Tell us your crazy commuting tales

If you ride public transportation on a regular basis, you have a story.

A story about that crazy lady yelling Bible verses. About the sleeping guy who smells like he hadn't taken a bath in weeks. About the rude ticket agent. About the woman fighting with her boy friend on the cell phone.

And we all want to hear them.

Click on "Comments" below this post (or scroll down below the last comment) and tell us your story. I'll make separate posts of the good ones.

Comments

[Christina2203]

I was sitting on the Orange Line on my way to work, with my boyfriend. This man was behind me, he was probably in his 50's. He wasn't homeless but he wasn't a business man either. All of a sudden i feel someting on my hair as we were coming up to a stop. I realize that the man was playing with my hair. i turned around to say something, but he got up and ran off the train. no self control i guess.

[Margaret]

Christina2203: That has happened to me, too! Twice! The first time was on the Purple Line going north, and a drunk guy did it. The second time was on a CTA bus (Irving Park bus?), and a young hispanic kid did it. Both times I jumped up immediately in disgust, moving to another spot. (((shiver))) Creepy.

[Margaret]

Yesterday after work (about 5:15pm) I was heading towards the subway entrance at Chicago and State Streets. A fire engine was parked outside with its lights flashing--not a good sign. A fire department guy (perhaps a firefighter, but not in his full-on gear) was standing outside the escalators. I saw people stop to talk to him, but they continued on down to the station, so I figured it wasn't anything serious. I got down to the bottom of the escalator and saw three firefighters (again, not in their typical gear) and one or two CTA staffers grouped around the tall revolving exit gates (not the turnstyles, but the tall gates that are like revolving doors with horizontal bars).

Trapped inside one of the gates was a young guy with a bike. (Now, remember, this was happening during rush hour, when you aren't supposed to bring bikes on the train in the first place.) Apparently he had tried to exit with his bike through the revolving gate and gotten himself stuck! He couldn't move forward or back out of the gate. I didn't stay to watch the firemen get the guy out. I just shook my head, said "D'oh!" (like Homer Simpson) to myself, and kept going down to the subway platform. To my right I heard a woman say, "I feel so bad for him!", referring to the stuck biker. Yeah, definitely an embarrassing moment for that foolish guy.

[Brandon]

My wife and I (both new to the area) were on a crowded blue-line train heading from damen travelling north toward the belmont stop when a young guy got on somewhere in between carrying his pet boa constrictor around his neck. I thought it was a fake until I saw it's tongue do that "tasting-the-air" thing - flickering up and down. Everyone around, standing and holding onto a pole, stepped back slightly as one guy pulled out his cell phone and asked if he could snap a shot of it and it's owner. The young guy kinda took a gangsta pose and I then realized that the snake was his bling-bling. natural organic bling.

[Brad]

"The Big Lie"

The CTA trains are starting to use this again, and I can't stand it!

The Big Lie is when a train conductor says "Another (insert train line name) Train is directly behind." in an effort to keep people from boarding full or nearly full trains.

First of all....there is ALWAYS a train behind because they are all on the same track. Conductors should be banned from saying directly unless the trains are literally backed up and another train will be in the station in less than a minute.

Grrrr...I hate the "Big Lie"

[cmama]

Margret,

I don't know what it is about people and bikes at that Chicago/State red line station. Last year I saw a guy with a bike stuck in the gate. He actually hesitated, looked at the turnstile, then looked at the gate and decided to put the bike in the gate virtically. He got in after the bike then the handles got stuck. Everybody looked at him, laughed, then went to the turnstile. I do wonder how they free a person who's been trapped in the gate.

[John K]

Don't know if this is technically footsies or not, but for a while on the red line, college girls were holding the chrome bar next to my hand, stroking my hand with her thumb. happened several times. Always grateful for any female contect!

[Kimberli]

I got on the SB Red Line at Morse today and the conductor waited a few extra seconds for a family of three to get on, a father, a teenaged mohawked son, and a few feet behind them, the mother. The son and the father got on and the dad stood in the doors and yelled, totally seriously, "Hurry up, BITCH!" at his wife who was just coming up the stairs. I made eye contact with this other girl on the train and we both had horror in our eyes. It was unbelievable! The woman did get on and she looked really embarrassed and shamed. I wanted to get up and kick Dad in the balls.

[Kimberli]

Margaret-- I totally saw that guy! I walked by thinking, "Dumbass." What would make a person try to fit a bike through there? I felt like going over the him and poking him with a stick, knowing he couldn't exactly chase after me.

[jt]

hey Margaret, cmama and Kimberli-I saw a guy stuck with his bike like that at the Bryn Mawr stop about a year ago. The revolving exit is on the other side of the street from the actual station there, and it had obviously just happened when I passed through, so I went and told the security person in the station "there's a guy stuck in the gate across the street." She looked at me in disbelief, so I said "just go look, you'll see what I mean." I bet they had to cut the bike up to get it out. People can be real morons sometimes!

[rexblade]

As if being an hour late for my mid-term exam wasn't bad enough, I got caught at the red line Harrison stop by that train fire at Bryn Mawr. The good news is that I actually had a very helpful train operator.

At first, he simply announced that the train wouldn't be moving for a very long time. He said "I can't tell you everything, and you'll probably hear about it on the news later, but an incident happened at Bryn Mawr and we're completely backed up. We'll be at Harrison for a really long time, so if you know another route to the north side, you're better off taking it." He could have left it at that, but then he told us to hold on a sec while he tried to contact the train ahead, to see if he could at least get us to Jackson where we could transfer to another line easier. When it was settled that the train ahead was just as stuck as we were, the operator actually got off the train and went to every car telling us about the Bryn Mawr fire and gave directions for alternate routes to anyone who needed them.

Bravo!!

[Texas]

I was on the purple line train that caught fire yesterday August 24. I gotta say, it's probably the most dramatic thing that's happened to me on public transit in any city. Smoke everywhere, firefighters on the tracks and news choppers in the air. They evacuated about half the train, and we all trooped back down the track bed to a red line train behind us on the inside track, where we waited for about 30 minutes while they got the burned train under control.

But the weirdest part is, after all this, I cannot find word one about this incident anywhere on the local TV news, newspaper websites - anything. Now I'm starting to wonder if I dreamed it all. Oh well.

