Posted on 06/17/2024 8:02:17 AM PDT by Salman
In 2018, regional planners affirmed an aspirational goal for Chicago transit: doubling ridership on buses and trains.
Expanding transit was seen as critical to meeting the region’s goals to limit greenhouse gas emissions. And later the city of Chicago reiterated the idea in its own climate plan, calling to increase CTA ridership 20% over 2019 levels by the end of this decade.
But the pandemic decimated ridership, dealing a blow to what advocates describe as one of the quickest ways to reduce emissions. Drawing people back will mean running frequent, reliable service that matches changing demand for where people want to go and when, they said.
Running frequent and reliable service since the pandemic has been a challenge for the CTA, the largest of the region’s transit agencies. Adding to the difficulties facing the transit agencies is a fiscal cliff looming when federal pandemic aid runs out.
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(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
They want to increase ridership to pre-pandemic level? But the authorities make no mention of the number one reason for low ridership, which is violent crime. And number two is (short of actual felonious assault) things like aggressive panhandling and stations that smell of urine.
Those things existed before the pandemic along with violent crime, but the last time I habitually used the CTA (in 2019) it was significantly less than now.
They like to pretend it's somehow inertia from the time of the pandemic that keeps people off the trains. But really it's fear.
Or maybe the authorities are genuinely unaware because they don't use public transit.
We’d be better off if they’d never changed their name.
Beat me to it. CTA changed their name to Chicago a long time ago. LOL!
key sentence of the article.
Massive Government debt and printed, fiat money support every corrupt, woke, democrat scheme. Fix that, and you've radically changed American politics forever.
Yeah you both beat me to it. I still have the LP… l think
In city like Chicago (high population density place), the public transit makes sense, but the mismanagement by the ruling politicians makes even this, the place of possible showcase for mass transportation, a showcase for the opposite!
How can you (AOC) implement mass transportation in Montana, if you cannot in Chicago!
Even discounting crime and the general cesspool atmosphere prevailing in some places, the problem with much of public transit in places like Chicago is that it’s designed to feed people into the downtown areas. I believe that’s an archaic model that doesn’t fit the need as it truly exists.
That’s exactly what it does. I live in Joliet, about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. On Wednesday I need to get to O’Hare airport, which is about 15 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. To get to O’Hare, I’ll be taking a Metra train into downtown Chicago, and then jumping on a CTA Blue line train to O’Hare. There’s nothing that directly connects my suburban area of over a quarter million people, an almost straight shot north to one of the busiest airports in the country.
AI can handle this problem: New Rule - anyone arrested within the last 6 months can't board any public transportation in Chicago. Stop lowlife criminals from using public transportation, NOT law biding citizens. Use this system and the problem will take care of itself.
Or eliminate ICE cars, and then force EV owners to use mass transit through incentives and penalties.
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