Padraic Connelly wrote to "Going Public" with an idea for a more comfortable CTA commute. His letter continues after the jump.
"During rush periods and game days there's a pattern of behavior on the Loop trains, particularly in the subways. The crowds of commuters and tourists in those stations tend to congregate in the dead center of the platform or immediately by the bottoms of the stairs.
When a train shows up all the waiting passengers are bunched up and all trying to squeeze into just a few of the eight available cars.
I've learned in my eight years of riding the 'L' where each train stops and which cars are almost always sure to have available seats.
Even during rush hour, heading north on the Red Line I just wait at where the last couple of cars pull into the Lake stop and almost always find a seat. ...
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Then the train just sits at the station for an extra minute with the
operator imploring passengers to 'please use all available doors' and
if they can't get on to take the 'train immediately following! There's
another train directly behind me!'
The same thing happens at Grand, Chicago, Clark/Division and North/Clybourn. Even by the time the downtown crowd is starting to thin at Fullerton and Belmont, the center cars are overpacked while I sit with an empty seat next to me and empty aisles.
With the CTA once again imposing the threat of rate hikes and service cuts, I'm more than happy to give up a bit of my commuting comfort. I'd like to CTA to start clearly posting where trains pull into stations.
With the last two cars of every Red Line train not even reaching the main platform, only a few seasoned commuters know that it's a boarding area. Signage indicating where the first and last cars of the train will pull into the station, and signs directing waiting passengers to less crowded areas would be inexpensive and save a lot through changing rider behavior.
By simply giving clear and understandable directions to commuters for where to board for a faster, safer and more comfortable ride I'm sure the CTA could fit more commuters onto every train with fewer delays during rush periods.
Fewer delays and fuller trains means running fewer trains. And fewer trains saves money.
Rather than focusing only on cutting service, a campaign to instruct CTA riders on how to help the service run more smoothly and safely on their end, changing bad rider habits and improving good ones, will fill those empty seats and undoubtedly save money.
And I'm not talking about the ill-conceived and poorly-executed 'Don't be Jack' campaign that scolded riders. Reminding the customers that they'll be more comfortable and by just making a few small changes to their commute can save their money and save their services is a better tactic.
Now that we've solved rush hour crowding, next week's topics will include 'actually moving to the rear of a crowded bus and not just to the exit door and ignoring the driver,' 'realizing that you will in fact need your farecard to board and not digging through every pocket and bag while six people wait in the rain behind you to board,' and 'do you think I got a fake number or does the bartender really live at Domino's.'"
The same thing happens at Grand, Chicago, Clark/Division and North/Clybourn. Even by the time the downtown crowd is starting to thin at Fullerton and Belmont, the center cars are overpacked while I sit with an empty seat next to me and empty aisles.
With the CTA once again imposing the threat of rate hikes and service cuts, I'm more than happy to give up a bit of my commuting comfort. I'd like to CTA to start clearly posting where trains pull into stations.
With the last two cars of every Red Line train not even reaching the main platform, only a few seasoned commuters know that it's a boarding area. Signage indicating where the first and last cars of the train will pull into the station, and signs directing waiting passengers to less crowded areas would be inexpensive and save a lot through changing rider behavior.
By simply giving clear and understandable directions to commuters for where to board for a faster, safer and more comfortable ride I'm sure the CTA could fit more commuters onto every train with fewer delays during rush periods.
Fewer delays and fuller trains means running fewer trains. And fewer trains saves money.
Rather than focusing only on cutting service, a campaign to instruct CTA riders on how to help the service run more smoothly and safely on their end, changing bad rider habits and improving good ones, will fill those empty seats and undoubtedly save money.
And I'm not talking about the ill-conceived and poorly-executed 'Don't be Jack' campaign that scolded riders. Reminding the customers that they'll be more comfortable and by just making a few small changes to their commute can save their money and save their services is a better tactic.
Now that we've solved rush hour crowding, next week's topics will include 'actually moving to the rear of a crowded bus and not just to the exit door and ignoring the driver,' 'realizing that you will in fact need your farecard to board and not digging through every pocket and bag while six people wait in the rain behind you to board,' and 'do you think I got a fake number or does the bartender really live at Domino's.'"
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1 Comment
Um, they already have that. Ever seen those numbers that say "6" or "8" on the tracks? That's where the end of the train would be for a six- or eight-car train, respectively. Of course, the CTA could do a much better job of publicizing this.
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