[Warren]

You know how when you're watching movies you say to yourself that you know it's fiction because something that big would surely make the news? Well, now you know the truth. ;>

[ellisa]

Below are email between myself and Terry Levin V.P. of Customer Service for CTA. This is a good example of CTAs lack of service and responsibility taking.

Terry Levin wrote:
Well, then it's a mystery that I cannot explain. We have no one named Richard in CTA Customer Service and all the details of your conversation with him suggest you somehow were speaking to the RTA travel information center, rather than to the CTA. Our folks do take complaints and will not refer people to the garages unless the customer insists on being transferred there.

--Terry Levin

---- Original Message -----
From: ellisa ozia
To: Terry Levin
Sent: Thursday, June 16, 2005 10:27 AM
Subject: Re: Reimbursement request - Terry Levin

No. My first selection was "customer service", and my second selection was "comments or complaints". I may have been "commendations/complaints".

Terry Levin wrote:
Did you by any chance select the "travel information" option on the phone menu?

--Terry Levin

----- Original Message -----
From: ellisa ozia
To: Terry Levin
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 5:21 PM
Subject: Re: Reimbursement request - Terry Levin

I called 888-your-cta. I dialed the number at 9:23, by the time we hung up from each other it was 9:28.

Terry Levin wrote:
Thanks for your note. We have no one in customer service named Richard. Can you tell me what number you dialed?

--Terry Levin

----- Original Message -----
From: ellisa ozia
To: Terry Levin
Sent: Wednesday, June 15, 2005 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: Reimbursement request - Terry Levin

I left you a VM this morning.

The 9:14am 136 bus going south bound is the last one of the morning, at 9:28 it was still a "no show". I contacted your customer service department again, and still no help. I spoke to a gentleman by the name of Richard.

1. I asked if he knew of any problems with the bus, he hadn't
2. I then asked if I could report a problem, he said he didn't take complaints but that he could give me the number to the garage.

Mr. Levin, I have been riding CTA buses my whole life, I don't own a car, and I can almost bet money that you do not ride CTA buses for work or errands. Nor do you need the assistance of CTA customer service. I know about traffic, detours, break downs, etc., and you have told me everything under the sun about delays, but you still have not acknowledge by original issues from December which were:

YOUR MANAGER:
Told me to wait for the bus
Spoke to me 6 times within an hour
Told me that he was sending a bus
Had me waiting over an hour for a bus that never arrived
Told me he was sending a supervisor to find out what was going on

You getting back to me in a very timely manner is very appreciated, but when you go around and around my original concern from December and not returning my call like I asked in my last email, is insulting. I have been complaining to CTA about the 136 for about a year now, I first put something in writing in December, and I am still having the same problems. Now do you see why I feel it's a waste of time?

I definitely feel CTA should reimburse me the $16.30 from December. The bus not showing up had nothing to do with any of the reasons you gave me of why a bus might be late. The bus was in fact not late, but did not show up at all.

I have wrote to Mr. Lachowicz and then to you. Mr. Lachowicz referred me to you, I forwarded the letters I sent him to you, and I now want to take this up with someone else at CTA.

Ellisa

Terry Levin wrote:
Thank you for your latest complaint; I do not yet have answers about last Friday or today concerning the #136 route, but I am asking the supervisors of the route to specially monitor the service, particularly on the last two southbound buses of the morning. I also am bringing your complaint to THEIR supervisors to ensure any possible corrective action is taken as quickly as possible. There will always be traffic problems that are beyond our control which can cause a bus to be late or suddenly detoured, but we will always work to keep as close to schedule as possible and we take every complaint seriously.

As I mentioned previously, our customer service operators may not know--nor be able to find out--what the cause of a delay might be while it is occurring and you are waiting on the phone. We can usually find out about a major problems, such as a bus breaking down or someone becoming ill, because the bus operator reports such things to our Control Center. But we do not have at our fingertips information on delays that are caused by traffic congestion or other sudden causes that affect our progress, but don't necessarily involve our vehicles as a cause of the problem.

Our customer service operators will always record and process a complaint if they understand you are reporting a problem. I have no way to guess how your conversations went this morning or last Friday, but if they thought you were asking a question rather than filing a complaint, they might react in a different manner. If you make it clear that you are filing a complaint, they should be taking down the information. In the case of last Friday and this morning, I have already made sure your complaints are in.

I do hope you will not think it a waste of time to complain about your bus service, because customer feedback helps us learn about problems faster than might otherwise be possible. Even if I cannot always satisfy you with an immediate answer or by paying your cab fare, we do take all complaints seriously and we use them to help identify problems and take any possible corrective action.

Sincerely,

Terry Levin

----- Original Message -----
From: ellisa ozia
To: Terry Levin
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2005 11:26 AM
Subject: Re: Reimbursement request - Terry Levin

Mr. Levin,

I left you a voice mail message this morning regarding the 136 bus. You sent me the email below on 4/5/05, after reading it, I had to walk away from this for a while. I feel you totally disregarded the facts that I wrote to you and Mr. Lachowicz about.

Not once did you acknowledge the fact that YOUR MANAGER:

Told me to wait for the bus
Spoke to me 6 times within an hour
Told me that he was sending a bus
Had me waiting over an hour for a bus that never arrived
Told me he was sending a supervisor to find out what was going on

Mr. Levin, I have called Customer Service a few times since your last email. The most recent times was this morning and last Friday 5/27/05. On Friday Customer Service could not tell me why the bus was being re-routed from Wacker and Columbus and this morning they couldn't tell me why the 136 was so late. The 9:04 didn't show and the 9:14 arrived at Foster and Sheridan at 9:22. The Representative could not give me a reason, did not offer to take a report, or any of the things you said Customer Service could do. The same with the Representative I spoke with last Friday. Like I wrote in my first email to you, they don't know what's going on.

Also, the last paragraph in your last email is incorrect, there are still problems with the 136 being on time, I just felt it's a waste of time to complain. The last two runs of the day from downtown and the last run of the day to downtown from Foster and Sheridan have not been on time. The morning run has been more of a problem now.

I have to get back to work, and this is getting too time consuming. I'd appreciate if you would give me a call at your earliest convenience. My number is 312-277-0150. Thank you.

