Observations from a Chicago Trip

In April, I had the opportunity to attend the American Planning Association conference which was being held in Chicago which also meant that I would have the opportunity to explore its transit system for the first time.

For those that love exploring transit systems, Chicago is a great place to go. Not only does it have its famous "L" system which is operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), but also CTA buses, METRA Commuter trains which included diesel trains out of 3 stations in the Chicago Loop area, electric line that runs south from a fourth station, the last true interurban line the South Shore, PACE bus service and loads of private bus operations.

METRA Electric train at South Chicago (93rd Street terminus).

Blog Postings from this week...

Image via Wikipedia First up from the Mobilizing the Region Blog:

In NJ, “Son of Toll Hike” is Born

While Utah looks at the possibility of its first toll road, the New Jersey turnpike authority is looking to increase toll charges in order to replenish the state highway trust fund. A portion would go to the New Jersey Transit project to build additional tunnels from New Jersey to Penn Station in New York to deal with train congestion out of the area.

From the Denver Transit Stop Blog:

Public Private Partnership Pilot Program (Penta P)

This talks about the RTD in Denver looking at Public-Private partnerships in order to get some lines built in its Fastracks program.

The author has an excellent description of the various types of partnerships and how they work so it is differently worth a look.

From the Xing Columbus (Ohio) Blog:

Money Never Disappears for Sprawl

The blog mentions that Ohio has instituted a policy of fix it first meaning that it will fix existing highways before starting new ones.

From the Transit Miami Blog:

Boondoggle

A couple of weeks ago an article was published in some magazine that listed the biggest boondoggles (by who's classification?) and Transit Miami points out while its own project the expansion of Metro Rail has not happened so far, you have to question some of the others on the list including the unique Sydney Opera House.

From the Transbay Blog:

Sunday Streets and More, This Labor Day Weekend

San Francisco closed a street to create a pedestrian fair.

From the Overhead Wire:

Making San Francisco More Accessible by Amtrak

There is a couple of ways to get to San Fransisco by Amtrak. First by long distance train you can get off in either Emeryville or Oakland and take a bus to the San Fransisco or if your on one of the corridor trains you can take BART from Richmond (which I did on multiple occasions).

However, the post points out about the disconnect between local, state and national carriers which was pointed out in the intragration series.

Battlefield NIMBYism

Article from New Jersey were NJ Transit wants to put commuter trains on a existing rail line but people who run a revolutionary war battlefield think railroad tracks are a blight and should be eliminated.

From the RT Rider:

The cost of free parking

Growing a transit lifestyle in barren soil

John talks about difficulties in buidling a transit lifestyle in Sacramento. You can see the comparisons to many places in along the Wasatch Front.

From the N-Judah Chonicles:

Just What IS A "Green Bus Shelter" Anyway?

Putting grass on top of a bus stop shelter makes it a green shelter?

From the CTA Tattler:

Higher gas prices mean big CTA ridership increase

Chicago is also having a major increase in ridership in both rail and bus.

Blog Posts of the week...

Image via Wikipedia Here are the blog posts that I found interesting this week:

From a new blog simply called Light Rail Transit comes this entry:

Economic Impact of Light Rail - Dallas, Texas

Good information on how properties appreciated around DART line at a faster rate than those not close to a DART line.

From the blog Track Twenty Nine comes this entry:

"History's Gonna Change"

The author talks about the movie Back to the Future (a favorite of mine), and how the changes in the town square from 1955 to 1985 and on to 2015. While the movie was actually shot on the Universal back lot (the entire town area burned to the ground in their recent fire, to does a good job of showing the decline of downtown and its rebirth.

From the Overhead Wire comes a story about Los Angeles Rail ridership being up:

Rail Ridership in LA Up Again

What is interesting is that Los Angeles may be voting in may for to increase taxes for more rail lines. Of course the Bus Riders Union is opposed along with the areas usually cast of transit haters. Just put things in perspective, the Blue Line between Los Angeles and Long Beach is carrying 86, 000 passengers per day.

From the Streetsblog Los Angeles Blog comes these:

Transit Stimulus Bill Needs Co-Sponsors in Senate

Wiki Wednesday: Urban Bicycling With Children

From the Smart Growth Around America Blog comes this entry:

Poor sidewalks, bikeways and transit service a barrier for older Americans seeking relief from high gas prices

Interesting post, I have several neighbors who should not be driving but do to how pedestrian unfriendly my area can be most of them have to drive.

From the Seattle Transit Blog:

Central Link Tukwila Live Wire Testing

It is nice to see something about to happen in Seattle. The company I was working for at the time temporarily had me living in Seattle when the vote for this project took place and that was 1996. Long time to wait for progress. Look what Salt Lake has done in that time!

But 100,000 hours is a lot of buses

Sound Transit in the Seattle area provides regional service while the the counties and one city in the Puget Sound region provide for local service. With a tax measure going to the voters in November, some are wanting more buses now instead of light rail in the future. The Seattle Transit Blog has some good answers to this.

From the Planetizen Blog:

Walkable Neighborhood Grocers

This is an excellent posting about how important walkable grocery stores are to making a walkable city.

From the CTA Tattler in Chicago:

Dire Straits band rides the Red Line to Wrigley for a game

What, you mean they didn't ride in their luxury motor home?

That's it from this week.

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