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A rocket scientist helped develop the concept behind new ads that "turns a subway wall into a makeshift movie screen," the Sun-Times reports today.
The new ads for Target sound pretty cool. They're on the wall in the Blue Line subway near Clark/Lake. I don't ride the Blue Line much, so all you Blue Line riders, let us know how you like them.
I'm no prude. I'm OK with Public Displays of Affections -- as long as they aren't so obvious and annoying. Unfortunately, some are both.
As the Illinois state legislature raided pension funds to balance the budget and stave off deep cuts to CTA service, the CTA has remained eerily silent on the developments.
The CTA's Web site as of Monday evening still showed the same tired story from April 13 about the details on planned service cuts that have now been averted.
Perhaps they are waiting for Rod's signoature on the budget accord before they count their chickens?
This reader Tattler Tale is brought to you by coffeejedi, who wins the "moniker of the day" award:
I took my first trip to Chicago last weekend. A friend and I were riding the train from O'Hare and a well dressed reasonably attractive young woman got on.
She had a cell-phone and a to-go bag from McDonalds with a salad. After eating the salad, she proceeds to take out a napkin, rip a piece off, cumple it up, and quickly pop it in her mouth. She does this for the entire napkin, making sure that noone is looking. (I saw all this out of the corner of my eye.)
This continues for 2 more napkins. After this strange meal, she gets lip-liner out of her purse, and applies it. I'm talking to my friend, scanning the car, when I notice that she looks around, and proceeds to lick the stick before putting it back in the tube!
A guess when you eat a meal of napkins, you need a fitting dessert.
It's the Memorial Day weekend -- deadline time for the state legislature to hammer out a budget for next year without needing a super majority to pass it. And it appears there is agreement on how to fund the CTA's $55 million shortfall:
The plan is to underfund state pension plans and move that cash to the schools and the CTA.
Am I the only one who thinks that's just not right?
Those pensions are already way underfunded. I'd be really pissed if I were a state employee or a teacher.
We all know that scary things can happen in the Hobo Corner.
For you CTA Tattler neophytes, that's the closed-in compartment opposite the driver's perch.
The other day we found this different sort of snow globe in the Hobo Corner. It's an alligator holding a Florida sign in its outstretched arms.
And that's scary.
And we really don't need it, so if it's yours email me.
You see, we already have one.
As we approached the Addison station on the Red Line at about 9:30 on the night of a Cubs game, the motorman gave us fair warning:
"OK folks, you're gonna have company in a minute. We're heading into the Addison station -- you know what that means -- Cubs fans."
He said it in an ominous tone.
"Now, it's not as bad as if we were going south, not as crowded, but just be aware you're getting more company."
That was odd. I don't remember ever being warned about Cubs fan. But hey, it was a great publice service.
My daughter was on the Red Line, on the way home from high school. Sitting next to her was an 8- or 9-year-old girl, sound asleep. Her snooze was occasionally punctuated by snores.
She finally woke up around Thorndale, and innocently asked: "Did we pass Belmont yet?" My daughter told her she had missed the stop.
"Oh man! And today is my birthday too!" she sighed.
"What are you doing for your birthday?" my daughter politely inquired.
"Oh, I'm having dinner with the president and then having some cake!" she gushed.
My daughter wisely decided not to pursue any further explanation.
The girl got off at Howard and took the Purple Line back to Belmont, and her date with Dubya.
A tall, lanky guy about 30 years old sits by himself on the Red Line headed north. He has shoulder-length brown hair, round, blue-tinted sunglasses and a goatee.
And he mutters.
He mutters the entire trip. I can't really hear what he's saying. But he mutters the entire trip, with an awful, hateful sneer crossing his mouth.
I'm heading home, going north on the Red Line, when two young women board at North and Clybourn.
They start talking about having a party on the Red Line -- my kind of gals!
"Wouldn't it be cool if we just turned the train into one big party?" said one to the other.
"Yeah! We could have one of the cars be the bar car, and play music and dance all the way home!"
