CTA Tattler

The CTA Insider dishes the dirt

Here's the CTA Insider's views on dirty trains and buses.

Oh yeah, the CTA is dirty!

The trains, buses and platforms are now picnic venues. I see it every day all day. From95th Street ... well the whole of the Red line has been referred to as the Dirty Red by employees for years. It comes from one source...people.

There was a small brochure put out a couple years ago giving the numbers of rail stations and the amount of people riding the trains on an average day. After doing the math it looked to me as though the average was 2000 people in an eight hour shift for our personnel to deal with all the stations, and there are usually 2 shifts at the stations an AM and PM.

The CTA cut back in station maintenance and car cleaners for the last 3 years as happens whenever you hear about budget problems these departments get cut first. Well not cut per-say but as people leave for whatever reason they are not replaced for months and the jobs are stretched to make up for this. So in the Loop on the elevated you have two janitors for the entire AM or PM shift. That equals out to 4 stations per man and it is the same in the subway and it is like that system wide.

The car cleaners are to make their way through the train as it is getting ready to go back into service, picking up as they go -- and we are talking about 5 mins sometimes so some things are going to be missed.

They too are down in manpower and it shows so having raving supervisors is not going to make anyone work better if they are doing the work of 2 people or more. That is not to excuse someone  from not doing their job but come on people if you have a problem with a rolling bottle on a train pick it up and dispose of it in its proper place.

Last chance to vote on aisle-facing seats in new train cars

It's your last chance to voice your opinion on aisle-facing seats coming to new train cars in 2009.

Go here to vote. Results to come later in the week.

A real thumb-sucker

I board the Red Line south late Saturday morning, Cubs game day. But it wasn't nutty Cubs fans who caught my attention. It was a thin man in his early 20s.

I saw him as soon as I boarded. He was standing in front of his seat, by the window. And he continued to stand, totally unmoving except rocking with the train's herky-jerky motion, for another five minutes.

Then he abruptly sat down, and stuck his thumb firmly in his mouth, sucking like a baby. It was then that I spied two plastic ID bands around his wrist.

May 31 a big CTA deadline day

May 31 is D-Day for the CTA.

Deadline Day, that is, for two big offers -- it's the last day that the CTA waives its $5 fee for Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus. And it's the last day riders can comment on the three proposed Circle Line configurations.

The May 31 Chicago Card deadline was previously extended from March 31 to try and snare some Dan Ryan commuters who were wary of backups. But no more extensions. And shame on you if you're a regular CTA rider and you don't yet have a Chicago Card or CC Plus already. And it's costing you an extra quarter for a train ride.

So sharpen those pencils and direct comments to ctahelp@transitchicago.com, and call or visit the CTA for a stored value card at 1-888-968-7282, or 567 West Lake Street, second floor.

Nude woman on the Jackson platform

The title of this post might sound familiar. But this is a new one. After reading our dispatches from "Crazies Week," the CTA Insider shares this memory of no doubt countless crazies.

This happened years ago but it's still burned onto my brain.

I was working an early morning in the Red Line Subway on State Street with a group of workers preparing for the State Street Fair or something. It was a wet and chilly Sunday morning and I had gone to street level to get some air. As I'm coming down the stairs one of the guys I was working with comes running up the stairs and yells out, "Dude, you gotta see this!" Which if you hear that at the CTA, you really don't make a habit of following up on.

But I figured I didn't see any smoke and no one else was running so how bad could it be? I get to the bottom of the stairs -- now this is at Jackson so there's an elevator past the stairs on the platform -- and I said, "Is it past the elevator?" To which he replies, "Yeh, on the bench!"

So at this point my heart starts to beat harder because there's no one around, which is never a good sign. As I make my way around the elevator shaft I get a glimpse of a person on the bench, so I'm kind of relieved that no one is laying on the platform.

Well as I come around the elevator shaft I spy a 50-ish black woman, stark naked sitting cross-legged, smoking a cigarette.

As this hits me all I can think is, "OK, you can find a cig laying around even if you're naked, BUT WHO THE HELL GAVE HER A LIGHT!?!?!?

And as I start to laugh a train pulls up and off gets a supervisor with the most bemused look I've ever seen. He proceeds to walk over to her sit down and ask her where her clothes are. She replies, "Why, YOU want them?"

This makes me laugh even harder. He then offers her his rain coat, which she looks at like it was on fire. She says, "No thank you I'm fine the way I am!"

So after much cajoling he finally gets her to accept the coat and off they go to the Roosevelt station.

I'll say this: She never acted either crazy or high.

Riding the El with Frank

CoolHand shares this Tattler Tale:

Two weeks ago, there was a longer than usual wait for the Brown Line @ Madison & Wabash around 6 pm. The platform is filling up and people are starting to do the Angry Head Shake and the Frustrated Mutter all over the place.

Finally a Kimball train approaches and it's packed. I sidle my way to the rear of a compartment, standing next to the single seats facing out the window. Two stops later a guy in a bright yellow rain jacket and a "Don't Be Jack" cap gets on and I can hear him talking on his cell phone before he even sets foot on the train.

I mentally prepare myself to handle 45 minutes of hearing stories about "client proposals" and "prospective financial forecasts" and other fascinating topics that some self-important business people feel the need to broadcast at deafening levels. Soon I start to realize that not only does he have a CTA radio that's picking up lots of chatter from dispatchers, but he's saying things like "Does Madigan know how we stand on the issue?" and "I think we should get on record before they vote tonight."

