To Connect With #11, #82, #96, & #155;

-#44 Wallace/Racine Extended North To Roosevelt/State (Red, Green, Orange Lines) Serve Ashland/63rd Green Line Or Reopen Racine Green Line Station

Rail L' Ideas

1.) Purple Line:

-All Stations Between Howard & Linden Made Accessible.

-Add Weekday Midday Service For Certain Trips To Run Purple Line Express Service Between Linden & Downtown.

2.) Blue Line:

-Reconstruction On California Station (O'Hare Branch) To Open Auxiliary Entrance On Fullerton Ave.

-Make All Stop On Forest Park Branch Accessible (Since Just About All Them Have Ramps).

-Reopen Central, & California Stations.

3.) Green Line:

-New Stops On Western, Damen (Lake Branch), 63rd/Woodlawn, And 63rd/Dorchester *Metra Electric Station (East 63rd Branch)

-Reopen Racine Station (Ashland Branch)

4.) Red Line:

-Close Thorndale Station & Open Up Glenlake Ave. Auxiliary Entrance/Exit At Granville Station.

-Close Argyle Station & Open Up Foster Ave. Auxiliary Entrance/Exit At Berwyn Station, Make Accessibilty To Berwyn Ave. Entrance

-Make North/Clybourn Station Accessible.

System Ideas

1.) Discontinued Ventra And Return To Original Payment Methods.

2.) Add More Articulated Buses To Routes With High Ridership.

3.) Move Some Articulated Buses To 74th & Forest Glen To Accomodate Routes Within Those Garage That Could Use Them.

4.) Preserve & Return Atleast One Of The Past Bus Models That Were Retired (Flxible Metro B/E, TMC RTS, New Flyer D40LF, Orion I)

I'm Done. What Your Opinions On This? Share Your Thoughts & Ideas.

The X29 and X66 would have the same destinations as their regular counterparts, but they would only stop at main streets that connect to other bus routes and rail lines.

[Busjack]

The X29 and X66 would have the same destinations as their regular counterparts, but they would only stop at main streets that connect to other bus routes and rail lines.

X29 is unncessary because it is within a block of the Red or Green line.

On the other hand 66 was on the list of projects that was supposed to get the BRT grant that Daley missed out on.

[TripleTransit1]

The Division one seems feasible, has been suggested before, and considering that the neighborhood has been redeveloped and Payton College Prep Academy is around there, I don't see why that didn't happen a long time ago. Probably can say the same for Madison on the Pink Line.

State and Lake has been an eyesore for over a century. I seem to recall some website publishing a concept for a modernistic station with sort of an arch bridge over State St., but, again, nothing has ever happened. I assume that to make it accessible and connect it with the subway, CTA would have to obtain rights in the adjoining buildings, as it has at the Thompson Center.

On the other hand, the 95E and 95W one has been discussed and debunked before, unless you want to take my suggestion above to abolish CTA and run route 381 between Moraine Valley College and South Chicago.

The only points of interest that are at State/Lake are bars, restaurants, the Chicago Theater, and the ABC 7/ESPN Radio Chicago studios. I don't trust Pace (their buses take forever to wait on), and the new #95 route would still stop at the 95th Red Line station.

[YoungBusLover]

The only points of interest that are at State/Lake are bars, restaurants, the Chicago Theater, and the ABC 7/ESPN Radio Chicago studios. I don't trust Pace (their buses take forever to wait on), and the new #95 route would still stop at the 95th Red Line station.

That's what I forgot to mention. Pace buses takes forever. And also I forgot to add this idea in. A new route for the southern portion of Cicero that would end right around 103rd or 111th.

[Busjack]

The only points of interest that are at State/Lake are bars, restaurants, the Chicago Theater, and the ABC 7/ESPN Radio Chicago studios. I don't trust Pace (their buses take forever to wait on), and the new #95 route would still stop at the 95th Red Line station.

That's what I forgot to mention. Pace buses takes forever. And also I forgot to add this idea in. A new route for the southern portion of Cicero that would end right around 103rd or 111th.