OK, who's in? When should we have our Red Line CTA Tattler party? I'm thinking some time in early June to celebrate the first anniversary of this blog (June 10). What say you? If they can do it in New York, we can do it in Chicago.
UPDATE: Here are details on our first anniversary party.
This tale from outside of the CTA comes from Jennifer. You see, the cell phone epidemic is endemic. Thanks Jen!
Tuesday evening I'm riding the Metra Northwest train home. Although the car was full, it was absolutely quiet except for the sound of a mousy, 40-something woman having a very loud conversation on her cell phone.
For the next 35 minutes... yes, 35 minutes... she proceeds to call everyone she knows to describe the Betty Boop watch she just bought.
Over and over again she details each part of the watch. "It's a red-red watch. Not pink, not red... red-red. Betty is wearing a darling little dress. Her hair is so cute. It has lipstick tubes for hands. I love Betty. I'm so excited to find this!"
We all glared and laughed at her obnoxiousness, but she continued to call everyone in her address book. We are not impressed Miss Boop!
Thanks to Cheryl, one of our regular readers, for sharing this Tattler Tale:
Sunday morning I was waiting for a Brown Line at the Francisco stop. There was a large group of people there who looked to be suburbanites who had driven into the neighborhood, parked, and were taking the train to Wrigley Field. There was also a woman who, if you called Central Casting and asked them for a bag lady, they would have sent you this woman.
She was wearing multiple shirts, a voluminous skirt of indeterminate color, one boat shoe and one probably-used-to-be-white sneaker. She had the dozen or so suburbanites cowering near the station end of the platform. She wasn't paying any attention to them, but none of them were going to go near her, as if bag-ladyness is contagious.
After what probably seemed an eternity to the suburbanites, we could see a train make the turn out of the Kimball/Lawrence station and head our way. Right then the bag lady sat down on a bench, arranged her skirt, and peed all over the platform. I noticed one of the suburbanite moms actually put her hand over her son's eyes, though there really wasn't anything to see.
The train arrived, everyone got on, then off as the bag lady got on the same car as the suburbanites. I got on a different car and went on my way.
A guy in his mid-20s steps on the Red Line north at about 7:45 p.m., lugging a bag of heavy books. He's good looking, with medium complexion, wearing faux ghetto clothing.
He makes a big scene about opening his over-stuffed bag of books, and show-offishly pulls out his Business Law book, then a different law book, then his notebook.
Just as quickly he puts everything away in his twitchy, ostentatious way.
He leaves behind on the floor an orange Trojan condom that fell out of his bag.
The last few posts about CTA fights and near-misses have involved men. But watch out if women get pissed at each other!
It was rush hour, and train out of the Loop was already very crowded when we pulled into the Chicago Avenue station. A young woman about 25 years old started elbowing her way onto the train, using the bags she was carrying to run interference for her. But another woman already on board by the door was having none of it.
"Hey you! Don't push me! Stop pushing me!" She was quite a rugged-looking lass of about 50 years old.
The young, pushy cutie was wielding three bags slung over her shoulder. She sarcastically replied, "Oh, I'm soooo sorry! That was my bag. Sorry guys, if my bag is hitting you."
The other woman looked ready to smack her, so it was good they were a couple of feet away from each other.
The last couple of days I've been blogging about fights on the train and near-miss skirmishes. But then there's the guy who looks like the obvious victim of a fight somewhere.
Have you ever seen someone on the CTA with a hideous scar and wonder about the origin of it?
Last week I saw a guy about 50 years old sporting a scar that started on his right jaw and swooshed like the Nike logo down across his neck.
I just wanna know how he survived that knife wound and what did the other guy look like?
As a follow-up to Friday's post about the racist-tainted fight over a radio, here's another train fight that was a near-miss:
I was heading to Sox Park on a Tuesday night. A guy was carrying a cooler, but was not heading to the ball yard. He exited the train at Jackson, and another guy was boarding at the same time. Cooler guy brushed against this guy. Cooler guy says, "Dammit! Watch it, dude! Next time I'll kick your ass!"
