Since the Breuer Library thread is generating some grass roots upheaval, why not do the same for the CTA riders, fed up and disgusted by its continuing service backslide. The neighborhoods project is an email generator that sends Federal, State and Local Politico's your messege.
lets see, the cta is improving the tracks which is causing delays, these improvements were announced when i lived in chicago in the early part of this century. do people think that improving the tracks does not mean service delay because there are fewer tracks?
I think most sane people agree that the CTA's infrastructure needs some major improvements, and are willing to put up with some inconvenience during the process.
What really gets me outraged, though, is when the CTA pours millions of dollars into stupid gimmicks such as automated announcements, scrolling LED displays (which typically serve as the world's most expensive "no smoking" signs), and schlockily-designed bus stop shelters when the agency seems incapable of even maintaining a train or bus so that it can get from point A to point B without suffering some sort of equipment breakdown.
Like so much else in Chicago, all the capital improvements seem directed toward the benefit of downtown tourists and conventioneers while city residents continue to get screwed. The CTA is like the homeowner who puts all his money into pretty vinyl siding and shutters (gotta look good for the neighbors), while the house's cracked foundation and termite infestation continue to go ignored.
I like what the former head of the CTA said recently in NYC - You cant fix a bad system. The CTA's rail lines were most at one point private enterprises with names like west side line, etc. For that early 20th century and late 19th century era it was most profitable to have all lines converge on the center of the city. Thats where the manufacturing and Jobs were then. It was a downtown centric system. It still is. However as manufacturing long ago left the central city, and the city is now a region extending well beyond the core of the Chicago city limits, the CTA is an inter neighborhood people mover, or at least should be. Metra is the interregional bulk people mover. Theres really only one way to go on the CTA - downtown. This is great for downtown real estate intrests, however will only further the reality of Chicago as a sectored city. How wonderful would the benefits be of the circulator line. It will change the job location dynamics of this city as well as settlement patterns. Whatever the cost to build it will reap untold fortunes for the region. It, along with signal upgrades, and clout-busting, will make a bad system, World class. Simply put - we need a spider's web layout, not an octopus.
I agree the system desperately needs at least one (possibly two) cross-town circle lines. One is already in the long-term planning works, and would form a semicircle around the area roughly bounded by North Avenue, Paulina Street, and Archer Avenue. The cool part about it is that much of the proposed route would utilize tracks that already exist.
For my own Chicago transit master plan, I would propose the following (assuming, of course, that money is no object):
- In addition to the inner circle line mentioned above, I would add an outer cross-town line that begins that the Skokie Swift (Yellow Line) terminal on Dempster, heads south roughly along Cicero Avenue past Midway Airport and Ford City, and then turn east along 75th Street to the lakefront, where it would terminate. Both Cicero and 75th have existing railroad viaducts running parallel to them that could potentially be used for transit lines.
- I would add an entirely new rapid transit system along the concept of the Washington Metro (larger train cars, faster speeds, longer distances between stations, ample park & ride facilities) that would serve the region roughly within the bounds Tri-State Tollway. This would overlay with the existing 'L' and Metra lines, and when these lines get within the city limits of Chicago, they would run express and serve limited stops at major transfer points, while the existing 'L' system would continue to serve local stops. This system would also incorporate non-stop express service between the Loop, O'Hare, and Midway.
- The existing diesel Metra lines would be electrified, which would allow for faster accelleration, more frequent trains, and less noise and pollution. This would, of course, be in conjunction with a regional high-speed rail system with Chicago as its primary hub.
I've actually given a lot of thought about how I would re-shape Chicago's transit system... here is a Zip file of an AutoCAD drawing I made of some of my ideas.
well i lived in rogers park and rode the redline everyday and never had any trouble except that i never seemed to be reading the "right" book to impress the female commuters. i was never into harry potter you see.
