Doors open on the left...

I pray everyone wears deoderant.

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:08:15 GMT

The Brown Line renovation and other projects were intended for more and longer trains to handle increased ridership -- wise planning before the current gas crisis.

Governor Rod pulled free rides for seniors out of his ass at the last second of the CTA budget showdown, insisting it was a face saving gesture despite having no clue about the cost - bad planning anyone but a egocentric dolt could recognize.

Now past wisdom and stupidity collide.

After years of construction delays, after spending millions of dollars, all for a bigger, better CTA - our Governor's policy helps produce a different result:

CTA L cars could become more like cattle cars if the transit agency goes ahead with plans to remove seats on some L cars in the next few months to squeeze in all the riders leaving their cars home and turning to mass transit.
***
The transit agency -- which said Wednesday it saw a 6.9 percent increase in passengers last month -- is considering removing seats on busy bus routes, too.

The CTA says such steps are being weighed because it can't afford to buy more train cars and buses without a new capital-spending bill from legislators in Springfield.

The CTA attributes most of the increased ridership to fast-rising fuel prices. It also estimates that perhaps one-tenth of the additional riders are seniors who have ridden free, under a new law, since March 17.

"While we're very excited to have as many seniors as we can, it's becoming a capacity challenge," CTA President Ron Huberman said Wednesday.
***
Revenue hasn't risen at the same rate as the passenger load, because the number of passengers riding free or buying unlimited-ride monthly passes is growing. The CTA also faces budget problems because of higher fuel, energy and maintenance costs.

Last year seniors were important to Blago, but disabled and students aren't.

Gov. Blagojevich's decision last week to cut the reduced-fare subsidy would cut about $16 million out of the CTA's budget this year, and another $31 million in 2009.

Of course, Rod is not the only culprit here. As mentioned before, the city spent tens of millions of potential transit dollars on Block 37, which is now over budget, behind schedule and may involve prohibitive costs to be finished at all.

Here's a thought - no free rides, senior discounts based on economic necessity and Daley starts spending money on the present instead of BS Olympic dreams. A more realistic option: learn to love claustrophobia.

video of old CTA trolley

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 13:56:17 GMT

I took this on a trip to the Illinois Railway Museum. Enjoy!

Howard El

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:55:34 GMT

I just saw something disturbing at the Howard El but I'm not exactly sure what I saw ... any news about it?

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 19:33:00 GMT

Does anyone know how long it would take me to get from the Howard yellow line to the Skokie yellow line stop?

Also, does anyone know if the yellow line drop off in Skokie is near Niles West HS?

Thanks.

Good News - Bad News.

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 21:15:48 GMT

Good News: Major leap forward on fixing the north end of the Blue Line.

Bad News: It's shutting down for July.

CTA rail service along the O'Hare International Airport branch of the Blue Line will be shut down between the O'Hare and Rosemont stations for about three weeks in July as part of the transit agency's work to eliminate slow zones on the line.

Reconstruction work between the stations will begin at 3 a.m. July 8 with normal service scheduled to resume July 28, the CTA said Friday. The CTA will provide 24-hour shuttle bus service between the stations.

Crews will replace deteriorated rail and ties, tie plates and spikes in a project that will allow the CTA to lift slow-zone restrictions.

"Because of track conditions, trains between Rosemont and O'Hare are currently inching along in some areas at 15 miles per hour," CTA President Ron Huberman said in a statement. "Through this intensive track replacement effort, customers traveling between O'Hare and Rosemont will notice a significant improvement in train speeds when work on this section is completed by the end of July.

I'm thinking there's some part of this story we'll never know. The CTA has been shutting down parts of the Blue Line North for months, and as anyone who rides it after rush hour knows, there are crews on the track all week as well. So what has or hasn't been going on to require total shutdown for around three weeks? Given the already mysterious schedule of Blue Line repairs, will they meet the stated deadline?

Chicago Weekend at Illinois Railway Museum

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:22:28 GMT

Hi, everyone. I know I've been quiet recently--I have a lot going on, but do keep an eye on things.

I just wanted to drop a note and say that this weekend is Chicago Weekend at the Illinois Railway Museum.

