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 pedestrian bridge over Cicero Ave. linking the Midway terminal building to the Orange Line L is closed (for of all things, the construction of a new parking garage). Shuttle busses will link the airport and L running at 15 minutes headways. Jon Weintraub (nospam-jrw@neog.org) speculates that with bus frequencies so bad, a large number of people will just take their chances on Cicero and walk anyway. Thanks to a number of people for reporting this. I spaced out on it last week. The bridge will remain closed through late fall.
The CTA got the Sun Times to print a cover story on the amount of money saved by the new fare card. The amount: $11 million per year. With the $106 million cost of the system, that means the fare card project will have a nine and half year payback time. Despite a hefty financial penalty for doing so, fully 50% of bus riders are still paying with cash. Even on the rail system, where the CTA has deliberately limited the number of turnstiles which accept cash, 21% of the riders are still using cash and tokens. [ Source: Chicago Sun-Times 8/3/98 ]
The CTA is re-opening seven L station entrances. This $1 million project will reopen entrances at Damon Ave and Paulina (Medical Center), Pulaski (Irving Park), Lunt (Morse), east stairway at Ashland/Lake, East Ave (Oak Park), and the Lake/Wells entrance (which will be open 24 hours). The CTA credits fare card savings for these reopenings and says the new equipment will eliminate $1.6 million in annual operating expenses that otherwise would have needed to be spent to keep these entrances open. [ Source: Chicago Sun Times 8/6/98 ]
The CTA has hired the Skokie firm CompuLogic to redesign its web site. The contract is valued at $108,000. No word on whether or not this means the CTA is planning on responding to emails sent to their address or if the current black hole will continue. [ Source: Chicago Sun Times 8/6/98 ]
An anonymous person wrote to tell me that an IIT student was assaulted by someone with a baseball bat at the Red Line station at 35th St. This attack did occur at 2:30am, however, the person who notified me of this reports that there are several safety issues with the 33rd St. exit at that station. Apparently groups of people enjoy loitering underneath an escalator or at the top of the escalator and harrassing riders. The area is not monitored by any CTA employees and apparently isn't cleaned by CTA employees very often either as it regularly reeks of urine. This person has contacted the CTA to attempt to get them to institute safety improvements at the station, but the CTA has yet to respond. [ If my experiences with the agency are any guide, they won't ever respond - AMR ]
Eric Holeman (nospam-ehol@enteract.com) writes in to tell us:
He started waiting for the #77-Belmont at 7:01 on Sunday evening. At 7:23 he gave up and grabbed a taxi.
On 8/1 about 6pm, he was waiting at State/Van Buren when a #29-State stopped to pick up a wheelchair passenger. Eric was asked by the driver to assist by standing on the lift because it won't go down all the way. This does not work and the driver asks the passenger to take the next bus. The second bus goes right past without even stopping to attempt to pick up the passenger. The wheelchair rider said that malfunctioning lifts are an all too common occurrence.
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.
Just Say No to Frames, Ads, and Animated GIF's