the train system
29 03 2006The hub and spoke system really sucks when there’s no wheel to roll on… It took me nearly twice as long to get to Galesburg today by train than it would have had I drove, but yet, it was still more convienent because I could work along the way.
What Chicago really needs (and what is supposedly in the works) is a train line that connects the ends (or near ends) of the lines coming out of the city. So one could theoretically take a train from Elburn to Naperville without having to go all the way into downtown – a $10 ride… Add to thatsome more trains at some more convienent times (I have to leave two hours early today because Metra doesn’t run a train into the city during the lunch hour.
It’s one of the biggest catch-22s – you won’t attract the riders you need to justify your existance if you’re not as convienent as possible, but you can’t afford to do so without the riders. It sucks, that. I wish the transportation gods would just drop a bunch of money on mass transit. Or transporters. That would be OK too.
More personal updates when I’m not so tired.
Metra actually has something in the pipes regarding an outer ring. (http://metraconnects.metrarail.com/star.php)
Still no actual money for the STAR Line, but it may never happen anyway and it’s difficult to say whether enough people would actually use it. It seems like a good idea, but I’m really not sure that people will be willing to put up with waiting 20+ minutes for a transfer.
enh. I still think that’s not far enough out. I’ll grant you, it’s better than nothing. I would like to see something like that go in further out, too. I’ve always wanted to see some from of pub. trans along randall road – that area’s still developing and it’s only promising to get bigger and more unwieldly.