It wasn't Upton Sinclair, it was Carl Sandburg who wrote the famous poem for Chicago. The first stanza: Hog Butcher for the World, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and the Nation's Freight Handler; Stormy, husky, brawling, City of the Big Shoulders:

Apparently one of the difficulties in creating bus lanes is that they have to “purchase” back the street parking due to the the infamous parking meter deal

For your note on PACE - I’ve very frequently used one of their routes to get to my company’s suburban office (in Elgin) - my ride takes me from near the lakefront on the 77 Belmont bus, to the Blue Line, to the 603 Pace Bus - it might be the best value-per-dollar in American transit. With a day pass, you can do the full 70+ mile trip (there and back) for $5!

Obligatory Fire Dorval Carter comment. Chicago deserves far better. Though I do like the idea put forward of merging CTA, Metra and Pace into one agency so they can coordinate operationally and better bargaining strength when it comes to receiving grants for projects. In a state as seemingly progressive on rail as Illinois is, this should be a slam dunk there.

Chicago needs a ring line

A western or cicero line would be great. The cta needs an outer line that doesn't go downtown. A line on the edge of the city limits west would be nice too. A western line (say the lime, or grey line) would connect with tons of existing lines, go through lots of dense neighborhoods, and not require much demolition since western is a wide street with plenty of space. The red line extension has taken like a decade to get built though, so I doubt this would happen anytime soon.

The Chicago Loop really is a marvel, especially for the time it was built! When the first rapid transit lines opened in the 1890s, they were independently owned and each had terminals that were located immediately outside of Chicago's downtown, where it was considered too expensive and politically inexpedient to build rapid transit. The Loop is the result of Charles Tyson Yerkes who aggregated the competing rapid transit lines and built a loop connecting them, which was constructed and opened between 1895 and 1897, finally completing its last connection in 1900 with the Northwestern Elevated Railroad. Its steel structure was designed by bridge designer John Alexander Low Waddell. John Alexander Low Waddell is notable for the "A" Truss bridge, which allowed for cheap and rapid construction and contributed to the rapid expansion of several railway companies, as well as being the first to invent a modern vertical-lift bridge design. His design was originally intended to span a short channel in Duluth. His design won a city contest in 1892, but the War Department objected to the proposal, Duluth built an aerial transporter bridge, and then in 1929, it was remodeled into the current Aerial Lift Bridge similar to Waddell's design. Waddell’s work set standards for elevated railroad systems and helped develop materials suitable for large span bridges. Besides the Loop, he also worked on the original Goethals Bridge, Outerbridge Crossing, Cleveland's Detroit-Superior Bridge, and the Lower Hack Lift used by NJ Transit. Two towers control entry to and exit from the Loop. Tower 12 stands at the southeastern corner, while the famous Tower 18 stands watch over the three-quarter union located at the northwestern corner, which at one time was billed as the busiest railroad interlocking in the world! The current Tower 18 was placed into service in 2010, replacing the former tower on that site that was built in 1969. The Brown and Purple Lines enter at Tower 18 on the northwest corner. The Purple Line terminates by making a full circuit clockwise around the Inner Loop, while the Brown Line terminates by making a full circuit counterclockwise around the Outer Loop. The Orange Line enters at Tower 12 on the southeast corner, and the Pink Line enters at Tower 18 on the northwest corner. Both terminate by traveling clockwise around the Inner Loop.

Truthfully there should be light rail for both Ashland and Western. The ridership gains would be massive and it wouldn’t even be that expensive since the right of way is there. Second restore the green line to ME and Obama Presidential library. Third restore the pink line to Berwyn and add a stop near the United center and redevelop the area around there.

I was caught off guard by you saying the L has "aura" for running above ground LOL On a more serious note, I've spent about a year in Chicago now going to college, and you pretty much hit almost all the points where things can be better. The wait times are annoyingly long often on the L, the metra's schedules in some areas can improve and the buses need (and I mean NEED) way more bus lanes to prevent delays and overcrowding. For the L specifically, there's also a safety issue, as there's been several instances where I wasn't 100% confident I would not get attacked or be a witness to something horrific.

Chicagos constant delayed buses are reasons cities like them need city wide congestion pricing. There would be barely any need to fight for a decade just to get a single bus lane because the buses would never be caught in congestion to begin with. People need to realize the true value of roads isn’t their construction cost to pave and maintain, it’s the ability for someone take up valuable space on the road causing delays for everyone else. Congestion pricing to ensure demand is kept below street capacity would ensure traffic flows, buses don’t get stuck in traffic, capacity actually increases so road productivity goes up, eliminates the the need for traffic studies for new development, and sends a clear price signal to the market to be space efficient with their car choice and transportation option (whether to carpool or take the bus). If demand is naturally below capacity for congestion, the road should be free, but allowing everyone to use the road for free at peak times is insane.

