Juniorz Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Word has it that the Purple Line Express (Linden-Loop) will have a 40-day experiment expanding service beginning June 1st and ending July 10th. The Train would have a round-trip express run that would leave Linden at 8:00pm, arriving at Clark/Lake at 8:50 pm and returning to Linden at 9:50 pm. Now, for the run to become successful, the trip would have need to see an average of 468 people using the new service. http://evanstonnow.com/story/business/bill-smith/2015-02-06/68634/cta-to-test-evening-purple-express-run Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewFlyerMCI Posted February 7, 2015 Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 I will go ahead and quote the article with "Only one?" One doesn't seem to be enough, even for a test, if the plan is to stimulate nightlife. They should have done at least 2 or 3 trips, in 30 min intervals btwn 8p-9:30p or even 10:00p. Also, the train returns far too early. Unless they (at the very least) have later return trips, I don't see this passing 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniorz Posted February 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2015 Another question, is this a weekday only experiment or a full-blown 7 days a week experiment. Since June 1st is a Monday, I'm assuming it will be a weekday only experiment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 Since the article says that the impetus was to encourage business in Evanston, I don't see how starting and ending at Linden accomplishes that. Maybe if the rationale was that people partying downtown have to get back to Evanston, it would make a little more sense. Otherwise, people using it to go to Evanston have to come back on the local. Maybe they think someone will leave Chicago at 6 p.m, eat dinner in Evanston and go back at 8:00 p.m. I'm not betting on that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 In the comment section of the article most people bemoan the fact that Purple Line service has stops at Brown Line stations even though Brown Line platforms have been extended to accommodate longer trains. In a perfect world. Purple Lin trains could be adjusted to stop only at Wilson, Sheridan, Belmont, and Fullerton, but with the high frequency of Brown Line trains, those trains would be stuck behind those Brown Line trains anyway. Lets see how the one train experiment works and if it works well perhaps later express service could be added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewFlyerMCI Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 In a perfect world. Purple Lin trains could be adjusted to stop only at Wilson, Sheridan, Belmont, and Fullerton, but with the high frequency of Brown Line trains, those trains would be stuck behind those Brown Line trains anyway. ... Only way to solve that is reroute the entire loop portion of the Purple Line (via State St Subway) or add additional express tracks. That [express tracks] can't happen, so either kill stops at Wellington & Diversey or conslidate them into one, and further on, cut service at Armitage, Paulina, etc. You would then have to reschedule the entire Brown Line and possibly/subsequently reschedule at least the Green Line, which is already a diffucult than usual task since Purple Line trains would be, as you say stuck behind those [brown Line] trains trying to move faster than the "local" Brown Line (because, really, we all know that the express concept of the Purple Line disappears at Belmont). This entire "experiment" has me wondering if CTA or Evanston came up with this. I'm betting Evanston, and that they didn't properly use the services of CTA's transit planners, much less an independant one. Seeing this, CTA decided to appease Evanston, since in their minds (and the minds of others) this is most likely going fail. Good Luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted February 8, 2015 Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 This sounds like something Evanston came up with Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniorz Posted February 8, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2015 This project seems to be in part by the Evanston Economic Development Committee. One has to wonder, since the Wilson station is going to become a future transfer station, why wouldn't the CTA move forward and experiment with the evening service along the Purple Line express. It's going to happen sooner or later and now that the experiment is moving forward, i doubt that the agency wouldn't want to pass up this opportunity to find out if the service is needed outside rush hour (which many of us know that it is need) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 10, 2015 Report Share Posted February 10, 2015 A little more detail from the RedEye/Tribune, indicating that the impetus is people stuck in the Loop late trying to get to Evanston later, rather than that suggested in Evanston Now to help the Evanston restaurant business. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewFlyerMCI Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 A little more detail from the RedEye/Tribune, indicating that the impetus is people stuck in the Loop late trying to get to Evanston later, rather than that suggested in Evanston Now to help the Evanston restaurant business. In short, CTA is going to spend 7k+ $$$ on a project, which in my estimate, has at least a 50% chance of failure, even more. I'm sure there are numerous ways something like this could be implemented that actually has a chance of doing some good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 In the comment section of the article most people bemoan the fact that Purple Line service has stops at Brown Line stations even though Brown Line platforms have been extended to accommodate longer trains. In a perfect world. Purple Lin trains could be adjusted to stop only at Wilson, Sheridan, Belmont, and Fullerton, but with the high frequency of Brown Line trains, those trains would be stuck behind those Brown Line trains anyway. Lets see how the one train experiment works and if it works well perhaps later express service could be added. I remember when Evanston Express was express from Howard to Mdse Mart. At that time, Ravenswood trains had rush hour intervals about 7 1/2 minutes apart AND had skip stop service during rush hours, which made train bunching less likely. I can't seem to recall but I believe Wellington was a B station and Sedgwick or Armitage was an A. If skip stop could be reintroduced on the Brown Line with Wellingon and Armitage being B stations and Diversey and Sedgwick being A stations, perhaps Purple Line trains can once again only stop at Fullerton and Belmont, making the express train more appealing. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Why not just run the Purple line longer? Having one train at random is not going to help. All that's going to happen is if someone is lucky enough to see it then they will board it. Maybe they should try running a weekdays only every other train goes to loop except the rush when they all go to the loop. They could run it until 10 at night or 11 or 12 on a friday night and in the morning the service starts with the morning rush. If successful locals would be phased out, like the Kimball-Belmont shuttle trains were. I think the Red line/Brown line north corridor is busy enough for two train lines all day. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniorz Posted February 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 For a $7,000 round-trip, 40 Day experiment, best advice is to go out and support the experimental service...