Well, nobody trusts the CTA, so you really are in the world of fantasy. It is bad enough that there is a lack of service coordination, you and YoungBusLover would just make it worse. YoungBusLover, there is already Pace 383 that does that job (between 59th and 159th).

_______________________________

Speaking of fantasy, somebody had posted on the CTA Tattler "why isn't there an L station in Hyde Park," to which the immediate answer was "the L doesn't go to Hyde Park." He then responded "why not extend it there," to which I replied, "try to build a station at Hyde Park Blvd. and Greenwood Ave."

If you are in the know, you know what I mean.

[garmon757]

If I had an opportunity to run CTA, then I will:

Busses

1. Restore 11 Lincoln segment between Western Brown Line to Fullerton Station.

2. Restore night owl service for routes 12, 52, 80, and 85.

3. Add night owl service for routes 8 and 72.

4. Extend night owl route 53 to 31st from previously Harrison (Blue Line).

5. Extend night owl route 79 to 81st/Pulaski and 87 to Cicero (lack of night owl service on the southwest side past Western Avenue between 63rd and 95th).

6. Restore route 41 Elston.

7. Extend 49 Western to Howard (removing route 49B) and 95th/The Plaza (end at 79th after 11pm and pushing back 349 to 95th instead of 79th until the last 3 trips to Harvey at night).

8. Extend route 9 Ashland to Brwn Mawr (to Irving Park during night owl).

9. Extend 155 Devon to Jefferson Park (except for night owl).

10. Change route 67 67th/69th/71st to Marquette-67th (operates between South Shore (Larabida Hospital every 30 minutes) to Pulaski)(Eastbound trips ends at 69th Red Line and westbound trips ends at Ashland after 1am).

11. Change route 71 71st/South Shore to 71st (Discontinue South Shore segment creating a new route to 112th/Torrence)(Between 73rd/Exchange and Ford City).

12. Extend route 54 Cicero to Jefferson Park (54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd will begin at Jefferson Park).

13. Combine 95E 93rd/95th and 95W West 95th into one route 95 95th between 92nd/Buffalo and Western/The Plaza.

14. Route 7 Harrison should operate on Weekends from late morning to early evening.

15. Route 2 extending to 63rd/Stony Island via Lake Park/Stony Island.

15. All local routes should not have 15 or more minutes of a gap between busses during rush hours.

Trains

1. Racine (Englewood Branch) should be open to the public with new remodeling.

2. Orange Line extending to Ford City.

3. Yellow Line extending to Old Orchard.

4. Pink Line extending to North Riverside (Pushing route 322 back to start routing between North Riverside and Yorktown (Lombard/Downers Grove).

5. Red Line extending to 130th via Michigan Subway then elevated via Brainerd to 130th/Avenue O. Stations underground are 103rd, 107th, 111th, 115th, and 119th. Stations elevated are Torrence and 130th.

6. Green Line extending to Stony Island (Jackson Park) for better connections with routes 2, 6, 28, and 63.

7. North/Halsted Brown Line Station (I don't mind a curved station).

8. Either a Western or Damen Green Line Station (too much gap on that line).

9. Madison (United Center) Pink Line Station (I don't see why not).

10. Blue Line interlock between Clark/Lake and Washington/Dearborn.

11. Purple Line Express extended hours: 5-11 AM and 2-8 PM on weekdays and every 30 minutes from 9 AM-7 PM on weekends. Also, will operate for all day and night Cubs games before and after all games regarding the time length of each game.

12. Airport Express would be nice to see.

13. A crosstown or Lime Line would be interesting via 87th and Cicero subways between Dan Ryan and Jefferson Park.

14. ALL STATIONS SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE!!! NO EXCEPTIONS LOL

You guys already mention some good stuff!!! Keep it coming!!!

[trainman8119]

Since this is all fantasy, anyway...this is what I would do:

1) Get rid of all bike racks and ban them from busses and trains.

2) Build a couple of garages to reduce the number of deadheads.

