A $32 million infrastructure project in downtown Chicago to create dedicated bus lanes and improve bus shelters is done, but the city of Chicago and its police are not enforcing the laws they made to make that system run.
Downtown Chicago built a system of dedicated bus lanes called "Loop Link," but the lanes are often blocked by cars and bikes. "A Freedom of Information Act request was filed to learn how often police have cited drivers for driving in the CTA lanes. Each violation is supposed to come with a $90 fine. The finding of that investigation: "Never," report Chris Coffey and Katy Smyser for NBC Chicago. Interlopers in these lanes causes a lot of inconsistency in transit times and makes a bus transit system that has been losing ridership even less attractive.
The city invested heavily in the system to make their shrinking city more attractive and to serve its tax payers. "Constructing the Loop Link, including its designated lanes, raised platforms, bus stations, and tracker monitors, cost taxpayers nearly $32 million," write Coffey and Smayser. If the city that designed the system doesn't enforce the rules that make the system run, the city can't get the most out of those dollars.
FULL STORY: City Not Enforcing Traffic Laws to Help Loop Link Run Smoothly: Records
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UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies
Mpact (formerly Rail~Volution)
Chaddick Institute at DePaul University
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Great Falls Development Authority, Inc.
HUDs Office of Policy Development and Research