This Chicagoan is thrilled for this! This plan reclaims a street already overwhelmingly used by bus riders (#9 is the city's most-ridden bus) and makes taking transit an even more appealing option. Slower cars mean less accidents. Less cars mean less smog and less traffic. Faster buses = more riders. And installing BRT is much cheaper than other transit options. It's successful all over the world - and makes sense for Chicago!
Was this project implemented? Is it working well? I am a strong supporter of BRT systems. There are many successful examples all over the world. I wish you the best Chicago!
We have X9 which stops only every other stops than normal 9. Chicago is a joke. The US is a joke when it comes to making plans happen on time or even happening. China does much better.
@@Ecoean Like building emergency hospitals for Coronavirus that collapse and kill the patients? Please. According to the Chinese government, there wasn't even full electrification (all citizens have access to electricity) until 2015! There are massive swaths of Rural China that still don't have indoor plumbing. The Truth is China is made up a few (very large) metro areas surrounded by a vast underdeveloped hinterland. The U.S. may have its problems but at least we are honest and open about them. China is happy to build Maglev trains for the West to see, but ignore millions of their own Citizens squatting over holes. Your selective memory is embarrassing.
If they really want to attract businesses to the neighborhood, a light rail line down the center of the street would do it. I always wonder what General Motors has to do with proposals like this. I thought one of the big advantages of buses is pulling over to the curb so the rider doesn't have to walk to the middle of the street to board a streetcar. So much for that!
The Chicago Transit Authority and the city council have come to its senses and and won't be building this for the time being. So, while this may be popular among transit companies, who want every dime in your bank account and bike riders, who don't want anyone driving anything but a bicycle, CTA and the council both agree that it isn't a priority and there is currently no funding and no plans to do it for now.
@@user-dj7wv5ok2xthat could end up costing over one billion dollars per mile. Bus rapid transit is always the best form of transit to put in first because it’s low cost and high capacity. If the line receives significant demand, they can always put in elevated or tunneled rail
Only "cheaper" initially; over time, it costs MUCH MORE than LRT. This is because a bus is an automobile just as any car (or even TRUCK) is, and as a result, has a much lower longevity factor than rail vehicles.
Waiting is for fools. Do it. Now. Do it proper. Show how it's done. Speed our lives up with dignity. Then do it again....(Western, Cicero, Garfield/55th, Harlem, South Shore, Stoney Island, Madison, Irving Park, Fullerton, Devon, 79th, etc...) Improve the mobility of the people of the Windy City. Real BRT, not bullshit BRT. This is real. For f*cks sake, now! ASAP!! I want my 1%!
The loss of a lane of traffic will be disastrous, and the local Ashland bus will tie up the one remaining lane when it doesn't pull over all the way (often happens). Terrible idea.
I am from India recently this BRTS project implemented in my city HUBLI AND DHARWAD from Karnataka state. And around 130 Volvo bus are running daily. If you want you can Google HDBRTS very successful project .
Chicago is fortunate to have Gabe Klein as Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Transportation and Forrest Claypool as President of CTA. They're both leaders and innovators and they're helping to implement Mayor Emanuel's vision of multi-modal transit. BRT on Ashland is a great idea.
Ashland ave is a major throughway for traffic in the city of Chicago. Please don't ruin it with a bus-only lane which will reduce traffic lanes from 2 to 1 lane in each direction. How will reducing traffic lanes by 50% in any way INCREASE traffic flow? I live in Chicago, but I do not live near Ashland, so taking that bus is not an option for me. I drive on Ashland because it moves. Don't take away one of the main north-south throughways in the city for this.
There is a reason why Ashland Avenue in Chicago is a six-lane (two traffic, one parking and in each direction) roadway: TRUCKS! Has it occurred to anyone how important it is for those trucks to make deliveries to the businesses and even schools along Ashland? This is what was ultimately the doom for Rahm Emanuel's reelection: He tried to turn the entire city (which was already a traffic nightmare) into a bike lane, to serve the 20% lawful/80% unlawful bicycle riders who disobey traffic lights; especially the ones installed for them and traffic laws without regard for pedestrians. Now, the CTA wants to take two (2) vital truck routes (Western Avenue is the other) and make things much worse for city traffic. NOTE TO CTA: YOU CANNOT FORCE PEOPLE TO RIDE BUSES OR RENT DIVY BIKES! THIS IS THE WORST IDEA YET TO COME FROM 567 WEST LAKE STREET, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60661! DON'T DO THIS! LEAVE ASHLAND, WESTERN AND CICERO AVENUES ALONE! JUST BECAUSE OTHER CITIES HAVE BRT SYSTEMS DOESN'T MAKE IT RIGHT FOR CHICAGO! 🐰
Why not just reactivate, expand and extend Chicago's old freight subway?! This system, if reactivated, will do a helluva lot in removing several trucks from the streets.
BRT system is a shit, Santiago, Lima, Cali, Bogotá and other cities have collapsed because of this system, it's obsolete, slow and cannot move all the people who say it move. It's always collapsed, full, buses stop at every light and it is lost time, the train system will always be better.
Hahahahahahaa really??? Are you kidding????? Look at the BRT System Transmilenio of Bogotá Colombia and ur eyes will open to the reality... BRT is a infernal chaos here. :(
Chicago CTA needs to COVER COOK COUNTY not just the city. PACE is a shitty system and the buses need to run longer, as well to suburbs, and extend service hours on more 24/7 buses. LET ME RUN the city and I will make the CTA great again. As for BRT, it is a good idea IF IMPLEMENTED WELL, if its poorly implemented then it will suck.