The guy boarding the train just stood defiantly in the doorway and said: "I wish you would try." Cooler guy kept walking away from the train.
People! Let's try to be a little more polite and let others get off the train before you try to board. It might avoid such confrontations.
The Sun-Times today provides the first detailed list I've seen of what stations would be closed and when during the Brown Line expansion project. (Thanks to Gapers Block for the tip.)
Copied from the Sun-Times report:
Work would start with Belmont and Fullerton, which are set to undergo the most significant overhauls.
Next on the list is construction and weekend closures at Sedgwick, Armitage and Chicago. And later this year, construction is slated to start at the Western stop, which will remain open, and at Kedzie and Rockwell, which are set to close for up to eight months.
Barring delays, station expansion work and yearlong station closures could begin at the Addison and Montrose stations in December.
In 2006, renovations and temporary closures are expected to start at the Southport and Diversey stations in February and at the Kimball and Francisco stations in August.
In 2007, stations at the Irving Park and Damen stops are set to shut down for January makeovers, with construction and closings starting at Paulina in the spring and Wellington later that year.
The story also reports that construction may be delayed because the CTA hasn't yet acquired all the property needed to complete the project.
The CTA's Web site has details without timelines on the scope of the work.
Thanks to jmonll2 for sharing this amazing story. He/she took the accompanying pix of the incident with his/her cell phone.
I thought I'd seen everything since I moved to Chicago about 8 months ago, but yesterday topped them all off. I was riding the Red Line Train, going to Morse. It was about 9:30 pm and I was coming from Midway Airport after picking up my in-laws and a friend.
This was the first time my in-laws had visited us since we moved here and their first time in Chicago. Our friend is 12 years old and it was his first time in a plane, in Chicago and out of his country, Puerto Rico. At Berwyn, the conductor announced that we would go express all the way to Loyola because of some construction that was going on in the Bryn Mawr, Granville & Thorndale stations.
We were seated at the north end of the train in the southward facing seats. The train was pretty full with almost all of the seats taken. Around Thorndale, we could slowly hear some music starting to get louder. Initially I thought "someone must have their iPod really turned to the max," but as the music started getting louder realized it must be someone with a small radio.
This was corroborated when a white, slightly overweight man, who looked like Michael Moore told someone in sitting in the seats next to the door to turn the radio off. The man ignored him so the man repeated the same message but with a slightly louder voice. After his third attempt to get the man to turn of the radio, he stood up and stood in front of the man, whom I could not see, and told him in a loud voice "if you don't turn it off, I will."
Another installment in my week of crazies:
As I board the southbound Red Line to work on a Monday morning, I hear a woman jabbering away. Sounds like she's on a cell phone.
But no.
This attractive woman, who looks like she's dressed for work, is holding a running conversation with herself -- in Spanish. And darnit! I don't know how to speak Spanish.
This startles many passengers, enough so that it drove one couple off the train, and they moved up to another car!
The conversation with herself ended at Belmont. Maybe her alter ego got off the train at that stop?
Patrick just posted the following in "Add your crazy commuting stories here," and after this morning's rainy commute, I thought it deserved better play. Thanks Patrick.
I just saw a guy get his umbrella stuck in a El door. It was classic!
It was at the Library/State/Van Buren stop. The doors were closing and he stuck the umbrella in hoping to reopen the door. NOPE! The umbrella got stuck.
The guy walked with the El and tried to get it back but the El started picking up speed. He gave up and yelled "shiiittt!' and watched the El take off with his umbrella wedged in.
It happened at 7:15 am this morning. He could have used the umbrella because it was pitch black and started pouring.
Here's another in my continuing series this week on CTA crazies:
Heading north on the Red Line during the after-work rush hour, a 60-ish man with gray hair in a neat pony tail boards at Fullerton. Immediately he begins ranting loudly, making no sense at all.
