Posted April 30, 11:30 a.m.

Hear that? 

It was the sound of bus riders everywhere sighing in relief that $153 million in federal funds will give us better, fast bus service, including such possible whizz-bang additions as kiosks at stops that allow you to pre-pay before boarding the bus. 

Goodbye to that stupid, counterproductive Go-Lane, eh, folks?

Buses could get their own extended green-light power and make fewer stops, solutions riders have been telling "Going Public" they've wanted since...I don't know...forever.  And the funding will boost the addition of more hybrid buses to the CTA fleet.

More car commuters will be kicked to the curb...to wait for the bus, that is, according to the lofty plans for this money.  Parking meters, already overcharging in my humble estimation, will get even greedier during rush hour.

So are you psyched about this shot in the arm for public transit?  Or is this just a bunch of bus-boosting baloney? 

Kyra,

I couldn't be more ecstatic at yesterday's (and today's write-up in the RedEye) news that Mayor Daley is finally ready to get serious about mass transit congestion.

Ever since I began my new job, I have been taking the bus to work (#148, #144 or #136); it's not only a little more convenient, but a bit more pleasant than a dark tunnel. However, the congestion on LSD can be pretty frustrating and it's been appalling to see the number of cars racing by us everyday with only one person per vehicle; literally car after car in all four lanes carrying only its driver! Talk about an environmentalist’s nightmare! With everyone up in arms about gas prices and the environment, I'd expect to see more car pooling or larger volumes of people on the bus. Then I realized that these cars are getting to their destination a lot faster than my bus, despite being on an 'express' bus.

There is absolutely little incentive for Chicagoans to take public transportation (need I really enumerate the reasons why? Seriously?!). Then it came to me: the right lane needs to be designated a bus only (or car pool--3 or more people) lane from 6:30am-9:30am. Busses would practically fly from Irving Park Road to Michigan/Delaware; I'd be at work in 15 minutes easily!

I truly believe that if people thought their commute would be faster, they would ride the bus more often. This requires, however, that the CTA be prepared for the additional ridership. As it stands now, peak times can be horrendously crowded on the busses.

On a side note: Since we're talking about this being a ‘green’ initiative, I’d like to suggest seeing a few single-passenger drivers pick up a fellow Chicagoan or two on their way to/from work. If you see someone waiting for a bus, why not offer a ride? Who knows, maybe it'll catch on. If not, at least you've accumulated some positive karma for future use.

Del Phillips
Lakeview

Meh! It's all a bunch of bus-boosting baloney! Forget the busses, let's get these damn slow zones fixed on the Red Line. Seems the CTA wants to pour money into everything else instead of getting rid of slow zones.

It's a lousy deal. The strings attached to the "grant" rival some of the worst practices of the IMF and World Bank in 3rd World countries.

Forced to give a private contractor the right to extort money from me for parking on a public street, a street paid for by my taxes and maintained with my taxes now becomes a place for some no-bid shoddy to turn a private profit? When is the rest of Mussolini's economic miracle coming to Chicago, because this is for sure fascism.

Good comment James, and even better news: the CTA is doing exactly that. The slows zones are almost all gone in the subway. I've noticed my Red Line commute has been noticeably faster (but still not fast enough). That's why the Red Line subway has been closed so much over the weekends. The good news since 2008 started is that the CTA seems to have started listening to all the 'James' and all the other CUSTOMER needs. Dare I say it: good job CTA, for once. Please don't rest on any small laurels at this point.

Aren't the city's drivers going to raise heck once they find out it'll be more expensive to drive downtown? I can imagine Daley backing down in the face of the impending outrage. They couldn't get this type of initiative passed in NYC, so why would it be more successful here, where people's butts are practically glued to their driver's seats?

I also wonder what's going to happen to people who drive in order to make a living (UPS, small business owners like plumbers, etc.). I doubt their salaries will rise in tandem with their parking costs.

I think dedicated bus lanes are a great idea, and we need incentives to get single-person commuters to carpool or take public transportation. I'm not sure people will change their habits, though--especially if there are more train mishaps, and buses keep on running late and bunching up on routes not scheduled for the improvements.

In other words, I'll believe things are going to improve when I see them actually improving.

P.S.: A big thank-you to whomever figured out how to change this blog so posters' email addresses aren't public anymore.

This plan sounds good on paper, but I'm not so sure it will work in the real world. Let's face it, Chicago is an old city. Like many of the old cities in the eastern United States, the roads were not designed with mass transit in mind. The streets are narrow, there aren't enough turn lanes, and the traffic far exceeds the capacity they were designed for. I really don't see how having a bus with the ability to trip a green light will help if the traffic ahead is already backed up. In some areas I'm sure it will work very well, but reworkign some of the streets might be a better long term solution. Take Milwaukee Ave for example. Many of the neighborhoods along Milwaukee have street parking, and a lot of vacant lots. Turn the vacant lots into metered parking and free up the additional street space for another lane of traffic. The addition of light managed turn lanes would help move traffic along instead of waiting one or two light cycles to get through an intersection while waiting for someone to turn. It might also help to train the bus drivers not to pull a 30 ft bus into the intersection on a yellow light when they know they will sit there blocking all 4 directions until the traffic ahead of them clears.... but that's another issue all together.

Chicago government’s answers to the CTA’s problems immediately remind me of ancient bloodletting techniques to cure disease. Instead of taking a comprehensive look at the state of the public transportation infrastructure, commuter behavior, demographics and future trends, then applying innovation and expertise to shape Chicago public transit in a progressive way, Mayor Daley’s approach is to apply crude, bloodletting procedures to CTA problems only when they become acute.

The latest bloodletting technique being applied is Bus-Rapid-Transit (BRT).

Read on at www.ettringermedia.com/chicago

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