CTA Tattler

A CTA driver's view of bus bunching

Recently a CTA bus driver wrote me with his view on bus bunching. Thanks to him for sharing:

Bus bunching is obviously something that we all see happen, two or three, maybe even four buses running together in the same direction at the same time.

There are a number of reasons buses can bunch, one of the biggest reasons being traffic. However, from the riding publics point of view...at least in my experience, they find it so easy to blame it on us (drivers) all the time, or say the bus left the terminal late. The reality is that even if a bus leaves its starting point on time, it still can run into "on route" conflicts that can quickly and easily but a bus behind on its schedule. Add a pinch of inclement weather to that and...VOILA! You have a bus bunching situation waiting to happen.

Schedules are based on NORMAL travel conditions, or at least what is sought to be normal. The sad reality is, traffic and weather are so sporadic and unpredictable that there is no real easy way to prevent a bus from becoming late. A late bus only becomes later because it now must pick up a heavier load.

There are many things the public can do to help.  Board as quickly possible manner, and cooperate with the driver when asked to step to the rear. 

Excluding seniors and disabilities, some folks just take WAY too long to pay their fare and step out of the way, not limited to waiting until they step on to take it out.  This only ties a bus at a service stop longer, and a missed light is a possible minute later on an already late bus, or a bus that was on time is now late.

Tomorrow: Chris' thoughts on drivers purposely slowing down to reduce bunching.

Not much slow zone work during Taste of Chicago

The CTA is being smart and cutting most slow zone work during Taste of Chicago.

Moreover (I'm not sure I've ever used the word "moreover" here!), they are adding trains and extending the hours for the Yellow Line.

So, not much to report in my weekly Friday weekend report.

• Here's a recap of minimal weekend service changes.

• And here's news of extended Yellow Line service.

Finally, let me just say thanks for your participation in various posts this week. I mean, who knew that three posts this week would generate more than 50 comments apiece from you guys.

Let's keep it up. Remember: Ron Huberman and the rest of the CTA brass read this blog.

Huberman on WTTW tonight; gotta question for him?

CTA President Ron Huberman will be featured at 7 pm tonight on WTTW's "Chicago Tonight."

A producer of the show just reached out to me to ask whether any CTA Tattler readers might have a special question for Ron. Of course they'll cover the pressing stuff, such as Block 37 and the need for a capital bill. But if you have some specific question for Ron, post it in comments here or email here.

(And sorry for the late notice. I just found out myself.)

After Block 37 debacle, what is fate of Washington Red Line station?

After the official opening of the new entrance at Howard about two weeks ago, I saw CTA President Ron Huberman talking to what appeared to be an agitated passenger. So I went to listen in.

That passenger was asking Huberman about the Block 37 debacle. And one thing the passenger asked was if/when the Washington station of the Red Line -- now closed for about two years during the construction of the "superstation" -- would open.

As you can see from the photo, Huberman patiently tried to explain what was going on at Block 37, even taking the time to draw a diagram of how the station would connect the Blue and Red Lines. But Huberman did say that reopening the station depended on finding new funding.

Later, a CTA spokesperson said:

"It is the CTA’s intent to reopen the Washington Station but we don’t yet have a timeline or budget as both are tied to future plans for the Block 37 project. The tunnel connection to Block 37 is right by the Washington station so the station will be impacted by the plans for airport express service.  As you know, the CTA plans to work with the City on an RFP for a private sector partner to assist with the next phase of that project. We need to get further along with that piece of the project before final decisions are made for Washington."

After Huberman finished talking to the passenger that day, the guy just walked away in disgust, saying "So basically, we're screwed." He's the passenger in the photo. And I later learned that the passenger is none other than frequent commenter and CTA critic, Kevin B.

A new south entrance/exit at Harrison Red Line station?

An alert reader last week tipped me off to the fact that the CTA may be preparing to open the now-shuttered south entrance to the Harrison Red Line station. It's at Polk Street.

Here's a little history on the old Polk Street entrance, from Chicago-l.org:

Harrison originally had an auxiliary exit to Polk Street at the south end of the island platform for the convenience of passengers using the station to get to Dearborn Station -- one-time passenger terminal for several railroads including the Santa Fe, Erie Railroad, Monon Route, Grand Trunk Railroad, Chicago and Eastern Illinois, and Wabash Railroad -- one block west. The exit consisted of stairs up to a mezzanine level, where there were rotogates in a hallway (there was no ticket agent or entry access here), then two sets of stairs to the street. They were built so that one of the two exit-only rotogates could be replaced with a coin-operated entrance high-barrier gate, but this was never done here or at any of the auxiliary subway exits. The Polk exit to Harrison was closed on June 27, 1968, the same day that the Ohio exit from Grand/State closed.

When I asked the CTA about the entrance possibly opening, I got a very terse reply: "It is under consideration."

Here are two Flickr photos from the tipster, who says a CTA worker at the entrance said it was being prepared for a reopening. So, we shall see.