Ellisa

Terry Levin wrote:
Dear Ms. Ozia:

Thank you for your response. I think you may have misinterpreted my explanation about not being able to reimburse you for your cab fare. It is not that someone higher up than me has the authority to do it; it is that the CTA simply is not in a position to make reimbursement when someone chooses to take another form of transportation.

The reason I thought you were seeking reimbursement for your cell phone calls was the wording in the Jan. 20 letter that you forwarded to me, in which you described sending the listing of those calls and then later in the text asked for reimbursement. I apologize for the assumption, since you could have just been emphasizing the number of times you had been calling.

Customer Service actually can often find out what is going on if there is an accident or detour or some other specific reason for a long delay, though it may take a few minutes depending on the ability of our Control Center to reach the relevant personnel in the field. But if there is not an overt cause--a bus breaking down or a traffic blockage, etc.--and the delay is created by traffic congestion or another problem that has not yet been reported by the bus operator, it may not be possible to document the specific reason while you are waiting on the phone.

The garages often are not "the source" of the problem, though it depends on the actual cause of a delay. If something prevents the garage from sending out each bus on time--mechanical problems, lack of drivers, etc.--then certainly the garage knows about it and needs to take corrective action. But once the buses are out on the street, the responsibility to monitor them and identify problems that cause delays shifts to our field operations staff. That is why I continue to suggest that you report any problems to the Customer Service number, since the problem may not be one under the jurisdiction of the garage. Plus, even if Customer Service is unable to tell you right away what the problem is for a delay occurring at the moment, your call still ensures that all the proper officials are quickly aware of the problem, that relevant staff beyond the garage are also working to determine the cause, and that everyone concerned is aware of how frequent a particular problem might be. An isolated problem can arise any time, without warning; it is the ongoing problems that need the most attention so that whatever may be causing them over and over again can be identified and corrected to the extent humanly possible.

Again, I know you will not like the answer about the cab reimbursement, but the CTA just cannot commit to such payments. What we can do--and have done in your case--is take your complaint seriously and do our best to correct any problems that you report to us. The fact that you apparently have not had a serious problem like this in the past three months hopefully reflects the positive results of this effort. I can't guarantee that it will never happen again--we fall as short of perfection as any other human endeavor--but I can promise we will always work to minimize the problems and correct those we cannot avoid. We value you as a customer and we will always strive to give you the best-possible level of service we can.

Sincerely,

Terry Levin


----- Original Message -----
From: ellisa ozia
To: Terry Levin
Sent: Tuesday, April 05, 2005 11:07 AM
Subject: Re: Reimbursement request - Terry Levin

Hello Mr. Levin,

Thank you for your quick response. Can you give me the name or department that is in a position to reimburse me for my cab fare? I'm not looking for reimbursement for cell phone calls, I'm not sure why you think I would be.

Calling the Customer Service line is useless when it comes to finding out what's going on with your buses. They can't tell you why the bus is late, if the bus is coming, or anything they may have happened on the route, such as a accident. When you're waiting at the bus stop finding out when or if your bus is coming is what's important.

It's a shame that riders can't get problems solved at the source, which is N.P. garage for the 136 bus. I've spoke to a few of the Managers at N.P. garage over the last few months, are you telling me they are unable to correct the service problems from the Source? The 136 still leaves late from Franklin & Jackson, but at least now they are showing up for the last two runs. However, if there's a Supervisor present at Franklin & Jackson, the buses run like clockwork.

This response is a disappointment, and unfortunately I did not make "serious" efforts to get reimbursed for my cab ride because I first contacted Mr. Lachowicz about this on 1/20/05 and have never heard back from him or anyone at his office. I should have been a little more on top of this and a little less patient, or taken it to another level at CTA.

Considering:
1. 41 calls to N.P. garage in 6 consecutive months.
2. Waiting over an hour for a bus on 12/28/04 that Manager Smith promised would show up, but never did.
3. Waiting for 30 minutes for a Supervisor to arrive on 12/28/04, to help with the problem. The Supervisor came, stayed in his car, offered no explanation to waiting passengers, and then left without a word.
4. More than 6 calls with Manager Smith on 12/28/04 regarding the bus showing up.
5. Being inconvenienced for over an hour on 12/28/04 based on what Manager Smith was telling me.

I don't think it's too much to ask to be reimbursed for a cab ride that could have been avoided had the bus at around 7:15 showed up as Manager Smith "swears" it would. This was over 40 minutes after the very last run for the 136 bus, but I waited based on what he kept telling me.

I appreciate your apology about the service, but after so many apologies over the last few months from CTA management, apologies don't mean as much, because they don't solve anything.

I don't understand why the V.P. of Customer Service can not issue a transit card for $16.30 to a customer that has clearly been inconvenienced directly by CTA management, but if you say you can't, you can't. Please let me know who can, thank you again.

Ellisa Ozia

Terry Levin wrote:
Dear Ms. Ozia:

Thank you for your note and I apologize for the problems you have had with the #136 bus, including on Dec. 28, but we are not in a position to reimburse you for cell phone calls or cab fare.

We very strongly recommend that you always make any complaints about bus service to our toll-free customer service line at 1-888-968-7282, which is open weekdays between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. and has voice mail the rest of the time. This is more effective than calling the garage directly, since your complaints would be seen by officials higher up in Bus Operations, including those responsible for our field operations. When we see a pattern of delayed service, we can give it special attention beyond what the garage itself is able to provide.

And although we cannot reimburse for taxi fare, we can and do everything possible to correct any ongoing problems with our bus service when the causes are within our control (unusually heavy traffic or bad weather can cause problems beyond our control). I do know from Mr. Lachowicz that your complaints have been taken very seriously and that special attention has been given to the #136 route, particularly insofar as making sure the last northbound buses from downtown have been more reliable.

You did not indicate how your #136 service has been recently, but a quick check of the records for the past two weeks indicates that the departures from Jackson and Franklin have been pretty reliable for the buses scheduled to start northbound at 6:22 p.m. and 6:34 p.m.

I know this response will disappoint you, in that you have obviously been making a serious effort to obtain financial restitution for your phone calls and cab fare. I wish I could accommodate you, but the toll-free number is the most we can do to defray the cost of calls from our customers and we cannot be responsible for reimbursing fares for non-CTA travel. However, again, we definitely offer you an ongoing commitment to providing you with the best-possible service and working as hard as we can to correct any problems that might arise. Please contact me and/or our customer service toll-free number if you have any further difficulties along these lines.