"Those angels are nothing but socialists. And they don't go to church either."
"People can memorize entire phone books, but they are still mortal beings."
"Part of your soul is leaving you every day. If you only knew the number of particles in your body, then you could conquer space. You conquer space with all those particles."
After he left the train at Addison, a woman knowingly said, "He's a regular. He just babbles."
A guy sitting across from her seemed relieved to hear that. "Yeah, well, that's good. I was trying to make sense of him."
Two different news stories in today's Tribune pubs show different sides of the CTA.
The first shows the open, accessible side -- at least that's what the CTA powers-that-be would like you to believe with the new blog written by CTA board chair Carole Brown. RedEye columnist Alison Neumer talks to other CTA bloggers (including yours truly) about Brown's foray into the blogosphere.
Meanwhile, another Tribune writer tells of the anxiety being felt by Brown Line businesses as they face station closures and probably loss of business when the Brown Line expansion project begins.
We all see people on the CTA who look like they went off their meds. This week I'm documenting my encounters with the same on the Red Line. (Plenty of Tattler material here!)
I've seen this one guy at least a half-dozen times: Mid-40s, scrawny light brown that looks like he's been pulling it out; coke-bottle glasses; scraggly, Don Johnson beard, minus Don's good looks. And today he's wearing a protective foot bootie.
He keeps up a steady conversation, often in response to the automated CTA announcements, such as "doors closing": "Well close the dam doors then why doncha!"
On this ride, he has a seat all to himself in the rear of the car (of course everyone avoids sitting next to him). A woman gets on and the guy says: "Seat down in that seat or I'll take it. If you don't want it I'll grab it." (Mind you, he already has a seat.
Later, he sits laboriously picking he nose, and then happily examines his choice booger. Then eats it.
He keeps moving to other seats, and brushes past someone in the process. "Do you mind not touching me? I don't like to be touched. Anyone who touches me has a problem."
I've written here quite often about the antics of mentally ill people. And so have you. These poor people are struggling with their demons, and we are very afraid of them. This week I'll blog about some recent experiences with the mentally challenged.
We start today with a contribution from my loving spouse:
It's 11 p.m. on the Red Line heading north about of Fullerton. When I board I see a hoggishly obese woman of indeterminate age, wearing an olive-drab, good-quality wool coat, a velvet skirt and a chartreuse and crimson sweater. On her head is a lovely Barbara Streisand wig.
Throughout the ride she makes constant creepy, repetitive hiccuping and jerky, involuntary movements. She occasionally lifts her sweater to scratch her ample, stretch-marked gut. She has dreadful scars on her hands that look like slash or cut marks.
Every person in the car glances at her furtively, fearfully. Her lack of volition is disturbing. Those awful, jerky, involuntary motions. Mental illness scares people.
She was on my car for the entire train ride, scaring the living crap out of me! Naturally, she got off at my stop.
How would you like to be "administratively separated" from your job?
That's what the CTA is preparing to do to many of its workers if the state legislature doesn't fork with the $55 million needed to balance the CTA's budget.
The Sun-Times reported Friday about how the CTA sent layoff notices to 1,884 employees last week. The CTA also issued a scripted guide for managers, including this line: "You will be administratively separated from CTA effective (July 17). This decision has been reviewed by management and is final."
And: "Don't try to find some cause in something you did or didn't do. Instead, focus on making the best of the situation."
Ohh-Kay!
And that's to Tony's SaveChicagoTransit site for the tip on the story.
Jasmine had one of those bus rides the other day that I always seem to encounter. Thanks for sharing with us Jasmine:
Earlier this evening, I was on the outbound Milwaukee Avenue bus (that would be the 56). I was trying to read The New Yorker but I couldn't, as there were dueling Trixies on their cell phones across the aisle from me. When I first noticed them, I thought they were talking to each other. But then I realized that they were both speaking, on their own phones, to different parties. And though there were plenty of seats for one of them to move to, neither budged from her seat. I was hoping that they'd get in each other's faces and start squabbling, but alas, no. They both disembarked at different stops between Division and North Ave.
