The exact specific areas covered in this plan are not described, as far as I can tell, either in this article, or at the CTA home page.
CTA bus-only lanes will be built on portions of 79th Street, Chicago Avenue, Halsted Street and Jeffery Boulevard as part of the plan to speed up public transportation and entice commuters from their cars.
In addition, officials said Friday that transit stations will be built at key points along the bus lines, all set up so passengers can pre-pay fares before quickly boarding new hybrid buses through the front and back doors.
[From Officials choose 79th, Chicago, Halsted and Jeffery for bus-only lanes pilot program -- -- chicagotribune.com]
I despise driving on the highway, so Halsted is a street that we use a lot. I wonder if this will impact us negatively? Bike lanes are good (though not if you have to fight off aggressive bus drivers from running you over)
Under the funding agreement, the CTA must begin operating the express buses by 2010. The project would start with about 10 miles of bus-only lanes and later expand to more than 100 miles.
As part of the pilot project, the city agreed to increase downtown parking meter rates during peak periods, charge loading-zone fees for trucks making on-street deliveries and increase the city tax that drivers pay at parking garages and surface lots downtown.
The bus-only lanes will help the transit agency achieve quicker travel times for commuters. Bus stops will be staggered at roughly half a mile intervals, and traffic-signal technology will be installed to extend green lights for buses to pass through intersections. The majority of the federal funding, $112.7 million, is designated to make changes to develop the bus-only lanes, including curb cutouts, striping, street signs and fare-collection equipment, CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said.
About $36.9 million is earmarked for the CTA to purchase new buses, and $3.5 million is to install traffic signal equipment. The agreement also calls on the city and the CTA to explore the use of combined bus-bicycle lanes throughout the bus-rapid transit network.
Initially, the bus-only lanes would revert to use by all vehicles during non-peak hours, but long-term, the lanes would operate all day, not just during rush periods, the agreement said.