They typically run a few old CTA cars (from the 4000-series and the 6000- and 1-50-series, for those who know what that means), plus North Shore Line cars (which used to run from downtown Chicago to Milwaukee, WI over the Loop and north side elevated lines), and a couple of old streetcars, including the only one of the following in existence:

and one of few remaining CTA 4000-series cars:

I will be making a trip out (by way of Zipcar), which I signed up for last year for this very purpose. If you have nothing to do tomorrow or Sunday and the means, I suggest you take a trip out there. The museum a pretty amazing resource.

They also have several car barns and yards you can walk through, with countless transit vehicles from around the world.

Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL (exit I-90 tollway exit toward Marengo, follow signs)

Explicit Driving Directions

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 23:40:17 GMT

i have been to boston a couple of times in my life and found myself comparing their transit system to ours. unlike new york (which i feel is worst then ours), boston's system is both better then and worst then ours. i submit to you two pictures taken from the boston "T" i would like to hear your comments on them and would love to hear you compare our transit system to other cites in the united states... and hey even the world.

the inside of their train cars

a sign on their train

Fri, 13 Jun 2008 13:07:17 GMT

Well, today is the last day for my beloved #127. Any other lines get cut?

Not a good day for the CTA...

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:37:25 GMT

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-bicyclist-dead-web-jun11,0,1344357.story

I was on this bus this morning and I am glad to hear this cyclist is in fair condition. Interestingly enough, I usually take the Red Line to and from work and would have been leaving work at Sox/35th just in time to get caught in this afternoon's melee. But today, I had to attend a seminar in Lincoln Park and took the Broadway bus instead... seems like fate would have me involved in a CTA mishap one way or another today!

Hope everyone else didn't have too rough of a commute because of these incidences. At least the weather was nice, right?

Tuesday CTA trouble

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 01:16:19 GMT

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-ctastrikesman,0,5228141.story

I arrived at State and Monroe at about 5:15PM today and everyone coming up the stairs was saying "NO TRAINS" so assume they'd JUST shut it down. At that point, the red line was shut down between Grand and 47th (this off the CTA website) due to the incident described in the news story above.

I walk walked to LaSalle and caught the 135 bus heading north. We made it to LaSalle and Lake after about 25 minutes in traffic and between Lake and Wacker, the bus started to die. The driver would re-start it, idle for a bit, creep forward a few feet then shudder and die again. I kept think he/she should really turn the AC and lights off before trying to re-start the bus as to lessen the strain on the engine. But I don't know how those buses work so what do I know? NUTTIN! I knew I wanted off that bus.

I got off at Wacker and there sat 2 additional buses, a 156 and one more that wasn't labeled because it was off. Both of them were also out of service. So 3 bus loads of people stood at the corner wondering "well, what now?"

I got word that the red line trains were running over top at Lake so I got up there and as soon as I got in a packed brown line train, they announced the red line trains were running underground again. That was at about 6:15.

I rode the brown to Fullerton and waited with a crowd of angry people and really confused Cubs fans from out of town. 3 trains came and went and were too full to get on. when I finally got on, the ride was painful, as expected, and the next stop (belmont) was a nightmare. Some lady was screaming at everyone that she would "block this door until y'all move in!!!!" She was true to her word.

So anyway, I finally got to Addison at about 7, about an hour later than normal. Which...I guess...isn't so bad. Considering.

Fun times!

I still can't believe someone ran across the Dan Ryan expressway.

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:40:49 GMT

CTA guy sounds a LOT different when he says you can track buses online. Anyone know what happened? I hope he's okay.

Also, the welcome aboard and the announcement of things you're not supposed to do on CTA vehicles as well as if you see someone board without paying etc. How often do they play? Does the driver hit a button or do they just go off at random times?

Chicago blows millions in CTA money on Daley vanity project

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:52:48 GMT

Remember when I said Block 37 was a Daley vanity project sucking taxpayer money away from transit for train station and development project nobody needs? Daley defenders insisted the city knew best, make no small plans and that shit, downtown needed it and riders would benefit someday, CTA cost was minimal, etc.

