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 CTA has signs nailed up everywhere asking people to call their state legislators to support Gov. Ryan's $12 billion infrastructure plan. Thanks to Mike Harris (nospam-mharris@enteract.com) for pointing this out.
The CTA announced that ridership increased 3% in the first quarter of 1998. The CTA attributed this to their UPASS program and various ridership initiatives. The booming northside housing market and Loop employment figures were not mentioned. [ Source: Chicago Tribune 14 May 1999 ]
The Federal Transit Administration reversed itself and gave approval to Metra's plan to double tracke the Wisconsin Central line. This would allow them to double the number of trains on that route. [ Source: Chicago Sun-Times 22 May 1999 ]
Here's a story that an annonymous person wrote in with:
"Hey guys you're doing a great job! Here's my story of the one and only time I've ever been arrested.
"About 5 months ago I was on the 91 Austin with a friend around 4:50 and when we got to Jefferson Park there was all ready a 81 Lawrence bus loading up. When we got off we saw between four and six people load in the back, not an unusual sight to see on the 81 seeing as even though it is a very frequent bus it still manages to get backed up. We decided we might as well load in too. It seemed the bus driver noticed us but said nothing. Next thing we know two people are banging on the back door, They tell my friend and I to get off the bus after showing their badges. I figured it would be ok and they'd just make us wait till every one else had got on or something like that. They decided to march us accross the street to the Jefferson park police station. Arguing with them didn't help. I HAD A TRANSFER!!! They booked me and my friend with 4th degree theft (theft by deception). It was funny listening them talking about what they should book us for and frustrating hearing them talk about how to the police this was BS but the CTA would make them heros for aresting 7 people that day. That day left me thinking "How many customers will the CTA weed out before it starts weeding out the loyal ones?" and SINCE WHEN IS GETTING ON THE BACK OF THE BUS ILLEGAL? I could have been sitting down for a minute and paid later? How did they know?? If there are any Chicago officers out there please share your thoughts on this."
[ I believe that you are supposed to board in the front of the bus, but arresting someone with a valid transfer is pretty excessive in my opinion - AMR ]
John F. Kuczaj (nospam-jfkuczaj@hotmail.com) wrote in with this experience:
"Today, I boarded an O'hare-bound blue line train at the Washington station as I do every day after work. I get on at 6:02pm for a trip to the Addison station that should last only 20 minutes. At 6:16pm, the train stops between California and Logan Square and sits for 11 minutes. The engineer made no announcements during this time, in fact, the engineer had not been making any station announcements since the conductor got off at Division. Finally at about 6:27pm we started moving and pulled into Logan Square. Everything seemed to be fine as people got off and on, then the train pulled out (with no announcements). Unfortunately, the engineer was taking the train express to Jefferson Park and apparently decided not to let anyone else know about this. I thought it was strange that we bypassed Belmont, and I knew something was wrong as we flew by Addison. Everyone in the car looked at each other, wondering if they missed an express announcement. When we pulled into Jeff Park at 6:37pm, half of the 8-car train passengers got off and walked to the opposite platform, which ruled out the possibility that our car's speaker was not working."
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