Good start to the trip, whisking past this giant mess in comfort and speed, while also proving my point about induced demand:
Hello Chicago. A picture with a little of everything:
Divvy Bikes, puffered bike lane, and a restaurant with BIG PIZZA:
Streeterville:
Lincoln Park:
Alleys are popular:
The so-called "Alley El", perhaps why they survived so well, they run behind buildings mostly outside the Loop:
The "L" provides some great views. Kinda wish we had 'em here (!):
Ashland Ave, Lincoln Park:
Lincoln and Wellington. Nice diner there, S&G:
Lakeview:
(gotta love the AVAILABLE land next to the station in a gentrified neighborhood, oO)
I guess here's what it takes to run 24/7 service (Red Line). In general, CTA seemed awfully blase about track workers hopping around live lines:
Kimball:
Rapid transit third-rail grade crossing near Kimball. It turns out that these crossings are a lot more common than I remembered. I must have seen over a dozen of them between Brown, Pink, Purple and Yellow lines. Puts our Green Line in some perspective:
The End Of The World. Or the Pink Line, anyway:
North Lawndale by "L":
18th Street near Ashland:
Ashland Ave near 18th Street. I took a particular interest in Ashland Ave because of the BRT proposal that CTA is really pushing. A very auto-oriented street, lots of bulldozed lots, industrial areas, and partial remainders of an urban past. Quite possibly, a street that could greatly benefit from the central lanes being dedicated to BRT:
The proprieter of Lupita's Restaurant said that he heard of the BRT proposal, and thought it would be good for business:
Also told me that the nearby University tried to tear down the building below for dorms, but owner wouldn't sell. Good for him.
Last trip is shortly before 3 a.m., first trip is shortly after 3 a.m., that I looked up. 24/7 bus route:
BRT proposal phase 1 ends here, underneath expressway with Orange Line running in the median. Pretty awkward routing for the bus. It has to turn into the lot, go around a lot of curves and waste a lot of time. And almost everyone onboard the bus (standing room only) was riding thru:
Darn! Sold! Missed my chance!
Seen better days:
63rd and Ashland, one of the Green Line termini:
Yeah that parking lot is sure full, middle of a workday. Real smart planning, CTA:
Could be worse:
Metra:
Southern Red Line:
Not sure:
I-90/94:
Willis from Green Line:
More Loop pictures:
Evanston:
Surprisingly busy considering it was headed inbound at the end of the day:
Rent Now!
Northwestern:
What BTD should do to its beg buttons:
Broadway in East Lakeview turned out to be a refreshing change from typical Chicago. Not broad, in fact, and happening:
Near North Side:
CTA had a meltdown on my way to the airport, an easy if boring 45m trip turned into a harrowing train-shuttle-train saga of 90+ minutes. But at least Wicker Park was having a good time while we waited on the single tracking:
So, um yeah, I guess that's CTA's response to flying trains:
Hello Chicago. A picture with a little of everything:
Divvy Bikes, puffered bike lane, and a restaurant with BIG PIZZA:
Streeterville:
Lincoln Park:
Alleys are popular:
The so-called "Alley El", perhaps why they survived so well, they run behind buildings mostly outside the Loop:
The "L" provides some great views. Kinda wish we had 'em here (!):
Ashland Ave, Lincoln Park:
Lincoln and Wellington. Nice diner there, S&G:
Lakeview:
(gotta love the AVAILABLE land next to the station in a gentrified neighborhood, oO)
I guess here's what it takes to run 24/7 service (Red Line). In general, CTA seemed awfully blase about track workers hopping around live lines:
Kimball:
Rapid transit third-rail grade crossing near Kimball. It turns out that these crossings are a lot more common than I remembered. I must have seen over a dozen of them between Brown, Pink, Purple and Yellow lines. Puts our Green Line in some perspective:
The End Of The World. Or the Pink Line, anyway:
North Lawndale by "L":
18th Street near Ashland:
Ashland Ave near 18th Street. I took a particular interest in Ashland Ave because of the BRT proposal that CTA is really pushing. A very auto-oriented street, lots of bulldozed lots, industrial areas, and partial remainders of an urban past. Quite possibly, a street that could greatly benefit from the central lanes being dedicated to BRT:
The proprieter of Lupita's Restaurant said that he heard of the BRT proposal, and thought it would be good for business:
Also told me that the nearby University tried to tear down the building below for dorms, but owner wouldn't sell. Good for him.
Last trip is shortly before 3 a.m., first trip is shortly after 3 a.m., that I looked up. 24/7 bus route:
BRT proposal phase 1 ends here, underneath expressway with Orange Line running in the median. Pretty awkward routing for the bus. It has to turn into the lot, go around a lot of curves and waste a lot of time. And almost everyone onboard the bus (standing room only) was riding thru:
Darn! Sold! Missed my chance!
Seen better days:
63rd and Ashland, one of the Green Line termini:
Yeah that parking lot is sure full, middle of a workday. Real smart planning, CTA:
Could be worse:
Metra:
Southern Red Line:
Not sure:
I-90/94:
Willis from Green Line:
More Loop pictures:
Evanston:
Surprisingly busy considering it was headed inbound at the end of the day:
Rent Now!
Northwestern:
What BTD should do to its beg buttons:
Broadway in East Lakeview turned out to be a refreshing change from typical Chicago. Not broad, in fact, and happening:
Near North Side:
CTA had a meltdown on my way to the airport, an easy if boring 45m trip turned into a harrowing train-shuttle-train saga of 90+ minutes. But at least Wicker Park was having a good time while we waited on the single tracking:
So, um yeah, I guess that's CTA's response to flying trains:
