November 2007 Archives

Posted by RedEye - 10:53 a.m., November 19

There's a lot going on with the CTA now so feel free to share your thoughts on any and all subjects. Just fill out the comment field and we'll post your words right here.

Cheers,
RedEye

Posted by Jimmy Greenfield - 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 14

The Tribune is reporting about a shouting match that took place today during a meeting top legislative leaders, Gov. Rod Blagojevich and Mayor Richard Daley.

"Attendees said the shouting occurred when state Sen. Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) objected that Madigan would not sign off on money going to depressed communities from any casino gambling deal.

Daley left the meeting shortly before Madigan, telling reporters that he was "optimistic" that a resolution would be reached, but reported no specific progress."

I can't tell if this mean they care so much about you, CTA riders, or if they're just hopelessly incompetent.

Posted by RedEye - 9:50 a.m., Nov. 14

Why can't CTA bus drivers turn the heat up or even off? How can the cash-strapped agency afford so many customer assistants?

These were some of the questions answered in Tuesday's "Going Public," when columnist Kyra Kyles offered up the sixth installment of her "CTA Mysteries." But riders wrote in with even more train and bus brain teasers, including an Oak Park passenger who wonders why the Green Line can't be more like Metra.

The heat is on

Maybe this is too simple, but why do the train cars "automatically heat up to maintain an inside temperature of 68 to 70 degrees" when the outside temperature drops below 36 degrees?

Do they think that we are stretching out and removing our coats, hats, gloves and boots when we enter the train? There is nothing like standing on an "L" platform, freezing, then getting into a sauna that's packed like a sardine can, and then stepping off the train to face the cold again once you've worked up a good sweat.

Have the conductor and engineer put a coat on like everyone else, and lower the temperature already. It's not rocket science. - Eileen Linde, Oak Park

Posted by Kyra Kyles - Nov. 13

Will Meredith Grey resolve her relationship woes with McDreamy on "Grey's Anatomy"?

Why are the Bulls so bad this season?

Is Dane Cook actually funny?

These are all conundrums I can't crack, but "Going Public" can dig into the mysteries that abound on the CTA.

The truth about temperature

Riders often write in to ask why bus operators won't adjust the temperature on the bus. It's not really a won't, it is a can't, according to CTA bus mechanic Harlan Smith, who recently e-mailed "Going Public."

Posted by Christina Antonopoulos 11:15 a.m., Nov. 12

I can name a few dozen, or hundred, of my worst CTA experiences… a day. I’ve condensed my list, however, to bring you my five most terrible CTA experiences. Read on and feel free to share the worst of your worst.

5) The Peeper - This person is about as bad as the passenger who wants to share his life story with you on the plane. Said person has nothing to do but look over your shoulder to read your paper, homework or magazine. Hello, the RedEye is free-get your own! The Peeper also ruined a crossword puzzle for me, shouting out an answer: Salmonella! S-A-L-M-O-N-E-L-L-A.. It fits!

4) The Drunk - Late one night, I saw an inebriated girl throw up on the floor of the train, and I’m pretty sure on one of her friends’ shoes. Her mostly alcohol-based puke was so watery, that as the train rocked the puke ran up and down the grooves in the floor spanning the whole length of the car. Gross. So gross I almost spewed myself.

3) The Announcements - These are either muffled by the trains or are a cacophony of incoherent noise, rendering any announcement completely ineffective. And there’s no repeating. Remember Charlie Brown’s teacher?

2) The Delays - A few years back, I took my cousin who was visiting from Greece to Venetian night. We never made it, because the train suddenly stopped and the electricity shut off. As we were slow-roasted in the car without AC for about 30 minutes, the conductor announced (I actually heard it this time) that the train in front of us had derailed.

Almost to Howard, we all walked the tracks back to South Blvd, with no means to Venetian night. That night single-handedly convinced my cousin that even Greek public transportation is better than America’s.

1) The Cold Seat - A chilly seat is a chilly seat. But at 7:20 a.m., the chilly seat torpedoes you down to Dante’s final circle of hell. The chilly seat is No. 1 on my list, after I once realized that my chilly seat never warmed up because it was, in fact, wet.

I like to think it was harmless water or perhaps tea, but the yellow-stained white pants I wore that day were promptly quarantined.

Posted by Tracy Swartz- 9:45 a.m., Nov. 12

If Doomsday cometh, I hope it arrives in the spring.

The Doomsday delay to January gives riders a few months to contemplate alternatives to public transit. My bus, the #65, has been mentioned for the chopping block.

As an alternative, I would seriously consider riding my new green-apple Schwinn Cruiser to work everyday -- just not in the winter.

The Chicagoland Bicycle Federation recently released a CTA doomsday survival guide that suggested various bike routes to take in place of bus routes.

Perhaps it's my Florida blood, but I don't want to be riding my new bike, The Party Animal 2.0, in the hard sleet or snow.

I don't know if Chicago already has this or has considered it, but I would like to a car-sharing system like the one that's in place in Washington, D.C. There are specific points around the city where drivers pick up passengers so they'll be allowed to ride in the HOV lanes. Drop-off points are determined by the driver.

I've been a passenger a few times in that system, with little concern for stranger danger. I think that a similar system could work in Chicago, especially in inclement weather. Would you share a ride?

Posted by Jim Walsh 9:25 p.m., Nov. 12

Yeah, I know. There's a lot of other stuff to be worrying about with the CTA than riders' Public Displays of Affection.

But I'm tired of talking about Doomsday at the moment, and Jimmy's post about the agency’s $6 billion shortfall has made me a tad depressed.

So I'm going to weigh in on what I saw today as I exited the Red Line Grand station about 3:30 p.m. This guy and his gal pal were locking lips all the way up the escalator to the street. It was gross.

