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March 13, 2012 | 1:31 PM | By Micki Maynard

Chicagoans Decide That Baby, They Want To Go

Chicago has roughly 2.8 million people. And last year, 531 million rides were taken on the Chicago Transit Authority — or 189 rides per person in the city.

Chicago/photo by Micki Maynard

That’s the highest number of subway and bus rides on the CTA in the past 20 years, according to numbers that came out today. It doesn’t beat the old record of 540 million rides, but if the pace keeps up, there could be a new record set in the near future.

The 2011 number was up 3 percent from 2010. The CTA attributes that to higher gasoline prices, and to improvements in the system, like adding LED signs at bus stops announcing when buses are coming.

CTA numbers show that ridership on the “L” light rail system was up 5.2 percent, while bus ridership rose 1.4 percent. The biggest jump by any transit line was the Blue Line, were the number of rides was up 8 percent. (We know where you can get a Blue Line t-shirt.)

 

 

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, bus, Chicago, CTA, L
March 9, 2012 | 10:57 AM | By Dustin Dwyer

The Chicago “L” Overlaid On The City Of Detroit

The Chicago L route map overlaid on the city of Detroit. Credit: reddit user northsider1983

What would it look like if you took a platoon of helicopters and airlifted the entire Chicago L system and dropped it on Detroit? It would look like the map you see above. The map was made by a reddit user, who goes by the handle “northsider1983.”

The map gives a sense of the scale of both cities, and their very different transit options. Detroit, of course, doesn’t have a rail system. It has the People Mover, which covers all of 2.9 miles. It’s pretty arguable whether Detroit even has a functioning bus system these days (though there was a time when Detroit’s streetcar system was far more extensive than today’s L).

But Detroit’s transit dreams still have some life left in them. Businessman Dan Gilbert said again this week that he expects the new light rail line along Woodward Ave. “will be in the ground by the end of this calendar year.”

FILED UNDER: Communities, Innovation, bus, Chicago L, Detroit, L, light rail, People Mover, Rail, streetcar, transit
February 16, 2012 | 10:16 AM | By Dustin Dwyer

Midwest Memo: GM’s Record Year, R&D Decline In Chicago And Wisconsin Politics Are Wisconsin Politics

That’s a lot of clams GM made $7.6 billion last year. It was a record profit.

Mixed foreclosure news New foreclosure data is in. The numbers are down in Ohio and Michigan. But they’re up in Illinois.

Research and Decline R&D jobs dropped 43% in Chicago between 2000 and 2010, according to a new study. Crain’s Chicago Business has the write-up.

Collegial process The Columbus Dispatch reports Ohio’s 37 colleges and universities have agreed on a construction wish list for this year’s state budget. Governor John Kasich called the unified process “unprecedented.”

Small power plants, big effect? The closure of four small, little-used power plants is stoking speculation that energy prices in Ohio could rise. The Cleveland Plain Dealer says the common sense analysis would say that the change should have little effect on prices. But, the new world of online auctions for power prices “don’t necessarily make common sense.”

Bus cuts Detroit will cancel early-morning bus service in an effort to save cash.

Mining bill advances A special committee has been disbanded, and a controversial piece of mining legislation has been put on the fast track in the Wisconsin Senate, proving once again that nothing is simple in Wisconsin politics these days. The bill would loosen regulations to help open an iron mine in northern Wisconsin.

FILED UNDER: Midwest Memo, bus, Chicago, coal, Detroit, energy, foreclosure, General Motors, GM, iron, iron ore, mining, R&D, transit
December 16, 2011 | 6:00 AM | By Micki Maynard

Detroit Asks, What Are High Speed Buses? Cleveland Can Tell You All About Them

Detroiters were more than a little perplexed this week at the news the city wouldn’t be getting a long-sought light rail system. Instead, the Transportation Department has recommended a high-speed bus transit system for the Motor City, even though $25 million had already been allocated for light rail.

Cleveland bus/Jerry Masek, RTA, via The New York Sun

Fast buses? Like the one in the movie Speed? Well, not exactly.

High-speed buses run in dedicated lanes that bring to mind streetcar tracks, except much cheaper and easier to install.

They’re operating just a couple hours’ drive away from Detroit, in downtown Cleveland, one of a growing number of American cities that have installed them. There, HealthLine buses glide along Euclid Avenue and out to the famous Cleveland Clinic.

Rather than hail a bus, and pay as they enter, riders buy tickets, then hop on and hop off. The platform is the same height as the bus, making the ride easier for the elderly or disabled. The buses have their own traffic lights, which allow them to avoid snarled traffic.

Our Dan Bobkoff took a look at Cleveland’s transit system earlier this year for Marketplace. In Cleveland, the rapid bus system cost $200 million; a light rail system would have cost $800 million.

But proponents of light rail systems say they can do more for development than rapid bus systems — something that Detroit can definitely use.

“There’s a distinction between public transit as economic development — which was the great hope for light rail — and public transit as a basic service to move people from homes to jobs,” Stephen Henderson, the editorial page editor of The Detroit Free Press, wrote this week.

Would you have preferred to see light rail for Detroit? How do you feel about rapid bus transit?

 

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, bus, Cleveland, Detroit, light rail
December 14, 2011 | 12:33 PM | By Micki Maynard

Midwest Memo: Detroit Light Rail Dies, Chicago Job Outlook, Texting Ban Boost

Detroit Rail Plan Dies: An ambitious plan to build a light rail corridor in Detroit has died, the Detroit Free Press reports. Instead, the federal government is recommending that the city get high speed buses, which will run on dedicated routes from the suburbs to the city. The Transportation Department had awarded the city $25 million last year to get light rail rolling. But financial issues with the project, and the city’s own financial woes caused the government to change course, the paper said. The death of the plan ends a four-year lobbying effort to win a light rail system.

Chicago Companies Plan to Hire: About 15 percent of companies in the Chicago area expect to hire more employees in early 2012, and about two-thirds of companies expect to keep staffing levels the same,  according to a survey by Manpower. A small number, about 12 percent, said they planned to eliminate positions in the first quarter. Job prospects appear best in manufacturing of non-durable goods, the wholesale and retail sector, financial activities, education and health care. Employers in construction, transportation and utilities expect to cut jobs.

Texting Ban Boost: The author of a legislative proposal to ban texting-while-driving in Ohio tells our partner station ideastream that her bill is getting a big boost from a recommendation by the National Transportation Safety Board. The five member board has unanimously called for all states to ban not only texting-while-driving, but also talking on cellphones while driving, even when motorists use a hands-free device. State Rep. Nancy Garland’s proposed texting ban has passed the Ohio House of Representatives, but has hit a roadblock in a Senate committee

FILED UNDER: Communities, Government, Industry, Jobs, Midwest Memo, bus, Chicago, Detroit, jobs, Ohio, Rail