This Could be Chicago's First True BRT

0:25 The Green Line doesn’t stop at Western!

My urbanist fantasy is to see the elevated "silver line" built down Ashland or Western. But this is probably a more realistic compromise

This is a great amateur journalism video, about my favorite type of transit no less. CROSSTOWN SERVICE. From what you told me about the plan a couple weeks ago, it seems like this is not going to just die like Ashland.

It's unlikely to happen any time soon, but I think BRT on both western and halsted, as major north-south transit corridors with consistently packed busses and high connectivity to important destinations and rail lines, ~1.5 miles apart, would go a great way towards bridging transit gaps and the difficulty of north-south transit that isn't on the L. Western would be higher priority because it's further from existing north-south transit (in the north side halsted is less than half a mile from the red line) and generally busier, but I would absolutely love to see either of those built. And they're more realistic dream projects than something like a circle line or a new north-south line (along, say, cicero), because they're much easier and less disruptive to build.

Of course alderman Andre was open for a conversation. He's one of the most transparent and awesome alders we have.

My grandfather was a conductor on the Western Avenue streetcar many years ago. He’d run the route from the north end to the south end of Western, and back, daily

This has been a while in the making, and it's definitely not perfect, but I wanted to get this out while the iron was hot, so to speak. I know some of the audio is a bit weird, that'll be something I make sure doesn't happen for next time. Hope you enjoy, and please check out the description for credits and my bibliography.

A great example of a successful BRT system is the Rede Integrada de Transporte system in Curitiba, the capital of the Brazilian state of Paraná! First implemented in 1974, it was one of the first BRT systems in the world and contributed to one of the first successful examples of TOD! In the 1980s, they introduced elevated glass tube stations, which allow for fare prepayment and level boarding! A small ramp folds down from the bus onto the platform so there is no gap to cross to enter or leave the vehicle. All door loading and fare prepayment allows for short dwell times in stations. Inside some tube stations there are Tubotecas, or small libraries, introduced in 2013 for Curitiba's 320th anniversary. Citizens can borrow books with no need to register and return them to any other Tuboteca, any time. 20% of the stations also have passing lanes to allow for express services. Their fleet uses bi-articulated buses (split into three sections and operates only with soy-based biofuel, which reduces pollutant emissions by 50%). Based on 1991 traveler survey results, it was estimated that the introduction of the BRT had caused a reduction of about 27 million auto trips per year, annually saving about 27 million liters of fuel. In particular, 28 percent of BRT riders previously traveled by car. Compared to eight other Brazilian cities of its size, Curitiba uses about 30 percent less fuel per capita, resulting in one of the country's lowest rates of ambient air pollution. As of 2024, the system had a length of 81.4 km!

The US still, STILL, has no modern highspeed rail.

This north-south transit problem is the same problem that Long Island faces. The LIRR excels if you're going east-west or heading to NYC since it's of course NYC-centric, but if you're going from the North Shore to the South Shore, then that's where it falls flat. Let's say I'd want to go from Patchogue on the South Shore to Cold Spring Harbor on the North Shore. If I did that during rush-hour, then it'd be easy if the Montauk Branch train uses the Central Branch and stops at Hicksville, where I can then change to a Huntington-bound train to Cold Spring Harbor. But for every other time of the day, then I'd have to go all the way to Jamaica in Queens, just to back track and take a Huntington-bound train back east. So it's up to NICE of Nassau County or SCT of Suffolk County to fill in the gaps of the LIRR, and for North Shore-South Shore travel, not many NICE nor SCT routes actually go between the two shores, usually just stopping somewhere in between. But one that does, SCT's 1 between Amityville LIRR on the South Shore and Halesite on the North Shore which also stops at Huntington LIRR and Farmingdale State College, is one of SCT's busiest routes! So to address a lack of quality affordable rental housing, a lack of that type of housing in environments in which young people want to live (like walkable downtowns), high costs of living, auto-centric transportation system with limited north-south mobility, and a scarcity of high paying jobs, Suffolk County launched the Connect Long Island plan under former Democrat county executive Steve Bellone (who was executive from 2012 to 2023) to promote transit-oriented development, build a modern transportation system and support sustainable growth. Besides TOD projects (like at Riverhead, Patchogue, Wyandanch, and Ronkonkoma; the Ronkonkoma TOD includes a new airport terminal, convention center, and life sciences hub on top of housing), improving hiking and biking networks, and introducing Bethpage Ride bikeshare in 2019 (which Patchogue, Babylon, Gilgo Beach, Lindenhurst, Huntington, the Hamptons, and Riverhead all participate in bikeshare), the plan also included redesigning the bus network, making many new routes with most routes having 30-minute headways. One of the routes kept was of course the 1. And to improve north-south corridors, part of the plan is studying BRT, specifically along Route 110 between Huntington and Amityville (the 1's route; which will also serve new TOD in East Farmingdale to coincide with the reopening of Republic station), along the Sagtikos Parkway from Babylon to Kings Park (which includes Suffolk County Community College’s Grant Campus in Brentwood, Kings Park LIRR, Heartland Town Square TOD in Brentwood, and Tanger Outlets), and along Nicolls Road from Patchogue to Stony Brook (serving Stony Brook University, Suffolk County Community College’s Ammerman Campus, St. Joseph's College, Ronkonkoma LIRR, and LI MacArthur Airpor)t.

I just want to say, it's interesting that two of those corridors announced by "Better Streets for Buses" service very affluent neighborhoods (Fullerton-->Lincoln Park, 55th St-->Hyde Park). It's not even a bad decision, there's a huge divide between the rich white north siders, who primarily use the train, and ignore the bus system, unlike the poorer south and west sides. Having access to good and quick bus infrastructure might help get larger, city-wide support for improving that part of the CTA.

Chicago could benefit from this. The first BRT in Madison is supposed to start this fall.

Stormy, this is such a well produced video, especially with such limited time to work on it! Fantastic job, and I really hope this gains the traction it deserves!

I saw some Chicago-style bus priority on Western the other day when a bus just ran a red light right in front of me before I crossed the street, good thing I looked both ways before I crossed lol.

These plans always die because behind closed doors CTA brass scoff at the idea of new modes (BRT/LRT) they’d have to train, staff, and maintain in addition to their legacy rail system. The city and CTA have studied this so maannny times. To fund the growth long term there has to be a conversation about increased funding, a tough topic in Chicago.

Thank you for the video! I certainly hope the Western BRT, or some other sort of Crosstown BRT, gets built. It would make my trips across western Chicago so much easier. Plus, depending on how this Western Ave BRT gets built (I sincerely hope it does), it should be easier to convert it later on into LRT or even a full-fledged L line

Chicago needs a crosstown service so so so badly. If it ever got built, it would enhance the CTA so so much and the city would grow so much because of it.

If you're reading this and live in these wards, email your alderperson!! Hearing from the public goes further than you might think ;) Thanks for the great vid!

Great video! I really like the people you interviewed. They're really trying to make life better for residents.

I really hope to see this project go through! As someone who takes the blue line from the Forest Park branch often, it's frustrating having to go all the way into the loop when heading north. BRT might be a faster option as a transfer to avoid going into the loop. It also just makes so much sense for that corridor. I know many would love to see an L line here, but BRT is the most realistic improvement, both financially and politically. BRT is also much faster to implement, which means it would impact the community much faster, and at nearly similar results. BRT is a no brainer.