Transit punditry

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, Sam92 said:

I know NCS wanted to expand service and couldn't because the freights wouldn't allow it at some point. But isn't the HC too lower in ridership to increase service? I don't know the freight volume on that line but I feel like they'd at least bump it up a few more trains even if still peak only if there was a bump in ridership. It's basically metras "purple line" as far as a faster way to Joliet but RI seems to go through areas with much more daily demand. 

Remember the HC service is also on CN trackage.  Amtrak suffers constant delays between Joliet and Chicago.   It's to the point that Amtrak is not only trying to acquire the St

 Charles Air Lune, it wants to rebuild the connection between RI and the St Charles Air Line as well as a new connection between the St Charles Air Line and the tracks directly leading to Union Station.   Amtrak wants to reroute the trains from St Louis over the RI tracks to avoid the massive delays due to the freight trains.  That should tell you that XN isn't interested in Metra expanding service on any line that runs on its tracks.  The only possible solutions are to tweak the times by a few minutes and add additional rail cars to the HC.  UT was a miracle when they were able to add 3 Saturday trains in each direction..  I guess its being allowed for seasonal service. 

[MetroShadow]

23 hours ago, Busjack said:

There's a certain point where comment boxes don't accomplish much, and this gets me back to a point I made above whether the algorithm is to get him click count, because stuff like this comes to the top, when I'm looking for something like a cab camera view of the UP-N.*

______

*There isn't one in the Metra Ride Along series. Apparently, there are a couple of unofficial ones.

I'm team MED for the camera views, but neither here nor there. ?

[YoungBusLover]

On 10/15/2023 at 2:05 PM, Busjack said:

That's also something I admit I don't know much about. Obviously, these videos come up near the top of a search, but does that mean they are getting paid based on click count? Or do they just get some rush from superimposing their portrait at the start of a poorly-produced video?

Quote

Do they just get some rush from superimposing their portrait at the start of a poorly-produced video?

Well most the individuals that are doing this usually do it for the love of just making content, the money aspect hasn't registered for them in there mind even though a good chunk apparently are young teens and adults. All in all seeing multiple channels make the same content messes up the algorithm as far as recommended videos to watch and search for. The last thing I want to see when typing in CTA via the Youtube search bar and all I see is a bunch of Onboard videos of buses and trains from all over the system. Now if it was one channel doing that particular thing it wouldn't so bad but it seems like now everyone is just following that wave to be seen on there. Spamming the same content to get less that 200 views and 5 likes all year doesn't really make sense to do especially if it isn't educational/informing. When it comes to CTA I'm more so interested in the history of it while also the modernization its going through as well.

Example show below.

 

[Railguy]

Forget and give up the Heritage Line its never going to reach full potential.  RTA should give the operating funds for this line to Pace for more I55 service with new lines to the previous stations.   Joliet foks can use the Rock.  Romeoville should never have received CMAQ funds for a poorly used station turn into a p&r for Pace. 

[Busjack]

17 hours ago, Railguy said:

Forget and give up the Heritage Line its never going to reach full potential.  RTA should give the operating funds for this line to Pace for more I55 service with new lines to the previous stations.   Joliet foks can use the Rock.  Romeoville should never have received CMAQ funds for a poorly used station turn into a p&r for Pace. 

 

You bring up the converse of the issue I was trying to raise. I was trying to point out why the HC doesn't run until last call. You are asking why the HC is running at all. People like this content creator or PART seem to cite the ME as a model operation, but the local stops, other than those in Hyde Park, are the worst performing in the system. But, unlike CTA in the late 1940s, and, to a certain extent, the Congress cutbacks and Green Line rebuilds, has been unwilling to cut stations or lines. I'm not sure why it held onto the GM&O, now HC, or what justifications Romeoville gave for its stations, but I'm sure it's a combination of having to hold hearings and receive accusations of "lack of equity," and now there's the effect of such things as Fair Transit South Cook and "regional rail" vs. "commuter rail." Probably there is a tacit decision to let sleeping dogs lie.

[artthouwill]

23 hours ago, Railguy said:

Forget and give up the Heritage Line its never going to reach full potential.  RTA should give the operating funds for this line to Pace for more I55 service with new lines to the previous stations.   Joliet foks can use the Rock.  Romeoville should never have received CMAQ funds for a poorly used station turn into a p&r for Pace. 

Apparently Romeoville felt like they needed the service.  That region has experienced massive growth  over the years.   It hasn't translated to more or longer trains.  I don't think Pace is a good alternative for Lockport  Lemont,  or Summit. 

[Busjack]

39 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

I don't think Pace is a good alternative for Lockport  Lemont,  or Summit. 

There was at one time a late 855, which made the stops @Railguy mentioned.

[Busjack]

On 10/23/2023 at 4:46 PM, MetroShadow said:

Alan is from the East Coast, hence his takes are NEC-Centric.

... but also, comment boxes are important to tell them why exactly they are wrong...

On 2/23/2024 at 8:38 PM, Busjack said:

...

One thing I noted on the channel page is "Not associated with BTHS."  A search for that came up with Brooklyn Technical High School. Their main project is extending the 7 Line to Queens. I think we have another (possibly more intelligent) version of @nitro.

 

@MetroShadow's post explains the source of the problem, but trying his suggestion to respond in the comments didn't work in a real test.

Instead of taking on a video where "Tech Transit Association" was advocating that to eliminate conflicts, the Orange and Pink Lines should be interlined "to eliminate interlining," I decided to troll the comments. I noted a common pattern I pejoratively call "New Yorkitis," which applies to him, @Nitro, and another commenter who appeared less intelligent than the latter. Maybe the reason is the same as reflected in the New Yorker Magazine cover which shows the Pacific Coast just west of the Hudson River.

• While another video in which he was debating a YouTuber from Toronto on whether the Interborough Express should be subway cars or LRVs demonstrated that he knew the facts in his own backyard, stuff in the 2 Chicago videos (like saying Wowbosch for Wabash) showed he wasn't familiar with Chicago.
  • The contrast was highlighted in saying in the IBX video why NY was proposing street running over a stretch to avoid FRA conflicts and a cemetery, but he had no problem razing the 4-square blocks bounded by Lawrence, Kimball, Leland, and St. Louis.
• The few times he responded to known Chicago commenters (like ChicagolandTransit), it was with stuff like "the census says," when we know ChicagolandTransit rides the rails.
• There is a pattern, at least demonstrated by @Nitro and his imitator, of projecting NY MTA problems and solutions on Chicago. The latter had such comments as "this would avoid the problem we have on the A Train." Other than Duke Ellington, who cares? Whatever problems CTA has, the two NTSB reports illustrate how far behind MTA is.

The other issue is that Page and Brin haven't come up with an easy to use reply system. Among other things, REPLY buttons disappear off screen (especially if you try to reply in the Notifications drop down), error messages appear when you click Reply, and the replies disappear.

In short, I'm not trying this again.