by Aaron M. Renn
Chronicling life riding the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
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If you were planning on picking up one of those CTA smart cards, you are too late. The CTA has sold out of the quantity it made available for the trial. More cards may be available in 2001 after the CTA assesses the pilot program. [ Source: Chicago Sun-Times 25 Sept 2000 ]
Richard Caroli wrote in to say:
Twice in the last couple of weeks there have been big problems on the Purple Line that affected me and probably a hundred others.On Friday September 15th and again on Thursday September 21st, a Purple Line train left Howard going north at rush hour and went express to Davis without any announcement about it skipping stops and going express. Riders that had planned to get off at South, Main and Dempster were furious and in my car, several of us tried the "emergency button" speaker thing, but the conductor never answered.
Both times when the train pulled up to Davis there were a lot of riders that had to get back on the local going south. A LOT of riders. Some of us confronted the conductor, who was adamant that he had made an announcement, in spite of the fact that many people from many different cars said there had not been one. There also was not an announcement on the platform PA system at Howard either.
This was incredibly frustrating and to make matters worse, the CTA personnel on the train or at the platforms were totally unsmpathetic and unhelpful. The whole matter just seemed like another shrug of the shoulders to them, like "what do you expect"?
nospam-kenji@enteract.com writes:
Two things to report.First my 13 yr. old daughter made her first solo trip from Portage Park to River North via the Irving bus, the Blue line, and a Lasalle bus. There's nothing bad or weird here but a note just to let you know my suggestion to her to just ask people which train and direction she needed to go in worked well. I'm glad to report she had conversations regarding directions and where to stand and was eagerly given all needed info. Chicagoans really are not as bad as some make us out to be.
Secondly, a problem though. I was at the Art Institute and had two twelve year olds an eight year old and a two year old with me when I got on the Adams stop for the Ravenswood. There really doens't seem to be any way for the turnstyles at the Els to know when a child is passing thru paying cash. I ended up purchasing a 20.00 card and putting it in 4 times and just let the two year old crawl under. Getting on the bus is easy..the driver tells you to put in a kids fair. Did I do the right thing with the kids and the EL?
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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