The FLIRTs that Metra bought are BEMUs (battery-powered), not DMUs! The tracks of both the Heritage Corridor and North Central Service are mostly owned by CN or Canadian National, and if you know anything about Amtrak having to deal with CN when it comes to maintenance of the Rouses Point Subdivision that the Adirondack uses, then you'd know they're quite the pain to deal with. The Heritage Corridor is called such for the Illinois and Michigan Canal National Heritage Corridor that the line parallels. The former Illinois and Michigan Canal was built in 1848 and crossed the Chicago Portage, helping establish Chicago as the transportation hub of the US before the rail era. It stopped operations in 1933 with the completion of the Illinois Waterway, and it became a National Heritage Corridor in 1984. The Heritage Corridor's color is maroon to honor the Alton Railroad that once ran on the route, connecting Chicago to Alton, St Louis, and Kansas City. The South Shore Line has improved as well! Weekday frequencies have gotten better, and trips have been sped up, both thanks to a double-tracking project between Gary and Michigan City completed in May 2024 which eliminated street-running in Michigan City as well as eliminating 20 at-grade crossings. I know people will miss the unique street-running segment, but with it now being double-tracked as well as it being grade-separated, it will lead to efficient, frequent, accessible, and safe operations. Not to mention leading to TOD! This also doesn't mention RPM, or the Red & Purple Modernization Project, nor the Red Line expansion project to 130th Street in the Riverdale and South Deering neighborhoods. RPM redesigned a diamond junction north of Belmont Station into a flyover for Brown Line trains. This project decreased train backups and increase the number of trains that can cross the junction per hour. Construction began in October 2019, and the flyover entered service in November 2021. RPM also includes the rebuilding of Lawrence, Argyle, Berwyn and Bryn Mawr stations for accessibility, wider platforms, smoother service, and decreasing overcrowding. With the Red Line expansion, the alignment from 95th/Dan Ryan and 130th Street parallels the Union Pacific Railroad and the South Shore Line, through the Far South Side neighborhoods of Roseland, Washington Heights, West Pullman and Riverdale. In addition to the terminal station at 130th, it includes three other stations built at 103rd, 111th, and Michigan, and a new yard and shop built at 120th Street.

I just visited Chicago, and I was pretty impressed by bus frequencies personally, but that's coming from the Bay Area. The L was unreliable but I never waited more than 10 mins for a train, EXCEPT when I went to Forest Park and had to wait 30 minutes for a train, then crawled for the entire trip.

Well I remember back in the day the CTA ran a good chunk of their bus routes every 4 to 7 minutes during the off-peak. And maybe every 2 to 5 minutes during the peak times. I've watched the CTA just go downhill on the frequency. It's really sad because there's no reason for that at all. They need to start getting the bus routes and the train routes back up to speed like in the good old days. Also hours of operation need to be way drastically improved. A lot of those frequency cuts were from the 2010 service changes. And that sneaky service cut or reduction due to the events of 2020. And they're refusing to cooperate with improving services from the events of 2020. And they need to get new leadership at the CTA that's younger and much more innovative. The current chair of the CTA has to go.

The CTA is one of the best DESIGNED public transit systems in the country. But at the same time, it is also one of the most mismanaged in the nation. This makes it frustrating to be a rider on public transportation in Chicago.

