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/
For those of you who don't know, Bill Vandervoort runs what is arguably the best Chicago transit related site out there. His "Chicago Transit and Railfan" web site recently relocated. The new URL is:
http://hometown.aol.com/chirailfan/
I highly recommend checking it out.
The CTA's annual ridership survey was released this week and the CTA graded itself a B, up from a C+ last year. This in spite of the fact that only 50% of the people had a generally positive impression of the agency and only 34% were overall satisfied with the CTA. Security and cleanliness remained big concerns for riders. Among those CTA riders who owned a car, the number one reason cited for using transit was the high cost of parking. [ Source: Chicago Tribune 12 April 2000 ]
Meanwhile, the Sun-Times coverage of the ridership survey stressed the fact that more wealthy riders are using the CTA. [ Source: Chicago Sun-Times 12 April 2000 ] [ This should come as no surprise given the CTA's focus on rush hour commuting from high income areas to the Loop under Mayor Daley - AMR ]
Some homeless advocates this week bashed the CTA plan to refer late night homeless L riders to social service agencies, calling it "homeless abuse", even though there are many people and agencies involved such as the Salvation Army who have impeccable social service credentials. These advocates also criticized the CTA for scapegoating the homeless for security problems after a recent series of well publicized attackes by homeless people on CTA employees and riders. Some homeless people interviewed said they would not go to shelters because they didn't like them. [ Source: Chicago Tribune 10 April 2000 ] [ Many of these self-styled homeless advocates wonder why more money is not forthcoming to help the homeless. I suggest the look in the mirror for the reason. These groups spend way too much time fighting for the right of the homeless to make themselves a general nuisance to the public at large. Is it any surprise that the public is less than enthusiastic about spending money on the homeless then? I think the proposed CTA program is excellent because it both helps the homeless get the assistance they need from qualified agencies and benefits non-homeless riders. A real win-win for everybody - AMR ]
Thomas McCracked was appointed this week to a second term as chairman of the RTA. [ Source: 10 April 2000 ]
I received yet another complaint about the volume on the CTA's automated L announcements. This one from Sheri Wild:
Who at the CTA thought it was a good idea to place an apparently hearing-impaired individual in charge of setting the volume of the automated announcements on the Red Line in the mornings? Those things are often set at earsplitting, blood vessel-rupturing decibel levels, which you sometimes can't discover until the doors have closed and trapped you inside. It's like finding yourself inside an amplifier at a Metallica concert! What gives? Doesn't CTA realize one of these days, somebody who ruptures an eardrum or has a massive stroke is going to sue the pants off the agency--and win? Sometimes you can hear those bells from blocks away! Is there any way to get them to knock it off?
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.
To subscribe to the email edition, please send a message to breakdown-request@urbanophile.com with your request. Ditto for unsubscribes.
Just Say No to Frames, Ads, and Animated GIF's