I get off the bus at Western Avenue, so I can get the Western bus (24) up to Bark Chicago to pick up my friend's dog. The bus is awhile coming, but when it comes I see that I am rewarded by the following personages:
We all have encountered smelly El stations, reeking of urine and other unmentionables. But AJS has a different twist on the story. Thanks for sharing!
Is the smell of human waste getting more and more common on the CTA? I think it is and here's a story from a dear friend of mine to confirm this:
Red Line, aprox. 1:00 AM, between Grand and Sheridan. A rough looking woman dressed in a fuzzy full length coat boards going northbound. She sprawls out on the inward facing seats nearest the door and closes her eyes. A stop or two later a CTA employee boards the car and tells her sleeping is not permitted and she must sit up. He walks out and it immediately becomes clear she is not pleased by this reprimand.
She gets up and appears to search for another seat, checking first in Hobo Corner but it's already occupied. Somewhere between Addison & Sheridan, she proceeds over to the entrance vestibule, leans against the glass divider and drops trou.
Not 5 seconds later a stream of urine is audibly splashing upon the floor and her boots. The puddle quickly grows and soon is creating tributaries towards other passengers. My friend could do nothing but sit in stunned silence as the Sheridan stop approached.
Her bladder now empty, she started to walk back through the car. Another passenger shouted out: "You filthy nasty b itch, you best get yer ass of this train...". My friend disembarked and the fate of the filthy nasty bitch remains a mystery. But we have the lingering odor to remind us of her and her dissatisfaction with CTA policies.
One of our readers was wondering whether management hadn’t grown under CTA President Frank Kruesi – he claims it has grown from “700 desk jobs to just shy of 1500…. On a personal note, I know two people that work in the Howard yard, both say they have at least three bosses telling them what to do.”
“On a side note, I was told that many of the people laid off by the City in the last few years where "transferred" to the CTA in good ol' 11th Ward style politics. So I know why the CTA itself doesn't want to talk about layoffs. But still, why aren't the riders mentioning?”
So I asked the CTA Insider about this. His/her response:
The increase was stated as a 117% increase in administrative positions. This is true and they have been coming our way for the past 6 years. I had a buddy whose sister was in the Mart in personnel, and she told the story of this woman coming from the city and then stating her job was to get rid of anyone who didn't have a "Chinaman" who had the clout of her own guy.
There's at least 7 people I have seen come from city departments into the CTA (with no knowledge of transportation at all). I wondered myself why the kibosh was put on any follow-up to this story. IT'S ALL POLITICS! The 3 bosses per guy is true, there's an administrative manager, customer assistance manager, transportation manager, general manager, special operations manager, special events manager and my all-time favorite...MANAGER AT LARGE!
These all have no interaction with the public and are not front-line employees. (Many have received info that they may be let go.)
A woman in her mid-20s stands on a crowded Red Line train, her iPod headphones blaring. Her hair is dyed black with fuchsia-striped bangs. On the back of her head, the fuchsia takes over, making her head look ablaze. She has a number of head piercings, including nose and ear bars.
I gaze down to her legs and notice she's wearing 4-inch platform shoes over tights that are black with fuchsia diamonds. A very nice match to her head!
She politely but loudly asks if she can move ahead of the person in front of her to get closer to the exit. You see, members of the iPod nation can't hear, so they think they must talk louder to compensate.
The CTA Insider shares a story about guard dog that he/she says has been making the rounds of CTA employees:
"There has been a story making the rounds: This guy on a brown line train supposedly tells a K9 patrol guy, "I have all kinds of dogs." And as he's trying to pet the dog the officer tells him to back off.
"The guy then says, "Hey I'm good with dogs, watch!" He leans in and reaches for the dog. The dog goes off on him trying to get to the guy, barking and snarling. The cop says the dog only does this when he 'hits' on something. So they searched the guys and it turns out he was carrying coke and weed."
