uh oh, CTA wants to raise fares (Humboldt: stats, train)

[Irishtom29]

Originally Posted by Drover

Also note that "German" cars are manufactured all over the world, such as in Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, South Carolina, South Africa, China, Belgium, Spain, India, Egypt, etc., and you can bet German labor costs are a big part of why that is.

Yes, it's interesting that the Germans make cars in Alabama and South Carolina because southern workers work cheap and are servile while American companies send production to Mexico because Mexican workers work cheap and are servile.

Funny that Germans have the same contempt for Americans that Americans have for Mexicans.

[Drover]

Yeah, I suppose they're cheap and servile in Ontario too.

[scarletneon]

Originally Posted by Chicago60614

It's not just their business - it's the business of all of us who rely on public transit in the city.

My point was I want a reason why almost everyone has been going a year or two...three without raises and they're demanding them for the next 3 years in a row.....the cause of which will be layoffs of their coworkers and distress to over a million people a day who take trains and buses in this city. It's not even a paycut....just a freeze on pay for a year or two.

Completely agree with this.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

North of the Logan Square stop, the Blue Line is about mile away from Milwaukee Ave from the Belmont stop through the Montrose stop.

While it is true Halsted is 2 blocks or less away from the Red Line, from the Sheridan to North/Clybourn stops on most of the north side-on the south side and from downtown, Halsted is about a mile away (and in some cases a mile) from the Red Line. That is a good 15-20 minute walk.

There is abundance of redundant buses (like State Street) south of Cermak ,east of the Dan Ryan, and north of 63rd. Perhaps the CTA should be getting rid of some of these routes completely or cutting back on them greatly.

The 29 State Street (south of Cermak), 24 Wentworth (south of Cermak),4 Cottage Grove(south of 35th),3 King Drive (south of 35th),and 1 Indiana-Hyde Park (the whole route) routes are unnecessary. If the CTA wants to use certain rational on northside buses they need to FULLY implement the same on the south side.

Well said! I actually was starting to think about service-related beefs I've always had with the CTA that've bothered me, thanks to your post. A major one I've had that dates back to both flaws in CTA's existing bus service(this includes bus service levels before those late 90s cuts), and also major catastrophic cuts around 1995-98 is the lack of bus service on many diagonal streets citywide, such as Elston, Clybourn, Ogden, Columbus/Southwest Highway, Forest Preserve Drive(beyond Irving Park/Harlem), and Ridge. Not to also mention greatly reduced bus service on both Lincoln and Grand, since the late 90s cuts(though I'll give CTA credit for restoring 7-10pm service Mon-Sun on the #65 Grand bus). Jeers to them though for eliminating the #38 Ogden/Taylor bus, and how little reroutes to the #157 and #18 buses do to make up for its elimination.

The lack of bus service along the Elston corridor is always why I've kept thinking it'd be a good idea to reroute the #50 Damen bus inbetween Diversey and Fullerton onto Diversey, Logan Blvd, Elston, then back to Damen. In addition, I believe to this day it was a big mistake to get rid of their brief rerouting of the #73 Armitage bus onto Racine, Clybourn, Ashland, and back to Cortland. But I would have much less of a problem with the elimination of the #73 reroute, if the CTA ever brought back the #41 Elston/Clybourn bus. Finally, the CTA should consider a south Elston bus that starts from the Belmont/Kimball 'L stop, runs north on Kimball to Addison, east on Addison to Elston, then run south on that street till terminating somewhere in the Halsted/Ogden/Chicago area.

At least all those abovementioned streets should have some level of bus service, even if it is only on weekdays and Saturdays. And though I'll never hold my breath for any of my bus service plans to occur, it never hurts to dream. Finally, this thread just goes to show how many of us should actually be on the CTA board instead of Daley's political hack picks, myself included.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Irishtom29

Funny that Germans have the same contempt for Americans that Americans have for Mexicans.

Very hilarious and great point at the same time!