A number of my friends and co-workers have noticed a huge decline in the reliability of the CTA over the past couple years. I ride the Red Line almost every day between North/Clybourn and Grand, and I can count on a significant service delay at least twice a week or so, perhaps even more if the weather is bad.
seriously vado - the cta has fallen off tremendously in the last 5 years. Especially the last 2. I dont know when you lived in Rogers Park but my friends mostly live up there and they want out - simply put they cant handle the redline delays any more. We were left a legacy of public transport by previous generations and I fear we're squandering it. Hopefully the next administration will be more focussed on urban infrastructure improvements - seemingly the last 8 or 9 werent. Its time.
On days I drive to work, it takes roughly one-half to one-third the time it takes to ride the CTA. The only things that keep me from driving everyday are the cost of parking and my social conscience, but once the major construction starts in my neighborhood in April, I'll probably end up getting monthly parking at the garage near my office and cancelling my monthly CTA pass.
i believe ya guys. just an aside, my friend silent bob fell asleep on the redline and woke up finding that his train car was parked in the train yard just north of the howard stop.
The last couple times I rode the red line (this past week), both times we went about 10 or 20 feet --then stopped -- then 20 feet -- then stopped -- then 20 feet -- then stopped -- the whole way until we got underground at north/clybourn. Then on another trip we just sat underground for awhile.
Even so, though, this city has nothing on how many times the Paris metro simply sat underground, once for 45 minutes while I was on it, or you'd get up to go to work and find that your entire train line was on strike for the day, so no getting anywhere at all. It was a nice spiderweb system though, with trains every minute and a half.
holy criznap gin... i never actually laid it out, and have been a huge fan of decentralizing chicago as discussed in the 100 other threads, but these loops make so much sense now that they are on paper... the hubs created by the "light green" line would be great. (i might be partial because i live at cicero & irving park)... but this would be a great excercise to place into NetLogo and model the effects... (i think there would be plenty of precedents to establish a good result) but as you said, this is a "money is no object" scheme... the logistics of growing the system are just that...growth... because the financial justification for these loops are experienced well after they are built... plus, the city needs a "if we build it, they will come" kind of confidence as it's been previously discussed that cities are losing people...(yeah, suburbs)
lletdownl, get on that NetLogo...
or perhaps I'll find some time to actually learn that program...
but in response to the original post... i signed up, i sent the letter, but I'm fairly certain everyone knows about this problem... politicians are already trying to gather as much information as possible to develop strategies or plans that they can use in their campaigns, there's an article about cta problems in the redeye almost everyday... I'm not sure if my email will speed things up, but, oh well... till then, i will patiently wait on my blue line plat, reading with numb fingers and oblivious vigor
the bears are gonna get their asses kicked. i cant believe some of the former bears who said things like " the bears match up better against indy and indy wouldn't have beaten the chargers. and the ravens and the patriots are tougher than the colts." even though the colts beat the ravens in baltimore and beat the pats twice. wtf??? colts 41 bears 17
chill vado, i got nothing against the colts, they're the fav's, a legit superbowl contender, (how can you not be with manning), although, i do like us matching up against the colts better than going against balt/sandiego/NE... and i'm a firm believer in "on any given sunday..."
good luck to you and your colts...
i firmly reside in the corner of the bears...
I've never made and NEVER will make ANY sort of predictions
so, once again, Go Bears!
(...and if manning gets food poisoning on Sunday, I was at the office THE WHOLE WEEK!)
in conclusion, i doubt our asses will be kicked, thrashed, or pounded, i hope it will be a battle to the bitter end... i'd like robbie gould to have a shot at immortality
well i m not a bears hater. i grew up sixty miles from chicago and lived there as well. but, frankly the three bears on wgn have dissed the colts all year and i m sick of it. otherwise, i'd love to see a cliffhanger...afterall, my great nephew is named payton (after number 34!)
Jan 29, 07 2:59 pm ·
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Group gives CTA riders vehicle to voice concern
Since the Breuer Library thread is generating some grass roots upheaval, why not do the same for the CTA riders, fed up and disgusted by its continuing service backslide. The neighborhoods project is an email generator that sends Federal, State and Local Politico's your messege.