As News of the Weird would say: Most Incompetent Criminal.
Post a comment below if you have a question for the CTA Insider.
CBS News reports that CTA President Frank Kruesi is in Springfield this week, lobbying legislators for $55 million this year so the CTA doesn't have to impose draconian service cuts.
Kruesi has been criticized in the past for not personally lobbying in Springfield, so maybe he's gotten the message. But I have also read that he's almost a persona non gratis in our fine Capitol because he rubs people the wrong way, especially our Senate President Emil Jones.
Let's hope he can rub a genie's lamp and make that cash appear.
PS: Thanks to Tony Coppoletta's email alert for this tip. Check out his highly informative CTA site, and sign up for the emails.
Two young women in their late 20s boarded the Red Line south at Addison. One sat next to me, the other sat across the aisle, but ahead one seat, facing each other. So they were about 6 feet away from each other.
They started whispering to each other, mouthing words that certainly I couldn't hear, and I was sitting next to one of the women. Yet they carried on a long conversation, and I really didn't hear any of it.
It dawned on me in looking closely at them that they probably are sisters, they looked that much alike. So I suppose it was a sisterly bond that allowed them to communicate so well in whispers from 6 feet away on a noisy train.
I just got this inside scoop from the CTA Insider:
"Just found out the guy that won the Rail Rodeo last year for RTO (rail transit operator) was suspended for 3 days because he was late twice. How's that for gratitude? They got all this play off this guy on that CTA show (Getting Around I think that's the name of it) on public access and he loses 3 days based on our new guidelines!!!"
So, no one is above the rules, eh?
Am I the only one wondering what exactly those Securitas employees do for a living?
On the Red Line Grand platform, an employee who ostensibly is supposed to be providing security sits on his/her butt way at the south end of the platform and DOES NOTHING!
The CTA Insider says: "Those are Securitas guards. They are a private contractor that the CTA pays $20 an hour. They turn around and then they pay their people $8.50. And they say PLATFORM SECURITY IS A PRIORITY AT THE CTA!!!???"
My lovely spouse shares this wacky CTA bus story, a personal birthday gift to her from the CTA denizens. It's great to know buses are no more or less wild and crazy than the trains.
I board the No. 81 Lawrence bus at California headed eastbound. I'm carrying our pet cockatiel in a traveler’s cage, coming from a checkup.
I work my way to the back of the bus, where I see two women in their early 20s chatting, while their two toddlers play on a seat. The women are discussing their plans for after they get their GED degree, oblivious to the fact that their toddlers are starting to get into tussle over who gets to sit in the seat by the door. They get louder, as it appears the younger one is gaining the upper hand in the argument.
Just then, a 40-ish man boards and -- GASP!! -- takes the coveted seat by the door! This sends the younger toddler over the edge, and she starts wailing and screeching.
That finally gets her mother's attention, and she starts hitting and pinching her. "Shut the f*ck up! Shut up NOW!" She whips out her cell phone and warn: "I'm calling Michael! You think I'm lying? I'm gonna press Send right now. You think I'm kidding." This went on for a few minutes.
Continue reading "Bus tales: Brawling brothers confront screaming toddler" »
I wrote yesterday about another death on CTA tracks. As far as I know, it hasn't yet been classified a suicide. But I do know that when I post about deaths or suicides on CTA tracks, I get lots of comments.
Some folks call the suicide victims selfish. Others take a more compassionate approach. However you feel, it is a subject that makes us think, and feel. And it's not going away.
One commenter on the Eyewitness account of the Loyola CTA platform suicide wanted to know why the papers don't cover suicides so much. Another said it was probably a good thing, because "when these types of things appear in the papers it gives others the idea, and there would be more jumpers."
I came across some research that validates that viewpoint -- "Reporting on Suicide: Recommendations for the Media":
"The media can play a powerful role in educating the public about suicide prevention.
