CTA Tattler

Getting on a specific car so you can get off by the escalator or the stairs? I do the exact same thing. :: Seat-wise, if possible, I generally always sit in a seat closest to the doors so I can get off the train more quickly. :: Guess I'm anal, too.

There's a difference between having wise habits and being anal retentive, no?

As a Brown Liner who gets on at Irving, my habit onvolves positioning myself to pimp one of those sweet single seats when their occupants switch at Belmont (they're almost always already taken by the time I board). It's an inexact science, of course, but I succeed around half the time. And when I do, I can stretch my legs out and read in comfort....

Good point Steve. And great trick you've shared here. I love that lone seat myself. Gotta love this kind of pimping....

We're moving to Chicago in less than a month, at which time I will develop my own wild and wonderful Red Line habits. However, I used to live in Atlanta and despite all the obvious obstacles, took MARTA almost every day and had a very similar routine regarding where I stood on the platform, which car I got on, and seating preferences.

I look forward to getting into the groove once we move.

I'm all about routines on the train. Not so much on the ride itself but more so with the station and platform. I board the Brown Line at Western in the morning and know just where to stand on the platform so that when the train stops, a door is right in front of me. If I'm feeling tired, I position myself so I will board a car via the doors closest to those sideway facing single seats at the one end of tha car. Perfect for sleeping. If I'm not tired, I really don't care where I get on but try and gun for the single seats facing forward or backward. Side facing seats by the door are trash as it is a less comfortable start-stop experience (IMO)and there are always people hanging on you when the train gets crowded. I play the "switch to a better seat at Belmont" game if I don't get a seat I like.

On the way home, I board at Adams-Wabash. 2nd car, front door. This door is closest to the single side-facing seats in that car (for sleeping after a long day) and that door also opens right next to the stairs at Addison (where I get off). If the Admas platform is crowded near the head of the platform, I will opt for the third car, rear door. Exact opposite of the situation above.

At least I don't spend a lot of time thinking about this...

Yep, I'm with you High Live; wouldn't want to waste a lot of time thinking about this stuff!

;-)

I get on the end of the Brown Line, so I always sit in the last car in the morning. Worse, I pick the same seat -- the second single, with all the leg room. That way I don't have to sit next to anyone in the morning & I get my space. I tend to sit in the first car when I go home since I usually ride at ungodly hours. It makes me feel better.

I don't take the El, but I do commute on the Metra and it is all the same sort of thing. The amazing thing to me is how quickly the habits form -- I'm studying for 1 month in Switzerland, and I already have prefered cars/platform locations for the Metro here. Everybody has their little ways of getting through the day...

I ride the Blue Line from Addison to Rosemont in the morning, so I sit on the southbound side of the only heated seating area on the platform and watch for the northbound train to come up and around. If I get up as soon as I see it and walk north, I'll make it to the front doors of the first car just as they open up. It's a little more crowded in the first car, but at Rosemont, I'm the first one down the escalator. And that means no damn standers!