Civic groups tell Lightfoot to get on board with cheaper South Side Metra fares

[strictures]

Crain's just posted a Greg Hinz column about the Metropolitan Planning Council & two other local groups that she should go along with cheaper South Side Metra fare, because the county has pledged to make up the difference in CTA losses.

Lightfoot, Preckwinkle urged to work out transit dispute

[artthouwill]

44 minutes ago, strictures said:

Crain's just posted a Greg Hinz column about the Metropolitan Planning Council & two other local groups that she should go along with cheaper South Side Metra fare, because the county has pledged to make up the difference in CTA losses.

Lightfoot, Preckwinkle urged to work out transit dispute

Somewhere @Mike Payne is shouting for joy!

[NewFlyerMCI]

I'm somewhat surprised to see the RI in here (although happy at its inclusion). I think Metra should explore what SEPTA and LIRR (excepting the Far Rockaway & Port Washington branches) does and just make the downtown stations the terminal zone, consolidate all stations inside the city limits into one zone, and adjust the suburban zones from there.

Also, surprised no one wants to do a Blue Island Transit Center. Take that lot at the corner of Grove & Irving, turn it into a terminal, and you have Harvey-lite.

[artthouwill]

2 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

I'm somewhat surprised to see the RI in here (although happy at its inclusion). I think Metra should explore what SEPTA and LIRR (excepting the Far Rockaway & Port Washington branches) does and just make the downtown stations the terminal zone, consolidate all stations inside the city limits into one zone, and adjust the suburban zones from there.

Also, surprised no one wants to do a Blue Island Transit Center. Take that lot at the corner of Grove & Irving, turn it into a terminal, and you have Harvey-lite.

I think your idea about consolidating the city Metra stations into one zone raises some issues.  Metra fares and zones are based on the distance the stations are from the downtown terminal and increase every 2 or 2.5 miles or so.  This is pretty equitable.  If you make the entire city Zone A, what is the next zone?  On UP W and BNSF, the answer is simple.  What about UP-N, UP-NW, MD-W.  In the MD-W case, Elmwood Park is about 3/4 mile from a Metra station in the city limits.  If you zone Elmwood Park B, then you have to  downzone the entire Line.  If you keep the current zone based outside the city limits, a lot of Elmwood Park riders will attempt to drive into the city and board there.  

If you travel past 7600N, you are not in Chicago.  You have to go past 115th (11500S) on ME and RI before you exit the city.  The pilot program drops stations like Blue Island and Harvey down two fare zones.  That pretty much goes for those lines' stations within Cook county.   I don't know how Cook county can subsidize those two lines.  Imagine spreading the concept to all Metra Lines.

The main idea is to prop the ME.  The article touts a low operating cost supposedly because ME is electrified.  However, the RI isn't electrified.  Increased service on that line increases costs.  What about fare collection?  Will gates need to be installed to accept Bentra cards?  How do you install gates (turnstyles) on grade level RI stations?  If you just use the Ventra App to purchase your ME or RI ticket, how do you transfer to a CTA service, or if you use a Ventra card on CTA, how do you transfer to a Metra service (ME or RI)? How would it be able to stop you from riding beyond your zone?