Metra Pilot Schedule

[renardo870]

Metra is preparing for a post pandemic pilot schedule for BNSF, ME, RI & UPN with increased service during the midday for weekdays. This should be interesting. 

[renardo870]

Metra plans service enhancements as ridership returns from pandemic

(June 9, 2021) - 

With ridership steadily increasing from pandemic lows, Metra will be adding service to all of its lines starting in July and will introduce enhanced pilot schedules on four lines with more off-peak options to meet the post-COVID needs of riders. The new pilot schedules can be viewed here.

From a pandemic low of 3 percent of normal ridership in April 2020 and a plateau of around 10 percent for much of 2020, Metra ridership has been steadily rising since January 2021 and this week reached 17 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

New pilot schedules will start July 12 on the UP North, BNSF and Metra Electric lines and July 19 on the Rock Island Line. In response to riders’ evolving needs and global best practices, the pilot schedules step away from pre-pandemic schedules that prioritized peak rush-hour service in favor of a more balanced approach that spreads out the service to offer better off-peak options. The schedules also have been reimagined with more memorable timetables and service patterns.

“We want to demonstrate that My Metra is about taking care of our riders. With this pilot program, we are testing schedules that have changed with our riders changing needs. We think flexibility is the new currency in a post-pandemic economy," said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “We look forward to our riders’ return, and we will welcome them with clean, safe trains and schedules that meet their needs.”

The pilot schedules for the four lines can be viewed here. On the remaining seven lines, Metra will be enhancing rush-hour service; those schedules will be posted over the next several weeks. On some of those lines – where the infrastructure allows it – Metra may introduce similar pilot schedules in the future.

The guiding principles for Metra’s service restoration are to provide consistent and frequent service throughout the day; create easily understandable and memorable service patterns; implement new express service when possible in the peak travel periods; explore reverse-commute and new ridership markets; promote regional equity and create transfer opportunities within Metra and with other transit services.

 

[renardo870]

9 minutes ago, renardo870 said:

Metra plans service enhancements as ridership returns from pandemic

(June 9, 2021) - 

With ridership steadily increasing from pandemic lows, Metra will be adding service to all of its lines starting in July and will introduce enhanced pilot schedules on four lines with more off-peak options to meet the post-COVID needs of riders. The new pilot schedules can be viewed here.

From a pandemic low of 3 percent of normal ridership in April 2020 and a plateau of around 10 percent for much of 2020, Metra ridership has been steadily rising since January 2021 and this week reached 17 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

New pilot schedules will start July 12 on the UP North, BNSF and Metra Electric lines and July 19 on the Rock Island Line. In response to riders’ evolving needs and global best practices, the pilot schedules step away from pre-pandemic schedules that prioritized peak rush-hour service in favor of a more balanced approach that spreads out the service to offer better off-peak options. The schedules also have been reimagined with more memorable timetables and service patterns.

“We want to demonstrate that My Metra is about taking care of our riders. With this pilot program, we are testing schedules that have changed with our riders changing needs. We think flexibility is the new currency in a post-pandemic economy," said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “We look forward to our riders’ return, and we will welcome them with clean, safe trains and schedules that meet their needs.”

The pilot schedules for the four lines can be viewed here. On the remaining seven lines, Metra will be enhancing rush-hour service; those schedules will be posted over the next several weeks. On some of those lines – where the infrastructure allows it – Metra may introduce similar pilot schedules in the future.

The guiding principles for Metra’s service restoration are to provide consistent and frequent service throughout the day; create easily understandable and memorable service patterns; implement new express service when possible in the peak travel periods; explore reverse-commute and new ridership markets; promote regional equity and create transfer opportunities within Metra and with other transit services.

 

2021_bnsf_pilot_web_0-3.pdf

[renardo870]

2021.07.12_med_pilot_web-3.pdf 2021_rid_pilot_web-2.pdf 2021.07.12_upn_pilot_web3-2.pdf

[NewFlyerMCI]

18 hours ago, renardo870 said:

Metra is preparing for a post pandemic pilot schedule for BNSF, ME, RI & UPN with increased service during the midday for weekdays. This should be interesting. 

Any clue as to why the UPNW isn't being tweaked? It's consistently been Metra's second-busiest line, and although it's pandemic ridership dropped it a couple positions, it's ridership wasn't totally worse than the other lines

[MetroShadow]

6 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Any clue as to why the UPNW isn't being tweaked? It's consistently been Metra's second-busiest line, and although it's pandemic ridership dropped it a couple positions, it's ridership wasn't totally worse than the other lines

I think you've answered the question. If there's demand on the other lines, those are the ones who'll get the service upgrades first.

