Doors open on the left...

Come and see a statue of Thomas Jefferson was added to the plaza in front of Jefferson Park Transit Center.

Sometimes when I'm riding the El, the volume of the announcements is many notches above the normal volume level it should be. Who should I report this to?

Ugh. Doesn't say which routes are threatened yet, though.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/06/cta-pace-metra-facing-service-cuts.html

Maybe I missed an earlier post on this, but why do I see people always transferring from car to car while the train is moving. I mean, outside the context of:

* Getting away from piss/vomit/poop-car
* Moving away from someone harassing you
* etc

I see it a lot with a lot of younger riders moving car to car, especially like when the Red Line train is pulling into Howard.

Is it something nefarious? A mildly inappropriate way to get closer to the stairwell when the train disembarks?

Here are scans of the last three CTA Train Delay slips I've gotten.



Blue Line tracks run through a unique space time anamoly - no matter how long you sit stranded between stations, it's just 20 minutes. And don't dare ask for them to add extra for the slow trip after or how long you had to wait for someone to show up and give you a slip.

The Village of Skokie has put up an artist's rendering of the new Oakton station on the Swift. http://www.skokie.org/DowntownSkokieNews.cfm Construction shouldn't be too far off now.

Is anyone interested in participating in another A Day In The Life of the CTA photo day again this year? I was recently poked by someone about organizing another day of CTA photography. They suggested the first day of Summer (June 21st, which is a Sunday). So, sound off on whether or not you would be interested in doing this again.


Take care and have a great day....



ciao,
john.



PS For those who are not aware of what I am talking about, check out ths link. Back in the fall of 2007 I organized a day where fans of the CTA went out and took pictures of anything and everything to do with the CTA. They then posted pics to this Flickr Group. The week of the event we ended up getting about 500 pictures posted from the event.

Vice President Joe Biden's suggestion that Americans worried about swine flu should avoid commuter trains was met with snark and eye-rolling Thursday as passengers crowded onto an afternoon CTA train, maskless and undaunted.

"I think he's causing just a little too much of a scare," said Tom Mullarkey, who was running errands without an ounce of hand sanitizer. "Outside of complaining that swine flu takes up the first 10 minutes of the newscast, I'm not concerned."

Biden said Thursday that he would suggest to his family members that they not "go anywhere in confined places now," including airplanes and subways. The White House later tried to clarify the vice president's comments, saying he meant sick people should avoid trains and airplanes, but the damage was done, forcing transportation agencies across the country to speak out and reassure travelers.

"Buses and trains are as safe as any other public area," said William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association.

James May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, sent a letter to Biden in which he detailed his "extreme disappointment at your suggestion that people should avoid air travel" and wrote that "no responsible officials or health-care professionals have suggested that people avoid air travel."

In Chicago, Mayor Richard Daley also voiced his frustration: "We all have to get to work. I mean, we'd be staying out of our cars. We'd be staying out of subways, out of elevators -- how about elevators? No, no, no. You have to remember -- we have to ... use some common sense."

The CTA provides about 1.7 million rides each weekday, and officials said they've detected no drop in ridership since the outbreak of what many officials are now calling the H1N1 virus.

CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said the handrails on buses and trains are routinely washed and sanitized with a hospital-grade disinfectant.

"Still, people are getting on and off all day, so we recommend that customers consider carrying tissues, anti-bacterial gels or disinfecting wipes," she said.

Meanwhile, air travelers taking Biden's advice may be out some cash.

Arlington Heights resident Jenifer Giller and her husband have postponed a May trip to Florida, concerned about the health of their two young daughters.

She said the suspected appearance of swine flu in Chicago, combined with the vice president's remarks, prompted the family to put off the trip, and they'll now face rebooking charges.

"This means that postponing our trip will cost us $450," Giller said.

i was on the red line yesterday, we were past Roosevelt going toward Harrison. Some guy, out of the blue and unprovoked, just gets up and was like "Im out!", pulled the emergency cord, opened the door and walked off the train.

we were in between two stops, in the tunnel.

