Posted by RedEye - 4:33 p.m., Friday, Dec. 27
Tribune staff report
Chicago Transit Authority riders will experience some slight changes when using the train service this weekend and into the beginning of the new year.
Northbound Red Line trains will operate on the northbound Purple Line Express tracks beginning at the Sheridan station from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Trains will run on a single track from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. Wednesday and Thursday between the Damen and Western stations on the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line. Southbound customers must board and exit trains on the northbound platform.
The Red Line also will operate on one track Wednesday through Jan. 5 from midnight to 4 a.m. Northbound customers at the Roosevelt, Harrison, Jackson, Monroe and Lake stations must board and exit trains on the southbound side of the platform.
Southbound Red Line trains will be rerouted to the southbound Brown Line tracks at Belmont from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Jan. 4. Northbound Red Line trains will run on the northbound Purple Express tracks from 10:50 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday through Jan. 4.
The CTA will continue its tradition of penny rides on New Year's Eve. Customers can ride the bus or train for a penny from 8 p.m. Monday to 6 a.m. Tuesday.
Posted by RedEye - 10:33 a.m., Friday, Dec. 27
Tribune staff report
The CTA is reminding Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus users hoping to avoid paying a $5 fee to register their cards before the new year.
As announced in November, the CTA will charge a $5 fee for new and replacement Chicago Cards starting Jan. 1. First-time card users who register their new cards before Jan.1 will be able to avoid the fee.
Also, the CTA will discontinue the sale of 10-pack Single Ride farecards, offering Transit Cards in $10 and $20 denominations instead.
Reduced-Fare Transit Cards also face a change. Starting Jan.1, 20-ride tickets will be sold only in two-packs, at the price of $15.30.
Posted by Kyra Kyles - Dec. 26
CTA riders who fill "Going Public's" inbox tend to hold a decidedly glass half-full or glass half-empty outlook about the transit agency.
Some applaud the CTA's recent efforts to clean more consistently and shine the formerly sticky rail car floors, while others interpret the glossy surfaces as a slip-and-fall waiting to happen.
Some see CTA President Ron Huberman as a refreshing rainmaker trying to turn around the agency, while others see him as another of Mayor Daley's cronies sent over from City Hall.
But with 2008 less than a week away, it's time to make the call: Was this a good, bad or indifferent year for the CTA? I'm sensing some of you are ready to fire off your answer now, but try to hold off until you've joined me in a brief stroll down mass transit memory lane.
Let's rewind to four watershed moments of 2007:
Posted by Jimmy Greenfield - 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 19
If it's any consolation, and it's not to me, New York's transit system is also going through a financial crisis.
"The base subway and bus fare will remain $2, but an overwhelming majority of riders — who use unlimited-ride MetroCards or get a discount for buying multiple rides at once — will have to pay more, starting on March 2...
"... Elliot G. Sander, the chief executive of the M.T.A., acknowledged that the fare and toll increase would be “resoundingly unpopular.” But he said it was needed to counter a billion-dollar deficit."
Posted by Kyra Kyles - Dec. 18
You're probably neck-deep in holiday shopping by now.
"Going Public" is guessing you don't want to add to the already long list of family, friends and co-workers awaiting tokens of appreciation wrapped in big, bright bows. But you might have one more gift to give—to the CTA.
Sure, the agency's service is spotty, stations need sprucing up and, most importantly, funding is insufficient to meet the demands of riders. But the CTA is a big part of our everyday lives. So doesn't the transit agency deserve even a little somethin' this season?
Don't fret; I'm not sending you out shopping again. Instead, here's a list of actions and ideas that we—the riders—can bestow upon the CTA. Heck, we may even benefit in the process.
Posted by Jane Hirt - 1:20 p.m., Dec. 14
The Sunday/Monday CTA walkout has been called off -- no doubt to the great relief of everybody who has no option but the CTA to get to work and school.
It was a group of religious leaders who reportedly persuaded the unions representing CTA workers to call off the 24-hour job action that was to start Sunday night. Read the full story on why it was called off here.
This standown is a good thing. I suspect a job walkoff would have backfired on CTA workers. Many people already blame the CTA for their own budget woes. These critics either don't understand or don't believe that a long-term budget solution actually lies with state lawmakers.
If the CTA workers would have walked, I suspect that the tide of outrage would have turned on them. Which would have taken the focus off state lawmakers and their budgetary responsibilities. Not a good thing.
Posted by Jim Walsh 12:09 a.m., Dec. 14
If this CTA shutdown actually takes place on Sunday night, I'm going to be in a heap of trouble because I have no good way of getting to work. It'll be interesting if this "job action" happens, but I don't think it will.
But on the off chance that it does, I can't say I'll be disappointed. Maybe it will finally get lawmakers to pay attention to the serious problem facing regional transit in Chicago.
What do you think?
Here's what we know as of Thursday night about the planned CTA walkout. A link to the Tribune story that will be in tomorrow's RedEye:
Got a question for CTA president Ron Huberman?
Submit them here and come back Tuesday, Dec. 4 at 2 p.m. when Huberman joins RedEye's Kyra Kyles and the Chicago Tribune's Jon Hilkevitch for a live video chat.
