Pulse (Milwaukee Avenue Route)

[chicagocubs6323]

40 minutes ago, Mr.NewFlyer1051 said:

Why would you go to metra will at the mechanical problems they have pulse is literally going to be good with 15 mins/10 mins departures from Jeff park 

Unless she was one of those people who used 270 to go farther than Golf Mill.

[BusHunter]

3 hours ago, Mr.NewFlyer1051 said:

Why would you go to metra will at the mechanical problems they have pulse is literally going to be good with 15 mins/10 mins departures from Jeff park 

Probably needs a local. Should be interesting how many local riders are there versus express? They probably should have tried to make Milwaukee pulse further up. Throw the 272 a few pulses maybe to deerfield metra. The 272 270 connection could really be helped by pulse. They are like 90 minute commutes jeff to hawthorne

[west towns]

2 hours ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

Unless she was one of those people who used 270 to go farther than Golf Mill.

or goes to Allstate

[Guest]

19 hours ago, Mr.NewFlyer1051 said:

Why would you go to metra will at the mechanical problems they have pulse is literally going to be good with 15 mins/10 mins departures from Jeff park 

Well unfortunately I live along the 270 route between the Austin and Central stops of the Pulse service. Its a longer stretch along Milwaukee  The regular service will no longer help me as it will begin later in the AM. I start at 630am. Its a long walk to either  Pulse stop. Its not worth it  I can catch Metra at Gladstone Pk   I was riding the 270 from Jeff Pk yest. Pace had a "Pulse" represenative on board to tell us about the changes.  I can tell you riders were not at all happy!   This included an unrelated heated exchange between two passengers which almost became a physical altercation. So it was not a good day on bus #6425 or the Pace Rep!  LOL!!! 

[Guest]

19 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Pulse doesn't work for you?

No,  Becasue I live in between stops that are too far apart because of the angle of Milwaukee ave  The regular service will not help as it will begin later in the AM  I have to be in at work at 630am

[west towns]

On 7/25/2019 at 11:16 AM, CTA5750 said:

No,  Becasue I live in between stops that are too far apart because of the angle of Milwaukee ave  The regular service will not help as it will begin later in the AM  I have to be in at work at 630am

should there be more stations?  where ?

[west towns]

i saw the pulse staff at golf mill while on 208  guess handing out information

[west towns]

isnt there a set distance requirement for stations?

[Mr.NewFlyer1051]

Enjoy the schedule?

[andrethebusman]

This is becoming a national phenomenon. Reducing number of stops to speed up service. I say it discourages riding as the further a prospective passenger has to walk the less likely they are to do so. I think this is going in the wrong direction, and in the long run will reduce riding. Bus passengers look for convenience. If speed is more importance, you drive. 

[west towns]

then why does Metra operate express trains?   using that arguement  all metra trains should be local

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, andrethebusman said:

This is becoming a national phenomenon. Reducing number of stops to speed up service. I say it discourages riding as the further a prospective passenger has to walk the less likely they are to do so. I think this is going in the wrong direction, and in the long run will reduce riding. Bus passengers look for convenience. If speed is more importance, you drive. 

People have already abandoned public transportation because it was too slow.  Speedier service ca entice those people back.  Trying to serve every single person will abandon some

  It's a mo win situation.   Now besides personal cars, you're competing with Uber and even Metra.

[west towns]

it seems to work elsewhere in other cities why not here

[Mr.NewFlyer1051]

9 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

People have already abandoned public transportation because it was too slow.  Speedier service ca entice those people back.  Trying to serve every single person will abandon some

  It's a mo win situation.   Now besides personal cars, you're competing with Uber and even Metra.

Since Uber and Lyft came people dipped on CTA but remember CTA is still a busier service then Uber and Lyft 

[chicagocubs6323]

15 minutes ago, Mr.NewFlyer1051 said:

Since Uber and Lyft came people dipped on CTA but remember CTA is still a busier service then Uber and Lyft 

And to add to that, Uber and Lyft are on the roads and cause even more traffic and slower roads.  CTA and/or Pace Rapid Transit will still get ridership from people who are smart enough to realize that.

[Mr.NewFlyer1051]

19 minutes ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

And to add to that, Uber and Lyft are on the roads and cause even more traffic and slower roads.  CTA and/or Pace Rapid Transit will still get ridership from people who are smart enough to realize that.

Add to that lol Uber/Lyft cost more so CTA still better then all those other 

[andrethebusman]

12 hours ago, west towns said:

then why does Metra operate express trains?   using that arguement  all metra trains should be local

No, Metra hauls majority of rush riders to downtown. If all rush trains made all stops nobody would have room to get on at nearer in stations. This is why 135-136 etc work. Board at outer end, drop off at a few stops downtown. Not much off loading on LaSalle north of river

[MetroShadow]

On 7/27/2019 at 1:16 PM, west towns said:

then why does Metra operate express trains?   using that arguement  all metra trains should be local

Wrong. Apples to oranges comparison, especially (as Trainman mentioned), primarily peak service. 

And design standards of service would dictate that rapid rail, rapid bus, heavy rail, commuter rail are designed to take more people, farther and faster. You’re not going to do that with 1500 ridehail vehicles. 

And wait until the true price of a TNC vehicle becomes revealed to the passenger. The bottom has to dip elsewhere (or which is why TNC companies have started acquiring mobility companies like bikeshare or scooters)

[BusHunter]

Nothing beats Metra there are some sweet express trains out there. Someone was telling me theres a Naperville to downtown express train that does that in 30 minutes. That cant be beat. Theres also an Arlington park to downtown run. But the express buses are very attractive for pace. They basically do the same thing. Rideshare has its benefits it goes where the buses and trains dont and the quality of service is better. Basically you get what you pay for. If you pay more you get more. 

