The 79 Is Now Free....Until January

Christine Beach, BR.

Both 79 Shuttle El Trains & Shuttle Buses are now free.

The 79 Elevated's "Lindsay Blitz" construction called for half of the elevated subway line to be shuttle buses at all times during the removal of tracks for new platforms. The shuttle buses ran on a schedule similar to trains but it was costing them time and often late due to rush hour traffic along Ocean & Christine Avenues. To add, the bus shortage of spare buses for shuttle buses called for 25 buses to be borrowed from Great Grundolf Transit for shuttle work. As of Monday morning, it was announced all shuttles will be free as well as the in service portion of the el. The wish has now been granted. The 79 from South Clubs to Exhibition Hall is now FREE from now until January 1st in order to help customer satisfaction.

The Lindsay Blitz Isn't Going Well

North Christine, BR.

Packed and often slow shuttle buses are infuriating riders.

The 79's Lindsay-Ocean Station prior to being torn down this week was the oldest elevated in Metropolis dating back to 1959 when the elevated bridge and station was built to bring trolleys over into Downtown instead of using the Christine Bridge that at time was planned on being tied into the I-626 construction. The station was later upgraded to a rapid transit (elevated subway) station in 1991 but kept the same structure while the rest of the line was built using a more effective three track method to run express service during the peak periods. Now at capacity, the two tracked 1959/1991 rebuilt station was torn down to make way for the new three track express station that will increase the amount of trains the line can run.

The catch? No elevated service for a week and only four days into the shut down people are speaking up and are not happy with the way Metropolis Transit is handling the shut down which also put the 3 trolley out of commission for it's last 3/4 mile of it's journey. Shuttle buses are criticized as packed, slow and ineffective for this type of shut down despite Metropolis Transit using all 60 foot articulated buses which hold more passengers.

Shuttle bus leaves Angelia-Ocean after carrying on load from a 79 train that just pulled in. 

"Keeping the El closed during rush hour is a big mistake, especially with all the congestion caused on the route, nobody is getting anywhere because the buses are on the street", one resident said. 

"It took me 2 and a half hours to get to work today, and it usually takes me a 5 minute bus ride and a 15 minute train ride," said another person who lives in Christine Beach. Traffic was the blame for that delay because of a accident  but still caused a backlashed. 

Crowding a rush hour 79 shuttle bus. 

Others also criticized the fact that running one 60 foot bus in the place of six 53 foot subway cars is not a proper way of moving a crowd at rush hour. Metropolis Transit officials had this statement to say:
"In order to make a bus bridge, buses have to be taken off other in-service bus routes to run for that bus bridge. We're short on buses, articulated buses to be exact. The New Flyer order for 40 new Artics is late and we're trying to make do with what we got. We recently launched a program where we're running normal transit length buses behind the articulated buses on certain rush hours runs to try to ease the congestion. Until, a better solution is found within the next 48 hours, the bus bridge runs will remain with same number of equipment we're currently running."