Pace Warns Motorists: Don't Ride on Shoulders Behind Their Buses

katie

Gov. Quinn signed off on a pilot program in August that allows for Pace buses to drive on the shoulder of the Stevenson Expressway during rush hour.

That experiment is about to start next month until whenever the first major snow falls and already Pace is warning motorists looking to draft behind their buses on the shoulder to not do so.

Pace has even gone so far as to put cameras on the backs of their buses to catch the inevitable when it happens and assist the police when it happens.

We're still on the fence about this pilot program. As we mentioned in August when Quinn signed of on the program, there are too many qualifiers involved for us to believe it can be worthwhile. The shoulders will only be available when expressway traffic is slower than 35 MPH. Buses will be restricted to traveling no more than 15 MPH over the top traffic speed in the main lanes, never greater than 35 MPH. The shoulders will also be off limits during periods where they're being used for snow removal, maintenance, traffic stops or traffic breakdowns.

Motorists may be better served weaving between the lanes as they normally do rather than follow buses on the shoulder.

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By Chuck Sudo in News on October 21, 2011 10:30 AM 0 Comments

Comments [rss]

Joshua Wentz

I see at least one car sitting on the shoulder every time I drive. I assume that now we'll have busses weaving on and off of the shoulder to avoid these blockages? This seems like it would add to the problem.

Navin_Johnson

Don't see how.

BlueFairlane

Motorists may be better served weaving between the lanes as they normally do rather than follow buses on the shoulder.

A significant portion of the problems with Chicago traffic stems from the tendency of people to weave between lanes. Weaving causing conflict between vehicles which starts a cascade effect of slowing down. If everybody would just pick a lane and stay there, the whole thing would move a lot better and everybody would get where they're going faster.

oonagh1

I don't think weaving between lanes while in traffic is a phenomenon unique to Chicago. From my experience, it fairly prevalent throughout the U.S.

BlueFairlane

And that's why I didn't say it was a phenomenon unique to Chicago. I mean, I could say that a significant portion of Chicago's fiscal problems stem from public corruption, but that's not saying other places don't have corruption.

Chicago people are so sensitive. (But don't worry ... I'm not saying you're the only ones.)