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$7.3 million OKed for downtown ‘bus rapid transit’ in Chicago

Posted by Gold_12TH on Sat Feb 25 12:12:09 2012

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration is channeling more than $7.3 million in tax increment financing toward a “bus rapid transit” line downtown, according to his transportation and economic-development spokesmen.

The money will combine with an announced $24.6 million from the Federal Transit Administration to speed up trips between Union Station, the Ogilvie Transportation Center, several Chicago Transit Authority lines, Streeterville and Navy Pier.

“About 50 percent of the commuters who come to work every day in Chicago’s central business district arrive by bus or train,” said Peter Skosey, vice president of the Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit group working on the project. “If they’re getting off at those Metra stations in the West Loop, it’s quite a hike over to North Michigan Avenue or even just to State Street. So this really facilitates the use of transit for downtown Chicago.”

Bus rapid transit, known as BRT, delivers many benefits of rail at a fraction of the cost. The most advanced BRT systems have sprung up in Bogotá, Colombia; Guangzhou, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Ahmedabad, India.

BRT remains largely unknown in the United States. Modest systems are running in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Eugene, Oregon.

In 2008, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration said it was moving on a BRT pilot project. But the city bungled an application for $153 million in federal funding for it.

Emanuel’s mayoral transition plan last year promised a “full bus rapid transit pilot” within three years. The pilot, according to the plan, will include “dedicated bus lanes, signal preemption, prepaid boarding or on-board fare verification, multiple entry and exits points on the buses, limited stops, and street-level boarding.”

The Chicago Department of Transportation is keeping lips tight about its design of the downtown line, known as both the “East-West Transit Corridor” and “Central Loop BRT.” It’s not clear the design will include many of the timesavers listed in Emanuel’s plan. A CDOT plan announced in 2010 would remove cars from some traffic lanes, rig key stoplights to favor the buses, improve sidewalks, install bicycle lanes and build specially branded bus stops equipped with GPS-powered “next bus” arrival signs.

The CTA, meanwhile, has a separate $1.6 million federal grant to plan BRT options along a 21-mile stretch of Western Avenue. Another $11 million from the feds is funding bus improvements this year along the South Side’s Jeffrey Boulevard. That line, though billed as BRT, will lack many features for speeding up trips.
--- http://www.wbez.org/story/story/city-devotes-73-million-downtown-brt-96580#

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Re: $7.3 million OKed for downtown ‘bus rapid transit’ in Chicago

Posted by Joe V on Sat Feb 25 13:01:20 2012, in response to $7.3 million OKed for downtown ‘bus rapid transit’ in Chicago, posted by Gold_12TH on Sat Feb 25 12:12:09 2012.

It is still a stinkin' bus which is why the concept is a failure in North America.

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Re: $7.3 million OKed for downtown ‘bus rapid transit’ in Chicago

Posted by Henry R32 #3730 on Sat Feb 25 22:13:38 2012, in response to Re: $7.3 million OKed for downtown ‘bus rapid transit’ in Chicago, posted by Joe V on Sat Feb 25 13:01:20 2012.

It works if you do it right:
-Dedicated, vigorously enforced bus lanes with traffic signal priority
-A VERY CLEAR map showing the line in context with the areas it serves
-Infrequent stops [a local/express scenario works best here].
-Comfortable accommodation. Either:
·Normal size buses at high frequency, ie: every 3 minutes peak, 6 off peak.
or
·Large (artic) buses at reasonable frequency, ie: every 5 minutes peak, 10 off peak.

If you get cheap on frequency, this is also needed:
-Climate controlled waiting areas at major stops.

Buses start off with the disadvantage that they are, at best, on the same road that a motorist would take for their commute. Often times the route is more indirect than the most efficient way from A to B. Add in the fact that they have to stop for other people, you may wait a long time in the cold /heat for one to eventually show up (especially since the schedule is often a loose guideline), and many times they are crowded enough that there are standees. Parking and gas would need to be absolutely terrible for the bus to win over driving yourself.

But, if BRT systems do what I said above, suddenly it becomes nicer than driving. It looks like Chicago is going with dedicated bus lanes. If the frequency is good and the lines are shown on the map as clearly as the subway, it might work.

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Re: $7.3 million OKed for downtown ‘bus rapid transit’ in Chicago

Posted by CJ on Sun Feb 26 01:34:42 2012, in response to Re: $7.3 million OKed for downtown ‘bus rapid transit’ in Chicago, posted by Joe V on Sat Feb 25 13:01:20 2012.

It works well down in Orlando with the Lymmo. As a matter of fact we are expanding it with the the expansion to be completed sometime in 2013. Why can't it work in Chicago?



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