Guess what suckers. As we face rising fares and tight repair budget, the CTA poured tens of millions into a clusterfuck.

City Hall is planning another subsidy for Block 37 — this time a three-phased bailout of an el station under construction there that's running more than $100 million over budget.

Under plans that the Chicago Transit Authority board is scheduled to consider on Wednesday, the city would provide roughly $20 million in additional tax-increment financing funds for the "superstation" beneath the mixed-use project rising at Block 37, Crain's has learned.

In addition, the CTA in several stages over the past year or so has poured an extra $60 million to $70 million of its own money into the project, despite its shortage of capital funds, sources say.

...The city, CTA and Freed all decline to comment on what's occurring at the site, which covers the block west of the Daley Civic Center and east of Macy's State Street store.

But people familiar with the matter say the new subsidies will cover only costs already incurred.

Until even more money is found, those people say, the semi-completed station will be mothballed, much like an unfinished basement in a home whose owner has poured the concrete but can't afford to install carpeting, paneling and other finishing touches.

Originally, the superstation, which will connect the Red Line underneath State with the Blue Line under Dearborn Street, was budgeted at $213 million, with the city and CTA providing about $173 million of that. But spending now is estimated at about $320 million — including mothballing costs but excluding what will be needed to complete construction.

The station was designed to anchor not only the Block 37 complex but also premium-priced express train service from the Loop to O'Hare and Midway airports. The CTA shelved plans for the express because it doesn't have the $1.5 billion or more needed to build it.

Sixty to seventy million dollars of CTA money - think of what that could have done if applied to track maintenence or beefing up bus routes. Think of what three hundred twenty million in taxpayer funds could have done if applied to the CTA instead of Daley's magic unicorn farm. Or think of if that taxpayer money had been spent on, I dunno, all the other things we need.

The bigger lesson is this: Daley is a reckless asshole when it comes to his dream projects. He has lied about the cost and schedule of every single one. The time to oppose the olympics is now, because he will bankrupt the city over it.

I apologize if this is easily answered elsewhere...

Mon, 09 Jun 2008 18:19:06 GMT

But how do you report broken CTA equipment in the station? There's a CTA card fare machine in the South Boulevard station that hasn't been right for weeks and one of the new machines for adding money to your card via your credit card or debit in the Davis Street station that hasn't worked for months.

I'm assuming someone already has, but I figure one more voice couldn't hurt.

I initially thought about reporting the guy manning the South Boulevard station, but I'm never sure if a worker is a security guard hired from an outside firm or an actual CTA employee. This morning, he seemed more willing to talk on his cell than help a woman who was freaked out because she couldn't add money to her transit card.

Happy Birthday, the "L"

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:25:15 GMT

I hadn't been keeping track, but good ol' Chicago-L.org has a note on it marking 116 years of the "L" and I think that's worth a mention.

A rare photo of the South Side "L" during the brief period it went east of Stony Island Avenue into Jackson Park, for the 1893 World's Fair. There is a steam locomotive pulling a passenger train to the Jackson Park terminal blurred-but-visible on the structure, as well as a sign beneath the station that says "Stony Island Ave. Station "Alley 'L'," which shows usage of "L" (not "el") to officially refer to our rapid transit system dating back at least 115 years to when this picture was taken.

On June 6, 1892, the South Side "L" opened for service from Congress St to 39th St (now Pershing Rd). It was Chicago's first elevated rapid transit line, moving quickly above the growing congestion below.

Trains were pulled by coal-burning steam engines, and the separated right-of-way and frequent stops made it an immediate competitor to the horse cars, cable cars, and streetcars below--often jammed up in traffic, sharing passage with carriages and pedestrians.

The South Side "L" would soon be extended to the World's Fair and Columbian Exposition of 1893 held in Jackson Park, and help millions attend an event that showed Chicago's talents, industrial prowess, architectural might, grace, and maturity as a city to the world.

Since then, the line was the first in the world to test and convert to "multiple unit control" (or "MU")--the very first implementation of the technology that allows for multiple train cars to have their own motors, all controlled by a single motorman at the front of a train. This allowed for the elimination of needing a locomotive, and made conversion to electric traction a practical reality. MU is still what the technology is called today, and is used on essentially every electric public transit railway you can think of (and most of the ones you can't).