Sincerely,

Terry Levin
Vice President
CTA Customer Service

----- Original Message -----
From: ellisa ozia
To: tlevin@transitchicago.com
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2005 4:47 PM
Subject: Reimbursement request - Terry Levin

Hello Mr. Levin,

I was referred to you by Jim Lachowicz at North Park Garage. Due to few service problems with the 136 bus, I contacted his office as well as Customer Service (Service #04-0222-7018) back in December and January. See attached letters.

I am asking to be reimbursed $16.30 in the form of a transit card due to the incident with Manager Smith on 12/28/04. Mr. Lachowicz is unable to issue the reimbursement at the garage and suggested I contact you for the request.

Please call me at 312-277-0106, I look forward to hearing from you.

Regards,

Ellisa Ozia

[rexblade]

eliza

this would have seemed like less of an insane conversation if you had given us prior warning that the email responses were in reverse order (newest to oldest) both the first one and last one confused the crap out of me 0_o

[fritzie]

There was a big ol' raccoon on the SB Randolph/Wabash platform last night about 6:00. Just hanging out, eating Chex Mix. I half-expected him to get on the next Orange Line or something.

The Trib has recently run stories about coyotes in suburban backyards, but raccoons on the El? We need some rain...

Another odd thing seen from the Brown Line-- Someone has painted silhouettes of Mary Poppins on garages from Kedzie to Rockwell.

[Jasmine]

I thought I was in for another uneventful ride home on the 56 (Milwaukee Ave.) bus. I was spacing out, listening to music, until the bus heaved up to the stop at the corner of Milwaukee and Paulina. There are usually quite a few folks who get on here, laden with bulging plastic bags from the Jewel just north of the intersection. My favorite such guest was the lady pictured here. She seemed elated to see a small pervy-looking man wearing a white tank top. She had all sorts of interesting looking scars and marks up and down her forearms. She looked excitedly at other riders, especially a young woman holding a small pet in a carrier. She was like a curious, engaged infant. An infant who cursed and ate a slice of sausage pizza extracted from her faded Aldi plastic shopping bag.

[Cheryl]

I was standing at the corner of Wilson and Hazel this morning, waiting for any Lake Shore Drive express bus, when a #22 pulled up. Yes, a Clark Street bus going east on Wilson. The driver opened the door and informed me he was really a 148, so I got on. Then he proceeds east past Clarendon. I told him the 148 usually turns south at Clarendon. He did not know this. Turns out, he normally drove a #22 but he and his bus were magically transformed into a 148 at the garage that morning. They didn't tell him how to get to Lake Shore Drive, just to get over that and take it down to Michigan and Delaware and then to turn around at wherever it is the 148 turns. So I had tell him his real route, at least down to my stop. I don't know where he went after that.

[Erin]

After the White Stripes show downtown Wednesday night, I was waiting and waiting at the LaSalle blue line stop for the northbound train....according to the patchy PA announcement the blue line was running on one track between Western and Morgan, no explanation given. When the train finally arrived, this fidgety, slightly nutty older guy (who claimed to be an ex-CTA employee) across the aisle excitedly told me that someone had jumped in front of a train and they were cleaning the body off of the front of it. He then proceeded to complain about these stupid a$&holes who jump in front of trains hoping to win a lawsuit, not realizing that the trains go 40mph and they'll get killed.

1. Does anyone know if this really happened Wednesday night, or was this guy truly crazy?

2. Can there possibly be people out there jumping in front of trains for money?

[An Jiaoshi]

Recently, when I was riding home on the Brown Line, there was a youngish Latino guy (early 20s, I'd say) with an "I fucking own the world" attitude on. He was talking into a flip-up cell phone and evidently having trouble making himself understood to the person on the other end. This was probably because he was holding the entire bottom half of the phone in his fist, in a gangsta gun grip, thus covering up the mouthpiece, while talking into the earpiece end, which he moved back and forth between his ear and his mouth.

[RedEmma]

Here's one more for the history books: I was on my way home from work on the L Wednesday night around 10:30 pm, and these two guys, let's call them Black T-Shirt and Frat Boy, are playing a sort of truth-or-dare version of HORSE -- or dare-and-dare, really, because there certainly aren't any giggling admissions of truth going on. No, what's happening is, Black T-Shirt is daring Frat Boy to do things (stupid things, need I specify?) or he will get an H, then an O, etc. BTS dares FB to do a backflip as the train decelerates, holding the vertical railings. BTS demonstrates. All of this is happening VERY LOUDLY, and the whole train is starting to get involved. Some people are laughing, others looking disgusted. One guy starts to keep score. I aside to my neighbor, "It's awfully drunk outside for a Wednesday." When FB declares that he can't do a backflip, Random Bystander announces, "Then you have H! It's H to nothing! H to nothing!" FB is not about to take such an insult lying down, however, so he attempts a backflip and lands flat on his back, bumping his head on the floor of the train. (I'm sitting RIGHT THERE, by the way, and was seriously afraid that I was going to be clocked in the head.) He stares inertly at the ceiling for a few seconds, then starts getting up. Now BTS says, "OK, the next girl who gets on the train, you're getting her number! (Looking around at all the other riders) None of you are gonna give us up, right?" Well, whether we would have or not, no one will ever know, because at the next stop, no one gets on. BTS is sorely disappointed. "Where are all the women?!" he yells. "OK, do another one (backflip, that is), do another one!" he demands of his friend. And BTS demonstrates handily again. A girl at the end of the train starts protesting. A pair of very prim middle-aged ladies begin scolding. And, of course, FB attempts the flip anyway, and once again lands flat on his back, *bouncing* his head on the floor this time. And this time, he doesn't get up. BTS brushes it off, "Oh, I've known this guy for years, we've done way stupider stuff than this; he's fine." Someone has pushed the emergency assistance button, and the train has stopped. People begin to gather. Someone checks FB's pupils with a pen light, and they're not responding. The girl who had protested earlier begins to wail, "I told you not to do it, and now look at what's happened!" Prim Middle-Aged Ladies scold, "And what if he *dies*? What will you feel like *then*?" And BTS does, for a moment, look a bit chastened. Somebody calls the paramedics, and passes on their strict instruction not to let FB move or be moved. One lady, who's a nurse, suggests turning FB's head to the side, so that if he vomits, he won't choke. And, I can't believe I actually thoguht this, but I swear I did, I thought, "I hope he doesn't vomit. I like these shoes." Shortly before the paramendics came, FB regained consciousness. And there isn't a whole lot more to the story that isn't utterly predictable (paramedics wheel out FB, BTS is starting to laugh about it already, long train delay) except for this: As we're waiting for the train to get going again, various people are offering their personal analyses (Prim MAL's: "They couldn't have *just* been drinking. I think they were *on drugs*!" Scorekeeper: "*You* were laughing at him! It's all *your* fault!") and one guy busts out with, "I'm in Chicago visiting my uncle. This is only my second time on the L!" Somebody else assured him, "Usually, people don't talk to each other this much."