3) Bring back conductors and skip stops...then I wouldn't need to spend $450 million to reduce the time that was lost when it was all taken away.

4) Bring back transfers

5) Give my road supervisors the ability to make decisions to allow service to flow.

6) Provide my own transit information...no need to rely on unreliable RTA info

and finally

7) Not worry about expansion until current service is acceptable.

Like I said...all fantasy. Have a great Easter !

[Busjack]

...

6) Provide my own transit information...no need to rely on unreliable RTA info

...

There is Google Transit, which has been established covers all 3 service boards and is far more accurate than the RTA junk. The only issue is that someone should have enough sense not to call the RTA telephone number (unfortunately, someone I know hasn't figured that out).

[TaylorTank1229]

The X29 and X66 would have the same destinations as their regular counterparts, but they would only stop at main streets that connect to other bus routes and rail lines.

I Thought That You Could Have The X29 Route Run To North/Clark Instead Of Navy Pier.

[TaylorTank1229]

Great Ideas! I should have put "X14 Jeffery Express" in bold then. Plus, the Davis station on the Purple Line is already ADA-compliant.

I Know Davis & Linden Already ADA, But What About Central, Foster, Noyes, Demester, Main St., And South Blvd? They Could Be ADA-Compadible. Especially South Blvd Since Its Near St. Francis Hospital.

[TripleTransit1]

I Thought That You Could Have The X29 Route Run To North/Clark Instead Of Navy Pier.

Yeah and the X66 can run to Chicago and Harlem.

[TaylorTank1229]

If I had an opportunity to run CTA, then I will:

Busses

1. Restore 11 Lincoln segment between Western Brown Line to Fullerton Station.

2. Restore night owl service for routes 12, 52, 80, and 85.

3. Add night owl service for routes 8 and 72.

4. Extend night owl route 53 to 31st from previously Harrison (Blue Line).

5. Extend night owl route 79 to 81st/Pulaski and 87 to Cicero (lack of night owl service on the southwest side past Western Avenue between 63rd and 95th).

6. Restore route 41 Elston.

7. Extend 49 Western to Howard (removing route 49B) and 95th/The Plaza (end at 79th after 11pm and pushing back 349 to 95th instead of 79th until the last 3 trips to Harvey at night).

8. Extend route 9 Ashland to Brwn Mawr (to Irving Park during night owl).

9. Extend 155 Devon to Jefferson Park (except for night owl).

10. Change route 67 67th/69th/71st to Marquette-67th (operates between South Shore (Larabida Hospital every 30 minutes) to Pulaski)(Eastbound trips ends at 69th Red Line and westbound trips ends at Ashland after 1am).

11. Change route 71 71st/South Shore to 71st (Discontinue South Shore segment creating a new route to 112th/Torrence)(Between 73rd/Exchange and Ford City).

12. Extend route 54 Cicero to Jefferson Park (54A North Cicero/Skokie Blvd will begin at Jefferson Park).

13. Combine 95E 93rd/95th and 95W West 95th into one route 95 95th between 92nd/Buffalo and Western/The Plaza.

14. Route 7 Harrison should operate on Weekends from late morning to early evening.

15. Route 2 extending to 63rd/Stony Island via Lake Park/Stony Island.

15. All local routes should not have 15 or more minutes of a gap between busses during rush hours.

Trains

1. Racine (Englewood Branch) should be open to the public with new remodeling.

2. Orange Line extending to Ford City.

3. Yellow Line extending to Old Orchard.

4. Pink Line extending to North Riverside (Pushing route 322 back to start routing between North Riverside and Yorktown (Lombard/Downers Grove).

5. Red Line extending to 130th via Michigan Subway then elevated via Brainerd to 130th/Avenue O. Stations underground are 103rd, 107th, 111th, 115th, and 119th. Stations elevated are Torrence and 130th.