Link to article in Crains
Group gives CTA riders vehicle to voice concern
Direct link to register your voice
neighborsproject
Be Mad Chicago. Be Heard.
What Chicago really needs is a counterpart to NYC's Straphangers Campaign. One could only hope that maybe this is the beginnings of such a thing.
Interesting Gin.
lets see, the cta is improving the tracks which is causing delays, these improvements were announced when i lived in chicago in the early part of this century. do people think that improving the tracks does not mean service delay because there are fewer tracks?
I think most sane people agree that the CTA's infrastructure needs some major improvements, and are willing to put up with some inconvenience during the process.
What really gets me outraged, though, is when the CTA pours millions of dollars into stupid gimmicks such as automated announcements, scrolling LED displays (which typically serve as the world's most expensive "no smoking" signs), and schlockily-designed bus stop shelters when the agency seems incapable of even maintaining a train or bus so that it can get from point A to point B without suffering some sort of equipment breakdown.
Like so much else in Chicago, all the capital improvements seem directed toward the benefit of downtown tourists and conventioneers while city residents continue to get screwed. The CTA is like the homeowner who puts all his money into pretty vinyl siding and shutters (gotta look good for the neighbors), while the house's cracked foundation and termite infestation continue to go ignored.
I like what the former head of the CTA said recently in NYC - You cant fix a bad system. The CTA's rail lines were most at one point private enterprises with names like west side line, etc. For that early 20th century and late 19th century era it was most profitable to have all lines converge on the center of the city. Thats where the manufacturing and Jobs were then. It was a downtown centric system. It still is. However as manufacturing long ago left the central city, and the city is now a region extending well beyond the core of the Chicago city limits, the CTA is an inter neighborhood people mover, or at least should be. Metra is the interregional bulk people mover. Theres really only one way to go on the CTA - downtown. This is great for downtown real estate intrests, however will only further the reality of Chicago as a sectored city. How wonderful would the benefits be of the circulator line. It will change the job location dynamics of this city as well as settlement patterns. Whatever the cost to build it will reap untold fortunes for the region. It, along with signal upgrades, and clout-busting, will make a bad system, World class. Simply put - we need a spider's web layout, not an octopus.
I agree the system desperately needs at least one (possibly two) cross-town circle lines. One is already in the long-term planning works, and would form a semicircle around the area roughly bounded by North Avenue, Paulina Street, and Archer Avenue. The cool part about it is that much of the proposed route would utilize tracks that already exist.
For my own Chicago transit master plan, I would propose the following (assuming, of course, that money is no object):
- In addition to the inner circle line mentioned above, I would add an outer cross-town line that begins that the Skokie Swift (Yellow Line) terminal on Dempster, heads south roughly along Cicero Avenue past Midway Airport and Ford City, and then turn east along 75th Street to the lakefront, where it would terminate. Both Cicero and 75th have existing railroad viaducts running parallel to them that could potentially be used for transit lines.
- I would add an entirely new rapid transit system along the concept of the Washington Metro (larger train cars, faster speeds, longer distances between stations, ample park & ride facilities) that would serve the region roughly within the bounds Tri-State Tollway. This would overlay with the existing 'L' and Metra lines, and when these lines get within the city limits of Chicago, they would run express and serve limited stops at major transfer points, while the existing 'L' system would continue to serve local stops. This system would also incorporate non-stop express service between the Loop, O'Hare, and Midway.
- The existing diesel Metra lines would be electrified, which would allow for faster accelleration, more frequent trains, and less noise and pollution. This would, of course, be in conjunction with a regional high-speed rail system with Chicago as its primary hub.
I've actually given a lot of thought about how I would re-shape Chicago's transit system... here is a Zip file of an AutoCAD drawing I made of some of my ideas.
well i lived in rogers park and rode the redline everyday and never had any trouble except that i never seemed to be reading the "right" book to impress the female commuters. i was never into harry potter you see.
