October 2007 Archives

Posted by Jimmy Greenfield - 9:16 a.m., Oct. 23

Watch the entire chat by clicking on this link.

Posted by RedEye - 4:12 p.m., Oct. 12

Update: If you missed today's chat don't despair. We'll have the video posted on this blog shortly.

RedEye's Kyra Kyles will host CTA president Ron Huberman at 12: 30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 17 for a live chat.

Got a question for Huberman? Click here and send it to us.

Posted by RedEye - 3:33 p.m., Oct. 12

The Chicago Transit Authority plans to eliminate 43 more bus routes and hike fares to as high as $3.25 per ride in January under the 2008 "doomsday" budget announced today.

Read the full story here

Posted by Jane Hirt - 3 p.m., Oct. 12

I just got a letter from CTA President Ron Huberman. OK, I have a feeling every Chicago Card-holder did. But here's what he said

Dear CTA Customer:

Today, I unveiled the CTA's proposed 2008 budget that lays out a series of painful service cuts, fare increases and lay-offs that will happen on January 6, 2008. These actions are required to meet our legal obligation to submit a balanced budget and are in addition to those service cuts and fare increases that will take effect on November 4th.

All of us at the CTA understand that these service cuts and fare increases will cause you a tremendous hardship. We know that you will face fewer travel options, less frequent service and more crowded buses and trains. To make matters worse, the drastic measures described in the 2008 budget are in addition to the service cuts, fare increases and lay-offs that will take place on November 4th if the Illinois Legislature does not enact fundamental funding reforms.

It is important for our customers to know that all of us at the CTA do not want to see this budget become reality. We remain hopeful that the Illinois General Assembly will pass a long-term funding solution.

Posted by Tracy Swartz- 10:35 p.m., Oct. 10

I'm always searching for different ways and routes to get to work. This morning I tested a few in a mini-commute.

I live in Wicker Park, and the longest continuous stretch of my commute is 1.8 miles from Milwaukee and Evergreen to Milwaukee and Grand.

So I tested how long it would take me to run, bike, bus and drive this section of Milwaukee. Here's what I found:

Jogging: 16 minutes. Now, I'm not a fast jogger at all. In fact, I bet I would not pass the Presidential Fitness Test since I just picked up running in the last month and I could never do those curl-ups.
Pros: Exercise, a feeling of accomplishment.
Cons: If I jogged to work, I could take a shower at work but I wouldn't know what to do with my stuff. Do I run with a backpack? Do I keep spare clothes at work and run with just necessities?

Biking: 8 minutes. Again, I'm no Lance Armstrong. One co-worker remarked that I ride my Schwinn mutt, The Party Animal, like I'm taking a Sunday afternoon stroll on a busy Thursday morning.
Pros: Exercise, sightseeing.
Cons: Again, a bit of a clothing issue. I have a basket on my bike, so I could put work clothes there. But I dislike arriving at work smelling of construction.

Posted by Jane Hirt - 8:45 p.m., Oct. 8

Why is it that Springfield doesn't seem to get any of the heat in most discussions about CTA funding? Isn't it in the legislature's hands at this point? Isn't it state lawmakers who need to fix the out-of-date, out-of-whack funding formulas?

Do you buy that argument?

Posted by Jim Walsh – 3:39 p.m., Oct. 8

In response to Scott's post about the boy who cried wolf, I have to say I respectfully disagree. Sure, the CTA has been making threats like this for a long time. Sure, they rarely follow through with them. But something has got to give. Service has been getting noticeably worse at an increasingly alarming rate over the last couple weeks. Something is going to bend. My guess? Riders will get the short end of the stick come January.

Posted by Scott Kleinberg - 2:06 p.m., Monday, Oct. 8, 2007
It's time to start thinking about CTA transit cuts again, so reports the Chicago Tribune in Monday's editions.

From the story: The Chicago Transit Authority this week will unveil a new and more severe round of service cuts and fare hikes to take place Jan. 1 unless the stalemate over state transit funding is broken.

The latest CTA "doomsday" scenario comes atop announced service reductions, fare increases and employee layoffs already scheduled for Nov. 4, when 39 bus routes would be eliminated and fares boosted to as high as $3 per ride.

My response? Yawn.

Yawwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnn. (liips smacking, starting to fall asleep).

Know that story about the boy who cried wolf? The CTA is that boy. I hear it and then it doesn't happen. I hear it and it doesn't happen. And now we're about to hear it again ... and it's going to be worse than anything we've ever seen ... blah ... blah ... blah ....

While I totally understand that state funding is important and needed, I'm so tired of the CTA accepting a balloon payment to fix things for a while and then we're right back to this.

Obviously, hundreds of millions of dollars in state funding isn't easy to wrap one's head around. But the CTA could start by being a little more smart with how they spend. That's first and foremost. And then the state should realize how ridiculously important mass transit is to Chicago. Our legislators are in Springfield fighting over things that have nothing to do with mass transit and Gov. Blagojevich is veto-happy when he doesn't agree with what's being served for lunch in the Capitol cafeteria.

I take mass transit every single day. I don't want to pay more. I want to see some sort of conclusion to this saga that's been going on long before I arrived in Chicago in 2005. But you don't read stories like this about any other city.

I'll close with this ... you know the reason Chicago is called the WIndy City has nothing to do with the weather, right? It's because of politicians and the hot air they supposedly exhaled hundreds of years ago.

Some things never change

What do you think? What can we do to ensure reliable mass transit for us and our children? Sound off.

Doors closing. Until next time.

Posted by Jim Walsh – 5:32 p.m., Oct. 2

It really takes a lot to get me upset about things. I guess that’s why I’ve been so mellow about putting up with the CTA’s burgeoning nonsense and skimpy service since I moved to Chicago this May. I mean, I complained a fair amount just like everyone else, but I never let my annoyance with the CTA boil over into rage. But I’m getting there.

My latest gripe with the CTA? They took my friends.

Let me explain. I’m being dramatic, but I used to ride the “L” home with two of my coworkers. It’s better than riding home by yourself because you don’t have to pretend to be looking at the ads on the ceiling the whole way home in order to avoid eye contact with anybody on the car.

So, throughout the late summer and into October, service just kept getting worse and worse on our stretch of the Red and Brown Lines due to construction. The CTA re-routed northbound Red Line trains to run on the elevated tracks in order to fix slow zones, which is great. But it forced us to walk a few blocks out of our way to catch the trains at State and Lake, which is not great but tolerable. Then the CTA started re-routing the re-routed trains willy nilly. On any given day, we could show up at the out-of-the-way station at State and Lake only to find out that our train was running underground at the more convenient Grand station.

This, of course, would happen only on days when it was very late, very cold or very rainy.

Finally, my co-workers just gave up. And now they ride their bikes to and from the Tribune Tower. Meanwhile, I continue to wait for things to improve with the CTA. Maybe I’m an optimist. Or maybe I just don’t own a bike yet.

Posted by Tracy Swartz- 12:45 p.m., Oct. 1

Tribune columnist Mary Schmich had an interesting column last week about out-of-towners taking the Blue Line. Not surprisingly, the ride was a comedy of errors.

The column got me thinking about the first time I rode the Blue Line, about a year-and-a-half ago on a visit from Springfield, Ill.

The ride was part of a trip back from my first White Sox game. My friend had caught a ball at the game and gave it to me as a memento.

The ball is now displayed prominently in my new apartment. I'm working on holding the Blue Line in such high regard.