[ken]

9/7/05 5:30pm,+/- Cute DePaul/Lincoln Park couple get on @ Fullerton, going southbound on the Red Line. He did something she ain't too happy about. She is ripping him a new one! All he can do is lower his head. Maybe they're going to the Sox-Royals game. Separately.

[EJ]

6:30pm last night on the Red Line. I got on at Jackson and noticed an older woman who looks as if she is on heroine or something. She keeps moving about and scratching herself and then she would put her head back and pass out for a minute, wake up and do it all over again. THEN she starts touching herself and masterbating and passes out wakes up and is back at it again seriously going at it with herself then scratches all over specially in the provate area. It was entertaining to watch although rather disturbing.

[Nat]

Wednesday on the Brownline heading towards the loop, i was sitting next to a CTA employee, and other who was standing next to the Emergency button. The standing employee accidentally bumped the button, and when asked what was wrong pretended to be a passanger, and said he accidentally bumped the button. Then he and the seated empolyee started giggling like teen-age girls. Not distrurbing, just really funny.

[p2a2roach]

This incident happen about 6 years ago when i was going to school at the Univ. of IL at Chicago (UIC). Anyways, I lived over by Western and Taylor in the Tri-Taylor area just west of Little Italy so i would take the Blue Line pretty often.

At the time, the CTA decided that the #7 Harrison bus wouldn't run pass 8pm anymore so i was stuck taking the blue line home late at nite. The closest stop was to my apartment was the Western Stop. This was an ok stop but it was still kind of a scary stop at nite.

Anyways one nite i was coming home from a Cubs game and hanging out at the bars around 10:30 pm. I take the Red Line then transfer over to the blue line at washington. the trip is going is routine. That is until i get off at my the western stop. I'm walking out to the exit when this one guy comes up to me and walks pretty close to me. I'm thinkingn "what the hell!" so my guards goes up automatically...i check to see that my wallet is in my front pocket. i grab my keys and stick the keys thru my fingers like claws in case i have to get physical. I keep walking then he goes up next to me and says "hey man...can you help a brother out?" i'm like "sorry i don't have any change." he continues to harass me "come on man...i know you can spare some change. i know you got some money." i tell him again "sorry dude...i don't have any money." i keep walking and i finally get to the turnstiles but instead of going thru the stiles i see that there is a CTA attendant in the booth. I go up to the attendant and tell him that i have a guy who keeps buggin me for money. the attendant asks me who it is and i point him out. He gets out of his booth and tells the guy "hey leave the kid alone". where the guy goes "i didnt' do anything to the kid." at this point i was getting pretty pissed. so i just walked out of the station. i started walking to my apt but i didn't realize that the same guy was still following me. this time he comes out to me and ask me "hey can you break a twenty?' as he's holding up a $20 bill. he then puts his arm around my shoulder. i tell him to get off of me but he keeps walking with his arms around my shoulder. i'm a little freaked out at this point so i did what naturally comes to people in that situation. i turned around kneed his balls then punched him in the face with the hand that had the keys in them then kicked him in the face when he was bent over then took his $20 bills and took off running. after this incident, i didn't take the blue line for almost two months cuz i was afraid i might bump into the guy.

he was a littel too close for comfort for me so i had to defend myself. i don't know waht i did was right but after really not getting any help from the CTA employ i was like screw it.

[p2a2roach]

i think it was about 2 weeks ago during the morning rush hour, when i got on the #151 Bus at union station. anyways the bus driver on this bus was new to the route but of course none of us knew this at the time. anyways he Eastbound on Jackson as usual but then he turns and goes Northboug on LaSalle which is not the correct route cuz the 151 is suppose to go all the down on jackson then turn on state. anyways, i'm sitting in the back and theres two other passengers in front. i thougth it was a detour or something when one of the other passenger as the driver where he was gonna turn. that's when he told us that he's never driven this route before and he's usually on the LaSalle route, which explains why he turned on LaSalle. well none of the other passengers knew the 151 route so i went up and gave him the basic route. he had the route schedule with him but it seemed like he didn't know where all the other streets were. we ended going north on LaSalle then east on Upper wacker and then finally norht on Michigan to catch its regular route. it was kinda cool in a way cuz i got to work a lot earlier since we didn't have to stop at all the stops on state street.

[Repaerducer]

It was about 3am and my wife was fighting a bad cold, so I went out to the 24-hour Walgreens on Michigan Avenue at Chicago. To get there, I thought I'd take the Red Line.

So I'm waiting on the Lake Street platform for a train to come and after a few minutes this guy starts beating this woman. At first she's slumped over on the bench as he's doing it, then eventually falls to the ground calling out, "Stop it Reggie! Stop it!" Now that she's on the ground, he starts kicking her. My first instinct is to jump on Reggie, but instead I run up the stairs to alert the "customer assistants."

There's at least four of them crammed in the little metal booth (this was just before the Lake Street station renovation began). I start calling to them from the other side of the turnstile but they can't hear me because their CD player is turned up too loud and they're whooping and hollering along with the music, hands in the air. Eventually one spots me frantically waving my hands, and they all turn and start pointing fingers at me and laughing. At this point I decide to go back through the turnstile to get close to them. I'd been hesitatnt to do it thus far because I paid with a Chicago Card, and the turnstiles light up "No Pass Back" and don't let you enter if you try to use it twice within 30 minutes at the same station. But I decide this woman's life is more important and go through the turnstile and yell through the plexiglass that a guy is beating his wife on the platform.

