by Aaron M. Renn
Chronicling life riding the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
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Overnight rail service on the Red Line will be detoured over the Loop elevated on Sundays from March 29 through the fall. See story below for details.
The CTA is spending $457,000 per year on security guards at closed L stations to counter a rash of change machine vandalism. Chicago is the only major city that has to hire guards to protected its closed train stations. Esteemed chi.general regular Adam Kerman (in his capacity with the Transit Riders Authority) was quoted. He wonders how much money can really be saved by eliminating owl service on the L if the stations have to be staffed 24 hours anyway. [Source: Chicago Tribune 3/22/98]
The Red Line subway will be getting a deep cleaning this summer. This will be the first major cleaning in over 40 years. The CTA purchased several new high power water blasters that will clean off decades of accumulated grime. These water blasters cost $9000 a piece and generate 3000 psi of pressure. Still, it will take several hours to clean even small area. In addition to station cleaning, the subway tubes will be cleaned, as will all storm drains (many of which are totally clogged). After cleaning, a new reflective coat of paint will be applied to most surfaces. This project will require detouring the Red Line over the Loop elevated from Fullerton to Cermak on Sundays between 1am and 9am (Division St. bar hoppers be warned). The line will stop at some but not all elevated stations (the Merchandise Mart and Sedgwick stops will be closed). There will also be shuttle bus service available. Stations on other lines will be getting cleaned as well, but this will not require station closures. [Source: CTA notices and Chicago Tribune 3/25/98 ]
A study commissoned by an association of private transportation companies showed (surprise, surprise) that the CTA could cut fares by 17 percent and increase ridership by 10 percent by 2007 by putting the operation of routes up for competitive bid. Citied were successful privatization efforts in places such as San Diego and Indianapolis. Without some action, the study predicts fares will rise to $2.75 by 2007 and an additional 40% of the bus riders will be lost. The CTA union contract in effect through 1999 prevents privatization and CTA President Frank Kruesi seems disinterested in the idea. [ Source: Chicago Tribune 2/26/98 and Chicago Sun Times 3/25/98 ]
Average hourly income (pay and benefits) for a CTA customer service attendant: $26
Jed Taylor (nospam-areteone@enteract.com) writes to relate a positive story about the CTA. When boarding the Damen bus, he accidentally inserted his far card into the dollar bill slot. The driver politely helped Jed fill out an "Unusual Occurences" form to get his fare card retrieved when the farebox was opened. Indeed, less than a week later he received a farecard with $17 dollars on it in the mail. Of course, while things worked out ok, Jed can't help but wonder why the dollar bill slot is so much more prominent than the fare card slot, especially since the CTA wants people to use the fare card as much as possible.
3/26 - Northbound Red Line at about 7:00. The motorman makes many interesting announcements such as "Yes, it's Friday, welcome to the weekend", "If you're asleep wake up. Is this your stop?" and "Did you remember to gather all your belongings?". I love a CTA employee with a bit of character. But not only was his banter amusing to the riders, he also gave some atypical and extremely useful information such as the time of day, the upcoming weather forecast, and most importantly, information on all connecting bus routes at each stop. The CTA should clone this guy and put him on all their trains.
3/27 - Southbound Evanston line. The train approaches Howard, but both sides of the platforms are already occupied by Red Line trains. This not only forced us to delay until one train left the station, it also made us miss our connection. This added 10 minutes on my trip back into the city.
The Weekly Breakdown is small Internet journal devoted to the trials and tribulations of being a regular rider of the Chicago Transit Authority. While it is primarily devoted to my experiences, I am happy to hear about and include yours. Just send mail to breakdown@urbanophile.com.
Aaron.
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