A number of my friends and co-workers have noticed a huge decline in the reliability of the CTA over the past couple years. I ride the Red Line almost every day between North/Clybourn and Grand, and I can count on a significant service delay at least twice a week or so, perhaps even more if the weather is bad.
well maybe you should drive to work. lemme hear about those delays.
seriously vado - the cta has fallen off tremendously in the last 5 years. Especially the last 2. I dont know when you lived in Rogers Park but my friends mostly live up there and they want out - simply put they cant handle the redline delays any more. We were left a legacy of public transport by previous generations and I fear we're squandering it. Hopefully the next administration will be more focussed on urban infrastructure improvements - seemingly the last 8 or 9 werent. Its time.
On days I drive to work, it takes roughly one-half to one-third the time it takes to ride the CTA. The only things that keep me from driving everyday are the cost of parking and my social conscience, but once the major construction starts in my neighborhood in April, I'll probably end up getting monthly parking at the garage near my office and cancelling my monthly CTA pass.
i believe ya guys. just an aside, my friend silent bob fell asleep on the redline and woke up finding that his train car was parked in the train yard just north of the howard stop.
The last couple times I rode the red line (this past week), both times we went about 10 or 20 feet --then stopped -- then 20 feet -- then stopped -- then 20 feet -- then stopped -- the whole way until we got underground at north/clybourn. Then on another trip we just sat underground for awhile.
Even so, though, this city has nothing on how many times the Paris metro simply sat underground, once for 45 minutes while I was on it, or you'd get up to go to work and find that your entire train line was on strike for the day, so no getting anywhere at all. It was a nice spiderweb system though, with trains every minute and a half.
holy criznap gin... i never actually laid it out, and have been a huge fan of decentralizing chicago as discussed in the 100 other threads, but these loops make so much sense now that they are on paper... the hubs created by the "light green" line would be great. (i might be partial because i live at cicero & irving park)... but this would be a great excercise to place into NetLogo and model the effects... (i think there would be plenty of precedents to establish a good result) but as you said, this is a "money is no object" scheme... the logistics of growing the system are just that...growth... because the financial justification for these loops are experienced well after they are built... plus, the city needs a "if we build it, they will come" kind of confidence as it's been previously discussed that cities are losing people...(yeah, suburbs)
lletdownl, get on that NetLogo...
or perhaps I'll find some time to actually learn that program...
but in response to the original post... i signed up, i sent the letter, but I'm fairly certain everyone knows about this problem... politicians are already trying to gather as much information as possible to develop strategies or plans that they can use in their campaigns, there's an article about cta problems in the redeye almost everyday... I'm not sure if my email will speed things up, but, oh well... till then, i will patiently wait on my blue line plat, reading with numb fingers and oblivious vigor
go bears!
the bears are gonna get their asses kicked. i cant believe some of the former bears who said things like " the bears match up better against indy and indy wouldn't have beaten the chargers. and the ravens and the patriots are tougher than the colts." even though the colts beat the ravens in baltimore and beat the pats twice. wtf??? colts 41 bears 17
I agree ... but Im thinking 23-13 Colts. Peyton will also have 200 receiving yards after catching his own passes.
chill vado, i got nothing against the colts, they're the fav's, a legit superbowl contender, (how can you not be with manning), although, i do like us matching up against the colts better than going against balt/sandiego/NE... and i'm a firm believer in "on any given sunday..."
good luck to you and your colts...
i firmly reside in the corner of the bears...
I've never made and NEVER will make ANY sort of predictions
so, once again, Go Bears!
(...and if manning gets food poisoning on Sunday, I was at the office THE WHOLE WEEK!)
in conclusion, i doubt our asses will be kicked, thrashed, or pounded, i hope it will be a battle to the bitter end... i'd like robbie gould to have a shot at immortality
well i m not a bears hater. i grew up sixty miles from chicago and lived there as well. but, frankly the three bears on wgn have dissed the colts all year and i m sick of it. otherwise, i'd love to see a cliffhanger...afterall, my great nephew is named payton (after number 34!)
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