6. Green Line extending to Stony Island (Jackson Park) for better connections with routes 2, 6, 28, and 63.

7. North/Halsted Brown Line Station (I don't mind a curved station).

8. Either a Western or Damen Green Line Station (too much gap on that line).

9. Madison (United Center) Pink Line Station (I don't see why not).

10. Blue Line interlock between Clark/Lake and Washington/Dearborn.

11. Purple Line Express extended hours: 5-11 AM and 2-8 PM on weekdays and every 30 minutes from 9 AM-7 PM on weekends. Also, will operate for all day and night Cubs games before and after all games regarding the time length of each game.

12. Airport Express would be nice to see.

13. A crosstown or Lime Line would be interesting via 87th and Cicero subways between Dan Ryan and Jefferson Park.

14. ALL STATIONS SHOULD BE ACCESSIBLE!!! NO EXCEPTIONS LOL

You guys already mention some good stuff!!! Keep it coming!!!

Good Ideas And I'll Tell You Why. #11 Needs Service Again Between Western Station & Fullerton Station. #72 Runs Til Like 1:30am-2am So Might As Well Make An Owl Route On North Ave. Clybourn Has More Of A Shopping District Now, So Could Bring It Back Running Between Perhaps Belmont Blue Line & Chicago/Franklin Brown Line, With Extended Weekday Rush Trip To Congress Plaza Serving Union/Ogilvie Stations (Metra/Amtrak). Ashland Could Use Some Buses Between Irving Park & Brwn Mawr. Devon Need Some Owl Service Since There's No Other East/West Owl Bus Routes North Of Lawrence, And Some Service West Of Kedzie To At Least Central. It Would Make Some Sense To Combine 95W & 95E To Make A Full Route On 95th But Still Have Service On 93rd. But I Think Their Seperate Routes To Avoid Total Crowding On Buses. The CTA Is Already Planning To Extend The Red, Yellow, & Orange Lines To Those Locations. They Need To Extend The East 63rd Green Line Branch To Stony Island. The Lake St Green Line Branch Should Add Stations On Western & Damen. Maybe One Day You Should Work For The CTA And Present These Ideas To The President. He/She May Consider Some Of These Options.

[TaylorTank1229]

Yeah and the X66 can run to Chicago and Harlem.

That Or To Harlem/Lake Green Line Station.

[ctrabs74]

Okay, I'll bite (and, I will presume that there would be not outside interference from King Rahm or the College Clowns):

1. Explore the feasibility of limited mid-day service on the Purple Line between Linden and the Loop. There the the chance that such a move would require track upgrades over the Howard Red Line tracks, which is why I said "feasibility" of such a move.

2. Explore the feasibility of a permanent "Brown-age" - all Brown Line trains would be cross-routed to the Orange Line via the loop, or, at a minimum, more regularly scheduled "Brown-age" trains.

3. While I understand the sentiments towards restoring "X" routes, you also have to take into consideration whether or not (1) existing L alternatives exist and (2) whether current street conditions would permit simultaneous "X" lines and local services.

4. I'm probably taking a more realistic approach to answering this question, but I wouldn't even consider any L expansion until, at a minimum, the Red Line North and Blue Line were in a state of good repair. The activists who recently called for the wish list of CTA/Pace/METRA improvements are not grounded in reality, and that's all I will say about these pie in the sky proposals.

I'll try to think of a few more later, but that's a starting point for me.

[garmon757]

Good Ideas And I'll Tell You Why. #11 Needs Service Again Between Western Station & Fullerton Station. #72 Runs Til Like 1:30am-2am So Might As Well Make An Owl Route On North Ave. Clybourn Has More Of A Shopping District Now, So Could Bring It Back Running Between Perhaps Belmont Blue Line & Chicago/Franklin Brown Line, With Extended Weekday Rush Trip To Congress Plaza Serving Union/Ogilvie Stations (Metra/Amtrak). Ashland Could Use Some Buses Between Irving Park & Brwn Mawr. Devon Need Some Owl Service Since There's No Other East/West Owl Bus Routes North Of Lawrence, And Some Service West Of Kedzie To At Least Central. It Would Make Some Sense To Combine 95W & 95E To Make A Full Route On 95th But Still Have Service On 93rd. But I Think Their Seperate Routes To Avoid Total Crowding On Buses. The CTA Is Already Planning To Extend The Red, Yellow, & Orange Lines To Those Locations. They Need To Extend The East 63rd Green Line Branch To Stony Island. The Lake St Green Line Branch Should Add Stations On Western & Damen. Maybe One Day You Should Work For The CTA And Present These Ideas To The President. He/She May Consider Some Of These Options.

