You've all heard the old saw,
Men are like streetcars, another one will be along any minute.
I never gave it much thought until I ran across this while researching urban renewal efforts in the Wicker Park area. It's a report of transit service from 1951's "A plan to guide redevelopment in the northwest central area of Chicago" by the Plan Commission and is courtesy of the Hathi Trust digital library.
Take a look at the Milwaukee Streetcar. In each direction it ran, on average. every 2 1/2 minutes and every 58 seconds during rush hours.
Imagine the convenience of stepping out on the street and having transit show up in the time it takes you to get the change out of your pocket.
Imagine a transfer. How much time do you add to your schedule when ever you have to change buses?
When the CTA took over the transit system, they ushered in an era of efficiency. Don't get me wrong, at the time it was what saved mass transportation in Chicago. But the philosophy of maximizing each bus load a the expense of customer convenience is still in effect to this day.
If you want more people to chose transit over their own auto, you have to make it so convenient that driving is a waste of time.
It doesn't do much good to shave 8 minutes off a 16 mile bus ride if I have to waste half an hour waiting for a bus.
Paul K. Dickman
Men are like streetcars, another one will be along any minute.
I never gave it much thought until I ran across this while researching urban renewal efforts in the Wicker Park area. It's a report of transit service from 1951's "A plan to guide redevelopment in the northwest central area of Chicago" by the Plan Commission and is courtesy of the Hathi Trust digital library.
Take a look at the Milwaukee Streetcar. In each direction it ran, on average. every 2 1/2 minutes and every 58 seconds during rush hours.
Imagine the convenience of stepping out on the street and having transit show up in the time it takes you to get the change out of your pocket.
Imagine a transfer. How much time do you add to your schedule when ever you have to change buses?
When the CTA took over the transit system, they ushered in an era of efficiency. Don't get me wrong, at the time it was what saved mass transportation in Chicago. But the philosophy of maximizing each bus load a the expense of customer convenience is still in effect to this day.
If you want more people to chose transit over their own auto, you have to make it so convenient that driving is a waste of time.
It doesn't do much good to shave 8 minutes off a 16 mile bus ride if I have to waste half an hour waiting for a bus.
Paul K. Dickman