[NewFlyerMCI]

2 hours ago, renardo870 said:

2021_bnsf_pilot_web_0-3.pdf 776.18 kB · 1 download

 

2 hours ago, renardo870 said:

2021.07.12_med_pilot_web-3.pdf 1.44 MB · 1 download 2021_rid_pilot_web-2.pdf 697.78 kB · 1 download 2021.07.12_upn_pilot_web3-2.pdf 699.07 kB · 0 downloads

Summaries:

• I was originally gonna do some detailed analysis for the fun of it, but I'm tired lol
  • BNSF is basically seeing some slightly expanded peak service and hourly service after 9a (inbound)/btwn 9a-2:30p (outbound). There are more outbound am peak express trains than inbound pm peak express trains. Service typically falls into Aurora-Downers Grove exp, Fairview Ave-Congress Park exp or Brookfield-CUS local. Stops like Fairview Ave have returned to mostly peak-direction service with the addition of all these new departures
  • MED doesn't seem to have added to taken away trains (but I definitely didn't look as hard, it's so many departures lol), just adjusted departing times, like midday SC trains leaving 5 mins earlier or midday UP trains leaving 8 mins early. A couple of outbound trains have been added, 361, 160, 625, 163 & 363. A couple of these are duplicates of trains leaving 15-20 mins beforehand, so an overcrowding measure?
  • RI has more peak service added (8 Joliet departures vs 6 current ones) and service to 95th/103rd has shifted about 15-45 mins later (still the same amount of trains). What I'm not sure about is if the bike cars have been removed (the icon isn't present on the next schedule) and trains 412, 616, 420, 424 & 500 which were bascially duplicate trains, but with bikes are also not there.
  • UPN has vastly expanded peak service (30 mins headways from Waukegan, hourly during midday, and outbound departures from OTC have 30 min headways from 5:30a-6:30p. Outside directional peak, trains are local to Winnetka or partial express to Winnetka and then local to Waukegan

[NewFlyerMCI]

10 minutes ago, MetroShadow said:

I think you've answered the question. If there's demand on the other lines, those are the ones who'll get the service upgrades first.

Ridership has rebounded though. As of April 2021, the UPNW is once again the second busiest Metra line and a cursory glance of 2020 stats, it looks like it's maintained that 2nd or occasionally 3rd spot after Spring 2020. I find it hard to believe UPNW wouldn't qualify for expanded service.

[Smolensk]

The revised UPN schedule doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

There are northbound trains terminating in Winnetka at 6:35, 7:35, 8:35, 9:35, and 10:35 am.

But the first southbound train from Winnetka is at 10:09 am.

There are also southbound trains from Highland Park at 6:59, 7:29, 7:59, 8:29, and 8:59 that have no matching northbound trains.

What are they doing?  Deadheading trains from Winnetka to Highland Park?  It would kill them to let a few passengers stay on board for the trip?  That still wouldn't explain the 7:29 and 8:29 departures from HP.

[Smolensk]

And the other surprise on the UPN schedule is that now EVERY weekday train will stop at Clybourn, Ravenswood, and Rogers Park.

Almost every train has always stopped at Clybourn, but it looks like they've eliminated the few exceptions.  Given how busy Ravenswood is, that sounds like a good decision.  But Rogers Park?  Maybe they want to see if they can coax some people from Ravenswood to Rogers Park to ease crowding?

[Sam92]

9 hours ago, Smolensk said:

And the other surprise on the UPN schedule is that now EVERY weekday train will stop at Clybourn, Ravenswood, and Rogers Park.

Almost every train has always stopped at Clybourn, but it looks like they've eliminated the few exceptions.  Given how busy Ravenswood is, that sounds like a good decision.  But Rogers Park?  Maybe they want to see if they can coax some people from Ravenswood to Rogers Park to ease crowding?

I mean they got 4 years to test the potential and put themselves out as a competitive service with the RPM. Yeah then another 7-10 years for phase 2-3 as well

[Sam92]

9 hours ago, Smolensk said:

The revised UPN schedule doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

There are northbound trains terminating in Winnetka at 6:35, 7:35, 8:35, 9:35, and 10:35 am.

But the first southbound train from Winnetka is at 10:09 am.

There are also southbound trains from Highland Park at 6:59, 7:29, 7:59, 8:29, and 8:59 that have no matching northbound trains.

What are they doing?  Deadheading trains from Winnetka to Highland Park?  It would kill them to let a few passengers stay on board for the trip?  That still wouldn't explain the 7:29 and 8:29 departures from HP.

What’s going on at HP the rest of the day? Those southbounds looks like put-outs cause I always remembered Kenosha being served by alternate runs. Even if i were to guess rush hour trippers I doubt the yard is that far south so it would still make sense to let passengers stay on till the yard like you said 

[Sam92]

Upon checking currently off peak and weekends look to alternate between Kenosha and Waukegan 

[NewFlyerMCI]

15 hours ago, Smolensk said:

And the other surprise on the UPN schedule is that now EVERY weekday train will stop at Clybourn, Ravenswood, and Rogers Park.

Almost every train has always stopped at Clybourn, but it looks like they've eliminated the few exceptions.  Given how busy Ravenswood is, that sounds like a good decision.  But Rogers Park?  Maybe they want to see if they can coax some people from Ravenswood to Rogers Park to ease crowding?