Thanks for the input! I may not be the only one seeking for some changes for this system but I really do appreciate your compliment about it! :D

[garmon757]

Okay, I'll bite (and, I will presume that there would be not outside interference from King Rahm or the College Clowns):

1. Explore the feasibility of limited mid-day service on the Purple Line between Linden and the Loop. There the the chance that such a move would require track upgrades over the Howard Red Line tracks, which is why I said "feasibility" of such a move.

2. Explore the feasibility of a permanent "Brown-age" - all Brown Line trains would be cross-routed to the Orange Line via the loop, or, at a minimum, more regularly scheduled "Brown-age" trains.

3. While I understand the sentiments towards restoring "X" routes, you also have to take into consideration whether or not (1) existing L alternatives exist and (2) whether current street conditions would permit simultaneous "X" lines and local services.

4. I'm probably taking a more realistic approach to answering this question, but I wouldn't even consider any L expansion until, at a minimum, the Red Line North and Blue Line were in a state of good repair. The activists who recently called for the wish list of CTA/Pace/METRA improvements are not grounded in reality, and that's all I will say about these pie in the sky proposals.

I'll try to think of a few more later, but that's a starting point for me.

Hey not a bad start mate! Keep it up!

[jajuan]

1. First probably what I would do is can BRT and put all the money that's being invested into that into a major X route expansion.

2. I would expand that as much as possible using the #X80, more buses express less buses local as a model of my X routes.

3. I would also join routes together like run some #X49's to Howard, some to Berwyn and eliminate the #49B.

4. I would do like SW4400 says bring NF's back to Forest Glen and Novas to 77th.

5. I would put artics at Forest Glen if it means I would need to expand the garage to do that.

6. I would try to put artics at all the remaining garages.

7. I would order more artics because ridership is expanding on many routes that could use the extra capacity.

8. I would order more hybrids and all electric vehicles.

Now for rail:

1. I would take the junk off the blue line and give it some newer cars. I would retrofit bustracker and flight info into the railcars.

2. Bring back skip stop service and put the X minutes to loop signs back up at the stations.

3. I would try to get my legislators to impose a tax on the automobile users in an effort to financially build my own expansions without the need for AA studies.

4. I would build electric fences all around rail yards in an effort to keep the bad guys out. Maybe keep the voltage low enough to not kill but injure with prolonged exposure.

now for expansions:

1. eliminate all LSD express buses and build a LRT service along the lakefront.

2. Bring back PCC trolley cars on a limited scale downtown.

and one other thing I would build a transit museum similar to what NY does in the Chicago city limits. Maybe even lease out historic equipment to film studios, as long as they bring it back.

On your idea of eliminating all the Lake Shore express buses, I seriously doubt you would get far with that one despite the fiasco of express bus service being pulled off Wilson completely and 144 and 145 being eliminated. The north side riders especially would be after your head Don't forget one huge reason 148 was originally created was because the Inner Drive commuters were croaking half their bus service was taken away at the time the 145 ran express to Irving Park instead of Belmont, and this was despite the reality that the 146 was beefed up at that time to take up the slack of that experimental move from the Lake Shore express restructurings of August 2003. I can tell you right now every day I go back and forth to work, I still overhear fellow north siders fuming over the above changes I mentioned and explicitly saying they're part of a whole host of reasons they won't be voting for Emanuel in next year's mayoral election and pushing every friend they can think of not to do so either. So good luck with that one my friend.

