by Aaron M. Renn
Chronicling life riding the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
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Mayor Daley's friends in Washington agreed to kick in $315 million towards the cost of rehabilitating the Douglas L. State matching funds from the Illinois FIRST program will pay for the remaining amount. The repairs will be made without extended closures on the line. However, this will cause the project to take up to six years to complete. The CTA claims that if the improved line attracts new riders, it will consider restoring weekend service. [ Source: Various media accounts ]
[ I believe the CTA and the US DOT worked out a so-called "full funding" agreement. I don't think this actually guarantees that the city will receive the money. For example, I believe the feds have allocated much less money than anticipated to the BART SFO project in San Francisco ]
Daniel M. Shurz sent in a rumor that the CTA was shortening Green Line rush hour headways and later in the week the CTA confirmed it. Rush hour trains will run 7 1/2 to 8 minutes apart instead of 10 minutes apart on that line. Also, the CTA is adding an additional rush hour run on the Red Line and on the Blue Line. The "Ravenston" train I mentioned last week was also confirmed. [ Source: CTA press release 28 Jan 2000 ]
Ald. Burt Natarus proposed lowering CTA fares to $1 in order to ease downtown traffic jams. The CTA rejecte this, saying it would cost the agency $80 million in revenue. [ Source: Chicago Sun-Times 3 Feb 2000 ]
Well, as most L riders are probably aware by now, the CTA has gone live with an automated announcement system on the Red and Purple lines. I actually kind of like it. It's a tad loud, but the announcements are very clear. The only think I don't like is the doorbell-esque chime to indicate that the doors are closing. A couple people sent in comments about this. Mike Harris said:
I just thought I would pass on that on Friday (the 27th), I began hearing for the first time automated announcements on the Red Line. On the ride in, the automation took it all the way until the second operator got on at Fullerton, and from there on it was human-announced; on the ride home that evening, it was entirely automated. I must admit, I actually prefer the automated announcements; they're more explanatory, more comprehensible, and louder. The human announcers mumble half-syllables that are further muffled by the poor microphone system.
David Cole said:
Speaking of the CTA spending millions for high-tech frills while basic service is neglected or outright eliminated...A couple evenings ago I decided to do a little railfanning on the Evanston Express train up to Howard from Belmont. The train I ended up riding was one of the trains that had been outfitted with the new automated announcement system that is being tested.
I can just imagine the boardroom meeting at the Merchandise Mart that led to the introduction of this system:
PROBLEM: Station announcements by CTA personnel are usually garbled and incomprehensible.
SOLUTION A: Instruct T/O's to speak clearly so that they can be understood by the riding masses.
SOLUTION B: Spend $5.4 million for a (most likely politically-connected) firm to install an automated announcement system on all the trains, even while conductors are being eliminated, the Ravenswood Line is at crush capacity and the Douglas Line is literally crumbling to the ground.
This being Chicago, the CTA naturally went with Option B.
The announcements are made by a perfect radio announcer voice, and the chime before the doors close sounds like one of those church bells that has been replaced by an out-of-tune loudspeaker system.
"Howard is the next stop on this Purple Line express. Change for the Yellow and Red Lines at Howard. Doors open on the right at Howard."
"This is Howard. Change for the Yellow and Red Lines at Howard."
[BING BANG] "Doors closing"
"Welcome to the CTA Purple Line. Smoking, littering and playing of radios or other loud devices is prohibited. Soliciting is prohibited on CTA trains. Violators will be arrested."
"Paramount is pleased to bring you our Feature Presentation."
Okay, I made the last one up, but it sounds like the same guy. I admit the new announcements are much more understandable than the previous random garbles, especially to somebody who may be riding the system for the first time. However, they are uncomfortably loud, and the doors-closing chime is a joke. I'd much rather hear the chime used on the NYC system or even the newer Metra coaches.
(Ironically, the company that created the NYC Subway "bing bong" chime is based right here in Chicago!)
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The Graffiti Wall
Also, I'm pleased to announce a new forum where all are welcome to share their CTA headaches, personal musings about Chicago issues, or anything about city life in general. The Graffiti Wall can be found at http://www.NthWard.com. Anybody with a web browser can post, and no sign-in process is required.
Mike Pietrusinski asks:
Hey what happened on the Blue Line Friday?I was goin to take the Blue Line from Washington to Cumberland Friday am about 7:45. Seems there was a piercing loud noise coming from there which caused trains to slow or stop and be delayed. Once past there though, the trains seemed to go normal speeds. Oh yeah may I add there were two other trains behind the initial train which was stopped at Washington for at least 5 minutes.
Melanie Huston wrote in with a report from the Purple Line:
Hurrying to catch a northbound purple line at Main Street, I asked the station attendant if the 8:05am had come by yet. The clock on the wall said 8:06. He looked at the clock and said that 8:05 had already passed, so the train had already come. I thanked him for this tautologically nonsensical statement and ran up to the platform to catch what must have been the 8:05am train.On a positive note, at Foster the card vendor would not take my $10 bill and a southbound purple train was fast approaching. The station attendant let me through the gates and asked the conductor to hold on for one more passenger.
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