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by dumpstermcnuggets

...Finally, the CTA should consider a south Elston bus that starts from the Belmont/Kimball 'L stop, runs north on Kimball to Addison, east on Addison to Elston, then run south on that street till terminating somewhere in the Halsted/Ogden/Chicago area....

What do you think of this idea I came up with a few months ago?:

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

This is a rough draft of one bus route I myself envisioned and created:

Name:Elston/Clybourn (or Blue Line/Metra/Red Line) Circulator

================================================== =====
Counter clockwise bus:

Starts at Belmont Blue Line CTA station.

Then east on Belmont.

Then south on Elston.

Stops near Clybourn Metra station.

Then east on North.

Stops near Clybourn Red Line CTA station.

Then north on Clybourn.

Then west on Belmont.
================================================== =======

Clockwise bus:

Starts at the Belmont Blue Line CTA station.

Then east on Belmont.

Then south on Clybourn.

Stops near Clybourn Red Line CTA station.

Then west on North Ave.

Then north on Elston.

Stops near Clybourn Metra station.

Then west on Belmont.

################################################## ##################
Let me know what you all think of this...

//www.city-data.com/forum/chica...cker-park.html

[Avengerfire]

This lawsuit is a crock of b.s.

CTA, Metra funds: Lawsuit claims racial bias in funding - chicagotribune.com

[MannheimMadman]

Ok- for the train lines..CTA's site doesn't mention how less frequently service will run. so let's say that during weekdays I might have to wait 5-7 minutes for a train and on weekends I'll wait 7 to 11 minutes.

Will those common times be affected? The redline is 24 hours and I've only used it once at an odd hour, so I can see how maybe those trains won't be as frequent. I'm just curious to see how the trains that run between 6A-12A will be affected.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Counter clockwise bus:

Starts at Belmont Blue Line CTA station.

Then east on Belmont.

Then south on Elston.

Stops near Clybourn Metra station.

Then east on North.

Stops near Clybourn Red Line CTA station.

Then north on Clybourn.

Then west on Belmont.
================================================== =======

Clockwise bus:

Starts at the Belmont Blue Line CTA station.

Then east on Belmont.

Then south on Clybourn.

Stops near Clybourn Red Line CTA station.

Then west on North Ave.

Then north on Elston.

Stops near Clybourn Metra station.

Then west on Belmont.

I think it's not a bad idea, except that I'd prefer for there to be some level of service at the minimum Mon-Sat(hopefully Sunday too, but I guess it'd be an issue of whether ridership would sustain service that day), and during all hours people shop. Plus, I'd route the circulator to have a further south southern end at Chicago/Ogden/Milwaukee that'd be achieved by turning the bus from Clybourn to Halsted, then right onto Chicago, right on Milwaukee, then right on Elston. (route is reversed for counterclockwise service)

In the meantime, I wouldn't mind eventually seeing at least a decent percentage of #50 Damen runs rerouted onto Diversey, Logan Blvd, Elston, then back to Damen(reverse for northbound service). Plus resurrecting the #41 Elston/Clybourn bus would be great, except with the circulator in place, the #41 would only go to Belmont/Kimball. I'd keep the northbound end the same one it was(Milwaukee/Elston), and the southbound end of the route would stay on Elston instead of turning right onto Kimball(it's old routing did this), go straight till it hit Belmont, and make a right till it hit the 'L stop. I understand with possible ridership levels(and with it's numbers before it was cut in the late 90s), it's return would be weekdays only at most(a la similar to hours of the #86 Naragansett, #7 Harrison, or #39 Pershing), but at least it'd be so much better than the current situation of no bus service.

Told you I'd get around to responding to your post!

[Avengerfire]

CTA unions stay stubborn and greedy. They are going to get a boatload of workers laid off and routes will be cut yet they still will not give anything.

"...But union leaders reiterated that they are not interested in making concessions.

"We're at a stalemate," said Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Division 241 President Darrell (duh-REL') Jefferson, whose local represents CTA bus drivers and bus maintenance employees. "Opening the contract is just out of the question...""

WBBM 780 - Chicago's #1 source for local news, traffic and weather - CTA Talks In "Stalemate"