That finally gets their attention and en masse they run down the stairs just as "Reggie" is walking causally up the stairs and out of the station and into the night. If these "customer assistants" were doing their job keeping an eye on the station, Reggie would be in handcuffs and his wife/girlfriend/whatever may not have ended up in the hospital.

The moral of the story: You can't depend on customer assistants. Sometimes the right thing to do is to take matters into your own hands.

[Tequila Red]

There's a cute series of Missed Connections on Craigslist about some dude who's handing out newspaper hats to people on the Red Line - and there's a hilarious photo.

I guess it turned out to be some roundabout guerilla marketing for his band - which is brilliant - but that picture will never stop being awesome.

[melanctha]

I took the #151 Sheridan bus last night. Despite the crowded bus and the wet weather outside, it was made really pleasant by The Best Bus Driver Ever.

He made everyone squish in so that all the people waiting could get on. He asked if any of the pretty ladies would like to come sit on his lap. And best of all, he sang the entire time.

As we were about to reach Burton, the bus announced the street name:

"Burton"
"What stop was that?"
*presses the button again* "Burton"
"I like that name"
"Burton"
"Let's hear it again"
"Burton"
"That sounds nice"
"Burton"
"Ohhh Yeah!"

At one stop a man no taller than 5'5" was waiting. He looked VERY wet and a tiny bit miffed about being stuck out in the rain. He took a poll of the front of the bus as to whether we could cram another person in.

As the doors opened, he said, "Ohhh yeah, this a tough man, I knew I had to let him on! You'd be angry if I didn't let you on, wouldn't you boy?"

The guy stood there looking confused for a second before the whole bus burst into laughter. He laughed, swiped his card, and joined in the fun.

By the time I got off at Diversey, everyone on the bus was in such a good mood. People offered their seats to each other, strangers were striking up conversations, and everyone was laughing. All because of The Best Bus Driver Ever.

[savgpncl]

Well, everyday is a tale on the CTA. I've been riding it for 20 years and it has never been good for this city. Each ride is like the last, slow and meandering. The little train that couldn't. It's pathetic that a large urban area has such a lousy public transit system.

[SpartyCuse]

Funny story that I never had time to post back when it happened. Its August 19, 2005, Im riding the Blue Line toward the Loop, and we stop at California. The train sits there for about 5 mins, doors open, no announcement. I finally get off the train, step onto the platform, to try and find out whats happening.

In the car ahead, theres a bit of a disturbance. Theres an African-American woman, clearly homeless, drunk, and possibly high or mentally ill. Shes causing a scene on the car ahead - smoking, drinking booze, and harassing passengers, and the CTA staff somehow get her off the car. Now, instead of closing the doors and having the train take off, the train sits there. She goes out of sight, then comes back, and gets on the train again.

Then she lights up a smoke. People wonder where the police are, and the CTA staff say "on the way" This is now 10 mins after we stopped. CTA staff are telling people they cant pull her off the train, and people are yelling everything possible at her to get her off. Some guy offered her more booze if she got off, and one guy yelled "free weed out here" as a way to get her out. No luck.

Finally, about 15 mins after we stop, one angry passenger asks the CTA staff if HE can pull her out. Staff basically says do whatever you wanna do. Many people, including myself, tell him to wait for the cops, but he was in a hurry to get someplace.

So the guy, as you can guess, plays the role of CTA bouncer and clears the car of the problem.

The worst part? As she was being removed from the train, she forgot to hold her pants (which were about 10 sizes too big) up, and the entire CTA community got a not-so-lovely look at what she had south of the border.

The train then closed the doors, and took off. No word what happened to her.

[E]

Okay, now I think I've heard everything. On a southbound Blue line this morning (horrible commute with the rain and all) we stopped at one of the aboveground stops, I think Western but don't quote me. The conductor comes on and tells us the "Due to a delay BEHIND us", we would be standing at the stop for three minutes in order to allow the train to catch up to us.

I've heard of busses taking their time because they are ahead of schedule but I've never heard of a train waiting for a delayed train to catch up to it.

[fastmoose]

This evening on the Red line heading downtown, I had a lovely, telling interaction.

Just before pulling in to Grand, 7 or 8 teenagers cross from the car in front of the one I'm riding in, into mine, the train's final car. Of course, I'm sitting in the single side facing seat near the back door. The door proceeds to knock into my feet, not very hard, but enough so that an apology would have been appropriate.

Much senseless shouting, shrieking ensues. I don't look up. I'm reading, trying to retain my concentration. Unfortunately, one trip through the train wasn't enough fun, so the teens reverse course, carrying on a running cocksure show.

Apparently, reading is a mockable offense, so after they've opened the door, smacking my feet again, they proceed to start shouting at me. A couple cross, the next few take their turns at the mic. One yells, 'It's Tom Cruise!' in my ear, even though I look absolutely nothing like him. I begin to look up. My book is promptly slapped out of my hands with a snap. Laughter follows. My hands pursue my book on the floor, I'm jostled by the swinging door, the rest of the teens file out, apparently having had their fill of fucking with me.

After retrieving my book, I get up. The last teen is staring back, the door cracked open. 'I'll beat your ass...', he says with an assured snort. I think about it. The last thing I need is an altercation. Of course assholes like this won't play fair. If I rebound on one, the others will follow. I'm not going to be baited. I sit down. Every shred of impulse control I own is being massed to keep me seated.

Washington, a stop earlier than I planned to get off, but I exit anyway, getting from my seat like an uncoiled spring. Striding angrily toward the escalator, I can't contain it anymore. A decisive jujitsu elbow strike to an unsuspecting metal divider later, the crashing sound reverberates through the station. Suddenly, I'm the fool. Maybe the Gracies would have liked my form, but my willpower leaves something to be desired.

In the end, I know those teens will probably never amount to shit. Play games, ignore your intellect, mock what you don't understand, never grow. Die a loser. It's a dead end program, and they won the act that they didn't even see. As I walk to my destination, I can't get over the fact that as much as the frequently drunken, obnoxious Cubs fans annoy me, as much as the shrieking of the trixies jangles my nerve, neither CTA species has ever jumped in my face, made physical contact with me, threatened me. This is another level of toxic behavior. Oh well, fate will deal with you all.