I don't think that's it, Ravenswood & Rodgers Park don't have the same ridership base. These are stations where the majority of ridership is walk-up riders. Anyone who's riding to/from Ravenswood isn't going to pony up to Rodgers Park, they're going to take the 81 to the red line/146 or walk to Damen Brown. Rogers Park has about nearly half of Ravenswood's ridership (4th busiest stop outside the loop), which is still a lot, relative to all the other Metra stations in the system, so the answer is probably just that the ridership warrants all trains stopping

[artthouwill]

21 hours ago, Smolensk said:

And the other surprise on the UPN schedule is that now EVERY weekday train will stop at Clybourn, Ravenswood, and Rogers Park.

Almost every train has always stopped at Clybourn, but it looks like they've eliminated the few exceptions.  Given how busy Ravenswood is, that sounds like a good decision.  But Rogers Park?  Maybe they want to see if they can coax some people from Ravenswood to Rogers Park to ease crowding?

I think Metra is competing with CTA.  If Metra can provide a more consistent product to Rogers Park and Ravenswood,  perhaps they can attract CTA riders to Metra.  The only step between Ravenswood and Oglivie is Clybourn.   That's a faster ride downtown than any CTA service IF the schedule is convenient enough. 

[Sam92]

15 hours ago, artthouwill said:

I think Metra is competing with CTA.  If Metra can provide a more consistent product to Rogers Park and Ravenswood,  perhaps they can attract CTA riders to Metra.  The only step between Ravenswood and Oglivie is Clybourn.   That's a faster ride downtown than any CTA service IF the schedule is convenient enough. 

Not to mention Evanston 

[NewFlyerMCI]

20 hours ago, artthouwill said:

I think Metra is competing with CTA.  If Metra can provide a more consistent product to Rogers Park and Ravenswood,  perhaps they can attract CTA riders to Metra.  The only step between Ravenswood and Oglivie is Clybourn.   That's a faster ride downtown than any CTA service IF the schedule is convenient enough. 

 

4 hours ago, Sam92 said:

Not to mention Evanston 

I think @artthouwill is on the money. Evanston-Davis, Rogers Park and Ravenswood always had hourly or better service during weekdays and now it'll be better. Especially considering the $7 Sat/o/Sun pass means you're already saving money since a Zone B fare is $4.25 and a Zone C fare is $5.50. It's a 28-30 min ride from Davis to OTC, the Purple line would only make it to about Armitage in that same time frame. Even before FTSC pilot, I'd pay more to take the ME from 75th, simply because it'd be faster and more comfortable, so I'm sure with this new frequent service, those riders are thinking the same.

[strictures]

2 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

 

I think @artthouwill is on the money. Evanston-Davis, Rogers Park and Ravenswood always had hourly or better service during weekdays and now it'll be better. Especially considering the $7 Sat/o/Sun pass means you're already saving money since a Zone B fare is $4.25 and a Zone C fare is $5.50. It's a 28-30 min ride from Davis to OTC, the Purple line would only make it to about Armitage in that same time frame. Even before FTSC pilot, I'd pay more to take the ME from 75th, simply because it'd be faster and more comfortable, so I'm sure with this new frequent service, those riders are thinking the same.

I was told by a Metra exec, they are seriously thinking of service every half hour middays on the UPN soon.   They are also want to eliminate the 2 hour break in service each morning on the UPN, since that's a vestige of when both Tempel Steel & S&C Electric had freight service from the Northwestern.  There's isn't any freight traffic on the UPN south of Lake Bluff anymore, because the service out of the North Ave. Yard is totally on its own track, east of the tracks Metra uses.  Those few freight cars that go in & out of North Ave., are brought in overnight & never interfere with Metra trains.

About 2 weeks ago, there was little outbound passenger loads midday, as when I got off the 12:35 out of Ogilvie at Rogers Park at about 12:53, I was the sole person getting off that train that day.

[NewFlyerMCI]

8 minutes ago, strictures said:

I was told by a Metra exec, they are seriously thinking of service every half hour middays on the UPN soon.   They are also want to eliminate the 2 hour break in service each morning on the UPN, since that's a vestige of when both Tempel Steel & S&C Electric had freight service from the Northwestern.  There's isn't any freight traffic on the UPN south of Lake Bluff anymore, because the service out of the North Ave. Yard is totally on its own track, east of the tracks Metra uses.  Those few freight cars that go in & out of North Ave., are brought in overnight & never interfere with Metra trains.

About 2 weeks ago, there was little outbound passenger loads midday, as when I got off the 12:35 out of Ogilvie at Rogers Park at about 12:53, I was the sole person getting off that train that day.

Is that two hour gap that you're referring to between trains 3360 and 338 on the current schedule? They seem to have gotten rid of it in the new enhanced schedule

[renardo870]

On 6/17/2021 at 11:55 AM, renardo870 said:

2021.07.12_med_pilot_web-3.pdf 1.44 MB · 14 downloads 2021_rid_pilot_web-2.pdf 697.78 kB · 12 downloads 2021.07.12_upn_pilot_web3-2.pdf 699.07 kB · 15 downloads

It seems they cut a few of the Kenosha trips as well. I wonder if they will return in future improvements down the line. Hopefully when they look at Sunday service they will try to add earlier NB services to Waukegan or Kenosha between 0630-1035.