"Stories about suicide can inform readers and viewers about the likely causes of suicide, its warning signs, trends in suicide rates, and recent treatment advances. They can also highlight opportunities to prevent suicide. Media stories about individual deaths by suicide may be newsworthy and need to be covered, but they also have the potential to do harm. Implementation of recommendations for media coverage of suicide has been shown to decrease suicide rates:
Last week I provided a link to the National Transportation Safety Board report on 2001 accident where a Brown Line train ran into the rear of a standing Purple Line train. Taht prompted a reader to write his firsthand accoutn of being on the Purple Line that was struck. Thanks for sharing, Russ!
I have been a fan of your site since I saw it mentioned in the Trib’s RedEye, and I want to thank you for the link you provided to the NTSB with respect to the 8/3/01 El collision on the Brown and Purple Line. I was on the Purple Line train #505 hit that day, I think the fourth car back, and was among the uninjured. I have always wondered the speed at which we were hit, but never followed up on exploring it. I remember in the news, the NTSB rebuking the CTA’s initial public statement that the collision was at less than 5 MPH, and the CTA’s subsequent revision of their statement to 5-15 MPH accordingly.
Final verdict: 11 MPH. The NTSB’s assessment that in spite of the 300+ foot visibility from the train that hit us, and of the 31 feet they calculated it would have taken to bring that train to a stop, and of the brakes not being applied until 1.5 seconds before the collision were surprising revelations. And the operator tested negative for drugs and alcohol. I wonder if he also tested negative for having at least the intellect of a tumbleweed.
I would like to provide a detailed firsthand account of that experience. Our train had started to move slowly after having come to a stop midway between Sedgwick and Chicago, right over the taxicab corral on the right. I remember this because after the collision, I was ridiculing in my mind some genius next to me who was speculating with someone whether we hit something or were hit from behind: “Wait, but wouldn’t you go forward?” (DUH, DUH, DUH) I was standing in the aisle, facing the doors, my left hand holding the rear pole of the left forward vestibule. I had a firm grip on the pole, even though the train was barely moving. I’ve seen too many tourists, drunk fellow Cub fans, and yes, just sober native idiots stumble or fall when the train lunges abruptly.
Loud bang, I was thrown rearward to full extension of my arm, but reflexively tightened my grip and did not fall. I was the only aisle passenger in my car still standing. Everyone else standing who did not have a place to fall, i.e., in the vestibule or against the rear door, was on top of another. I know of a guy at work who was on that train whose foot was fractured because someone fell on it.
I went to the forward door between cars, to make a cellphone call to my supervisor to explain in a little more quiet privacy what had happened, and asking that she explain to people who were expecting me at an important meeting that I would be late and had no idea when they’d get us off this thing. Couldn’t do it. The impact buckled the threshold of that door, so that it didn’t open. Then I saw the spiderweb pattern in the window of the rear door of the next-front car, right about head-level of someone of my six-foot height. So I made the call in the car, describing these details. It is interesting after these years seeing what I told my boss corroborated in the NTSB report.
Continue reading "Reader's first-person account of El accident" »
The Tribune reports today that State Rep. Julie Hamos, chair of the House Committee on Mass Transit, has vowed that she would "ensure that funding to close the [CTA] deficit would be included in the final budget presented to the governor."
That's great news for us CTA passengers worried that the transit agency will follow through on its threat to reduce weekday service to Sunday levels.
Hamos has been a true leader on this subject. I know her personally, and she is smart and knows how to get things done. So we can trust her on this one. She recently proposed restructuring transportation services for the disabled to provide a short-term solution and avoid the CTA cuts.
The idea is for the state to take over the $50 million program and then charge Medicaid for the services to recoup most of the money. The CTA is $55 million in the red, so that idea should just about do it.
The Red Line north of Belmonth was shut down for about two hours Saturday afternoon in the aftermath of a train striking and killing a man on the tracks at Wilson.
Neither the Sun-Times nor Tribune had anymore details. Now were they calling it a suicide.
Much has been written here about train suicides and deaths of passengers on the tracks.
And I'm sorry about that.
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