Do you think the EL will ever be expanded or new lines added? (Waukegan: transfer to, closing)

[oakparkdude]

Originally Posted by AmosBanks

There is a big space between E/W I-94 after 95th Street. I don't know if that's still considered Dan Ryan or if it's the start of Bishop Ford. They could lay track all the way to Stony Island & 103rd before having to build bridges dig tunnels. I don't know how it would go south after that.

The route for the red line extension has already been determined. Just need to get money from the Feds to build it.

CTA Red Line sets sights on South Side extension - Chicago Tribune

[SJaye]

Originally Posted by chirack

CTA service is more than just to downtown. It would enable easier access from different parts of the city or better access with in each burb that it runs.

The CTA can run express trains or return A/B Service or instead of using the red line to the loop use the purple line(it is faster). CTA is set up for more frequent local access.

Metra is set up for mostly downtown access. Extending the lines would allow someone to get from say Lincoln park to Orland square without having to go downtown first.

This is a rather simplistic way of looking at it. METRA's top priority, and most of it's business, is definitely to and from downtown. But that is definitely not the only use or potential use. There are plenty of other METRA stops in the city, all of which connect to CTA bus/train lines. I have thought about taking METRA out to the suburbs, and usually the only thing that stops me is the fact that there is only one train every two hours for most of Sat. and all of Sun. More weekend trains will make it quite feasible for people from the city (non-downtown) to visit suburban locations and visa-versa.

Most people do their mall shopping on weekends. On weekends, there is no purple line past Howard. IF someone were taking the proposed Sunday service to Hawthorne Mall. They would have to take the yellow line to Howard, and then the red line downtown. I cannot imagine this being <150 minutes.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by SJaye

...
Most people do their mall shopping on weekends. On weekends, there is no purple line past Howard. IF someone were taking the proposed Sunday service to Hawthorne Mall. They would have to take the yellow line to Howard, and then the red line downtown. I cannot imagine this being <150 minutes.

Currently from my place in River North, taking a bus to the Metra station, Metra to Libertyville and then (at Google's recommendation) a taxi to the mall, it would take about 105 minutes. But even driving is at least an hour unless you have unusually light traffic. Currently GoRoo also says you can get a combination of three buses from from the Jefferson Park Blue Line station to get there in under 150 minutes, even with 15 minute transfer times. So I think if there was a dedicated bus service the times would be 30 minutes lower, so maybe 120 minutes - 2 hours. Which is about what it takes to get to Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg on a bad day (I've gotten from Clark/Lake to Woodfield in 90 minutes departing at 5pm on a Friday before via Blue Line/bus).

The trouble with using Metra to get to the outer suburbs is that once you're to the station, you can still be miles from anywhere else you want to be. Walking from Union Station to Millennium Park is a little long, but it's nothing like walking from a Metra station to anywhere not immediately adjacent to it. Would you really want to walk from the Metra BNSF Route 59 to the Fox Valley Shopping Town? It's about the same distance as Union Station to Millennium Park, but the walking environment is radically different.

[Goonzz]

It really would be nice if the El could at least add a line expansion that would go all the way to Gurnee and Six Flags Great America.

[Mister Mappy]

Originally Posted by BRU67

I'm not saying that. Like OPD, I just meant to welcome him to explain his idea. I agree expanding the L out to Vernon Hills seems a wee bit of a stretch but, hey, we're just listening to proposals.

I think we need to look at greatest good for greatest number on this, and then build out from there as we gain greater resources. That of course means most dense to least dense. I doubt we'll ever get to the point where we're running CTA lines 35 miles from the Loop.

Actually, I wasn't serious about anything in my post about expanding the el's out to Vernon Hills, Matteson etc, etc. I mistakenly thought I saw BRU67 propse expanding the Pink Line to Oak Brook. I think any extension of rail/bus services into the farther out suburbs should be the domain of Metra/Pace.

However, I don't think expanding the Pink Line to Hines/Loyola is a bad idea. They are large employers with many workers from the city. I'd do him one better, though. I'd extend both the Blue & Green lines to converge with the Pink Line at Loyola. Both can be easily extended to 1st Ave. It's bringing them south on 1st Ave that causes the problem. Of course, I still feel the holes in CTA el service in the city should be filled first.

[FlyiMetro]

Originally Posted by oakparkdude

No transportation system in the history of civilization has ever been profitable.

That guys wise.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by FlyiMetro

That guys wise.

This depends on what kind of accounting you do. Carbon emissions off-set? Price offset from having to build and maintain more roads? Rising property values/taxes and sales tax receipt from neighborhoods benefiting from having good public transportation? Time saved for both people using public transit and on the roads for commutes as equating to productivity?

Anyhow, it's simply not true even if we take that at face value:

Farebox recovery ratio - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Keep in mind this doesn't take account into other direct revenue generators like advertisement, location uses, renting out of kiosks (and in the case of many east asian cities, the buildings owned and operated that sit atop the rail stations and store-lined passageways within large station complexes). It could be profitable (not that mass transit isn't already indirectly profitable). As in profitable beyond just operation, but also over the construction costs.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by Goonzz

It really would be nice if the El could at least add a line expansion that would go all the way to Gurnee and Six Flags Great America.

LMAO!! They should make a CTA ride at Six flags with all the slow zones for a more realistic feel ect.
Joking aside that would be extra costly. Plus Dont they have a metra stop by the park??

mas23

[Drover]

Originally Posted by mas23

LMAO!! They should make a CTA ride at Six flags with all the slow zones for a more realistic feel ect.
Joking aside that would be extra costly. Plus Dont they have a metra stop by the park??

mas23

The nearest Metra station is in Waukegan, so... no.

[mas23]

Originally Posted by Drover

The nearest Metra station is in Waukegan, so... no.

I was on talking to my cousin who had just came from six flags and she was on the train so I figured there was one by the park. I assume she took the one in Waukeegan then. It would be nice if Metra had a stop near the park