The thing with other countries is that they don't seem to shut down a whole lane for buses when they can't offer more then one lane for drivers. I like the idea but you're gonna have to have at least 2 car lanes and a bus lane included to make traffic less retarded. You have to keep in mind that people will have sit and watch people parallel park and not be able to go around which will build up traffic. Get rid of the car parking on the curb and put more parking garages in that way you will help with obesity cause now people will have to walk their lazy asses a little more to get were they are going. Ayy win/win ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-CwvUa8rgtBc.html
This is one if the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Traffic would be absolutely terrible if it gets cut down to one lane. What about left turns? People making left turns now have to worry about the possibility of turning in front of a bus going 40 mph! This would make the traffic even worse. This needs to get thrown out ASAP.
And the bus lanes have border sides with the normal lanes that are a bit raised like a two blicks high that a driver of any car would not try to cross above when wanting to make left or right turns, and for making any turns the drivers have to divert into another street and then cross the brt laned street at a traffic lights
Why not build flyover & underpasses in important locations where ppl can turn left & right, it'll make BRT more quicker & without disrupting traffic + buses will also reach their stop on time --- for example here in Pakistan our cities aren't well planed except Islamabad so most of the BRT route is elevated in Rawalpindi city section about 7km & few underpasses in Islamabad city --- the reason for building elevated section in congested areas is to save lanes for the normal traffic & it also means no disruption for BRT buses & they'll get to their destination on time & Normal traffic will also flow & they can take u-turns wherever they want to !!
Easy solution: Make 3 right turns. Seriously, have you never been on a major downtown road where left turns are against the law? I know you think you're some kind of traffic engineer, but you really need to sit down and let the adults handle this.
Why can't I give a thumbs down? A western N-S rapid transit option would be great, but this will reduce driving capacity on one of only 3 major north south streets by 50%. Left turns will be eliminated requiring drivers to rush through neighborhoods to get across Ashland creating increased emissions and safety risks from the increased traffic running through neighborhood roads.
What's needed is a Silver Line north-south rapid transit line, with Ashland and Paulina as its axis and bypassing downtown, running from Howard to 95th. Direct connections to Red, Brown, Blue (@ Division), Green/Pink (@ Lake), Blue (@ I-290), Pink (@ Polk), Orange, and Green Lines. And the stops should be limited pretty much to those.
Not a good idea. It will impede car traffic by funneling it. What there used to be on Western (the longest street and one of the busiest in Chicago) was an express route as well as a regular route, but it would never completely eliminate a lane of traffic. This BRT project would greatly complicate and obstruct traffic in densly populated areas like Wicker Park, the Medical District, Lincoln Park, Pilsen, and Lakeview that already have enough slow zones. I vote yes to an additional Express Bus route that would stop at more crucial stops or stop ever other stop like the 49 Express Bus (Western) used to do. I vote NO to completely eliminating an entire lane of traffic that would worsen infrastructure. This is a terrible, terrible idea.
@@armandogv18 Actually studies that shown the opposite. If you make car driving restrictive enough and offer a robust public transit, less people will need their cars.
@@ayoiawe ok...so where is it at? They didn't build it lol they nixed it. I was there recently too. Still the same intersection, just some new buildings.
This has to be one of the most asinine ideas I have ever heard of. 1 lane for cars, no left hand turns sending people going through residential areas to turn around AND buses STILL run in the one remaining car lane????!!! Maybe if busdrivers knew how to drive, but they almost always back up traffic at a stop because they are too lazy to pull fully into the bus stop. Typical Chicago. How do these people have these tax payer payed jobs?
BRT sucks and this is a huge waste of tax payer money... Are these paid actors in this video? Everyone I know hates this. You won't be able to make a left turn from 95th street to Irving Park Rd... Traffic on Ashland sucks now, and when it's one line in each direction, it's going to be even worse.... Worst idea ever.
Boo Hoo says the guy that sucks the most tax dollars out of the system by driving everywhere. Who do you think pays for the roads you use? You own your car, not the road. Also, if traffic is so bad, don't drive. You're not sitting in traffic.. YOU ARE TRAFFIC.
+eurosoe Don't stick your foot to far down your throat there... First off, you';re not from anywhere around Ashland Avenue, are you? Are you even from Chicago? I;ve worked in the area around Grand and Ashland for 20 years. Also, I live five minutes from work. So quit making an ASS out of yourself by ASSuming that I'm a yuppie fuck that drives a BMW around. I;m blue collar. I drive a 2000 Cavalier when I go to visit my family in the suburbs; otherwise I walk or take the CTA. Also, I understand how the tax system works; that to maintain and upkeep roads, bridges, and other public structures, it takes money.... not just anyone's money, but citizens money. Another thing you show a lack of is current events; the Rapid BRT at the current moment, is NOT going through. Also, my family's business has been located off different spots of Ashland Avenue for 100 years. The Rapid BRT would have greatly impacted our business and many other SMALL BUSINESSES that exist up and down Ashland. Thats besides the fact that they wanted to eliminate ALL left turns (with the exception of 2 or 3 spots) from 95000 S. Ashland Ave to 4000 N Ashland Ave; a span of 16 miles. That means to make a left, you would now have to make three turns, (3 rights, or 1 right and 2 lefts) to get in the direction you want to go. If you don't think that's going to fuck up traffic, then you obviously don't drive. Next time, get off your yuppie high horse and talk to people with some respect instead of coming off like jag-off.
+eurosoe By the way, I work 8 am 6 pm; however, because it's my family's business and it's small, we're usually there working for a couple to a few hours after we've closed. I get to see the start of rush hour and the end of it because of that. When I drive home every night, it's definitely not in rush hour traffic. I get to see the poor bastards sitting in fucked up traffic, not moving, EVERY, SINGLE, DAY. Me driving is not the issue. An outdated transit system, and corrupt political machine that is our government in Chicago is our problem.
