PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM * USA - Chicago roads may undergo bumpy transition to bus-only lanes
CTA's effort to reduce gridlock hinges on technology, timeliness
Chicago,ILL,USA -The Chicago Tribune, by Jon Hilkevitch -May 12, 2008: -- While CTA buses bunching up bumper-to-bumper in heavy traffic are among the top complaints about public transportation, a big piece of Chicago's proposed solution—bus-only lanes—faces a challenging test drive... The key to success starts by abandoning the preoccupation with how many vehicles can be crammed onto major roads and downtown streets each day, transportation experts said. It's simply a battle that cannot be won... Instead, shift the focus to transporting more people safely, reliably and comfortably on mass transit... Yet homegrown skeptics have had a field day denouncing as unworkable the recently announced plan for the CTA bus-only lanes during rush hours to fight gridlock on key arterial streets leading into downtown... The federal government is awarding more than $153 million to Chicago and the Chicago Transit Authority to test the bus lanes and a congestion-pricing strategy to tame traffic... The latter element involves increasing downtown parking-meter rates during peak periods, charging loading-zone fees for trucks making on-street deliveries, leasing the management of city parking meters to a private company and raising the city tax that drivers pay at parking garages and surface lots downtown... (Video from YouTube, by vvindysky -9, May 2007: -- "Michigan Avenue Bus Ride" - This is traveling Southbound on Michigan Avenue from the Tribune Tower to Wacker Drive to State Street on the #146 bus in Chicago in February. Check out the pink flamingos and the "Think Florida" signs)
Labels: public transport systems
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