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Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 14th, 2018, 9:43 am
by Tcmetro
The $1 billion doesn't seem like that much of a stretch as the tunnels will be quite small (the vehicles are basically van sized) and there are no stations. The downtown station will be in an existing cavern under a shopping mall.

Compounding the economics issue is the fact that this isn't even trying to serve a new market. The proposed stops (ORD Terminal 2 and Block 37) are essentially the same locations as Blue Line stops. Additionally, the Block 37 area is somewhat of a business destination, but heavy with government offices. A better destination would be River North/Streeterville which is where all the hotels and tourists are.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 14th, 2018, 10:17 am
by mattaudio
This is totally the APM or Monorail of the 2020s... If this gets built, then a generation later there will be an impossible task of keeping vehicles going or finding new vehicles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vought_Airtrans
https://www.wired.com/2013/10/minnesota-zoo-monorail/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgantow ... id_Transit

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 14th, 2018, 10:35 am
by mattaudio
Getting back (a little closer) to reality, it seems like the best case for upgrading connectivity in Chicago would be a combination of:

- Tunneling to allow heavy rail through-routing through the Loop, e.g.
- Connecting Millenium Station and/or LaSalle St Station to Ogilvie Transportation Center
- Electrify more of the Metra lines (and/or consider rapid service on them, such as along the UP-North line)

- Route new HSR and/or Midwest regional Amtrak via a new O'Hare hub

- Improve an expand the O'Hare ATS east to this hub ala Miami and west to the new terminal complex.
- Also consider extending the ATS model to have secure carriages or trains connecting the airsides (I think Seattle once used this model for moving international arrivals to the south satellite) which would even allow check-ins at the central station and/or facilitate easier rail-air transfers.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 14th, 2018, 4:05 pm
by DanPatchToget
I like the idea of upgrading the existing freight railroad right-of-way for faster and more frequent commuter service.

Assuming the tunnels are narrow, then that makes it impossible to modify it with larger vehicles, though they could do what Budapest does with their Metro Line 1. I like to call them minecarts because they are indeed that small. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MW7k0P2JQ-I

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 14th, 2018, 9:25 pm
by Multimodal
What if this is the Facebook-ization or Google-ization of transit? Namely, “free” or low-cost services that *appear* cheaper than the public transit equivalent and thus compete against it, leading to the eventual privatization of transit?

This is much like people expect operating systems and apps and web sites to be cheap or free, but they are paying for it with their privacy and with endless ads.

#dystopianFuture

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 14th, 2018, 10:46 pm
by DanPatchToget
Depends on who you ask and what location, but I think public transit is pretty cheap. Plus there are already ads on buses and trains, sometimes annoyingly wrapped all over the outside so its hard to see out.

But maybe you're thinking more along the lines of minding your own business on the bus or train when suddenly an audio ad plays on the intercom, and every station is an ad (think US Bank Stadium Station, but every station has a sponsor). And for each stop there are ads for surrounding places displayed on screens inside the bus or train.

I think I'm giving the marketing folks too many ideas.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 15th, 2018, 8:36 am
by mattaudio
Wow, the Budapest metro cars look huge compared to Glasgow.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3XS65Tjo6Q

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 15th, 2018, 9:41 am
by MNdible
The Clockwork Orange!

Sure seems like the new Chicago service is going to be hitting at taxi service and Uber, not public transit. It's a high speed, fairly expensive point to point service.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 15th, 2018, 9:44 am
by mattaudio
Isn't that what taxis or jitneys would excel at, on the existing Kennedy Expressway, assuming congestion pricing effectively ensured high speeds?

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 15th, 2018, 9:48 am
by MNdible
If I recall, the tunnel was claiming it could provide 12 minute service, something no taxi could do regardless of congestion pricing.

I'm not claiming that Musk's numbers actually add up and he can make money doing this, but I do believe that a high-speed, express service at prices comparable to taxi service will be an attractive compliment to existing public transit options.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 18th, 2018, 7:54 pm
by Jen
While I am pretty interested to see how Musk’s speedy tunnel making machine turns out, I have some serious concerns about ridership. Specifically, there is no way in heck that they can get close to 2000 riders per hour.

The CTA has given an estimate of 100,000 Blue Line riders per day. This includes the two branches of the line that go west. The majority of the other riders on the O’hare branch get on and off before ORD. I can’t estimate how many riders are remaining, but I will point out that a very significant percentage are airport and airline employees.

Many of the articles about this project have incorrectly listed the price of a fare. It is $2.25 to ORD, and the same for return for the employees, $5 for the rest of us. At $25 each way, almost everyone who works at the airport is priced out.