[rvwnsd]

Since obviously CTA is doing away with all magnetic stripe cards, your proposal is fantasy. Also, you would have to deal with that most riders now are on some sort of passes (like 30 day ones) and you would have to have a means of pricing the passes based on whether the riders were just commuting 22 days a month between home and work, or riding all over the CTA (and probably Pace) service area (just like Metra monthlies are zoned).

What you suggest is essentially what was on the Illinois Central starting about 1970, but which Metra eventually yanked out of the Electric District stations. Even at that you could defeat it by telling whoever at central control was spying over the station by saying "look I have a ticket, but the stripe must have gone bad."

If the IC could have figured this out maybe 45 years ago, I suppose that CTA could have while it was still under competent management. Of course, not today.

In San Francisco, passengers can store BART fares on their chip-based Clipper cards. BART uses distance-based pricing and Clipper is not a magnetic strip card. Ergo, distance-based fares can be implemented using fare media other than magnetic stripe cards. Although CTA could easily implement this program by adding a Ventra reader at every exit turnstile and an Addfare machine within the paid zone, this would considerably slow down the exit process during rush hour. That's probably why neither Chicago nor New York have implemented such a system. That being said, someone correctly pointed out that distance-based pricing is typically used on longer distance systems. BART, for example, considers the City of San Francisco to be one zone and charges a flat fare to ride within the city limits. Not coincidentally, it is the same as the Muni Metro light rail.

The San Diego Trolley used a zone-based fare structure for several years, but abandoned it a few years ago. It was an absolute pain in the neck, particularly since they use an honor system. If you decided to ride an extra stop and the Transit Police happened to be checking tickets, you could end up paying a steep fine. Ridership increased when they implemented a flat fare and did not dip when they abolished transfers and offered a day pass in its place.

[jajuan]

Since this is all fantasy, anyway...this is what I would do:

1) Get rid of all bike racks and ban them from busses and trains.

2) Build a couple of garages to reduce the number of deadheads.

3) Bring back conductors and skip stops...then I wouldn't need to spend $450 million to reduce the time that was lost when it was all taken away.

4) Bring back transfers

5) Give my road supervisors the ability to make decisions to allow service to flow.

6) Provide my own transit information...no need to rely on unreliable RTA info

and finally

7) Not worry about expansion until current service is acceptable.

Like I said...all fantasy. Have a great Easter !

Okay, I'll bite (and, I will presume that there would be not outside interference from King Rahm or the College Clowns):

1. Explore the feasibility of limited mid-day service on the Purple Line between Linden and the Loop. There the the chance that such a move would require track upgrades over the Howard Red Line tracks, which is why I said "feasibility" of such a move.

2. Explore the feasibility of a permanent "Brown-age" - all Brown Line trains would be cross-routed to the Orange Line via the loop, or, at a minimum, more regularly scheduled "Brown-age" trains.

3. While I understand the sentiments towards restoring "X" routes, you also have to take into consideration whether or not (1) existing L alternatives exist and (2) whether current street conditions would permit simultaneous "X" lines and local services.

4. I'm probably taking a more realistic approach to answering this question, but I wouldn't even consider any L expansion until, at a minimum, the Red Line North and Blue Line were in a state of good repair. The activists who recently called for the wish list of CTA/Pace/METRA improvements are not grounded in reality, and that's all I will say about these pie in the sky proposals.

I'll try to think of a few more later, but that's a starting point for me.

Two best posts so far. VERY valid points that making sure current service is up to par before any expansion of new services should be a priority. I'd make an exception for the restoration of recent eliminated express bus services when it comes to the ones that we know were successful. X80 was one for sure because I remember they had to expand service hours twice. The other thing they did which made that one successful is they kept service west of the Blue Line on an as needed basis, which basically turned out to be at minimum only the section of the route east of the Blue Line needed daily service. X49 was another one for sure. It got you along long stretches of Western in good time, even at rush hour times. The same was true of the X9. They did the same job as the recent proposals for BRT on Western and Ashland (which got trimmed down to just the Ashland BRT proposal) for far LESS money than BRT, using conventional style buses and without any of the disruptions to the other traffic sharing the streets that the current Ashland BRT proposal is asking for. We all implied it to various degrees but I'll explicitly say it now, they couldn't even afford to keep the express services on Western and Ashland just four short years ago, but they want us to accept that they can put in BRT on Ashland for far more money than what they said they saved on the 17 'X' routes + 53AL Limited combined.

