Crain's Chicago Business 1/19/18:
What's killing CTA train ridership? Two four-letter words
One of the bigger bets Mayor Rahm Emanuel has placed in his seven years in office has been on public transit. To cheers from lots of folks, including me, he has invested billions of dollars in rebuilding aged track and modernizing signals, refurbished entire rapid transit lines while opening brand-new el stations at places like Uptown and 95th Street on the Red Line, and even snagged a $1.1 billion goodbye gift from his ex-boss, Barack Obama, on his way out of the White House.
The investments have paid off. Projects like the new Wintrust Arena near McCormick Place where DePaul University plays basketball and the revived Fulton Market area that soon will house McDonald's world headquarters would not have blossomed without new el stops nearby.
But now those investments and that prosperity are in some jeopardy from those ubiquitous ride-share services whose vehicles seem to be everywhere. Signs are growing that Uber, Lyft and their peers have begun to cut significantly into Chicago Transit Authority business, . . .