The $153 million traffic jam

Driving instead of taking mass transit "because we can" isn't the problem. A 2.5 hour train commute when compared to a 1 hour car ride is the problem.

This pertains to all of those folks who work in the N. West suburbs along the I-294 Corridor.

While the tollway authority adds super highways to the system instead of mass transit options, people are forced to stay in their cars.

Dicky D, the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, should be doing more for his state.

Huberman has promised nirvana next year with the hybrid buses and all that stuff.

We'll see whether his or your scenario will ensue.

But for those who always complain about leaving federal money on the table, the only reason Chicago (and Los Angeles) got this money was that NYC forfeited it by not implementing a congestion pricing plan the feds wanted. The Tribune seems to be suggesting that this federal money should have been left on the table.

The problem here isn't bus-only lanes, a wonderful idea that *will* make transit faster, more reliable, and more attractive. The problem is the continuing failure of the state legislature to provide adequate funding to the CTA.

A new capital bill to fund roads, transit, and schools is now six years overdue. And the one Blagojevich proposed heavily favors roads over a transit, which as we face global warming, rising oil prices, and worsening congestion is nothing short of insane.

So give your representatives a call and ask for better transit funding. Whatever Daley and the CTA do, driving is going to get worse and worse, and we won't have an alternative if we're not willing to invest in transit.

Let me know how that works out for the CTA.

I think they still have a serious image problem to overcome, and union issues that make lazy and surly employees.

My rules when riding the CTA: Always check the seat BEFORE you sit down, avoid the buses and trains that smell like active porta-potties on a hot summer day (even if you have to catch the next one), and hope the crazies don't curse at you too much or spit on you. Maybe the fare card machine will work fine that day.

I feel sorry for the people where the CTA is their only option. Those are the folks they need to impress first.

RAJ wrote:

Driving instead of taking mass transit "because we can" isn't the problem. A 2.5 hour train commute when compared to a 1 hour car ride is the problem.
This pertains to all of those folks who work in the N. West suburbs along the I-294 Corridor.
While the tollway authority adds super highways to the system instead of mass transit options, people are forced to stay in their cars.

RAJ, would the proposed STAR line
http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/star.php
or Cook DuPage Corridor projects
http://razetheladder.blogspot.com/2008/03/exp...
help you at all?

RTA has some good expansion ideas, but as long as the state legislature keeps underfunding transit, they're not going anywhere.

What might be a bigger problem is that the suburbs have been designed for cars, so offering cost-effective and convenient transit options is difficult. Low densities mean higher operating costs and pedestrian-hostile highwayscapes make it difficult for riders to walk where they're going after they get off Metra or Pace. If we want to make transit work in the suburbs, the suburbs will have to start rezoning around Metra stops and in office parks to encourage high-density, mixed-use development.

If the CTA wanted to run a faster and more efficient bus route they could start by eliminating 1/2 - 2/3 of their bus stops. How many of the routes have the bus stopping every block, and in some cases multiple times within the same block? Make bus stops every three or four blocks. Put in larger and nicer bus shelters at each of those stops. Most of the fuel being used for the buses is consumed every time the bus has to start from a dead stop. The traffic backup caused by the buses stopping every block or less also adds to the amount of fuel and drivers frustration in all of the cars behind the bus.

Raze:

Do you have any connection to the concrete or construction industries? Their lobbyists seem to be the only ones who have the "capital plan" at the top of their agenda.

As demonstrated on Illinois Lawmakers on Wednesday, all legislators said they wanted a capital plan, but couldn't figure out how to fund it, and didn't trust the gov to spend it where needed. If they aren't convinced to act, how are us peons (whose wallets have already been raided by the RTA tax increase (which you fail to acknowledge), Stroger and Sufferdin, going to get them off the schneid?

The CTA could go a long way towards addressing bunching by rethinking bus stop locations.

Sheridan road between Loyola and Hollywood has a stop on almost every corner. Why is this necessary? Some of them are after a light rather than before it, so traffic is stopped by the red light, then again by the bus that stops immediately after crossing the intersection.

