Is the CTA Bus Priority Corridor Study Enough?

Sign the Petition for Chicago 2100, and fight for more than just 5 corridors

On Dec 1, the CTA hosted a community involvement event to give feedback on their new Bus Priority Corridor Study. I attended the event and thought it was an informative, interactive event, hosted by CTA/CDOT staff informing community members of the idea. The real question arises, is this study and plan going to be enough?

Members of the community gather with CTA/CDOT to learn about the corridor study, casting votes and comments on interactive boards for each corridor and width configurations

Chicagoans have been begging for an improvement to the CTA, and we have had successful projects with the RPM and other station improvements. However, this has not been enough to revive CTA ridership to pre-pandemic levels. A struggling bus network, with slower speeds and reduced reliability does not help. Overall the system functions best as a full interoperable network, where you can be confident the 72 bus will be there to pick you up after fun underground red line transfer. The buses play a huge, undervalued part of the network, and deserve projects that will improve their service. Will a bus-focused project actually happen?

With the recent passing of SB2111, and new funding, the tide seems to be turning and projects might have some new fuel. This is the first step, and I am optimistic it can build momentum for more. It is wise to start with 5 crucial corridors, to start with approaching the community, calming any concerns and getting things through the right political channels. This is not only a good way to soft launch a project, but a necessity after the top-down planning of the Ashland BRT was killed by community pushback.

Lets take a step back and talk about the proposed corridors: Fullerton, 55th, Cottage Grove, Western, and Pulaski. The most likely first candidate, and the widest in sections, is Western. This corridor already has support, with a 2024 letter from aldermen across the corridor voicing support. With clear community support (see all the red stickers voting for option 1) dedicated center running bus lanes and priority signaling would dramatically improve speed, reliability, and give everyone living near the corridor access to true N-S rapid transit. Note that enforcement, pre-paid boarding, and bus stop spacing are not specifically addressed, but planners present ensured me that it is a crucial consideration.

Typical 70 ft width road section options for bus lane improvement, typical to Western Ave

Clearly this is a great start and nothing to be ashamed of. The city desperately needs to improve service to retain ridership, and this corridor would be a crucial N-S link that doesn't go through the loop. For the community that hosted this event, Logan Square / Avondale, many are interested in a faster E-W route to connect to the lakefront and other neighborhoods. Fullerton is another perfect corridor to select for bus priority.

Notice how the infamous letters BRT are not mentioned much, as this is a sore spot after what happened to Ashland. These options are all an improvement, but include watered down curb lanes, prone to more conflict and worse service than center running lanes. Can Chicago fight off the criticism and implement the best option, or settle for something less than it deserves?

CTA/CDOT Analysis shows Fullerton's existing data, and where speeds and safety are of most concern

With more priority, these can act as rapid transit corridors and better connect the network. So what's the tradeoff? In some streets, a reduction of parking, a travel lane, or left turns entirely. The wider the street section, the more can be included, but yes this competes takes directly from car spaces, which will undoubtedly raise community concern. The hope though, is that by garnering community support and hearing/addressing concerns, the project can prove this tradeoff is not only popular, but necessary for the network to improve.

These 5 corridors are just a start to hopefully a full implementation of bus priority. But will rounds of community support and multi-year planning processes for simple painted lanes and new stops truly fix our transit network? The answer is complicated, because to some the system works just fine since they live and mostly travel to destinations along their home L line. To others, this will be a catastrophe to their morning drive commute. And to the majority of the attendees, including myself, it is the right direction, but not aspirational enough to convince anyone that things will be better in the short term. The nearest implementation of any of these concepts was not directly mentioned, but planners were doubtful anything would arise before 2030.

What the system needs is a proof of concept that can be rapidly and relatively cheaply deployed to illustrate its effectiveness. The only way to do so quickly is to build in-house planning capacity, throw out any useless time consuming bureaucracy, and garner overwhelming community support.

Previous concepts for a better Chicago transit future had political will behind them, but didn't succeed in its first attempt with the Ashland BRT. With the new bill and funding, it may be time to reexamine our future. Leadership at CTA agrees, "CTA is launching its first-ever comprehensive, long-term strategic planning effort. The “Powering Our Transit Future” plan will set our agency’s strategic direction over the next several years." My take is to petition for a grand plan for the city, via the Chicago 2100 plan. Inspire a jaw dropping system, and build the pieces quickly and iteratively.

With a proof of concept install along the most popular and transformative route, Western, we can inspire a city with a better connected network. This starts with these 5 corridors, but should expand to main E-W and N-S arterials at 1 mile intervals. These should pursue similar comprehensive community backing and present clear return on investment, pending a successful Western Ave project.

I am hopeful that this can be just the start to a brighter transit future in Chicago. To truly have a world-class system, we need more than just 5 corridors. If we want that within our lifetime, we have to reform how long these projects take to design and build.

Sign the Petition for Chicago 2100, and fight for more than just 5 corridors