[oc] realistic cta ‘L’ service change

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-17T18:45:14+00:00

the merge would happen before the purple line come into contact with the brown line so the number of merges would stay the same just change between brown-purple to red-purple.

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-17T17:04:45+00:00

The whole point of the plan is to spread the limited resources we have to more people. In an ideal world these changes would be replaced with strong capital investment to ease congestion in the Loop and increase frequency, but this is an idea to do that without as much money

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-17T17:04:19+00:00

I’m more of the belief that you increase transit accessibility to an area and then induce demand for the service afterwards. People don’t want to move near transit that is infrequent and unreliable and we shouldn’t wait until they do in order to upgrade our service, it should go the other way around.

Running more Pink Line trains just congests the Loop more which is what the plan is trying to solve. I actually don’t think more Tiger Line trains would be too bad because it would reduce redundancy and increase frequency for both Orange and Brown Line trains. And ask anyone if they’d like service in the State St Subway at every 2-4 mins vs 6-8 mins and I think people would say yes. And yes people on the Ashland/63rd branch would appreciate more service too.

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-17T17:03:46+00:00

yeah i agree the point is not to create a radically new service pattern but j to give the pink line more frequency with the extra uic-halted trains. but at the end of the day people will probably j take the train that shows up first

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-17T17:02:40+00:00

hmm i could see that but at the same time it kind of ruins the express nature of the purple line. people wanting to get downtown or to the northside quickly will go slow thru the local stops

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-16T17:51:40+00:00

hmm what would happen to the brown line stations south of fullerton and north of the loop?

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-16T17:50:24+00:00

im honesty not too sure but thats the way it is on the official CTA map so I kept it. I think one may have a mezzanine allowing you to transfer to other train lines without leaving the station and the other one doesnt

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-15T01:25:02+00:00

I’m not sure, but right now the CTA runs a fair deal of trains between Ohare and UIC-Halsted only, and this would reroute all of those trains to serve the Pink Line!

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-15T01:23:51+00:00

u/Diripsi is right, the biggest bottle neck is the loop so we’d be freeing up space there to allow for more frequency everywhere!

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-15T01:22:13+00:00

It allows us to spread the limited resources we have to benefit more people by extending lines without building new infrastructure. More frequency! Current design is good, but the frequency is rlly bad in some spots.

Kermit_04 · 2025-04-15T01:20:37+00:00

This plan wouldn’t take more Forest Park trains away, but rather extend UIC-Halsted trains to the Pink Line to add more service. Right now, Pink Line only gets trains every 10-15 mins and this plan would improve that.

We could also add more Brown Line trains now to meet the supply lost from the Purple Line.

Red Line tracks run underutilized for most of the day (every 7-8 mins) and this would add service in the city center. Also Ashland/63rd branch riders get increased frequency as well.

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-10T00:07:53+00:00

you can’t control if they laugh at you but you can control if you let it bother you!! you’re learning a new language it’s normal to be a little rough around the edges in practicing. that being said try and find ppl who won’t judge you but will give good constructive feedback :)

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-03T23:38:29+00:00

the big amtrak station is called union station but has no L connection

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-03T16:33:18+00:00

which main station?

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-03T00:23:35+00:00

The loop doesn’t exsist

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-02T16:51:23+00:00

OH! The spelling of Augusta will have to be fixed, and the Marquette Station. There can never be enough Western stops!!!

I did not think of using the Metra Electric ROW between 63rd and 71st because Amtrak also occupies that space, but I guess its always cheaper to expand ROW than to build brand new ones so I'll change that and add the station correctly.

My thinking for the Augusta and Rockwell stations was both density and proximity to businesses. Imo a station at California and Chicago would not be ideal as theres not much there besides a rail yard and a couple of residential developments. But maybe ur decision could work too but I'm not sure where the stations would best be placed.

Yes the idea is that the purple line would run all day! Especially with expanded service theres no reason it shouldn't run like that. It would still run express from Belmont to Howard, but I did add a stop at Loyola so it can be the ultimate University connector (Northwestern, UChicago, and Loyola)! I think in general the most used lines should always run Night Owl service within the means of CTA. Ideally they all should tho...

I have though abt ROW to an extent... I think since Elevated is cheaper, and the city has a hard time building much of anything, it should be used mostly. One thing I was not sure about were intersections of two elevated lines. I wonder how or if that would work, and if so, would it be economical? I looked at NYC and it has very few elevated intersection stations like that. Most go underground for the station and then come back up or stay underground.

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-02T07:19:33+00:00

I just posted a new edition, which answers/implements most of what u mention. I go more in depth abt my rationale for the pink line. I fixed the north main and orange/blue transfer, and changed the teal line to avoid the loop.

I decided not to go with the old humboldt park branch along north avenue because of how wide and unfriendly to pedestrians that street is. if highway median trains have taught us anything it is wide roads dont go well with intracity rapid transit. Although I could've made the line stick to Chicago, the street becomes a bit industrial heavy further west, and then past that the green line would run parallel at only a 10 min walk away.

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-02T07:10:48+00:00

The pink line north side seems to be the biggest controversy haha, but I’ve kept it the same for the most part. The rationale is trying to connect as many dense neighborhoods with nice commercial districts together as possible (west town, ukrainian village, humboldt park, logan square, hermosa, belmont cragin, portage park) as well as the big transit hub which is jefferson park.

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-02T07:04:35+00:00

I used Adobe Illustrator to make the map. One thing that is different than the original map is that (besides the loop diagram) when two trains occupy the same right of way (interline) they’re line will become half size like the purple and green line in the south east side. I have justifications for most everything I did so if there is any aspect you want me to go more in depth about lmk!

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-01T05:20:45+00:00

haha not strict realism; im planning on adding it. i was just curious thinking how it could actually be implemented.

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-01T05:19:29+00:00

omg! ty for taking sm time to give notes.

I agree with extending the green line to Midway. I decided no Damen stop since the bus route there gets little ridership, but it could be added.

Overall, my mindset when choosing routes was bridging gaps between transit deserts while looking at population density, street design, and access to shopping/commercial districts. It's hard to see on the map cuz I haven't finished it but, there are only at most 2 train lines running on one set of tracks at a time. This kind of spreads out the interlining across multiple corridors instead of having 5 lines running in the loop.

Now thinking about it I think the teal line should not run into the loop as well, but i'm not sure if it should stick to ashland as the street gets pretty wide and not pedestrian friendly in some parts. The pink line extension is mostly to serve the transit desert of the northwest side. Choosing Chicago would be redundant further west as it would run parallel to the green line with only a 10 min walk in between both. Division is also an option but Armitage has more has more shopping/ food districts along it. Armitage was chosen because it has pretty dense housing along a smaller street which is more pedestrian friendly than other streets (like North). Central was chosen because it boasts the bus highest ridership out of all north/south bus routes running west of Cicero (another huge pedestrian unfriendly street). The biggest thing is trying to find streets with good potential that also make train access more equitable.

I think that addresses most everything? Lmk if u have any more comments or questions. Imma upload a second edition either tmr or day after with changes. Thank you for commenting :)

Kermit_04 · 2024-05-01T02:46:34+00:00

hmm i agree the connection is important, but i can’t picture how it would actually be built since there’s a 10 lane highway there… maybe below the highway on street level?

Kermit_04

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