Chicago fun facts: The hot dog typically used for a Chicago-style dog is Vienna Beef. This dates back to Emil Reichel and Sam Ladany who moved from Vienna to Chicago in the 1890s. During the Columbian Exposition that Chicago hosted in 1893, they sold them to the many visitors. The year after, they opened a storefront on Chicago's West Side. In 1900, Vienna Beef began to sell and deliver to other stores and restaurants in Chicago. This worked well in Chicago, which was the meatpacking capital of the world and a leader in the industrial food market. During the Great Depression, a number of Vienna Beef vendors begin advertising that their hot dogs have a "salad on top", thus leading to the eventual Chicago-style dog. The celery salt is a result of the existence of many north side celery farms, even Lakeview being a celery farming area up until the 1920s. As for the neon relish, it was done for photography's sake. The relish was ugly, so they dyed it with blue food coloring to make it neon green and pop out! For their St. Patrick's Day tradition, they use a vegetable-based powder (the dye formula remains a secret), dubbed Leprechaun Dust, and its low concentration and quick absorption make it non-toxic. The Illinois EPA and a plumbers' union state that it's completely safe, the dye is innocuous and has no harmful effects on the wildlife that inhabits the Chicago River (including several species of fish) or the city’s drinking water, so all it does is just turn it green temporarily. The chemical dye used to turn the river green is not actually green itself but more of an orange color which turns green when it reacts with water! The first time the Chicago River took on a green hue was completely accidental. In 1961, Chicago Journeymen Plumbers Local 130 poured a special, oil-based fluorescein dye into the river as a means of detecting leaks and other abnormalities such as illegal chemical pollution. By chance, Plumbers Local 130 leader Stephen Bailey noticed that one of the worker’s overalls were stained green from the dye, and thus sparked the inspiration for the tradition starting in 1962 when they poured 100 pounds of it for the holiday! After it was realized the dye used was very harmful to the river, Chicago plumbers agreed to stop using fluorescein in favor of the vegetable-based formula in 1966. On the Chicago flag, initially the flag had just two stars when it was adopted in 1917, but it changed to three in 1933 and then a fourth in 1939. Each six-pointed star (six points were chosen because no other flag had this when it was made) represents an event in Chicago's history. The Great Chicago Fire of 1871, the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, the Century of Progress Exposition of 1933, and the establishment of Fort Dearborn in 1803. And each point on these stars has a meaning. For the Great Chicago Fire for example the points represent the virtues of religion, education, aesthetics, justice, beneficence, and civic pride. The three white bars represent the North, West, and South Sides of Chicago. The top sky-blue bar represents Lake Michigan and the North Branch of the Chicago River, while the bottom bar represents the South Branch of the river and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was completed in 1900 and reverses the direction of the Chicago River so it flows out of Lake Michigan rather than into it.

I miss the BNSF line ❤ used to take it everyday to class/work from Aurora. I love downtown Aurora too and was able to easily walk to the train station from my house. My biggest gripe has always been the lack of postings of times- I used to use a folded time-map I picked up from the station to figure it out. Having those times posted on visible screens would’ve easily improved the experience ten fold.

I reckon the CTA ought to look into automated trains on some lines. I'm not too familiar with Chicago so maybe the age of the infrastructure makes that not feasible, but if they were to build that western avenue line something akin to the REM would do wonders to help with reliability. Maybe they could do something like Glasgow's new subway trains, which can be operated both with and without a driver, so that trains for automated lines could also be operated on ones that need a driver should they be required

Showcasing "live" frequencies to back up your claims on infrequent service would really help push your claims but as a bus operator for the CTA I have to disagree with you on most of your points. The only points I do agree with is signal priority within the downtown area, if you have better installment of signals for PEDs and Buses in general the traffic would flow better in high congested areas. Bus lanes on certain corridors with high congestion can only do so much if the city is willing to reconfigure miles upon miles of grid based streets to create them. BRT is an idea of the past along with TSP (Transit Signal Priority) Along Western and Ashland.

great video!! totally agree with your suggestions. slight clarification here: the north side main line was already all quad tracked, they’re just rebuilding the old quad track embankment as a new quad track concrete elevated structure

There needs to be an easier transfer between METRA stations, especially going from Union Station to Millenium Station. Discussion of the PedWay and extending that may be a good future topic. I can still remember back in the "60's when you had a regular jitney service that ran between 6 train stations and provided really fast service.

It's genuinely so frustrating to see the cta fall apart like this

The thing that ticks me off about CTA is that too often, the heaviest traveled bus lines get the crappiest buses. For example. I used to use the 4-Cottage Grove line frequently. It is one of the most heavily used lines on the southside of Chicago. Yet, it's frequently assigned some of the oldest and, in many instances, dilapidated buses out of 77th Street garage. In other words, the "4" runs pretty good, but the equipment that's assigned to it is garbage, for the most part. So I stopped using it, opting to use the Metra Electric to get downtown or using my personal auto to get to locations that Metra doesn't go. And so far, that works well for me.

I have a lot of family in Chicago. I haven’t been in years and I never lived there myself, but I never remember the transit being in the state it is today. Figuring out what went wrong is surely an important step to move forward and make it better

Thanks for the shoutout to the city of angels. We're trying hard to take that 2nd place behind NYC from Chicago.

I believe as some one who lives in Chicago they need to fix the safety issue first

Trying to navigate Chicago’s Transit and the single most infurating thing is, if you are in any corner of Chicagoland, even a suburb 20 miles away, you can get downtown in an hour. But if you are in one suburb trying to get to the immediate suburb north or west of you, or even if you are in Chicago getting to another non downtown neighborhood, it also takes an hour, and is often quicker to go all the way downtown and back out again. A Western L would be great

Somehow also get people to stop smoking on the buses and trains. People need to also be told that they can't use this CTA as a moving van. And there's all kinds of other systemic issues we need to deal with.

