by Aaron M. Renn
Chronicling life riding the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
Visit The Weekly Breakdown on the web at http://www.urbanophile.com/breakdown/
The truck driver in last week's fatal South Shore crash has tested positive for marijuana use, though the test is not sufficient to prove that the driver was impaired at the time of the accident. According to an internet posting, the truck driver had been involved in at least one other fatal accident.
The CTA has found several area colleges to take it up on the offer of a discounted (but compulsory) student pass. Unsurprisingly, most of the colleges that accepted were located next to major transit lines, including Loyola University and Truman College.
Metra ridership was up 2.2% in the first quarter. This represents two year's worth of monthly ridership increases for Metra, which is now seeing its highest ridership in 18 years. [ Source: Metra On the Bi-Level Newsletter ]
Average Weekday Passenger Volumes:
Entire Metra System: 281,500
CTA Red and Blue Lines: 299,000
6/22, 7:15am - One of the two turnstiles at the Main St. L stop was out of order.
6/24, PM rush hour - A friend at work reports that the UP-West line was experiencing heavy delays. It took him over an hour and half to make the trip from Northwest Station to Geneva.
6/25, 5:45pm - A fare card dispenser was out of order at the Wilson L stop. This was the first time I had ever used that station and noticed that even by the standards of the CTA is seems to be suffering greatly from neglect. Never fear, I'm sure once the yuppies make it this far north the CTA will completely rehab the station.
6/25 5:45pm - After boarding a north bound Howard train at Wilson, I proceeded to sweat profusely all the way to Howard since the AC was doing a pathetic job of keeping up with the heat.
Fred Brunner (nospam-fred@interaccess.com) writes to say:
- I have been trying to discover what it is about the CTA's bus fleet that causes it to be, as far as I can tell, completely without shocks. This is even true of the newer sardine wagons. I ride the #33 Mag Mile in the mornings, and it's inevitably a bone-jarring 20 minutes being deafened by some rattling piece of equipment on the bus. What's the average age of the fleet? [ Old. The CTA is planning to replace 450 busses that are past the end of their useful life. See WB #9 for details - AMR ]
- I have also been trying to fathom the mystery of the 120/121 Express bus that run to and from the Metra stations. I usually end up trying to catch the 121 close to the end of the run time for the route (6:05PM). There seem to be twice as many buses running the 120 than the 121; before I got wise and started taking which ever came first, I've had *three* 120 buses go by in a 15 minute period before a 121 appeared. As far as I know, the number of commuters going to each station should be roughly equal, so I can't understand this. [ According to the CTA's web site, the headways on the 120 are supposed to 5 minutes, on the 121, 3.8 minutes - AMR ]
The Weekly Breakdown is a small Internet journal devoted to the trials and tribulations of being a regular rider of the Chicago Transit Authority. I would be happy to hear about and include your experiences. Just send mail to breakdown@urbanophile.com.
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