( Read more... )

Service on the CTA's Blue Line is back to normal after a smoke scare on the tracks early yesterday. About 2am, the passengers on the O'Hare-bound train were forced to get get off at Logan Square after the smoke began pouring into the subway station. The smoke emanated from a heater on the northbound track that malfunctioned and causes rail ties and supports to smolder, according to CTA spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski.

Story here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cta-bus-tracker-14-apr14,0,5612124.story

These routes will join Bus Tracker by next Monday: No. 2 Hyde Park Express, N5 South Shore Night, 30 South Chicago, 53AL South Pulaski Limited, 64 Foster/Canfield, 95E 93rd/95th, 95W West 95th, 100 Jeffery Manor Express, 103 West 103rd, 106 East 103rd, 108 Halsted/95th, 112 Vincennes/111th, 123 Illinois Center/Union Express, 124 Navy Pier, 135 Clarendon/LaSalle Express, 136 Sheridan/LaSalle Express, 143 Stockton/Michigan Express, 144 Marine/Michigan Express and 155 Devon.

The CTA's Paulina Brown Line station is scheduled to reopen Friday after a year of being closed for construction to increase rider capacity, the agency announced Thursday. A new station house was built across the street from the old site and features two elevators. The old station was made into an alternative entrance for customer convenience.

Just passed through the subway today and noticed that some of the new tiles for Grand are now out in the open. The skyline looks lightly different from the one depicted on the walls at Chicago, Lake, Jackson, and Roosevelt and the name of the station "Grand/State" is spelled out in the area before the arcing of the ceiling (which doesn't have tiles yet).

Back on January, I was hopping off the train at Addison and exiting to see this cool. Check out my photos of Addison Brown Line that I took while I was taking Brown Line photos. Does any of you catching this train to Addison and transfer to eastbound 152 Addison bus heading to Wrigley Field if you are a Cubs fan?

Thanks,
Alfie

Ok, I've checked the CTA and google maps but something isn't coming out right.

Does anyone know the easiest way to get from the Rosemont CTA stop to Allstate Arena? All these sites are saying it takes two hours and I KNOW that can't be possible. I think there's a bus stop right outside the arena, too, so it has to be easier than the routes I'm seeing.



Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

This morning I heard on the radio that Mayor Daley scored a $30 million earmark in the Federal Budget for the CTA.

For a moment I thought this was good news, except it's being used to fund "Brown Line modernization".

Wait - what?

We've already spent $530 million dollars in local and federal funds on Brown Line reconstruction. After a rocky and controversial start, this project was supposed to be on schedule and budget. The CTA is already selling off the land it acquired during the construction process. Acquistions the Progressive Examiner argues were problematic from the start.

So why the extra $30 million? Is it for a shortfall? Is it for new work on the Brown line? How much did the project really cost anyway? It's hard to tell, now that the Olympics have become Daley's pet project anything budget related seems hard to pin down.

EDITED TO ADD: I'm glad when the CTA gets any money, but I'm not happy when it's for something which was supposedly paid for already. On a better note, this was earmarks - there are hints stimulus bill money will go for better stuff.

I live in the South Loop area with a view consisting mostly of the various train tracks.  Accordingly, I spend a lot of time watching trains go by.  Lately I have noticed that a number of different trains, I believe on the red line, are carrying industrial equipment on a flatbed car in the middle of the trains.  Anyone know what's going on with that?  Just curious.  I'll try and take a picture sometime if the timing is right.

When you're on the bus and you put your dollars into that little slot ... Does anyone know if that little slot has any official name? I just say money slot, but it doesn't seem right. I'm writing something and I'd love to put the accurate name. Thanks!

Anybody else notice the new voice for announcing trains at Clinton? I was up there on Wednesday when I first heard it. Same script (Attention customers: an in/outbound train towards/from the Loop will be arriving shortly") however this new voice is far less nasal than the old one.

...Now it sounds like the trains are being announced to kindergarteners.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/cta-pulling-200-articulated-bus-as-safety-precaution.html

Basically, they're pulling all of those rickety-ass NABI articulated buses out of service, effective immediately, because one of them fell apart (Bluesmobile-style, I'd like to imagine) as it was pulling into a garage earlier today.