SBT article: South Shore use soars

This article ran in the South Bend Tribune last week on the South Shore's increasing ridership numbers...

http://www.southbendtribune.com/stories ... ide_to.sto

Pretty interesting. It's good to see the South Shore playing such an important role in the region's economy, and if the growth continues at its current pace, NICTD may need to accelerate the timetable of the construction of the new Lowell/Valparaiso extension...

if gas prices drop, which likely will happen, it may fall back to previous levels.

That's possible, but lower gas prices will have a domino effect in terms of more people driving, which leads to more traffic jams especially during rush hours, which in turn creates increased travel times for those heading to and from Chicago. Considering this scenario, coupled with the continued population growth in this region, there will also be a growing need for sound, viable, and flexible transit alternatives to driving. Whether on an accelerated timetable or not, upgrades to current South Shore service plus the new extensions to Lowell and Valparaiso will do just that.