Thank you for this!! However , 3 BIG misleading things (that I don't think were on purpose) most of the heavy cuts to frequency for pace/CTA busses and trains are VERY recent. And also, a lot of the issues here are problems with CTA leadership, not the operation itself. I feel like the lovely person making this video spoke in absolutes as if to say 'this is the way it is in Chicago which while true, I believe a more accurate perspective is, this is what Chicago has been reduced to. For example, in 2019 the red line sent out a train every three minutes during rush hour. And lastly, the speaking about hiring, right now as we speak the CTA is hiring and training more flaggers (pre-req for train operator) more quickly than they have in a very long time. Once those flaggers get the experience they need there will be a hige surge in train operators. I think that the hard-working person who made this video could have done a better job looking at the whole picture of the massive issues the CTA is currently facing. (Also, the norh side main line has had quad tracks for basically its entire existencance, they are just improving/replacing the existing route. ) also YES WESTERN L LINE!!!!!!!!

I’m so glad you made this video. My personal transit experience visiting Chicago was disappointing and I’ve been feeling borderline gaslit by Chicago boosters that talk about how great their transit is.

THANK YOU!!! I hate Chicago's public transit system. The 'L', Metra, and all buses are terribly set up and run! It is impossible to get from suburb to suburb by train without having to connect through Chicago. The HC and NCS are horrible with less than 10 round trips per day, and frequencies are awful for the most part on buses and the 'L'.

I liked your idea of a new line along Western Avenue. Here are a few more suggestions: 1. Connect the north end of the Brown Line with the Blue Line. It's an idea once considered by the city, then dropped. It's time to reconsider it because it would connect Lincoln Park and Lakeview with O'Hare by rapid transit. 2. Build at least one "circumference" line from lakefront to lakefront. For example, one circumference line could run from the Lincoln Park Zoo through the West Loop and around to, say, the Museum Campus. Of the cities that tourists visit, I'm willing to bet that Chicago leads the world in the most tourist sites inaccessible by rapid transit. This would help some, and it would allow the locals to move about the city better. 3. Turn the inner two lanes of Lake Shore Drive into a bus rapid transit (BRT) line. It would run from the top of the city to the bottom, which would open up the lakefront to rapid transit, and it would make more tourist sites, including the beaches, accessible by rapid transit. 4. Introduce congestion pricing for cars entering the main business district. Plenty of other suggestions exist. Chicago desperately needs some sign from the CTA/RTA that someone over there cares what happens. How about let's hire Andy Byford away from Amtrak?

As a Chicagoan I couldn't agree more. We need the Western Ave L!

Here is my pipe dream for Chicago regional (and city) transit: 1) All Metra trains would be operated by grade separated ADA compliant EMUs 2) CTA rapid transit lines would connect with Metra stations at the outer CTA terminals 3) Establish a BRT or Light Rail circular line which would connect the 1st or 2nd stations of Metra lines outside of Chicago city limits 4) Either create the through running line mentioned for Metra (in downtown Chicago) or create a Loop circular line connecting all downtown Metra terminals and CTA rapid transit stations Bonus Pipe Dream: Create a Maglev or Electrified HSR connected airports in Milwaukee, Chicago, Gary, and South Bend. Please don't get angry I did say it was a pipe dream.

Note that Chicago's population has decreased from 3.6 million to 2.6 million, which is going to both decrease ridership and make services less viable.

2:39 Correction: These Stadler FLIRTs will be BEMUs (battery-electric multiple units), not DMUs.

I would definitely start fixing Chicago's transit by hiring more drivers and rail ops, organise them more efficiently, segregate bus lanes, and improve track conditions to allow for higher speeds on the network. Speaking of higher speeds, I find it very disappointing that the ENTIRETY of the Yellow Line was reduced to 35 mph from its normal speed of 55 after the crash (which happened in a slower segment of the line to begin with). I experienced this firsthand after my first Yellow Line ride in years to see what changed. Also one thing you really missed out on is the high crime levels on the CTA. They need to do a better job at making the ride experience safer and make it more difficult for bad actors to get onto the buses and trains. This is another major factor that's turning people away.

While I understand and like every one of your suggestions overall this felt very frustrating as a Chicago kid who uses the CTA daily. Obviously, recruitment and stagnation are huge issues - I want better frequencies and a new line or two more than most for sure. But the way you phrase this sounds like absolutely nothing is happening to the CTA. 1 - They had problems with understaffing, and then covid hit and made them so much worse. Recruitment currently seems to be one of their biggest focuses. 2 - you seem to propose significant expansion to the CTA network, along with increases of frequency and speed for both busses and trains, and the reopening of abandoned branch lines. How do you plan to do this? Is it perhaps by hiring more drivers and upgrading slow zones? The CTA is doing that already. Do you want an already chronically understaffed CTA that relies on permanent overtime from its drivers to get anywhere near adequate frequencies to have to operate a new line almost the length of the red line in addition to 2 new branch lines? And if you want the new line to be automated, that still takes staff (maintenance and all that) and would make an expensive project even more colossally expensive when in reality what little money the underfunded CTA needs to be going to improving the existing system right now, because in its current state there is NO way it could handle an even larger system. And it’s not like the CTA isn’t doing anything - you mentioned the slow zone improvements and I mentioned the recruitment drives but also recently the Brown Line overpass which allows the Brown line to split off the Red tracks without hindering frequency, the Red and Purple Modernisation, and the Red Line Extension to 130th (supposed to start construction late this year). These are the kind of smaller projects the CTA can take on at the moment, but short of massive investment by the city and completely getting over the staffing issues we cannot afford, in resources or in literal money, to expand the network.

