Posted Jan. 28 at 1:15 p.m.

Most "Going Public" questions and comments come via e-mail, so when someone calls me at the RedEye office, I take special notice, especially when it's a CTA employee.  Let's face it...  Due to their fear of retribution from the higher-ups, they don't exactly feel as free as we riders are to speak their public transit peace.

That's why I'm looking forward to talking to a female operator who left me a message, saying she will call me back to give me the operator perspective on some comments she has seen in the RedEye. 

Operators are often criticized, but their situation might have been worsened by the recent Tribune report about them running stop lights, essentially leaving tax-payers with the tab.  I'll let you know what happens once I find out what her bus beef is.  Stay tuned...   

Posted Nov. 5 at 2:40 p.m.

Just curious.  Who attended President-elect Barack Obama's rally in Grant Park last night?  Was the CTA service to your liking?  Were you able to get from point A to point B despite the massive crowds and street closures.  Do tell....

Posted Oct. 28 at 11:52 a.m.

Man, not a week goes by without "Going Public" receiving a complaint about CTA smart cards.  Personally, I've only broken one and since I swing with the simpler Chicago Card (upload and go), I haven't had much grief.  But riders are getting hotter and hotter under the collar about issues from cards getting gobbled by machines, balances being reflected inaccurately, etc.

So here's what we're going to do.  Starting with this month, I'm compiling a list of rider beefs and then I'll send them to CTA staffers.  I know that agency prez, Ron Huberman, has said his ultimate goal is to get the CTA out of the smart card business and move toward different media, but in the meantime, maybe some improvements can be made. 

To be clear: I'm adding from my inbox.  Feel free to submit your card gripes as comments. 

Here goes:

Oct. 28: Card snapped in cold snap

Rider Kathleen complains Chicago Card broke because of cold and she wants the replacement fee waived, plus has a complaint about the rudeness of customer service personnel.

Oct. 27: Three weeks and no replacement?

Rider Catherine has waited three weeks for a Chicago Card replacement and says she is having to pay out of pocket until it slooooowly arrives.

Oct. 10 -- Can't even cancel Chicago Card Plus?

Rider Joe D. from Uptown says he tried to cancel his card and since they are proposing no discount for Chicago Card holders and was told by customer service that those fees are non-refundable and he could only change his credit card information and let the balance zero out.  Oct. 28 update: Some signs of life in CTA customer service, as Joe tells me that the agency did refund the amount remaining on his Chicago Plus card.   

Posted Oct. 20 at 11:25 a.m.

There's no denying that the CTA is listening to its riders more.  No, you don't have everything...okay, most of the things, you want in mass transit, but Huberman and Co. are definitely making changes.  Reader feedback to their Mystery Shopper program and even the "Going Public" or "Hey, CTA!" columns seem to be resonating in terms of rail and bus improvements.

I don't want to sound any false alarms, but it seems the CTA very recently re-jiggered service along the Red Line, after hearing from riders (including those who spoke to me) last week.  Those riders reported that the CTA was running two-car trains in the early morning hours around 5 a.m., and that it was insufficient for the number of riders during that time period. 

I let the CTA know about it, they said they were rethinking the situation, and voila!  I got this note from a rider featured in last week's "Going Public"...Let's hope it wasn't a fluke:

I just wanted to first thank you for running my comments in the Red Eye, but the biggest thanks is for resolving the problem. Monday morning I was so happy to see a train arriving with 4 cars! I enjoyed hearing how almost all the riders who boarded expressed their satisfaction that the CTA was once again running the four cars and not two on the Red Line. It's good to know that we  can make a difference.

Ride On!

I'll let you know if I hear from the CTA on this, but for now, I need my early-morning riders to keep me posted all this week.  Are there enough trains on the Dan Ryan Branch during those eary bird-hours?

Posted on Sept. 11 at 8:15 a.m.

I'm hearing a lot of buzz in the GP inbox about really rude bus operators and annoying "L" delays.  But I also heard stories of some very kind customer assistants helping riders out, even giving one a pass after he was robbed on the "L."  What's the real story this week?  Share your kudos, complaints and general comments about our favorite three letters: C-T-A.

Posted June 18, at 8:58 a.m.

A justifiably disgusted rider let "Going Public" know about an odious encounter at the Red Line's 69th Street station during a recent Kudos and Comments post. 

I also ran her post, as I do with many of your online comments, in today's "Hey, CTA!"

I also addressed the issue with the CTA because we're not just about observations, but finding actual answers.  Heck, we're into public transit problem-solving, right?

Here's what the CTA told me about the smell along the "L," in response to the poster's statement that the customer assistant did not report the problem. Here's my question and a CTA spokeswoman's answer:

"Going Public" asks: "A rider said that on June 16, there was a terrible smell on the platform at the Red Line's 69th Street stop.  Did the CTA receive a report of this from a customer assistant?"

CTA Answer:  Yes, CTA did receive a report of an odor near the 69th Red Line station platform.  Upon inspection of the areas surrounding the rail station and platform, the source of the odor was identified and the area was cleaned and sanitized.

What else are you curious about?  Let's see if we can get some bus and "L" explanations.

Posted June 12 at 8:34 a.m.

Hey there, public transit peepz. 

As "Going Public" will often do, I want to open up the floor and hear from you. 

Is there anything random about the rails and buses, you'd like to get out there?  Good, bad, indifferent? Give me your kudos and complaints starting....now.

Posted May 13, 5:15 p.m.

Today, I enjoyed a leisurely bus ride with minimal cell phone chatter, a friendly bus operator and no trouble with my Chicago Card. 

But enough about me, what happened during your commute?  Share the good and the bad. CTA employees, feel free to weigh in as well.  Aren't we all just one big dysfunctional family, after all?

Whatever it is, I want to hear about your ride, so post it.  Particularly stirring statements could end up in the paper.  Check out some "ripped from the blog" comments in tomorrow's "Hey, CTA!"

With no further ado, fill 'er up!

Posted May 6, 11:41 a.m.

Top of the morning, public transit peepz.  I hope you made it to work, school or wherever you needed to go without getting CTA super soaked.  Even if you did get drenched, I think I have a commuter story that might make you feel a bit better.

Check out this sweet tale from Enjolee, who e-mailed me at goingpublic@tribune.com about a bus driver who went above and beyond the call of duty:

Not all of cta employees are bad, one day I was riding the 87th St. bus and it was around 12 a.m. and outside it was raining kittens and puppies, I knew the bus wasn't going past Western (I lived on 92nd and Kedzie) anyway, I was talking to the driver and told him i lived on Kedzie and for some reason i didn't bring an umbrella, anyway the bus makes it to Western and I get off and start walking as fast as i can because i had a looooong and wet walk ahead of me, so i start walking and get about a half of a block, when a hear a horn the cta driver turned that bus around and dropped me off the 14 blocks to Kedzie (I still had to walk to 92nd) but that was more than going above and beyond the call of duty. So to that driver thanks it's people like you that give the cta a ray of sunshine amidst all the clouds.

Your turn: Got a positive or positively awful story to share?