bus ridership

Fewer people riding the bus will lead to more driving and declining transit service, so it's important to reverse the trend.

The Regional Transportation Authority's newest report, issued last week, compares the Chicago Transit Authority, Metra, and Pace, to their respective peers around the country. The report found that the CTA is efficient, relative to rapid transit systems in Atlanta, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, and Washington, D.C.

Today the CTA released some generally good news about ridership, heralding 2015 as the highest-ever recorded year for rail use. Meanwhile there was only a minor dip in bus ridership compared to last year, which means a three-year decline in bus use is leveling off.

In its proposed budget for 2015, the Chicago Transit Authority didn't take much of a leap of faith when forecasting continued growth in the record crowds boarding its trains. However, CTA also optimistically forecasts that a multi-year slide in bus ridership, which accounts for 57.6 percent of the system's total ridership, will end -- and that instead bus ridership will "stabilize" with a 0.4 percent rebound.

IDOT’s revisions to the newly updated North Lake Shore Drive “Purpose and Needs Statement,” an opening salvo that sets the tone for the long process of rebuilding the Drive, might not quite be on the same scale as landing on the moon. However, a few seemingly minor text edits signal a huge shift in how the agency will treat active transportation in the upcoming reconstruction. A comparison between the April draft statement [PDF] and the May draft [PDF] reveals substantial changes to what IDOT lists as the project's priorities.

In a new report [PDF], the Regional Transportation Authority blames weak ridership growth from 2008 to 2012 primarily on economic factors, glossing over the impact of fare hikes and service cuts.

A follower tweeted to us yesterday, "Let's get real bus rapid transit on Ashland/Western before we spend more money to get suburbanites to Navy Pier." It's an understandable concern, but when you look at the proposal a little closer it doesn't hold up. While CDOT's map of the Central Loop BRT does make it look like bus routes to Navy Pier will receive a big share of the improvements, the fact is that the project is targeted to speed Chicagoans' daily bus trips.