About twenty years ago Metra had a plan for a line called “STAR Line”. They need to revisit that.

All mass transit in the United States is far inferior to that found in major cities in Europe. Here in Chicago the L Stations are often rundown, many sit in the middle of the freeway with excessive noise, and the L metal standards often look like they’re last painted back in the 30s. I live a few blocks from the L and it sounds like a freight train is going through. Chicago is the easiest city to set up rapid transit with its compact grid system. But here in the United States, we don’t do anything very well anymore. It’s like rapid transit got stuck in the 50s and never got better. It’s like in the United States we don’t deserve nice things.

Here is my lifetime experience with Chicago transit - PACE has always sucked and continues to suck. Exception - Niles Free Bus! - CTA buses - frequency is not a bad as you think, but some routes just crawl through the city and bunching of buses is maddening. - Metra - 20 years of commuting on them on the NW line and always loved the commute. Relaxed and comfortable ride. Hard to use on weekends because of the frequency. CTA trains - used mostly the blue line going NW and red line going N from the loop. Easiest and cheapest way to get around Chicago. Always great memories (and a few strange memories) of getting around Chicago growing up in the 80's and early 90's.

Living in Texas, Chicago transit seems like a marvel. Transit success in one part of the country is good for other parts of the country. We all need CTA, Metra, Pace, etc. to do well. The difficulty with getting BRT on Ashland and other corridors can't be overlooked. This should have been implemented long ago despite NIMBYs who can't see past their own inconvenience. Are CTA or other major transit agencies looking into driverless trains? This could help lessen the labor shortages.

I don’t remember the last time I’ve taken a bus in Chicago. Most of the time I can race the bus to my destination and get there first. Also one point you didn’t really talk about was the lack of maintenance and upkeep on the CTA lines (or maybe this tied in with your talk on lack of workers). I go to college at IIT and the green line is essential for our campus but in the last two years I think the Bronzeville IIT stop has gone down 5 different times for maintenance issues. The age and lack of upkeep on the tracks is starting to show and as much as the line is old and historic, it needs quite a big overhaul to compete with other city transit networks.

I moved to Chicago because of the CTA. My first year I recognized lots of opportunity for improvement. Low hanging fruit that immediately stood out to me was dedicated bus lanes on Michigan Ave. The fact that there isn't a plan to install one ASAP is a massive failure. It's pitiful we haven't made any progress on transit signal priority. Along with buses running faster, we need them to come more often. I'd love a bus every five minutes, ten minutes during "off peak". Overall I'm just infuriated at how bad city "leadership" has allowed the CTA to get. I now get around by bike for 95% of my trips. I really feel for people who can't or won't bike and have to rely on the CTA. It's infuriating that Brandon Johnson thinks Dorval Carter is doing a good job. They both deserve the boot.

Transit throughout the United States and have to say throughout North America is disappointing, why? Because our design our cities around cars. Look at Europe for example you can get around everywhere, and even in London only certain vehicles can enter certain zones. And if you look at China, it's incredibly well built

So when the RPM project finishes, would the purple line be able to run to the loop for all day express service? It just kinda feels like a waste to have a quad track line that only sees express service during rush hour

Honestly, as someone who lives, grew up in Chicago and has lived in other countries; one major project that would have a massive impact is drilling at least three more metro lines. There's parts of the city, especially the NW and SW side, that have no rapid transit. Just look at the gap in between the green line and blue line in the NW side. Imagine living in the middle of that (me) and needing to get downtown for work. It takes forever. There are also no lines going east-west, north-south, or connecting the city to itself. All routes lead to the loop and is inefficient. This would drastically improve travel times, which would encourage more public transit usage, which would increase local tourism within the city, which would improve local economies. Drill baby, drill.

