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/
Sorry I forgot to get this one in earlier, but John C. Thomas (nospam-jthoma1@enteract.com) wrote in with an event announcement:
"The 14th Annual Metropolitan Conference on Public Transportation Research will take place on Friday, June 11, 1999, on the campus of the University of Illinois at Chicago. Over 30 research papers will be presented, and the keynote speaker will be George Ranney, CEO of Chicago Metropolis 2020, who will outline a vision for regional transportation in the Chicago area. Also speaking will be Keith Hom, Chief Financial Officer of New York City Transit, who will talk about the resurgence of transit in N.Y. There will also be a panel discussion about applying lessons from NYC to the CTA. Registration is $35 before May 28, $40 after, and includes lunch. For more information about the conference and registration, go to the home page at http://www.econ.nwu.edu/mcptr/.
"Also, I'm on the steering committee for the conference, and we're thinking about giving an award starting next year. Maybe your readers can come up with suggestions for the name of the award. E-mail suggestions to jthoma1@enteract.com."
The city is planning on installing up to 1000 new bus shelters throughout the city. Phase one of this project will include 100 new shelters downtown and 400 in the neighborhoods. This project is still awaiting city council approval. [ Source: Chicago Tribune 5 June 1999 ]
Several Aldermen complained this week that Metra ignores the city in order to concentrate on serving the suburbs. Ald. Michael Wojcik said Metra has taken far too long to make repairs in his northside ward and is failing to even pick up trash at stations. He also complained about the lack of station houses and other amenties at in city stations. He specifically contrasted NW side Metra stations with the one in Park Ridge. [ Source: Chicago Tribune 2 June 1999 ]
In addition to the 3.1% ridership growth by the CTA in the first quarter, Metra and PACE also claimed ridership increases. Metra was up 3.9% and PACE increased 2.8%. [ Source: Chicago Sun-Times 2 June 1999 ]
Daniel M. Shurz (nospam-Daniel.Shurz@worldnet.att.net) wrote in with a question. He noticed that the Orange Line cars tend to lack line and system maps for the L. Does anyone know the reason for this?
An anonymous person wrote in to tell us:
"I noticed thatwhile the CTA is reopening the Grand Ave. Blue Line station, they are closing some of the entrances. There were about 5 entances to the subway (because it's at a three street intersection), and at least 2 of them have been demolished and are being permanently sealed.
"And a big 'thank you' to the those considerate CTA workers who parked ther work truck so that it blocked eastbound Grand Avenue during rush hour, which reduced traffic to one lane and caused a backup all the way to Ogden Avenue."
Kelly Pierce (nospam-kelly@ripco.com) forwarded me copies of some complaint letters that she sent to the CTA. Kelly is blind and uses a reduced rate fare card. Apparently in order to use these cards, you have to have another card which validates that you are eligible for a reduced fare. This card must be inserted before the fare card in order for the turnstile to let you through. Unfortunately, the two cards are the exact same shape and size and thus cannot be distinguised by touch. Does anyone know what other transit systems are doing in this situation? New York uses the same fare card system and so might provide a good example. If you have any good suggestions, please send them to Kelly so she can give them to the CTA.
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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