Official Chicago Public Transportation Question Thread (Skokie, Ashland: sales, neighborhoods, maintenance)

[Avengerfire]

I am making this thread on my own without the urging of the mods or anyone else. As the Chicago forum has many questions regarding CTA buses and trains as well as for Metra and other public transit resources, I felt the need to try to compact many of these questions into one thread.

Feel free to ask your questions about public transit here.Please everyone when responding to a post or question quote the person briefly or in entirety so we all know who you are responding to.

Hopefully this will work.

I already made a CTA rant thread a few months ago. CTA Rant Thread

Please direct your displeasure and/or frustration with all things CTA there.

[RichMonk]

Okie...will there be an expansion to the trains, as in additional lines or extensions not more trains, in the near future?

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by RichMonk

Okie...will there be an expansion to the trains, as in additional lines or extensions not more trains, in the near future?

The Skokie Swift (Yellow Line) will get a new stop in the next year or so for sure.
cbs2chicago.com - At Least 1 New Stop Coming To Yellow Line 'L' (http://cbs2chicago.com/northsuburbanbureau/skokie.swift.stops.2.796280.html - broken link)

It may get an expansion as well as more "infill stops" to replace the ones that were stupidly removed years ago.

CTA holds meeting on Swift extension :: News :: PIONEER PRESS :: Skokie Review (http://www.pioneerlocal.com/skokie/news/1117702,sk-ctaopen-082108-s1.article - broken link)

Old Skokie Swift stops (a few the CTA wants to rebuild):
Chicago ''L''.org: Operations - Lines -> Yellow Line




The south end of the Red Line and the Orange Line are also on the table for expansion.

The process in Chicago is way too long;these expansions still have to clear many steps in the process to become reality.

The Red Line expansion has been on the table for decades.

CTA | Chicago Transit Authority - What's New (http://chicagotransitauthority.com/news/whatsnew.wu?action=displaynewspostingdetail&articl eid=124434 - broken link)

[scarletneon]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

The Skokie Swift (Yellow Line) will get a new stop in the next year or so for sure.
cbs2chicago.com - At Least 1 New Stop Coming To Yellow Line 'L' (http://cbs2chicago.com/northsuburbanbureau/skokie.swift.stops.2.796280.html - broken link)

It may get an expansion as well as more "infill stops" to replace the ones that were stupidly removed years ago.

CTA holds meeting on Swift extension :: News :: PIONEER PRESS :: Skokie Review (http://www.pioneerlocal.com/skokie/news/1117702,sk-ctaopen-082108-s1.article - broken link)

Old Skokie Swift stops (a few the CTA wants to rebuild):
Chicago ''L''.org: Operations - Lines -> Yellow Line




The south end of the Red Line and the Orange Line are also on the table for expansion.

The process in Chicago is way too long;these expansions still have to clear many steps in the process to become reality.

The Red Line expansion has been on the table for decades.

CTA | Chicago Transit Authority - What's New (http://chicagotransitauthority.com/news/whatsnew.wu?action=displaynewspostingdetail&articl eid=124434 - broken link)

oh you mean like securing the almost 7 billion dollars they need to just get the system we have in good repair? then maybe they can worry about the expansions...

I for one am a fan of the Circle line idea. although someone at an RTA hearing said they would like to see it planned a little further away from downtown, which might be good. I would like an easier way to get to O'hare from Edgewater. maybe the yellow line could drop its happy little self down in that direction

[neonwattagelimit]

Originally Posted by supernerdgirl

oh you mean like securing the almost 7 billion dollars they need to just get the system we have in good repair? then maybe they can worry about the expansions...

I for one am a fan of the Circle line idea. although someone at an RTA hearing said they would like to see it planned a little further away from downtown, which might be good. I would like an easier way to get to O'hare from Edgewater. maybe the yellow line could drop its happy little self down in that direction

Fo' serious. Why is the CTA so blithe about maintenance? And is it really 7billion dollars?

OK, this may be more like a rant, so, uh....the Red Line is pretty good! Though it's been slow lately.

[Lookout Kid]

Does anyone know why the Red Line was diverted out of the subway tunnels this morning? What a mess.

[oakparkdude]

Money, money, money!!! Where do we get the money? Capital projects (system expansion) are eligible for federal dollars but maintenance generally is not (it's considered an operational not capital expense.)

Until we decide to adequately fund public transit, we shouldn't expect to have a well-maintained system. (The recent sales tax increase is a good start, but it's not enough.)

[Attrill]

Originally Posted by neonwattagelimit

Fo' serious. Why is the CTA so blithe about maintenance? And is it really 7billion dollars?

The maintenance problem is due to Frank Kreusi using maintenance funds for operations for almost 10 years. The Blue line derailment and tie problems a few years back helped people take the issue more seriously, and the needed maintenance is now being addressed (albeit very slowly). Too much work was deferred for too long and that is how we got into the state we're in today.

The Circle Line is still in the planning phase, and meetings for community input (http://www.chicagotransitauthority.org/news/whatsnew2.wu?action=displaynewspostingdetail&artic leid=117176 - broken link) are planned for Late Sept./October. Currently they are looking at Ashland as the Western edge of it. That seems too close in to me, but at the 2006 planning meetings it was said it was a funding issue.

[oakparkdude]

I'd personally prefer to see the MidCity Transitway built rather than the Circle line.

CTA had two neighborhood feedback meetings this/last week regarding Orange line extension to Ford City and south loop green line infill stations (18th st/Cermak?).

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by sukwoo

I'd personally prefer to see the MidCity Transitway built rather than the Circle line.

I agree. I'm also a big supporter of the Grey Line conversion, which would provide more consistent transit service for the South/Southeast lakefront neighborhoods. The Olympics might be the impetus to make that happen.