Stupid and inefficient

This is the problem of having one Senator running for office instead of helping to fix the problems of Illinois. It's pretty outrageous that Obama remains a Senator while conducting a non-stop campaign for another job. I know, everyone does it - but that doesn't make it right.

Who knows what Durbin does besides play partisan politics. Apparently, nothing.

Part of the funding issue with CTA and RTA is that IL is a HUGE state with a lot of residents outside of the Chicagoland area. These resident do not want their tax $$$ going to fund an ill-run system that provides them no benefit. They have their own transit issues to fund.

Raze the Ladder - Great points, all around.

It's hard to know what the Tribune is thinking here. As someone suggested, do they leave the federal cash on the table? CTA is clearly improving under Huberman. They need to fight for every customer, and it's clear they are trying. Now it's up to the government (both the feds through pilot programs like this one and the state through a capital bill that favors public transit) to speed up the process.

Again, there's no reason public transportation has to be terrible.

I think Huberman has ideas that CTA riders knew long ago. The most annoying thing about deciding whether to ride the train or bus is not knowing when the next will be coming. That is what makes many people chose cars or taxis over the CTA. The CTA could take many lessons from the Japanese rail network. You could set your watch to it. The Japanese rail network relies on the use of state-of-the-art "electronic track testing" train cars to roll down the track and take computerized measurements looking for problem spots on the individual tracks. This data is compiled and crews are sent into repair sections. Such a train car would be expensive, but it is much more efficient(less labor, less workers, less pensions) from a cost and technical perspective than having CTA workers "walk" the tracks looking for problems. This labor savings can then be poured back into the system. Additionally, the CTA should raise fares to increase revenue and end the senior free ride program Blagoyevich started. Why is the fare still $1.75 when all these tax increases continue to fund the CTA? Why not raise the fares on those that use it?

Here's the plan to increase funding (again) for the CTA:

1. Make driving expensive and upleasant, forcing drivers to abandon it in favor of mass transit.
2. These former drivers will increase the ranks of unhappy commuters that use the CTA.
3. They mayor and his toady, Ron Huberman, will use this as an excuse to ask for more funding to "ease the burden on the citizens who depend on the CTA to get to work every day".

You'll get to work on time with no problem if you take Metra.

Homewood wrote:

You'll get to work on time with no problem if you take Metra.

Until some moron decides to drive around the gates and gets killed. Then your stuck for hours. Other than that (which they cannot control) Metra does a pretty damn good job of running on time.

How about CTA fare machines in Metra stations? Makes sense, doesn't it?

After surviving a few hour-plus crosstown bus routes in Manhattan (Javits to 6th Ave) and a 30-minute breakdown recently on San Francisco MUNI train near Embarcadero with not one message, recorded or live, I've come to realize Chicago's transit rush hours are no better or worse than other big cities. The problem is too many private cars, plain and simple. So many major thoroughfares downtown and on the northside still have street parking on both sides of the street, making travel difficult for buses since they must use the same lanes as private cars, taxis and dangerously narrow bicycle lanes.

Broadway, Chicago Avenue, Belmont Avenue, Lincoln Avenue, North Clybourn,...

Why do these major streets STILL have street parking? Open them up, and traffic will have twice as many lanes for travel.

If the CTA had been run by professionals for the past 30 years instead of political hacks, we wouldl ikely have good mass transit.

We don't.

There are plenty of good ideas on the table, and there is money to implement many of them- that would increase revenues to the CTA.

THe first thing that needs a good overhaul is the union contract for drivers, maintenance workers, etc. It's a disaster.

The remaining issue is safety- you have to feel safe on the bus/train and not worry about the crazies and the criminals.

Kevin-Urbana wrote:

Dicky D, the second ranking Democrat in the Senate, should be doing more for his state.

There is a second senator and various representatives that represent illinois--he is only one man. contact your local representative. do that and your voice will count as more than one--since you take the initiative to contact and raise the issue.