A National Bus Rapid Transit Expert Says Loop Link S Growing Pains Are Par For The Course

     The city hopes     the Loop Link bus rapid transit corridor, a bold     reconfiguration of street space, will double the speed of buses crossing the central business district from the previous glacial rush-hour pace of 3 mph.     The $41 million project was designed to provide an express route for buses traveling between Michigan Avenue and the West Loop.



    I overheard several commuters complaining about the new system. A couple of them strategized about different bus lines they could take to avoid the BRT     corridor.





    During the evening rush, a 5:15 PM westbound trip took little longer, at 11 minutes. This was partly caused by the bus getting stuck behind a line of     right-turning cars at LaSalle Street.



    However, Van Eyken argued that the two and a half weeks since the corridor opened isn’t long enough to evaluate it. “We like to give systems a few months     of operations before we score them with the BRT Standard,”     he said, referring to ITDP’s rating system. “That gives them time to work out some of the operational kinks.”



    “CDOT and the CTA really want this project to succeed,” Van Eyken concluded. “I think they’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen.”