Regarding your editorial on Chicago’s downtown trolley project (July 11), the construction of a modern trolley system would be cause for great civic delight. I support the concept wholeheartedly, both personally and professionally, but have come to believe Chicago’s version is seriously flawed.
The initial system is inordinately complex, and the route structure hard to understand. The proposed “proof-of-payment” honor fare system would be difficult to police because of the closely-spaced stops. Physical, political and financial barriers would prevent the trolley from being seamlessly integrated into our already Balkanized transit network.
Most importantly, however, it would add yet another layer of congestion to an already overloaded street network in the Loop. The real villain here is the unrestricted use of private autos downtown and the proliferation of parking garages within the Loop itself.
For any Loop trolley proposal to succeed would require a major rethinking of the city’s permissive attitude toward road traffic, plus a greater shift to the elevated and subway by CTA riders, whose buses also help foster downtown gridlock.