[Pace831]

On 7/27/2019 at 2:38 PM, andrethebusman said:

This is becoming a national phenomenon. Reducing number of stops to speed up service. I say it discourages riding as the further a prospective passenger has to walk the less likely they are to do so. I think this is going in the wrong direction, and in the long run will reduce riding. Bus passengers look for convenience. If speed is more importance, you drive. 

Who exactly is this going to discourage? As @artthouwill noted, buses have already lost most discretionary riders.

[Guest]

On 7/26/2019 at 9:40 PM, west towns said:

i saw the pulse staff at golf mill while on 208  guess handing out information

Yeah, at Jeff Pk the Pace rep has been getting an earful from riders!  Theyre not happy with the service change to the local buses. The Pulse stops are not convenient because many riders are seniors and they dont live near a Pulse stop. They will be forced to wait for the 270 local and if they miss it they have to wait an additional hour for the next one. In a few instances it will require riders to change their commute plans including mine!  I know there can never be a solution to everyones commutes. But this is a drastic change that will have a serious effect for many riders. I will have to revert back to Metra in the morning. I chose to stop Metra because of the ticket prices nowadays. The Pace/Blue Line combination for me was a better and more reasonable option. I live in between the Austin and Central Pulse stops so its not an alternative for me.   

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, CTA5750 said:

Yeah, at Jeff Pk the Pace rep has been getting an earful from riders!  Theyre not happy with the service change to the local buses. The Pulse stops are not convenient because many are seniors and they dont live near a Pulse stop. They will be forced to wait for the 270 local and if they miss it they have to wait an additional hour for the next one. 

Remember the old days of the 56A.  During rush periods,  the 270 ran Express through the city portion of the route while alternating with the 56A for local service at all other times .  

Looks like Pace may wind up making 270 run at 30 minute intervals, at least during rush periods, or maybe 20 minute intervals in the rush and 30 midday.

Did anyone at Pace consider senior ridership during the study?  Will we have a repeat performance with Dempster Pulse?

[trainman8119]

As far as I am concerned, it is a terrible money wasting idea. Pace has been on this band wagon for 20+ years.

You watch, just like the CTA x routes, these buses will be empty or close to it. Once again, the bread and butter

riders get the shaft. This is one type of reason I left Pace many many years ago now...and the new ED fits the mold

so well ☹️ 

 

Rocky Donohue was so against taking care of the little guy or the grandma who needed to go shopping

or something. He was more into smoozing politicians. I see that nothing has really changed.

I really disliked it when he became my supervisor.

[TaylorTank1229]

2 hours ago, CTA5750 said:

Yeah, at Jeff Pk the Pace rep has been getting an earful from riders!  Theyre not happy with the service change to the local buses. The Pulse stops are not convenient because many riders are seniors and they dont live near a Pulse stop. They will be forced to wait for the 270 local and if they miss it they have to wait an additional hour for the next one. In a few instances it will require riders to change their commute plans including mine!  I know there can never be a solution to everyones commutes. But this is a drastic change that will have a serious effect for many riders. I will have to revert back to Metra in the morning. I chose to stop Metra because of the ticket prices nowadays. The Pace/Blue Line combination for me was a better and more reasonable option.   

I have to agree on this one. For local Milwaukee Ave. riders to wait every hour for a regular 270 bus may not have been the best idea for Pace to go with, especially with the seniors that require to to take it to senior citizen homes along the route and some of them aren’t close to a Pulse stop. It would’ve been more reasonable to set buses for every 30 minutes at the least for local riders, not a whole hour.

[MetroShadow]

7 hours ago, trainman8119 said:

As far as I am concerned, it is a terrible money wasting idea. Pace has been on this band wagon for 20+ years.

You watch, just like the CTA x routes, these buses will be empty or close to it. Once again, the bread and butter

riders get the shaft. This is one type of reason I left Pace many many years ago now...and the new ED fits the mold

so well ☹️ 

 

Rocky Donohue was so against taking care of the little guy or the grandma who needed to go shopping

or something. He was more into smoozing politicians. I see that nothing has really changed.

I really disliked it when he became my supervisor.

Having worked there myself (different unit), from the planning/analysis side (and having taken 270 a lot), I was often frustrated with the concept that the local was slower. Not everyone is going to take the route from stop to stop; and if there's ridership between the transfer points, then great. Bus speeds are important too. The existing 270 is slow because of congestion and that lower bus speeds costs money (say $78/operating hour). The more time you spend on the road, the more it costs to operate (and those numbers add up). Remember that we can only go as fast as the idiot in front of you.

The rapid/local hybrid with 10/30 overlay makes sense if your destination is a transfer point or the end of the lines. Local riders, less so. Take for example when I worked at Samtrans briefly. The ECR route (evolved from a 390/391 clusterfunk) is a 2.5 hour jaunt (3.0 hours plus in peak) running time one-way. Yes, that's a core route (several attempts to break that up, even after I left) where it is the spine of the network. The Rapid was put in place (Daly City BART to Redwood City TC/ Caltrain) to speed up trips between the two (it's faster even without TSP - and don't get me started on that). Now, the Rapid overlay is different (20 minutes peak/30 weekends) compared to Local (15 minutes all day/20 weekends). Maybe that could be the guidepost for future service (VTA 22/522 and 23/523) has similar overlays to 270/Pulse M.

And I always thought that Pace was the bastard stepchild for the RTA compared to the other agencies. For us to do more, great, but also not at the risk of losing more riders.