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Posts in category "CTA customer communication"

Claypool "working feverishly" to find slow zone $$; calls for communications tests, fixes

The CTA is “bleeding riders because of rail slow zones,” President Forrest Claypool lamented in a CTA Tattler interview. And finding the money to repair them is “one of the most important jobs I have,” he added. “What we’re doing is throwing good money after bad … because of the patchwork nature” of slow zone... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
July 26, 2011 at 7:00 am
• 6 comments

CTA replies to passenger complaints about poor communications during service outages

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A switching problems with a Brown Line train near the Clark Junction caused a two-hour service outage on April 19 — the same day Rahm Emanuel named Forrest Claypool as his choice for CTA president. And as happens with most service outages, I heard complaints from riders about poor communications by the CTA to passengers... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
May 2, 2011 at 9:11 pm
• 16 comments

"Doors open on the right" - and the announcement is louder

In the last month or so, I have noticed – along with a number of you readers – that the pre-recorded announcement of “doors open on the right” on CTA trains has changed. It is louder, more pronounced, with a change in pitch. The tone is much different from the other phrases on either side... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
April 26, 2011 at 11:58 pm
• 15 comments
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Poor passenger communications by CTA was Tuesday's key issue - not "derailment"

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Though I focused on the Forrest Claypool appointment Wednesday, I haven’t forgotten about the Brown Line “mishap” (it wasn’t a derailment!) during Tuesday morning’s rush hour. Though it appears the Tribune has forgotten it.  At least it wasn’t mentioned in Wednesday’s print edition, not even a tiny sidebar with the page 1 coverage of our... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
April 20, 2011 at 7:41 pm
• 14 comments

Bad bus driver contact made better by good CTA customer service experience

I just found this email buried in my inbox from last month. It’s dedicated to the good folks in the customer service department at the CTA. I’ve had a couple good experiences with them and so did Sarah: Copyright – All rights reserved by thelilddude I wanted to let you know about a recent experience... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
March 23, 2011 at 7:01 pm
• 8 comments

Maybe not perfect, but CTA holds up pretty well throughout blizzard

By most accounts, the CTA did pretty well in providing service throughout the Blizzard of 2011. And one thing we can say for certain — it did better than its sister transit agency Metra. On Thursday, Metra operated a reduced schedule on four of its 11 train lines, and half-hour delays were not uncommon. The... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
February 3, 2011 at 4:47 pm
• 18 comments
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Train motorman warns of CTA iPhone thefts

In light of my report yesterday on big increase in thefts and other crime on the CTA, this little tidbit from CTA Tattler reader Matthew is very interesting: I was riding the Brown Line home from work yesterday at around 5:15 pm and the motorman made a rather interesting announcement over the loudspeakers. He said... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
January 19, 2011 at 7:19 pm
• 17 comments

CTA year in review - Q2: New rail cars, "train tracker," subway fire, CTA thefts

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My CTA year in review continues with a look at what happened in April, May and June of 2010.April: This was a month of new technology introduced on the Chicago Transit Authority. Early in April the CTA rolled out “Train Tracker” at Brown Line stations. It still hasn’t worked out all the kinks and made... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
December 27, 2010 at 4:07 pm
• 1 comment

A fine howdy-do: "All the brakes just locked up"

Announcement from our Red Line operator, stopped just north of the Fullerton station: Good morning passengers, this is your operator. All the brakes on this train just locked up. I don’t know why. I’m going to have to go to the track level to find out. We appreciate your patience. The good news is that... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
November 4, 2010 at 8:15 am
• 2 comments
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Red Line fire aftermath: new protocols, supervisor fired

We already know that excessive grease and debris on the Red Line subway tracks sparked a fire that hospitalized 19 people on June 20. But what we are learning from a confidential report obtained by the Better Government Association is that a CTA supervisor told the Chicago Fire Department they were not needed after all... Read more »
By Kevin O'Neil,
October 12, 2010 at 8:04 pm
• 2 comments