No doubt public transit in Chicago has deteriorated in terms of service reliability and crime/safety. The pandemic only accelerated the downfall. Metra needs trains running more often for sure. To be fair I have noticed (at least commuting downtown on the 135 bus to work during the week) that they have been hiring new drivers, so it’s a huge step in the right direction. I ride the red line most of all though and there are times when it does get ridiculously crowded and you can’t help but think “man, they need these trains running more frequently”. Ghost busses continue to plague the transit network (with some improvement on that front). I strongly agree that there should be a line on the L network that connects most of the lines via western ave. One thing you were actually incorrect about in the video is that the pink line is the newest addition being added in 2006, not the orange line just over thirty years ago. I have hope that serious change can be made, but we’ll have to wait and see.

As a chicagoan I agree with a lot here, but the buses while deeply flawed, are easily the best in the country besides new york. SO MANY people use the bus. There is a difference between what happens when a cta train is full, and when a bus is full. When the cta train is full, people often wait for the next train coming literally right behind. When the bus is full, people walk, call a friend, or get an uber/taxi. Why? Simple, busses arent veiwed as consistent enough. The L and subway certainly needs better frequency, but regardless its still good enough that people wait for the next train. We need BRT in Chicago BAD. I can't ever imagine light rail here, but BRT is already somewhat present and very feasible. The 24 hour system is what I love most about the cta, but whats cool are some of the bus connections/extensions to the L. Such as at howard, where the red line ends and purple continues off, there is a night bus line extension thats essentially brt and replaces the purple line all the way to Willamette. Chicago is still the best city in the country in transit/urbanism besides nyc, and they still remain the only two real big cities in the country, but the situation with the cta is really not great compared to before, but thankfully its improving now, since a few weeks ago, and ridership numbers are back well over a million in overall.

6:39 It's worse than that, from 7:38 to 9:14 PM there are no scheduled trains to arrive on the Englewood branch. That's an hour and 36 minutes between trains, on a weekday. There are other hour plus long gaps in the schedule

The StarLine 2034sight plan looks really great. And with my other post it fits right in. The key piece is a tunnel connecting the Electric and the UP-North lines to create 6 unique crosstown services that would run every 30 mins - but in downtown that would like rapid transit frequency. This is not dissimilar to how Sydney or Melbourne (or soon Brisbane or Adelaide) use their suburban trains, or S-Bahns, of course. So it makes a lot of sense.

As a Native Chicagoan, I can’t help but wonder what Mayor Richard J Daley would have done if you brought a smoking on trains complaint to him. (ashtrays on the trains? Vending machines on the platforms? Cigarette girls outside the stock exchange and merchandise mart.

CTA probably finds it cheaper to pay overtime than to hire more operators. The almost free healthcare is very expensive and not fair to other workers who pay the subsidy or fare or both. Other countries do not put the cost of healthcare on transit, but on general taxes. Until this is fixed new hires should be given a standardized benefit package equal to other public sector workers and other transit agencies.

As a child of Chicago I get disappointed every time I visit and take the L. Like every city in the USA, Chicago had a great system of streetcars, the L, commuter rail and interurbans. But even back then the L did not reach many areas including the far south side. I grew up during the A/B skip stop express system which worked well and sped up the commute. The few times I took the bus I found it no more reliable than a bus in LA maybe worse. Chicago has the worse traffic in America and it’s high time to make public transit both reliable and affordable. I disagree with this video of a western Avenue line. As long as the street is it doesn’t enter downtown and riders would have to transfer. What about a Clark street line from north to south through the loop.

The approach into Union is street running, have it go underground sooner and really only have the Borealis (extended to Fargo and service doubled), the Empire Builder, and a restored North Coast (I've also floated the idea of Republic to play off the Empire Builder) being the only Amtrak trains I'd see terminate on that side and using a few spare tracks at Ogilvie and have a pedestrian connection and otherwise merge Union and Ogilvie without merging the rail infrastructure. Six tracks with the middle two for those 4 trains (plus Metra Rockford/Debuque service) to reach Ogilve Tracks 13-16. I'm not sure if the Quad Cities, Prairrie Marksmen (Peoria train), Lincoln Service, Illini/Saluki (would like to see service doubled with at least one continuing to Wickliffe, KY), Illinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg (with service doubled and Illinois Zephyr becoming the Mark Twain due to not continuing to Hannibal), Indiana Services (Bloomington/Evansville, Fort Wayne, Louisville) would be folded completely into a Midwest regional. The Michigan Services, a semi-restored Three Rivers via Fort Wayne and Columbus, and potential additional east-west service to Cincinnati and Cleveland (preferably day trains, or temporarily have Cardinal trains terminate at Cinci 4 days/week with a local thruway option to Charlestown, WV or a "nonstop" to Charlottesville that should be timed with a regional before continuing to Richmond. White Sulfur Springs would also get a local thruway to Charlottesville that continues to Richmond timed with a different train)