And that's not the only time I've seen people getting frisky on public transportation. Am I the only one who thinks a dirty bus or "L" car is no place for a hot fuss? Nobody in the station seemed to mind this afternoon.

What do you think?

Posted by Jimmy Greenfield - 10:48 a.m., Friday, Nov. 9

Now comes word that the CTA needs $6 billion just to bring it's bus and rail lines into the 21st Century, which, by the way, started seven years ago.

Meanwhile, Mayor Daley does nothing, I guess since only a million or so of Chicago's citizens use public transportation.

Yeah, I know this is an issue that's larger than the city of Chicago, but I'd like a little leadership instead of, his, '"Gee, I wish little ol' me could convince Rod and the Downstaters to give us some money.'

It's pathetic and more than anybody it's Daley's fault for letting the CTA turn into a miserable failure.

Posted by RedEye - Nov. 7

The CTA has dodged Doomsday—for now. But come January, without a funding fix from Springfield, how would the CTA motivate riders to pay more for less service?

"Going Public" columnist Kyra Kyles suggested some off-the-wall public-transit perks, including personally signed "late slips" from CTA President Ron Huberman and real rock or rap stars performing in the subways. Some riders pitched in with suggestions of their own, while others expressed their weariness of Doomsday drama.

In brighter bus and train news, a rider thanked a bus driver for helping her reclaim her wallet from a pickpocket.

Trade TMA for CTA
How about getting rid of the Traffic Management Authority personnel that "directs" traffic near the expressway construction? These crossing guards just tell drivers that the light has changed, and they can't be cheap. I'd rather the CTA have the opportunity to mishandle those funds. Charley Nelson, 30, Near West Side

Posted by Kyra Kyles - Nov. 6

When will Springfield lawmakers find a funding fix for the CTA?

Will the Doomsday clock tick all the way into next year?

Could displaced public transit patrons be forced to ride bikes, walk and carpool to their destinations?

Dum. Dum. Dum.

Add some ominous organ music, and those words could introduce the soap opera that is "As the CTA Turns," but unfortunately, all are real questions to consider.

This week, after narrowly avoiding the extinction of 39 bus routes and boosting of fares up to $3 per ride, the CTA anxiously awaits a Springfield solution to its funding woes—again.

After all, it was only about six weeks ago that the agency narrowly avoided the same scenario, courtesy of a so-called payday loan of $24 million from Springfield, aimed at giving legislators more time to brainstorm while keeping buses and trains running as normal.

There wasn't too much brain rain though, since Doomsday part deux would have hit us on Sunday sans last week's last-ditch bailout of $24 million from Gov. Blagojevich.

The funds—offered by the governor and approved by the RTA on Friday—will keep the CTA afloat until next year.

Too bad next year is in a couple of months. Without a permanent fix, CTA officials have warned the postponed cuts could be deeper and fares even higher. It's enough to push a rider over the edge, as is evident in "Going Public" e-mails from dozens of riders who say they are sick of looming Doomsday threats and apparent political posturing about funding regional transit.

So what are riders to do? Sit back biting their fingernails? Send the umpteenth e-mail to state legislators? Or in a fit of sheer rider rage, rip down the nearest Doomsday notice flapping wildly in the wind?

None of the above.

Let's take this "L" and bus bull by the horns, and face our fears. Take the leap that the CTA will shrink next year, essentially asking riders to pay more for less service. Let's come up with off-the-wall ideas for premium services that will improve even the CTA-lite experience, plus earn the agency extra spending money.

Start with these:

Posted by Scott Kleinberg - 4:46 p.m., Friday, Nov. 2, 2007

Doomsday has been averted. Again.

Surprise!

Gov. Blagojevich, I can't even type I'm so annoyed at you.

My anger used to be directed at the CTA. Now, I see it as more of a victim. Not that it's run well, but we'll save that for another post.

Months and years go by without a permanent solution for mass transit funding and it takes until the day before doomsday for you and your sidekicks in Springfield to conveniently find a way to call it off?

If you knew you had $27 million in the form of a grant, couldn't you have mentioned it and saved the commuters of Chicago the fear they've had for months now?

Oh wait. Then you wouldn't come out looking like the hero. I mean, you just gave the CTA
$27 million right? And if Ron Huberman did the noble thing and stood up to you and turned down the money, he would look like the idiot and you the savior.

There are no saviors in Springfield. It's a dream world where everyone at the Capitol thinks every Illinoisian is a complete idiot.

Guvnur, are you capable of actually doing anything other than combing your hair? Seriously. What exactly do you do around here?

If I performed at my job the way you do, I wouldn't have a job.

But there's one thing you have to look out for. You are elected. And the best thing Illinois can do is vote your butt out and make room for someone who has ideas and wants to keep our city and state moving.

I, as a commuter, won't give you a single thank you for bandaging the hemorraging CTA. You owed it to Chicago a long time ago and you failed miserably. Again.

Let's hear from all of you ... What do we have to do to get a real mass transit system in our world class city?

Doors closing. Until next time.

Posted by Jimmy Greenfield - 12:35 p.m., Friday, Nov. 2

OK, so Gov. Blagojevich offered up $27 million to get us through the end of the year.

I. Don't. Care.

This is beyond ridiculous. If there was no decision in September and there's no decision today, what makes them think something magical will happen in two months?

Here's the punch line from today:

"In the meantime, the four legislative leaders and I (Blagojevich) will continue our negotiations to find a permanent, long-term solution."

The CTA hasn't accepted as of noon today and I hope they don't. If riders are going to be forced to dramatically change their lives as a result of the CTA being decimated don't make them do it in the dead of winter.

Whatever decision can be made then can be made now. But the people who depend on the CTA need to know today, not in two more months.