For years my feelings about Chicago’s $41 million Loop Link bus rapid transit corridor have been like those of a parent whose lovable kid has been getting mediocre grades. I’m proud of what it is: a smart reconfiguration of downtown streets to help move people—not just cars—more efficiently through the city. But I’ve been concerned that it’s not living up to its full potential.
But even though the city originally said Loop Link would launch with prepaid boarding, which reduces the “dwell time” at stops, almost three years later it still hasn’t rolled out that feature. It’s also common to see unauthorized vehicles, especially corporate shuttles, using the red lanes, which doesn’t help CTA travel times.
In a nutshell, the corridor’s performance has generally seen only modest improvements in recent years, and in some cases travel times have actually gotten worse. (In fairness, this isn’t necessarily the system’s fault, as I’ll explain a bit.)
While the graphics indicate that Loop Link hasn’t resulted in any dramatic speed improvements, and that in some cases trip times have gotten worse, that may be partly due to factors beyond the CTA’s control. One thing that’s happened during the last five years is the rise of Uber and Lyft, which studies have shown is increasing congestion in large cities.
“The Belmont Blue Line station has been very successful, and we have seen positive results in time savings,” spokesman Steve Mayberry told me, adding that the system will be made semipermanent as part of the Belmont Blue Gateway rehab project, currently under construction.
So does that mean that the Loop Link corridor is an overall failure, or that it should be dismantled to give more real estate to private motor vehicles again?