This leaves the tourists and the business travelers. There are tourists that won’t get on public transportation because of simple ignorance of its existence (ridiculous, but true), or preconceived notions about it. Of course there is also the matter of no one visiting the city for 2-3 months in winter if they don’t have to.

I moved to Mpls recently but have spent my adult life as a bartender in downtown Chicago. I always remind the businessmen that there is a easy and cheap way to get to ORD, but they ALWAYS tell me that transportation is on the employer’s dime, so there is no reason to hop on the L. I think some of the would use the tunnel for time and curiosity reasons, but many will still get a cab or Uber that picks them up at their hotel, as already has been pointed out, the main concentration of hotels is in River North (although more are popping up in the Loop everyday). And speaking of hotels, all of the hotels near the airport are one stop down from the Blue Line. I don’t think that the people staying there will go back to the airport to get transport downtown when they already have it a block away.

None of this was meant to be negative, the idea of getting between the airport and the Loop in 12 minutes is exciting, right now it always takes more than the ridiculous 37 minutes that they quote, plus NO COST TO THE CITY (!!!) really can’t be beat.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 19th, 2018, 7:05 am
by mattaudio
Yep, business travelers take the easy option when expensing the travel. I had a meeting with a patent lawyer from my company who was in town last Thursday, and later that day we ran into each other walking towards the Blue Line platform. He was taking the Blue Line to MSP because it was just as easy if not easier and faster than taking a cab during the PM rush hour. Very few cities have transit that is just as fast as a cab, and we are lucky to be one. But I'm also failing to see the ridership for this, especially given low ridership for airport links in other cities such as Toronto or London.

Also, I doubt the taxpayers of Chicago are truly off the hook with this proposal.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 19th, 2018, 8:50 am
by DanPatchToget
What if its fully built and operational, but a failure from a ridership and financial standpoint? What if its being built, there are major cost overruns, and Musk decides to abandon it?

Chicago is definitely not off the hook, and even if its successful there's no guarantee it will always be that way.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 19th, 2018, 5:12 pm
by niaxilin
and Musk decides to abandon it?
Then we'll have some pretty cool urban tunnels to explore! Turn them into an underground rave destination. But people will have to Lyft or take the L to get there...

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 19th, 2018, 9:18 pm
by Anondson
Wired ran a story on the sensor systems in the new tunnel under Seattle.

https://www.wired.com/story/seattle-sr- ... ch-bertha/

Exhaust fans, jet fans, CO sensors, NOx sensors, particulate sensors, cameras...

Tunnels!

Posted: June 23rd, 2018, 7:48 am
by Multimodal
If this skims the creme-de-la-creme of riders off the existing service, it will be only reinforce “public transit is for poor people” and will likely drive ridership on public transit lower.

This is designed to destroy public transit, not complement or enhance it. This is the gentrification of transit, ghetto-ization of transit, redlining of transit, white flight to the suburbs of transit.

Don’t forget Elon’s quote about the creepy people on public transit.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 25th, 2018, 8:43 am
by MNdible
But those creme-de-la-creme riders aren't using public transit today -- they're taking taxis, car services, and Uber.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 25th, 2018, 8:51 am
by Multimodal
But we’re moving to a future where driving is more difficult (fewer lanes dedicated to cars, more to transit, more LRT, etc.) so these creme-de-la-creme people will need to go somewhere.

The goal of Elon, Uber, etc., is to get all the profitable users and leave the dregs for what’s left of public transit. (And by ‘dregs’ I’m talking about profitability, not the value of human lives).

They will start at the most profitable, and then expand & work their way down the profit pyramid until they’ve captured any users who generate decent profits.

Society will be left with an under-funded, crappy network constantly in need of maintenance. The privatization of transit.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 25th, 2018, 11:45 am
by BoredAgain
Just so we're on the same page, transit (at least around here) used to be privately owned and operated, thought they made liberal use of the public ROW. I'm not an expert, but operations were funded by fares, while expansion was funded primarily by speculative real estate investment. At some point, the entire system fell apart, or some would say it was systematically dismantled.

Re: Tunnels!

Posted: June 25th, 2018, 12:12 pm
by VacantLuxuries
I'm not an expert, but operations were funded by fares, while expansion was funded primarily by speculative real estate investment. At some point, the entire system fell apart, or some would say it was systematically dismantled.
Some versions of the death of the streetcar stories point to contracts mandating five cent fares that eventually bankrupted operators as the culprit.