[CPB]

9/26/05, 4:45ish p.m. - On the 36 bus heading into Lakeview from the Loop, a zaftig elderly woman with what appears to be the beginnings of dreadlocks trundles a large plastic lawn chair down the aisle and takes a seat. She then reaches into one of her many bags and pulls out what looks to be a small ball of matted hair tied together with a string of pink beads. The lady produces a handful of bobby pins and proceeds to pin the wad of lemony blond hair atop her head of clumpy grey trusses as neighboring riders look on in dismay.

[rexblade]

Last night during my commute home on the southbound red line, the car I was riding in was visited by one of the 'regular' hobos. He stumbled in through the emergency doors and uses his terrible smell as an ice breaker to start telling dirty jokes to a bunch of teenagers who were trying to ignore him. Two of the teens stand up and move toward the doors in a futile attempt to distance themselves from him. The hobo gets up and stands with them at the doors and continues his one-sided conversation.
Figuring it was none of my business, I turned up my headphones, raised my hood, and buried my face into my shirt which thankfully was lightly scented with cologne. Then, as the train pulls out of one of the tunnel stations, I hear screams so loud they overpowered my headphones! I looked up to see that the doors were wide open, with the hobo nearly falling out, as the train sped out of the station and down the tunnel!! Thankfully the hobo regained his balance and got the doors to close before we reached the next station. From what I could gather in all the commotion, it would seem that someone had realized too late that the train had reached their stop, and pulled the emergency lever to make the doors open and pushed past the hobo just as the train was beginning to move. No one alerted the train operator of what had happened, so he obliviously accelerated and sped on to the next stop. Needless to say, there was relieved and shocked conversation throughout the car for the rest of the trip.

[John Videll]

Lost: 1 pink vibrator.

To those of you who take either the Brown Line or the Red Line north of Belmont you need to keep your eyes open for the pink dildo. As you are going south on either line, just before the two seperate lines converge into one there is a building with a roof that is roughly at track level. I believe it is the building next to the one with the big Harris Bank billboard on the side. Anyway, take a gander down on this rood and you should see a very large pink vibrator right there on the roof. I saw it yesterday, October 1st, around 4 pm. I had heard about this from someone else about a week or so ago but had forgotten about it until my train was stopped right there for a bit yesterday. Needless to say I couldn't stop laughing.

Take care and have a great day....

ciao,
john.

[KD]

Having only lived in the area for 2 months, the CTA was a pretty new experience for me. I was riding the brownline to the loop from the Chicago ave. stop late one night after rush hour. The car I got on had only 2 other people on it. One person asleep, not surprising, and a kid maybe like 17 or 18 playing an accordian. He was playing a really slow song and looked very lonley. I don't think he was very skilled at the accordian however b/c he played the same part of the song over and over again. He got off at Washington and Wells. Very interesting.

[Jacques]

I was riding the Blue Line in from ORD monday afternoon, in the last car, sitting in the last pair of seats facing each other. Around Montrose two businessmen in suits get on, eating popsicles, and take the seats with their backs to the conductor area that was closed off. They quickly finish them. Shortly after we pass Logan Square, a young man entertaining some of his friends pull the route map off the wall. He takes it back to his seat at the other end of the car and begins to examine it closely. (Why he didn't grab the map closer to him is unknown to me). He then starts to roll it up, presumably to put it in his rucksack. One of the businessmen decides that this isn't cool, and goes to tell the guy to put it back. The guy says "I was going to put it back", and the businessman sits back down. Of course, the kid makes no such move to put it back.
We get past Damon, and the businessman presses the intercom button. The light goes green, and then nothing, no voice or anything. He presses it again after about 30 seconds. Nothing. He starts poking his head out after each stop to flag down a CTA staffperson or CPD. Nothing. I got off at Clark, and the guy had no luck finding anyone.
Glad to know that the CTA keeps up the "state of readiness" they had after the London bombings.

[Jennifer]

Hey, is it just me, or does anyone else think that Frank Kruesi looks just like Mike Brown (former FEMA director)?

[gladys]

I am, alas, no longer a CTA dependent (new job, not willing to take 4 buses to get there) but from my Red Line days I offer this one:

My work-friend and I were riding into Evanston from the city. Just before we reached the Howard stop, one of us glanced over at a building just to the east of the tracks and saw...two magnificent Husky dogs on the roof of a building! Their owner was standing in the roof-access door; apparently this was their own little dog-run area, and the doggies were loving it--bounding around and leaping and generally taking advantage of the joy of being outside.

We embroidered this story a little bit, naturally; by the time we were done with it, they weren't Huskies, they were wolves; and there weren't just two, there was an entire pack. (Hey, we were bored office workers from a cube-farm. We had to do SOMETHING.) From that point on, til we both quit, whenever either one of us rode past that building we would look for "the wolves on the roof". And we did see them a few times after that. (I hope their owner scooped up after them, though.)

[Repaerducer]

It's hard enough to make the passengers behave themselves, more and more I see the CTA bus drivers breaking the rules.
One of the ones I see frequently is on the #60 route. Some drivers don't drive all the way to the end of the route downtown because they're afraid of the tight turnaround at Harbor Point Tower. Instead, they turn around two stops early at Field Boulevard, leaving the elderly people of the neighborhood standing for another 20 to 40 minutes waiting for a bus to actually complete the route.

Worse, though, is that more and more of the #60 bus drivers like to sit at the back of the bus on their break, smoking and reading the discarded newspapers. Today (Sunday, October 9, 2005) the driver of bus #5548 was in the back of the bus smoking at 12:37pm when I got on. She was so absorbed in what she was doing that she didn't even notice me get on, pay my fare, and sit down. When she did notice me, she snuffed out her cigarette on the bus seat and then tried to yell at me as if I was doing something wrong. I think this driver needs a refresher course in both CTA rules and customer service.

[Woody]

Boobs or crotch?

Boobs.

My apologies to the young woman who was crammed into the SB red line this morning. My right hand was pressed against the door. My left hand had two choices -- either hang at my side, and be pressed squarely into the crotch of the man next to me, or it could rest on my messenger bag shoulder strap -- and thus be pressed into your boobs. Please don't hate me, but I went boobs.