News potpourri: Blue Line shuttle buses; Red Line work break during Taste of Chicago

Questions arose on Monday's post about the shuttle buses scheduled to run on the Blue Line between Rosemont and O'Hare during the three week shutdown of that stretch of track for slow-zone work.

Specifically, folks wanted to know where the buses would go at O'Hare. Here's the answer from a CTA spokesperson:

"The shuttle will stop at the Rosemont station (which has a large terminal area for buses) and at the O'Hare Bus Shuttle Center, which is located directly above the CTA station.   So customers will basically be dropped off and picked off one level above where they currently are.   We looked into going to the terminals but both the Airport and CTA officials determined that the Shuttle Center was the better solution for logistics all round. (Logistics are  why the airport has a shuttle center in the first place.)

We have timed the shuttle and from this location to Rosemont is about 10 minutes, which is just a few minutes longer than the train travel time.  If we were to pull into each terminal, the reliability would degrade dramatically due to all the traffic we would encounter and to the added time to make 3-4 stops and load/unload luggage each time.  Using the Bus Shuttle Center allows us to provide a more frequent and more reliable schedule than if we were serving the terminals."

So, there you have it.

Also, in case you missed it, this week's overnight work on the Red Line, which will affect northbound service in the tunnel from 9 pm till 5 am, is the last till after the end of Taste of Chicago (June 27 through July 6).  So riders who were concerned that slow zone work would muck things up during the Taste can breathe a sigh of relief.

New Track 2 debuts at Fullerton; final leg of O'Hare Blue Line to close for 3 weeks

The CTA has opened Track 2 at Fullerton, a sign of its determination to finish the three-track work ahead of schedule. At this rate, I think it's a cinch the CTA will finish the three-track work before the end of this year, as the CTA has said it will.

But with that good news comes bad news for Blue Line O'Hare riders: The CTA will close the section between Rosemont and O'Hare for three weeks, starting Tuesday, July 8. Shuttle buses will operate 24 hours a day between O'Hare terminals and the Rosemont station.

Here's what the CTA says about the Blue Line slow zone work:

"The work on the O’Hare branch is divided into three phases:

• Last year, CTA eliminated 22,500 track feet of slow zones between Jefferson Park and Harlem.
• The next phase from Harlem to O’Hare began in the spring and will be completed this summer. This is the biggest piece in terms of feet of slow zones, and will remove more than 56,800 feet of track when completed.
• The final phase to eliminate just over 32,000 track feet of slow zones between Jefferson Park and Addison will be completed by the end of 2008."

Despite the inconvenience here, I think it makes sense to shut it down and get it done all at once. We'll just have to suck it up.

Peace, love and eternal rest for SOLVE

Today in Madison, Wis., SOLVE the fabulous Chicago street artist, is laid to rest forever.

One of his pieces was to prop an old TV on a CTA train seat with the message: "We are experiencing legal difficulties." It freaked out many people. It also showed how he could touch people in unusual ways.

SOLVE is/was Brendan Scanlon. My daughter is his friend. Brendan was murdered. I hope your daughter or son never has a friend who is murdered.

May Brendan rest in peace. Long live Brendan.

Taking the reluctant commuter to task

The Sun-Times Thursday wrote about a woman who could no longer afford a car, though she lamented that fact.

Quickly, Chicago Carless' Mike Doyle gave her a piece of his mind. interesting read here.

Weekend CTA work:

• The usual Blue Line interruption between Jeff Park and Harlem.
• The Red Line goes over the top.
• Board the northbound Purple Line on the southbound platform.
• Same deal with the Yellow Line.
• Summary of weekend work.

Let's try to keep sane during the Cubs-Sox series.

(Tip of the hat to Gapers Block.)

"Dump the Pump" -- but please feed the capital budget

Today is the third annual National Dump the Pump Day, sponsored by the American Public Transportation Association (APTA).

"With gas prices higher than ever and financial concerns affecting everyone, now is the time to save money and ride public transportation,” said APTA President William W. Millar. “The National Dump the Pump Day on June 19 is an opportunity for people across the country to make a difference in their wallet, as well as in the environment.”

And as we see gas prices inching closer to $5 a gallon this week, we learn that Chicago has the third highest traffic congestion in the nation, behind Los Angeles and New York. Plus, the Sun-Times reports that Chicago congestion worsened by 2% between 2006 and 2007.

And despite all these depressing statistics, the Chicago Reporter tells us that the Regional Transportation Authority accounts for just under 6% of all trips taken in the six-county Chicago area. That's pathetic.

Equally depressing is this stat from the Chicago Reporter: $115 million in capital funds in 2007 were diverted to cover RTA operating expenses. Of that total, the CTA diverted $83 million. And the five-year total is $315 million.

That's just a harsh reminder that the state legislature still hasn't provided any capital dollars for public transportation.

(Graphic by the Chicago Reporter)