METRA service really needs to be upgraded into a true regional rail service. What does this mean? No midday gaps. More stations in the city. Full fare integration with CTA to allow for free transfers between systems. At a minimum getting each line to 7 days peek (6am to midnight) hourly bidirectional service is a must. Many of the busier lines with with ridership increase potential - BNSF, North Line, O’Hare and Electric are top 4 to start with I think - they should be double tracked & electrified (if not already) and run EMUs to allow for faster service. Service on these lines can be increased to every 30m 7 days per week (with extra trains during rush hour as needed). Finding a way to get freight off the regional rail tracks is imperative. Whether by purchase of the RoW, building additional tracks, or even helping to build a new trans-Chicago freight corridor to let freight trains get around/through Chicago on their own (they’d all have to work together, is the thing), are possible. Why focus on METRA? Well, the majority of the Chicago Metro population lives outside the service area of the current subway lines and extensions to them are far too expensive to consider. More modest (relatively) upgrades to the regional rail services can have a more impactful shift on taking suburban drivers out of their cars. The biggest challenge is with job sprawl and having commuters not coming “downtown” to work. The top major priority for METRA & the RTA has to be the creation of a regional rail orbital line that will allow for connections between all METRA lines. Not going to propose any specific routes but something along those lines needs to happen as the whole METRA network (like most regional rail systems) is very radial in nature.

Well i always want the green line extension all the way east to 93/ South Chicago, by the way of metra electric, and where the train elevates to meet the metra, it can be a new transit hub ( like Jamaica Queens mta subway/ llirr ) and the statons can be retro-fitted to fit the L trains.

All great ideas, but let me add one more: EXTEND THE DAMN BROWN LINE TO THE BLUE LINE!!! For the love Jesus, Mary and Joseph, do it! Having a crosstown line on the North Side would be a game changer. Bus lanes everywhere would be my priority because of how quickly they can be laid down. The bus system is so damn slow and unreliable, and there are so many occasions where better bus service would make life better. The trains can't go everywhere. Also, there was a Humboldt Park branch? Sweet! I wouldn't mind seeing east-west lines along Devon, Lawrence, Belmont, North, 31st, Garfield, 95th. A grid of lines in addition to the radial lines would be ideal. I'd also love if Metra owned all its trackage (it already owns a decent amount). It could then grade-separate, electrify, upgrade its signal and communication systems to modern ones, and even rebuild tracks to support higher average speeds to make regional trips faster. Tighter integration with the L would be great, too, along with better frequencies. We could have something like the Paris RER or a German S-Bahn. Chicago is big enough that a regional system supplementing the metro would make sense.

As optimistic as I am for the future of Metra, they just recently announced that their new service to Rockford will only run twice daily round trip😭

Personally I desperately need a brown line extension to connect to the blue line

A western line would be amazing!!

It seems like everything Chicago needs and should do, Toronto is in already mid construction of. Also both are considered sister cities.

CTA has done a great job of taking “rapid” out of rapid transit.

I'd love a CTA line that connects our two airports so that I don't have bounce downtown just to transfer.

I always thought it was a missed opportunity that they didn't modify the UP-North right of way to handle light rail on the third (disused) track with passing loops added along the way. It could have gone from Howard in the north, all way down to Cortland, then kick onto Ashland to run south on the street. Alas with the new stations it can no longer be done.

2:40 Just a quick correction, but the Stadler trainsets on order are electric, battery EMUs, with the ability to swap to catenary operation.

I don't think it was mentioned, but the Red Line is being extended from 95th down to 130th. This in itself took nearly a couple of decades, so I doubt there will be any other extensions or new lines short of a massive turnaround in city population trends.

I feel like Chicago can get a lot of money from fining smokers and people who play loud music in the train. They can use all that money to improve service!

A Cicero Avenue Line linking Midway and O'Hare should be considered.

Needs direct or express service from the airport to center city.

You should do a similar one of these videos for the Washington, DC area.

O'Hare being directly connected is such a great rarity in the US, but sadly the track is in such bad condition that attempts at speed results in a horrible ride. I use O'Hare as my park and ride when visiting because it allows me to avoid areas where driving a car is a nightmare like downtown while allowing me access to car friendly shopping areas. I feel safe parking at O'Hare knowing I can get to my car at 3 am. Although the homeless issue is making me feel comfortable doing this now. An alternative would be to take the train from Joliet, but that suffers from schedules and slow speed as well. Like with the fireworks at the Pier coming up there should absolutely be multiple night trains. While out of towners may not be the most important customer I think Chicagoans would agree keeping "idiot drivers" out of the downtown would reduce accidents and help speed flow. I'd love to see a permanent billboard promoting various park and ride locations off incoming interstates. "Hate driving downtown? Park and ride here"

Chicago keeps decreasing in population and people dont want to into cities as much anymore. That is their biggest issue

As cool as the center city connection would be, it’s a distraction from metra’s real needs. Which are electrification and buying out their tracks.

certainly, all services should run from early morning late into the night... especially so in a big city... I do not know Chicago, but I feel that anything less is a disgrace in any major city. frequency wise, yes, hourly services and half-hourly services are not so good, but then, that's maybe not as critical... at least, if the services are reliable... certainly would prefer a 24/h service every 10min-15min but is that realistic?

