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Posts tagged "CTA"

After more than three decades of dithering, a universal fare card for CTA, Metra and Pace riders?

When voters narrowly approved the creation of the Regional Transportation Authority 37 long years ago, one of the promised benefits was a universal fare card that could be used on the CTA, commuter rail lines and suburban buses. That wasn’t the main reason the RTA was created—it was to provide subsidies principally to the CTA—but... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
July 11, 2011 at 11:32 am
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So much for union solidarity

To preserve their pay raise, two locals of the Amalgamated Transit Union representing CTA bus and train personnel were willing to throw hundreds of their brothers and sisters overboard to preserve the kind of raises for the survivors that few people in the private sector have seen during the recession. Here’s a look at how those... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
February 22, 2010 at 7:38 pm
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Seniors' free rides may end. Yes!

A House committee has approved legislation that would roll back the free transit rides for seniors program pushed through by ex-Gov, Rod Blagojevich. The committee vote, 19-4, indicates that enough House members may have found the courage to end the controversial program. Under the measure, sponsored by Rep. Suzie Bassi, seniors would return to paying... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
February 12, 2010 at 11:20 am
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Make judges ride the Green Line

Pan-handler Clarence Ervin encourages me to “keep taking pictures and send me the pictures” on the CTA’s Green Line Wednesday. Ervin is constantly getting in trouble with the law, has been arrested numerous times. He can be verbally and physically abusive at times. (Phil Velasquez, Chicago Tribune / February 2, 2010) CTA riders already have... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
February 5, 2010 at 3:43 pm
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Take the )*$%&*)# CTA strike

Let ‘em shut it down Believe me, it’s the only way to end this perpetual “doomsday” crap. Any public employee union threatening a strike now for any increased benefits is out of line with reality. When you get even Mayor Richard M. Daley pleading for the CTA unions to settle, you know they’ve gone too far... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
February 4, 2010 at 5:00 pm
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Racial pandering on the CTA

Once again, the big, bad, white suburbs are victimizing poor, minority Chicagoans. That’s the underlying logic of a class action suit brought against the state, RTA and Metra by a public interest law firm that hasn’t a clue about the Pandora’s Box that it is opening. According to the suit, filed Wednesday in federal court... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
January 8, 2010 at 10:37 pm
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Mayor Daley, meet ex-mayor Bilandic

It’s 1979 and weeks of continuous storms had dropped a record seven feet of snow on the city. CTA trains ground to a halt, figuratively frozen in place on the rails. Main streets were a nightmare, clogged by snow and stalled cars, blocking CTA buses. Most side streets impassable. O’Hare Airport was a mess. I’ll... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
December 11, 2009 at 4:11 pm
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Block 37 goes belly up

Block 37 before government got its hands on it. It didn’t look great, but it was an active urban block, providing jobs and tax revenues. Bank of America N.A. and a group of lenders have moved to foreclose on the retail and transit portion of the mixed-use development that occupies the square block opposite of... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
October 20, 2009 at 8:14 pm
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IOC Report: Chicago's Olympic bid 'risky'

Tribune photo by José M. Osorio / April 5, 2009 Workers walk near the Chicago 2016 logo at Soldier Field, which is one of the venues that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is visiting for the 2016 Olympics & Paralympic Games in Chicago Sunday. Like any good public relations operation, when you expect bad news... Read more »
By Dennis Byrne,
September 2, 2009 at 8:56 am
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