We ❤️ buses.
Buses are the lifeblood of our transit system. People use them everyday for work, grocery shopping, medical appointments, and they’re essential for our elderly and people with mobility limitations. They’re far more efficient than private cars, both in the number of people they move and the emissions they produce. What’s not to love? They should be a major priority!
But all too often our buses are stuck in slow-moving traffic on streets that prioritize inefficient private cars. This creates delays and unreliability that leaves people quite literally stranded. Buses become crowded, and in the era of COVID where bus capacity is more limited, drivers are instructed to run express and leave behind those at stops to wait for the next bus – often 15-30 minutes out. This can completely destroy workers’ ability to be on time for work and uproot their lives, and all too often this is happening in Black and Brown communities where rail is less accessible.
We can and must do better, and the city has been making some efforts to implement bus-only lanes to prioritize busier routes on streets where there is space. However, what we’re finding is that many times these lanes are not getting used because they’re being obstructed by private cars, Uber/Lyft/Taxis, delivery vehicles and construction vehicles – even police. In many areas, the bus-only lanes disappear at intersections and become turn lanes, even though intersections are some of the places buses get stuck the most.
CDOT has acknowledged some of these flaws and has said they will work with other departments to improve this, but we’re not seeing the fruits of that labor – particularly because so many of the problems stem from poor design. So it’s time for us to step up and demand better.
This starts with data.
We see the obstructions everyday, but the city listens to data not anecdotes. So we’re enlisting your help to collect data at 3 of the city’s newest bus lanes. You’ll spend your time recording obstructions in the bus lanes and how many buses are delayed during rush hour. This is easily done by yourself, but we think its more fun if you bring a friend! Grab a coffee, maybe a donut, and open the spreadsheet we’ll send you and type in some numbers – it’s really that simple.
Let us know what time and date works best for you at info@betterstreetschicago.org
Here’s what you’ll be doing
Bus lane obstruction data collection
You’ll be observing a 1 block stretch of a bus lane for a 1 hour period and record each of the bus lane obstructions you see by vehicle type: cars, Uber/Lyft, taxi, delivery vehicle, police, and other city vehicles. You will be provided with a simple spreadsheet to record this.
Bus delay data collection
Additionally, you’ll be jotting down the arrival times for buses in each direction. We’ll use this data later compared to a timetable to find on average how late buses are on the route you'‘re observing.
Sign up!
Do you love buses too? Do you wish they were faster and more reliable? Do you have an hour to spare?
Great! An hour is all we need! This is an ongoing project and it’s SUPER simple, so if you’re interested, send us an email and we’ll work with you to get you a spreadsheet and bus lane to observe.