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 this week had its official unveiling of the new Novabus coaches that will be coming online over the next few years. Thanks to Jonothan, we already got a closer look. See a picture at:
http://www.urbanophile.com/breakdown/novabus.jpg
Features include: low floor design for better wheelchair loading, air conditioning, seats that don't face each other, and wider entrances. About 150 new buses will be coming on line each year. The CTA is doing this to better stagger its fleet age. [ Source: Chciago Tribune, 5 January 2000 ]
Sean M. Gash had a comment about reported Blue Line problems from a couple weeks ago:
> Friday night a train came bout 5:45 but ran really slow....finally at > Logan Square the annoucment comes on that the train was turning into an > Express and would stop next at Division....At Division the next stop would > be at Clark/Lake....now why wouldn't they just run the express from Logan > Square to the Thompson Center??? And also there was another inbound train > runnin bout 3-4 minutes behind us cuz up until we got to bout Damen I > could see it behind us....(I usually get in the last car because I have > easy in and out when I get off downtown).....The train ran "Express" to Division so a conductor could get on and work to Clinton. Otherwise, the train operates "RTO" through the subway with no conductor. About slow running: often, the contoller will tell operators to "loose time", or stand at a station for a certain amount of time if there is a delay behind them. It could also be an equipment problem, "slow acceleration". Don't forget, you could just get someone that drives too slow, causing delay.
Here's a complaint from B. Scott:
This morning, for the second time in a week, a Red Line train to the Loop zoomed through the Thorndale stop without stopping. As before, there was no announcement on the platform as to why this was occuring. As the train zoomed past (at about 7:00 a.m.) I noticed it was mostly empty. Five minutes later, the regularly scheduled (I guess, since there is supposed to be a train at 7:06) stopped. It was already crowded, and the train was standing room only by Berwyn, which usually doesn't happen until Addison.And also as is usually the case with this Red Line train, when we arrived at Fullerton, a Brown Line had just left. I could tell that the Brown train wasn't even to Armitage. Why can't CTA time transfers for these trains? Brown Line service is much too infrequent in 7:00 hour - there are often trains that are so full that can't be boarded. Why not take cars from the Green Line (in walking under these six car trains on my way to the office I have never seen one even remotely full) and use them on the overcrowded Brown Line? Why not put the cars where the riders are? And is the Orange Line really so busy that CTA needs to run 8-car trains? Couldn't some of those cars be used on the Brown Line? More frequent service on the Brown Line is desperately needed during rush hours. People are trying to ride the trains - why not make it easier for us to get on?
In response to some of this, the CTA claims that the Ravenswood line is at capacity in terms of the number of runs at the peak periods when it is too crowded. Loop interlockings, Clark Jct., etc all are bottlenecks. How true is this? I dunno. Cutting south and west side service to supplement the northside is also not politically easy. And Ravenswood trains can't run eight cars because certain stations have platforms that are too short. I'll agree with you that overcrowding is frustrating though.
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. The views expressed by contributors are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the opinions of the publisher.
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