Skip-stop on the Chicago "L"

It was implemented as a way to speed up travel within a route, and was one of the Chicago Transit Authority's first reforms upon its assumption of the "L"'s operations.

By 1936 Manhattan had more miles of rapid transit than the entire city of Chicago, despite having a tenth of the land area and a lower population.

[2] By the 1920s, the "L" was criticized for its mismanagement, in particular Chicago's lack of a subway system in contrast to other cities such as New York and Boston.

Construction of a subway was a plank of William Emmett Dever's unsuccessful campaign in the 1927 mayoral election.

The majority of "L" tracks were only double-tracked and did not allow for physical segregation of local and express services,[a] limiting the possible options for reform.

When the Chicago Transit Authority assumed control of the "L" in 1947, these factors were leading to a decline in ridership, and action was felt needed.

These changes were accompanied by the closure and demolition of the old Market Terminal station and the abandonment of the line's pre-existing third express track.

[7] The "North-South route" (Howard–Englewood–Jackson Park) and Ravenswood branch were targeted next, adopting the skip-stop pattern on August 1, 1949, in concert with the closure of 23 lightly used stations.

[9] In spite of the CTA's efforts of the late 1940s and early 1950s, ridership on the "L" continued to decline as more people moved from the city to the suburbs.