CTA Tattler

Cubs' fans dreaded El view

The El-level view Cubs fans hate most is the purple flag with the white L hanging over the center field scoreboard.

Especially this time of year, in the midst of a run for a wild-card playoff berth. Yesterday's late-inning loss after a ninth-inning blown save was particularly hurtful.

After a win, the Cubs faithful can breathe a sigh of relief when they spy the white flag with the purple W fluttering in the wind. Another notch in the win column.

Of course, the "In Dusty We Trusty" back-porch banner is a familiar El-level view for Red Line riders going north from Belmont. And when you look down on the crowds at Murphy's Bleachers after the game, don't you sometimes wish you were there?

But only if the W flag is flying, right?

Fighting back against El Evangelista

Since my entry last week about the El Evangelista, I saw her again. On the same morning that Tribune columnist Eric Zorn did. And he blogged about it too.

Zorn actually confronted her, but had a run-in with her muscleman. (I didn't see Mr. Muscle, but then, I didn't confront her.)

But the best way I've read so far about how to fight back is something I saw mentioned both in Zorn's piece and in Livejournal's Chicago El community (lotsa great stuff here, BTW).

In a nutshell, K.R. Munson started singing show tunes on a New York train when an evangelist started her rant. Soon, others joined in. Perfect!

CTA riders as "test subjects"

Two train ad cards I saw in the last few days have me wondering what kind of people "they" think are riding public transportation.

Rush University was looking for folks suffering from depression to try out some scary-sounding treatment: transcranial magnetic stimulation. Test subjects are required to be aged 18-70, and depressed at least four weeks. Plus they must have previously tried other anti-depression treatments.

Also, a University of Chicago study (search near bottom of Web page) aims to "study the effects of non-experimental, FDA-approved drugs on mood and motor abilities." Participants can earn between $60 and $550 over 1-9 sessions, depending on the study. They must be in good health between 21 and 39 years old.

Aren't we patient CTA riders all just great test subjects?

First the sleeper, now the wheechair-bound?

Regular Tattler and John Kass readers know the saga of the guy ticketed for sleeping on the train.

Now comes an incredible story from an emailer. I've not been able to independently verify this story, but it doesn't surprise me. This is a letter she sent to CTA President Frank Kruesi:

"Dear CTA President Frank Kruesi,

"I am visiting the US from Costa Rica. On the second day of my four-day visit to Chicago, I was ticketed after not sliding my card through the handicapped entrance at the Chicago stop on the Red line.

"I was following another CTA customer through this entrance and was unaware that this was paying turnstile. I expected to put my card through a traditional turnstile after passing through this entrance.

A sparkling Red Line shocker

Shocker of all shockers!

The Red Line car I was riding to work this morning was clean. And I mean sparkling clean. Like, eat-off-the-floors clean.

Well, OK, maybe I exaggerate a little bit. But it was at least Mr. Clean clean.

CTA rush hour service cuts? Yikes!

Now CTA President Frank Kruesi is threatening rush hour service cuts if the state transportation funding formula isn't changed.

The Sun-Times reports:

"In 1997, the CTA reduced service by 10 percent to balance a budget $25 million in the red. It will take "three to four times" more service reductions to balance the budget this time around, Kruesi said.

"Kruesi isn't looking for a state bailout. He wants lawmakers to change the way transportation funding is allocated in the Chicago area, a move supported by the RTA board."

Go here for the CTA's spin on the issue.

Soon I'll post the date and locations of three scheduled public hearings.

No-homework zone; battery butt

Seen between Argyle and Belmont on the same Red Line car:

** An older woman sits in the aisle seat, with her messenger bag on the empty window seat, doing her German homework. On this particular day, there were a couple of empty seats. But I wonder whether she would have moved her books if the train were more crowded.

** I notice two AA batteries on an empty aisle seat across the way. A very large woman gets on at Lawrence and plops comfortably on top of the batteries, totally unaware of them. I'm thinking: Is it princess and the pea syndrome, or too much padding?

All the news that's not in print

A couple slides into the seat behind me at Granville. The guy immediately takes out his Blackberry phone and begins surfing news Web sites.

"Hurricane Ivan is over Grenada now."

"Yeah?" says his partner.

"The Cubs have to play two doubleheaders because of Hurricane Frances."

"Hmmm."

"The Red Sox won last night."

"Heh."

Her ennui suugested she really wanted him to just read a newspaper quietly.

Wearing his politics on his sleeves, pants . . .

A movie-star good-looking man boards the Red Line going south at Howard. He has a pair a roller blades slung over his neck.

He's wearing olive drab camo-pants and a blue, wife-beater T shirt. He has waist-length hair tied in 10-15 rows of small braids.

Written at least 100 times all over his pants and shirt in Sharpie marker is: "Vote for John Kerry!"

His back sports the legend: "Bush: His rich daddy got him in".

Tribune discovers Red, Blue Line strangeness

In a story today (reg. req.) about how the CTA budget crunch might force cuts in overnight El service, the Tribune learns that sometimes odd people ride the Red and Blue Lines late at night.

They need to read CTA Tattler a litte more.

One interesting fact they report is that Chicago has the only city train system running 24 hours.

Makes me wonder, what about New York City?