If it makes you feel any better, I got nothing out of it.

[dave]

does anyone think CTA bus/train operators should be allowed to use cell phones while in service? doesnt sound like a good idea to me, but yesterday i took a photo of one motorman on his cell phone AS HE PULLED UP to the UIC/Halsted stop on the blue line. he heard the shutter, and as soon as I walked away he got off the train and confronted me, saying it was illegal to take photos. I understand that but which is more illegal: snapping a photo of a CTA employee endangering hundreds of commuters, or me taking a picture and forwarding it to the proper authority? CTA has been informed, and hopefully appropriate action is taken. Would you want to be on that train when he blows past a red board and takes a switch at 60mph because he HAD to answer his phone? metra has some experience with that...although not in the latest 47th street disaster.

d

[Warren]

It's not illegal to take photographs on CTA property as long as they're not for commercial use, and you do not get in the way or disrupt operations.

For example, if your picture used a flash, it could have blinded the TO, which would make it a violation. Or if you delayed people by planting yourself in their way, you'd be violating the rules as well.

While the TO getting out of the train and confronting you was a disruption to operations, it was he who chose to take that action. It was not a direct result of your picture taking, but a direct result of his emotional choice.

I'd urge you to turn in the photo with not just a complaint about his cell phone use, but with a complaint about his customer harrassing behavior.

[cmama]

I have been reading this blog for a few months now and I can probably count about 10 or so times where CTA employees, or CTA hired help have harrassed customers about taking pictues (most of the pics seem to be of employees not doing their work). Is Carole reading this at all? Has anyone requested for CTA HQ to release a memo to it's employees and media on the rules. Where's Red eye when you need them!

[jk1]

This reminds me of an incident I had several years ago when I was walking to the Wilson el stop.

While crossing over Broadway, with the green and walk signals in my favor, a Montrose bus cut through Broadway's northbound turn lane, coming so close to me that I literally had to jump back to not be hit by it. In the split second it took to realize that I'd cleared out of it's way successfully, I quickly leaned forward and slapped the back of the bus with my hand as it streaked past.

Obviously, nothing was damaged, but that didn't prevent the driver from scrambling out the bus and getting IN MY FACE, to the point I could feel his breath. Sure, it was ill advised to slap at the bus, but not because of potential damage to the bus but because of potential damage to myself. He almost ran me flat, and yet not only does he lurch into an angry jag, he DELAYED his passengers on top of it.

When I replied to his fury by noting that my lashing out was understandable due to being "...very nearly run over", he screamed in my face, "Yeah but WERE YOU run over?!" Unreal.

To make matters worse, he told me he was calling the police, at which point I exited stage left. Five minutes later, from my vantage point on the Wilson platform, I could see the bus STILL parked there waiting for the police. I'm sure his passengers didn't mind waiting in the blazing heat though since he was seeking justice for the poor defenseless bus that I'd assaulted.

As for this motorman chatting on his cellphone, it's just another shameful example of the passionate disregard for customers that the CTA practices every day. If Carole Brown does read this site, she'll probably never admit it because then she'd not be able to continue to feign ignorance of the systemic customer service deficiencies in her agency. Anyway, she hardly participates in her own website. On the rare chance that she responds to an actual complaint, she frames it with the laughable canard about the terrible effect of a few bad apples who make the legions of CTA employees who 'do their best every day under dificult circumstances' look bad...

[dave]

cmama-
the issue isn't whether or not you can take photos (which in and of itself is a whole other issue), in this case the fact of the matter is that a CTA TRAIN OPERATOR WAS TALKING ON HIS PHONE WHILE ON DUTY. think of the safety issues that raises. trains are not cars, and their operation cannot be treated as such.

d

[Justin]

I was on the 84 peterson bus about a week ago and this bus driver who is constantly late by 15 minutes or more became brave. Every morning I ask him why he is late and each morning he has a different totally out of the blue excuse. Well this morning in particular he asks me if he may ask me a question. I say sure. He asks me "what kind of doughnuts do you like?". Me being almost 350#'s and all i found this really rude. Ok so when im with my friend we go into the dunkin donuts together but all i get is hot chicholate. but still the rudeness should not be there. So now when he is late I just dont pay on his bus. It isnt like the cta wont get my money on the train and the other bus but why give him the satisfaction of knowing that. Driver 12019 needs fired and quick!

[Warren]

Maybe the real reason he's always late is that he stops for donuts, and was planning on buying one for you next time.

[SpartyCuse]

Heres one from the ride home today. I get on the #66 Chicago bus w/b @ the Chicago blue line EL stop. There is a uniformed police officer speaking to a young girl, maybe 13 years old or so, who is eating a bag of popcorn. I overhear the end of his comments, but he is telling her that she cannot eat/drink on the bus/train, and that she could get a ticket. The officer is being very friendly to her. He is not trying to be tough or rough with her at all. Well, after the officer walks away, she keeps (messily) eating her popcorn, and then washes it down with a drink.

I speak to the officer, who Im now standing next to, and make a passing comment that the girl obviously didnt listen to him about eating/drinking on the bus. He then responds with a "so what" and I reply by saying that he was just talking to her about it, even telling her she could get a ticket. He then asks me what he should do, and I said to politely remind her of what he just said, since theres not point in telling her something, and then letting her disobey it in front of him. He again basically says theres no reason to, and I comment that if I in her shoes, he'd ticket me. He says, no, "Id throw you off the bus." When I say that all he needs to do is remind her again, he says "Do you want me to beat her up?" I say no, and repeat my polite request, and he again says "Want me to throw her off the bus? Beat her up?"

I again say no, and realize this is just a stubborn cop. I then politely stated to the officer that there is no point in informing people of the law, if there is no intention of enforcing it, even if only by reminding them of the laws.

All the officer had to do was go up to her again, and politely remind her of what he just told her. Its by no means the crime of the century, but why tell her in the first place about the rules, then turn a blind eye when she flaunts her disrespect for you in your face? Would an officer stop you for speeding, tell you its illegal to speed, let you go with a verbal warning, then let you speed away from him? Nope. I know the crimes are very different, but its the same idea.

By Ashland, the officer got off the bus. Probably to tell people what laws they are breaking, but turn a blind eye when they continue to break them in front of him.