50 year old experiment mzde permznent and regarded as a success!
CTA SKODIE SWITT (YELLOW LINE)
1 Track already in place from North Shore days.
Transit ridership retained during absence of rail by buses connecting with rail at Howard Street
Half the line required anyway for moves to and from CTA shops.
No street running. Train faster and far more economical to run than the bus.
I aasume when they say 6300 passengers/day they mean 12600 fares, but who knows?
Skokie Swift http://evanston.suntimes.com/things-to-do/happy_50th_birthday_to_cta_s_skokie_swift-SKO-04242014:article
The article erroneously omits mention of the fact that the right of way used to be the CNS&M’s (North Shore Line) Skokie Valley route, which once saw the Electroliners.
If it keeps anywhere near 6300 cars off the Chicago expressway system every weekday it has to be a success.
Despite having common end points the bus service and the “Swift” had little in common. The bus provided local service along the route after the Skokie rapid transit service was abandoned by the CTA in 1948(?). The “Swift” replaced the non stop service provided by the North Shore abandoned 15 months earlier.
One factor that helped with the terminal-to-terminal timings of the Skokie Swift was the absence of intermediate stops between Dempster and Howard. Only within the last few years was an intermediate stop added at Oakton St.
The other thing that made the Swift a success was having high-speed cars 1-4 readily available. The original timetable was replaced several times in the first day as demand surged, and CTA quickly scrambled to convert the four 1947 articulateds and several single units from the 5-50 series to meet demand.