Steven Vance – Page 65

The state of transit trackers in Chicago

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A CTA passenger waits for a train in the snow at Belmont Brown Line station. Photo by Mike Priorie.

Knowing when your bus or train is about to come can help you make better decisions. “Do I have enough time to get coffee from the shop across the street?” “Can I pack my own lunch today?” “If I miss this bus because I can’t find my good shoes, how long will it be to the next one”? I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves these questions*. The Chicago Transit Authority’s transit tracking services can help with the answers. Continue reading The state of transit trackers in Chicago

Comparing three Android transit tracker apps

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Transit Tracks makes it very easy to find stops near you, and doesn’t place restrictions on how many appear in the map.

I reviewed only the free versions. Updated October 19, 2011, to add a third transit tracker app.

	Chicago Transit Tracker Lite	Transit Tracks	TreKing 4 Free
Pros	Locates nearest bus stop Shows system alerts from CTA Shows current temperature Shows time of last update	Locates ALL nearby bus stops using your GPS Has a more logical method to manually select bus stops and train stations Allows you to group favorite stops/stations Has better aesthetics – easier to read favorites listing User swipes the screen to show the opposite direction bus or train System map shows the familiar Google Maps and allows user to select nearby bus stops and train stations When no more service, reports “No running buses”	Pro version offers Metra schedules and Pace bus predictions (I didn’t test this) Very logical method to select your bus stop or train station (this is called a “trek”) Lets you save a custom name for a specific stop or station (but gives predefined name) Allows you to group saved stops/stations Quick Treks feature locates nearby stops and stations Pro version has a trip planner (“Trek Planner”) Move, rename, or delete groups by holding your finger on the group (very easy) It appears you can set alerts in the pay version that tell you when to get off the bus/train, or when the bus/train is about to arrive In the pay version you can add time to the prediction so you’re less likely to miss a bus/train if it’s early
Cons	Only displays a single nearby bus stop in free version using your GPS Shows ads in free version Favorites listing appears in a confusing way Shows ALL system alerts, and not ones relevant to my favorite routes System map loads a CTA website When no more service, reports “No arrival times” To add a favorite stop manually, text search function works in unexpected way To add a favorite stop manually, the choices are confusing. There are 4 choices for Addison-Blue, one for each possible terminus (Forest Park, Jefferson Park, O’Hare, UIC)	Does not retrieve system alerts from CTA Does not show temperature Does not show time of last update Shows ads	When you first select CTA Trains as the system you want to track, a huge list of confusing caveats shows up. I don’t think they’re all true. Method to select your trip route takes a lot of time Selecting a “To Stop”, which is optional, doesn’t change anything Shows ads Quick Trek feature in free version limited to 1/8th mile (one block) There isn’t a function you do without the app showing a popup to tell you about the pay version Map nearly useless in free version: it will only show bus stop with ID 1 Map nearly useless in free version: it will only show bus route with route 1, Indiana/Hyde Park Map in free version doesn’t show bus location in real-time “Trek Planner” in free version only shows trip from your location to Sears Tower or Navy Pier – your choice!

On grouping: One group could be for the stops/stations you use to get to work and the other group could be for the return trip.

My recommendation: Transit Tracks. It’s very hard to review TreKing 4 Free because it seems most features are only available in the pay version.

Englewood Flyover broke ground today – will save 7,500 hours of Metra delays annually

Updated October 11, 2011, to add link to Transportation Secretary LaHood’s blog.

Photo by ABC7 reported Charles Thomas, taken this morning. In this photo are Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Gabe Klein, and Governor Pat Quinn.

I woke up this morning and saw Gabe Klein tweeting about a groundbreaking ceremony for CREATE P1 (known as the Englewood Flyover), one of the nation’s most important projects (actually a group of 67 projects). It separates freight from passenger rail traffic, and upgrades facilities for smoother and faster switching and travel. The Englewood Flyover will elevate Metra Rock Island District trains (north-south) over Norfolk Southern and Amtrak trains (east-west) in the Englewood and Grand Crossing neighborhoods.

According to the project description on the CREATE website, “Metra riders experience more than 7,500 annual passenger hours of delay” – this will be eliminated.

The bridge will be built big enough to carry three tracks (where there are two now) over five tracks (where there are three now). The bridge will begin at about 5700 S LaSalle Street and end at about 6900 S Princeton Avenue. Recovery/stimulus money will pick up most of the construction tab:

The $133 million for the Englewood Flyover includes $126 million in federal funding leveraged through $6.6 million from Governor Quinn’s six-year, $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now!, the largest capital program in state history. A consortium of railroads involved in the CREATE program earlier contributed $3 million toward design costs. (Decatur Tribune)

Illinois Jobs Now! is the capital expenditure plan from Governor Quinn that was signed in 2009 and supported by bonds (debt), and fee and tax increases. The event was also an opportunity to promote President Obama’s American Jobs Act, as Transportation secretary Ray LaHood attended alongside Representative Dan Lipinski and other “politicos”.

Ray, on his Fast Lane blog, wrote more about the impact on jobs:

A strict “Buy America” requirement ensures U.S. manufacturers and workers receive the maximum economic benefits from this federal investment. This means that the Englewood flyover project will create nearly 1,500 jobs.

View Englewood Flyover in a larger map

Grid Shots: Shopping without a car

A large portion of Chicagoans not only take the bus, train, walk, or bike to work, but they also take these sustainable transportation modes to go shopping, for groceries and everything else.

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Two people attempt to cross Western Avenue, with one of them pushing his purchases in a shopping cart. Photo by Joshua Koonce. Continue reading Grid Shots: Shopping without a car

Construction has begun on the Jackson protected bike lane (photo gallery)

Crews from Marking Specialists started installing pavement markings on Wednesday, October 5, 2011, continuing on Thursday and Friday. The project’s western extent was pushed to Western Avenue, making it 0.5 miles longer – now at 2 miles long. There are many aspects of this facility that differ from the Kinzie Street protected bike lane, Chicago’s first. John will have a more in-depth article about this project on Tuesday or Wednesday – this is just a photo gallery.

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West of Damen, the eastbound protected bike lane is on the south side of the street. At Damen, it switches to the left side. It’s unclear how bicyclists are expected to make this “crossover”. Continue reading Construction has begun on the Jackson protected bike lane (photo gallery)

Bloomingdale Trail public involvement process reached a milestone this week

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A view of the Bloomingdale Trail at Spaulding Avenue. At least one person in the audience asked for a rail car or two remain in the new park. Photo by Colin Clinard.

On the evening of Tuesday, October 4, 2011, I attended the final presentation from the Bloomingdale “charrette weekend” at the McCormick Tribune YMCA, 1834 N Lawndale. The charrette weekend hosted invited stakeholders and members of the public who gathered with the design team to learn about the Bloomingdale Trail history, devise the topics they cared about, and express ideas and concerns about the project. For 16 hours on Monday and Tuesday, the design team synthesized all of the conversations, contribution, and ideas into a final presentation that took about 90 minutes to examine.

What follows is a detailed description of who said what about the project. I’ve divided the article into many sections with bold text headings for easier reading. I imagine that this article will evolve as people ask me questions. Continue reading Bloomingdale Trail public involvement process reached a milestone this week