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Why not just run the Purple line longer? Having one train at random is not going to help. All that's going to happen is if someone is lucky enough to see it then they will board it. Maybe they should try running a weekdays only every other train goes to loop except the rush when they all go to the loop. They could run it until 10 at night or 11 or 12 on a friday night and in the morning the service starts with the morning rush. If successful locals would be phased out, like the Kimball-Belmont shuttle trains were. I think the Red line/Brown line north corridor is busy enough for two train lines all day. I would say once or twice an hour during off peak hours. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 In short, CTA is going to spend 7k+ $$$ on a project, which in my estimate, has at least a 50% chance of failure, even more. I'm sure there are numerous ways something like this could be implemented that actually has a chance of doing some good. For someone who has a fantasy thread, it is sure ironic to be complaining about $7000, which sounds real cheap for a trial to see if there are 400 riders. It also is a possibility that Evanston is kicking in the money. I suppose now you are going to campaign against the JARC trials (such as 35 west of Kedzie on 31st) because CTA did have to kick in matching funds to get the experiments going. That was sure more than $7000. Update: RTAMS indicates that the budget for that project was a $1 million match to the $1 million federal grant. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 Why not just run the Purple line longer? I think that NFMCI gave you your answer--it was going to cost more than $7000. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strictures Posted February 11, 2015 Report Share Posted February 11, 2015 I remember when Evanston Express was express from Howard to Mdse Mart. At that time, Ravenswood trains had rush hour intervals about 7 1/2 minutes apart AND had skip stop service during rush hours, which made train bunching less likely. I can't seem to recall but I believe Wellington was a B station and Sedgwick or Armitage was an A. If skip stop could be reintroduced on the Brown Line with Wellington and Armitage being B stations and Diversey and Sedgwick being A stations, perhaps Purple Line trains can once again only stop at Fullerton and Belmont, making the express train more appealing. Originally, it was express from Loyola in the AM & back to Loyola in the PM, with an additional stop at Morse. It went express to Howard on the reverse rush hour runs. That's when they used to charge an additional 15¢ for the express & Skokie Swift. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 I will go ahead and quote the article with "Only one?" One doesn't seem to be enough, even for a test, if the plan is to stimulate nightlife. They should have done at least 2 or 3 trips, in 30 min intervals btwn 8p-9:30p or even 10:00p. Also, the train returns far too early. Unless they (at the very least) have later return trips, I don't see this passing For someone who has a fantasy thread, it is sure ironic to be complaining about $7000, which sounds real cheap for a trial to see if there are 400 riders. It also is a possibility that Evanston is kicking in the money. I suppose now you are going to campaign against the JARC trials (such as 35 west of Kedzie on 31st) because CTA did have to kick in matching funds to get the experiments going. That was sure more than $7000. Update: RTAMS indicates that the budget for that project was a $1 million match to the $1 million federal grant. Hmmm I spotted that same irony. And I also found it interesting he proposed alternatives that would cost a heck of a lot more than the relatively small $7000 that this experiment costs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 I think that NFMCI gave you your answer--it was going to cost more than $7000. yeah but you tell me they can't attract 3,500 riders all day to that extra service. If they can do that they break even and anything more is a profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 yeah but you tell me they can't attract 3,500 riders all day to that extra service. If they can do that they break even and anything more is a profit. If they don't know that they will attract about 460 riders to the one trip, and are running an experiment for that, I don't see how they can know that they will attract 3500 riders for more extensive service. I also assume, that to get to the net $7000 cost, they are offsetting fares to a certain extent, and also that an unlinked trip generates only $1.12 in revenue, not $2.00 (see any budget report). Wonder how passes enter into their or your calculation, and also, as the article indicates, the potential passenger who would just take the slower trip on the Red Line, but not pay any different fare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewFlyerMCI Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 For someone who has a fantasy thread, it is sure ironic to be complaining about $7000, which sounds real cheap for a trial to see if there are 400 riders. It also is a possibility that Evanston is kicking in the money. I suppose now you are going to campaign against the JARC trials (such as 35 west of Kedzie on 31st) because CTA did have to kick in matching funds to get the experiments going. That was sure more than $7000. Update: RTAMS indicates that the budget for that project was a $1 million match to the $1 million federal grant. Hmmm I spotted that same irony. And I also found it interesting he proposed alternatives that would cost a heck of a lot more than the relatively small $7000 that this experiment costs. You're both very funny. I find it ironic that you didn't adhere to the community guidelines by which you so love and staunchly defend. And I was listing possible alternatives, not things I actually wanted implemented, which would be what a proposal is. I didn't say this is something I wouldn't have proposed myself (the extra train), however, I would have tried to get more than 7k in an attempt to run it where more people would ride /would have a chance to ride. This just seems like something that, as BusHunter stated earlier, if you see it, then you catch it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted February 12, 2015 Report Share Posted February 12, 2015 .... This just seems like something that, as BusHunter stated earlier, if you see it, then you catch it. Since the article says that Evanston will be promoting it, that does not seem to be the case (apparently not even for the interviewed guy who was just riding it to Lincoln Park). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniorz Posted April 21, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 The Schedule for the pilot program is now available. The 1st evening express train departs Linden @ 8:00 pm June 1st!!!1!! CTA Purple Line Express Late Night Service Pilot.pdf 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juniorz Posted May 26, 2015 Author Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Get Ready!!!!!!!!!!A press release will be announced tomorrow (May 26th, 2015) outlining the promotional roll out of the new service pilot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briman94 Posted May 26, 2015 Report Share Posted May 26, 2015 Ooh, I can take the Purple Line home from work when I get off at 8pm next Monday! I'll be able to take it every day of the week...that'll be super nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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