[BusHunter]

On your idea of eliminating all the Lake Shore express buses, I seriously doubt you would get far with that one despite the fiasco of express bus service being pulled off Wilson completely and 144 and 145 being eliminated. The north side riders especially would be after your head Don't forget one huge reason 148 was originally created was because the Inner Drive commuters were croaking half their bus service was taken away at the time the 145 ran express to Irving Park instead of Belmont, and this was despite the reality that the 146 was beefed up at that time to take up the slack of that experimental move from the Lake Shore express restructurings of August 2003. I can tell you right now every day I go back and forth to work, I still overhear fellow north siders fuming over the above changes I mentioned and explicitly saying they're part of a whole host of reasons they won't be voting for Emanuel in next year's mayoral election and pushing every friend they can think of not to do so either. So good luck with that one my friend.

Well you would have to admit it would add to the lakefront, if some of the extra services were needed beyond the drive feeders could be set up. But what would really help it to work would be putting in a local service that comes off the drive and goes down Michigan avenue and rejoins the drive at Roosevelt.

If I couldn't do any of what I said above I would restore the "X" service and expand it. While we are spending money on consultants and pipe dream projects, the answer can be very simply dealt with with "X" service expansion. Removing "X" service has to go down as one of CTA's biggest operational mistakes of the last 10 years!!

[jajuan]

Well you would have to admit it would add to the lakefront, if some of the extra services were needed beyond the drive feeders could be set up. But what would really help it to work would be putting in a local service that comes off the drive and goes down Michigan avenue and rejoins the drive at Roosevelt.

If I couldn't do any of what I said above I would restore the "X" service and expand it. While we are spending money on consultants and pipe dream projects, the answer can be very simply dealt with with "X" service expansion. Removing "X" service has to go down as one of CTA's biggest operational mistakes of the last 10 years!!

Yeah that was a mistake. But why compound one mistake with another that would only serve to antagonize the riders affected by that move and would be tied up for years on top of years by the consultants anyway not to mention held up by the above mentioned tremendous amount of opposition?

One of the first things that pops to my head when reading some of the real life proposals being advocated for outside of this thread is are the advocates even thinking about the unique character of this city in addition to whether there's an actual need for what they're advocating, or are they simply proposing things just for the sake of keeping up with what another city's TA has with no thought whatsoever to the differences in character and nature of that city's streets and service needs from that of Chicago? And for that matter are they really looking deep enough at the ridership patterns of Chicago itself or just observing things from the surface? Let's take the artic issue for example. Several have called for CTA to get more artics than what's already here, but have we looked close enough at how current artics are assigned. I've questioned for a while now whether North park needs to be assigned 120 out of the current 308 artics which comes out to 39% of that total. I've been saying for the longest that the Decrowd Plan actually pretty much showed that the artic cournt at NP didn't need to grow that much beyond the 90 to 100 NP was fluctuating between by the time the 4300s were starting to get delivered from my observations that routes 135 and 136 for example only needing to have back to back artics suring those middle portions of the rush periods. Case in point, when I boarded a northbound 136 yesterday afternoon at Franklin/Jackson at about 5:45 PM to head home, the bus I boarded was NF 1393. By the time we got to Wacker/Columbus, the start of the express zone, the bus had very few standees and the artic which was its follower slipped past with barely two passengers on board. And this has been a constant observation whenever I've ridden that route at that time. Similar if I hop a 135 due to needing to run an errand at a point 136 doesn't travel. The ridership on both those seems to gradually taper off starting between 5:30 and 5"45 to levels where 40 foot buses can do the job without encountering many standees if any. Before those times yeah more artics are still needed.