Following the opening of the line, more "L" companies opened up service to other parts of the city, each with their own separate elevated terminal station just outside of today's Loop, including the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad company (predecessor to the general layout and constructor of certain portions of today's Blue Line), and the Lake Street Elevated Railroad (predecessor to the West Side division of the Green Line). Later, with the impending opening of the Northwestern Elevated (North Side "L" to Wilson via parts of today's Brown and Red Lines), the Loop elevated opened, connecting all of the "L"'s, including the South Side "L."

The line later grew to have several branches, including the Englewood Branch (still in use today as the "Ashland Branch" of the Green Line), and the long-abandoned (or demolished) Kenwood Park, Stockyards, and Normal Park branches.

In 1994, service was temporarily suspended for a two-year, massive renovation project. No original 1892 stations exist in their entirety on the South Side "L", but there are some remnants. In addition to the original track structure being in use after renovation and upgrades, the abandoned station at Racine/63 on the Englewood Branch still exists in its original glory from the early 1900s. Further, the Garfield (55th) station house still exists and is the oldest known rail station facility in the United States.

This line operates today as part of the South Side division of the CTA Green Line, and with few special exceptions, has served South Siders daily, for 116 years as of today.

Happy Birthday, the "L"!

(P.S.: Soon I'll be announcing here an encore presentation of a program on the history of the South Side "L", which I'll be co-presenting.)

(corrected post)

Non slow zone Slow Zones?

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 14:52:25 GMT

So, we all know that the blue line is doing construction to reduce slow zones. They have maps everywhere of the slow zone work they are doing. However, none of the slow zone maps mark the area between California and Logan Square as a slow zone, and yet every morning, they stop the train just before going into the subway, and state that we are being delayed because workers are working on the track ahead. This made me late for work once, and I started taking earlier trains because of it. Does anyone know what is going on in this area, why there are 10 minute delays, if there is no slow zone work in this area? I'm confused... @_@

Another derailment...

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 11:26:03 GMT

According to the Tribune, a Red Line train derailed just short of 95th overnight. Only 1 injury occurred. Service has been restored and there will be no impact on rush hour.

Still, its getting kinda scary now, thats how many derailments? Three in the span of two months or something?

125 Years ago today...

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 20:00:16 GMT

Quickie article in Wired about today, 125 years ago, being the first test run of the "el" here in Chicago.

http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/06/dayintech_0602

Pissed off and Crossposting

Mon, 02 Jun 2008 17:14:20 GMT

Ok, so, the place I work is right by where there is some CTA Brown Line construction going on. There are a number of us who lock our bikes outside every morning to the meters, and never have any problems, until today.

I came out to discover that a piece of heavy machinery had hit the meter and the bike my meter was attached to, destroying my U-lock, severely bending my handlebars, ripping one of my BRAND NEW GRIPS and who knows what else (also leaving a big scuff up the side of the meter).

I took pictures, oh yes I did.

I spoke to the nice woman who is always on site, and she didn't see it happen, but she totally believes it did. She told me who to speak to. I have witnesses to my RAGE upon finding my bike in this state (co-workers).

I spoke to the foreman, who totally blew me off.

Basically, who can I write to to get paid back for the repairs to my bike, and a new u-lock. This is all I want. I'd love to do some shin kicking, but I'm trying to be reasonable here.

Thanks.

Transfers

Fri, 30 May 2008 05:06:10 GMT

Some time ago I had a transit pass that had run out of money but alerted me to 2 transfers left. I was able to transfer from the Belmont bus, enter the Belmont station, ride downtown on the L, go to a 90 minute theatrical performance and come back out to use the last transfer on a northbound bus.

Last week I got on at Sedgwick, rode down to the loop and tried to get on a bus but the driver said I needed another quarter in even though there were two transfers when got it out of the turnstile.

What's going on here?!?!? Please explain the business of transfers. Share any transfer stories as well.