We need more East/west running light rail/El lines. Or to fill out the spokes

I kinda have a soft spot for gallery cars since I’ve ridden on them all my life, but I completely agree that they’re extremely dated and aren’t suitable for future service. There’s a reason not many commuter rail operators use them anymore. As much as I like them, they need to be replaced and donated to the Illinois Railway Museum. But gallery cars aren’t Metra’s biggest problem. It’s their locomotives. They really need to get rid of their super polluting EMDs. I mean some of those locomotives date back ti the 1970s. Even if they just upgraded to Siemens Chargers, that would put them way ahead of where they are now, even though Metra should strive for complete electrification, but I understand how difficult that is given how hostile freight railroads are to electrification

Service of 7 minutes or less all day, every day is the minimum acceptable. Telling people they should put up with worse service is for car advocates who think transit should punish people who are [insert slur here] - normal people drive.

9:20 "AND FIRE DORVAL CARTER"

1:12: Problem, not "issue."

The CTA is Financially challenged, where are they going to get the money from?

#buildthetunnel

I just emailed the CTA director 😂😂😂

6:43 fire Dorval Carter

I don't think it's worse than the MTA.

I haven't watched the video yet, but I do believe CTA will be restructured soon to encompass CTA, PACE, and METRA under one state agency. CTA is facing nearly a $1 billion shortfall next year and decisions will need to be paid.

I think Chicago should look at its sister city of Toronto to improve services. Both cities have very similar street layouts, but the TTC runs buses on major roads every 5-10min, along with feeding onto the subway. Trains run every 1-2min on peak, 3-4min off peak. Yeah, the TTC isn't the best when compared to places like Europe or Asia, but I think it's a start for Chicago when improving transit. There's a reason why the Bloor-Danforth line has more riders than the entire L, along with major streetcar and bus routes. Maybe in the future, Chicago could build their own Bloor or Eglinton line, in order to improve cross city travel. I hope the best, it's a beautiful city.

They were never the same after Terry Kath died and David Foster & Peter Cetra took over and robbed them

2:40, BEMU's!

The new converted freight locomotives on Metra look both dumb and kinda cool simultaneously

Was just in Chicago for a visit. Awesome city, everyone should go if they get the chance, but the transit definitely left a lot to be desired in my mind. Absolutely needs more suburban connectivity, and upgraded infrastructure.

5:38 did bro just say AURA????? 2:38 they’re supposed to be BEMUs with a pantograph for charging at select stations. The power pack has batteries instead of two engines.

The divvy bikes are chicagos best transit network

The South Shore Line needs to be extended out to Elkhart. Also late night trips end in Gary instead of out to South Bend or at least someplace safer then Gary. The system needs orbital rail.

Extensions needed: Green Line to Jackson Park Green Line (Ashland Branch) to Midway Airport Yellow Line to Old Orchard Mall Brown Line to Jefferson Park Pink Line to Cermak and Harlem Red Line to 131st St. UP West Line to DeKalb BNSF Line to Sandwich Rock Island Line to Morris Heritage Corridor to Wilmington Milwaukee District West Line to Rockford Metra Electric to Kankakee South Shore Line to Downtown South Bend

I'd vote for an express train service to Ohare from downtown.

American transit is just bad in general. Chicago has the 2nd best train system behind NYC though. And I just wanna say the suburbs are NOT Chicago. Pace and Metra suck but they're suburban transit that shouldn't reflect on Chicago

I don't think that Chicago takes the crown for second-best transit network in North America from the SF Bay Area. The Bay transit system is larger, goes farther, is more integrated (single fare system, synced schedules even between regional operators, discounted transfers between operators, etc.), and is of overall higher quality with more modern infrastructure, faster and newer trains, and denser service. As an obvious example, compare the regional rail networks. BART's lowest frequency anywhere in the Bay Area is 20 minutes on one of the spurs, with all other stations getting 10 minute frequencies or better. Caltrain is now moving to 15 minute frequencies. Even the intercity rail runs at least once an hour in the Bay (Capitol Corridor).

See our Pakistani, Lahore orange line metro is best than this STLs metro.

I understand the whole fire Doval Carter crowd, but I don't understand how it will make the Cta immediately reliable. Like is it his fault that's there is a labor shortage. If you're so passionate about it then apply yourself to be a bus or train driver.

I dread getting on CTA trains or buses because I'm really tired of having to share space with nutcases showing antisocial behaviour.