Chicago L 2050 3.0 - Now Google-Enhanced

Thu, 29 May 2008 18:02:04 GMT

Last August, I posted a hypothetical map of Chicago L system based on the planned expansion/extension projects. With your feedback, I modified it a bit, creating this version. Back then, somebody wondered if it might be possible for me to show how those extensions would look on the actual city map. At the time, I wasn't sure how to pull it off, but recently, I figured out how to use the ever handy GoogleMaps customization functions to do just that.

This version tries to take into account all the recent modifications to system development plans, drawing on 2030 Illinois Regional Development Plan, IDOT plans and Alternative Analysis hearings. When possible, I added stations as they appeared on the maps. Failing that, I drew on speculation. Also, because this time, I was working with a city map, I was able to get a better perspective as to where each station should go, so a couple of stations were moved around, added and subtracted. The map also includes some of the stations that could potentially be added to existing lines.

A couple of notes:

When mapping out Mid-City Transitway (or, as this community christened it, "Aqua Line"), I discovered that, while it crossed existing L lines in several places, it wasn't particularly close to any of the existing stations. If the line is actually implemented, they would either have to place intermediate stations nearby or create long transfer corridors. I was hoping that some of you may be able to suggest which option would be the best.

The Mid-City Transitway segment between Montrose and Oakton is the only segment that is based entirely on speculation. While it listed as a possible extension, no potential alignments have been mapped out. For the sake of this map, I tried to follow what I thought was the logical extension of the Mid-City Transitway concept, taking it through several railroad right-of-ways. Also, following the suggestion of this community's members, I extended it all the way to Old Orchard Mall.

As before, feedback and suggestions are welcome.

Edit: And second thought, embedding didn't seem to work. Clicking on the LJ cut will still get you a working link, though.

View Larger Map

Green Line Derailment in Washington Park

Wed, 28 May 2008 17:46:07 GMT

The Green Line derailed this AM. Rush hour service is questionable. More here.

I'm kinda surprised nobody posted this.

the CTA and Google..

Fri, 23 May 2008 23:04:24 GMT

... encourage you to wade through the river, traverse the Metra tracks, and walk through what i believe is a trash processing facility? in order to get from Kohl's on Elston to the 74 Fullerton.

hehe.

Metra to O'Hare

Fri, 23 May 2008 18:22:09 GMT

I'm taking the north central line from Union Station to the O'Hare Transfer. According to the picture of the station on Metra's website, there will be a shuttle bus to take me to the other remote lot where the people mover is located. Is this what happens? Is the shuttle going to show up in a reasonable amount of time? Either my google-fu is failing me or Metra doesn't have a lot of info on their website about this.

x-posted.

couple of random questions

Tue, 20 May 2008 01:08:57 GMT

What's with the fake owls hanging everywhere at the Linden station?
Someone please explain; I was worried that it might be Halloween and I didn't realize it.

Also, does anyone know anything about that place next to the Addison Red Line station with all of the old CTA signs hanging on the outside?
I've been curious about that forever.

photos and the cta?

Sun, 18 May 2008 01:23:35 GMT

After an evening of photography around town last night, I hopped on a red line at Belmont and headed back toward the Loop. I carry a Canon Digital Rebel XTi, which is easily noticeable. The SECOND I walked into the Belmont station, TWO CTA people came up to me right away and asked me to put my camera away. I nicely asked why. They gave me no explanation, but told me if I didn't put it away, they would "remove me from the premesis."

I was rather dumbfounded but obliged without any further discussion.

When I got home, I looked up the policy:

According to this blurb from http://www.ctatattler.com/2005/08/a_picture_is_wo.html:

"Personal photographers are permitted on CTA property if their activity is incidental, does not pose a distraction to others and does not affect any customer's or employee's safety.

"Individuals in this category may be identified by the use of simple cameras. Personal photographers generally spend little time in one location and take pictures while waiting for a train."

Okay, so let me get this straight: "Personal photos," like a group of friends on a platform with a train in the background are permitted...but the trains specifically, are not able to be photographed?

Hey, CTA: Not everyone on this planet has a "simple camera." Your rule has way too many grey areas. You guys need to just say, "NO CAMERAS on the platform...PERIOD." Not even disposable ones.

Anyone else have opinions on this?