All right, at this point my interest is piqued. I'm not eavesdropping, but I listen for whatever he wants to yell into his phone. The next call he makes starts with "Hey, this is Frank. I'm on the Brown Line and there's a delay Northbound. Someone should be making an announcement about there being a power outage at Armitage."

The conversation ends shortly after that. No more than 3 minutes later (I swear!) the conductor comes over the PA and tells us with MUCH improved manners that there has been a power outage at Armitage and he apologizes profusely (my words not his) for the delay. For the rest of the trip, the conductor is sunny and friendly, chattering over the PA like he's amongst his closest buddies.

I keep an eye on "Frank" out of the corner of my eye. He's preoccupied but polite (offering females open seats next to him) until he gets off at Wellington.

There's no doubt that if it wasn't Frank Kruesi, it was his twin. I realized too late that I should've asked him why the CTA was even mentioning more Fare Hikes while being audited by the IRS for spending $2,000,000 on FURNITURE for their new building! But of course these things don't come to mind until it's too late.

So if you see a man in a yellow raincoat and yellow "Jack" cap, who looks like your 8th grade Chemistry teacher talking loudly on his cell phone, look a little closer. It could be the man responsible for the blockhead decisions that have affected all of our lives. And if it is Frank, let him know what you think about the job he's doing. Since it doesn't seem like our elected officials will do it for us....

NOTE: At least one commenter suggested when this was originally posted as a comment that she didn't believe Frank had ever been on a train. But I do know that he likes to ride and check things out personally. Besides, he probably gets a free monthly pass!

Photo by Zolk.

Page 1 news: The CTA is dirty!

Imagine that! The RedEye hires someone to determine whether the CTA is dirty and -- shocker of all shockers! -- the CTA IS DIRTY! And it's Page 1 news! Stop the presses!

I really just chuckled when I saw the hysterical headlines on both the Trib and the RedEye's front pages. Apparently the RedEye hired the company in hopes of finding if any of us commuters are leaving behind staph or E coli germs.

Well, no. Thank God.

But there's still enough bacteria to make us sick, and to warrant thorough hand washing after riding trains or buses. Well, duh!

The study, though conducted by a scientist, wasn't exactly scientific, since it was limited to two Red Line train cars, two Brown Line train cars and two buses on different routes.

To me, the funniest and most ironic finding was that the flocked seats themselves on El trains were found to be among the dirtiest spots.

So let that be a note of caution to all you folks who bend down and "brush off" the seat before sitting. You're just coming in contact with germs when you don't have to be.

Bits 'n pieces: The unpoor supervisor

Here's a midweek round-up of CTA news and Tattler notes:

The UNPOOR supervisor: This week I was walking past the Park Hyatt Hotel when I spied a red Chevy Corvette with Illinois plates UNPOOR4 parked in a tow zone. Prominently displayed on the dashboard was a yellow CTA vest and a sign that read: "CTA Supervisor ON DUTY."

Major weekend station closings at south end of Red Line: The CTA announced Monday that the entire southern end of the Red Line would be shut down from midnight Friday till midday Monday, May 29. "Bus shuttle service will stop at all impacted stations – 95th, 87th, 79th, 69th and 63rd Street stations, where normal Red Line service will operate in both directions between 63rd and Howard Street stations. "

Teens now allowed to take bikes on CTA: The CTA is doing a trial run through the end of the year of allowing teens ages 14-18 to ride the CTA with their bikes. "“Lowering the age where teenagers with bikes are required to be accompanied by an adult will provide additional opportunities for area teenagers to take the CTA and help to further reinforce the convenience and benefits of public transportation,” said CTA President Frank Kruesi. “CTA customers are able to avoid the hassles of driving, parking and paying high gas prices.”

The Trib's CTA subway idols: RedEye's Kyra Kyles wrote a fun Going Public column Tuesday nominating three subway performers as Chicago's CTA subway Idols. CTA Tattler wrote about performers last year, asking for your input. That post garnered many comments.

The irate mutterer

The southbound Red Line is stopped at Wilson. There's a slight delay -- maybe 30 to 45 seconds.

A guy behind me starts his agitated mutterings: "Close the door! What the fuck! Get this fucking train moving!"

We pull out a few seconds later. Then the train stops abruptly just south of Wilson:

"Unbelievable! Come on! What the fuck! Un-fucking believable! It's a quarter till fuckin 8! Fuck it! Let's go! Get the fuck moving conductor!

Of course, you otherwise can hear a pin drop in the car. No one moves, or makes a sound.

Thankfully, the train DOES finally move. And we come upon the bucolic scene of the Graceland Cemetery, and a dog fetching a ball in the grassy patch between the cemetery and El tracks, providing quite the contrast to his simmering anger.

Motorman plays to the Sox-Cubs rivalry

We've all encountered rude and surly CTA employees. But we've also been entertained by motorman and drivers who have put a smile on our faces or made our commute a little easier.

Friday's trip to U.S. Cellular Field was no exception. We were on our way to the first game in the Sox-Cubs Crosstown Classic -- a long trip from the Far North Side made all the more fun by a chatty motorman on the Red Line.

He was making a running commentary on the game and the fan rivalry:

"All aboard now, we're headed to the game."

"Hey, watch it now -- don't drop the beer!" -- at Bryn Mawr

"OK Cubs fans, don't beat anybody up!" -- at Belmont

"No fighting now -- all aboard!" -- at Fullerton

"Looks like somebody's going to the ball game" -- at Lake

"All right now, no fighting! This is not the Jerry Springer Show." -- at Washington

"Hey, we were here first -- don't get squished." -- at Jackson, to the riders on the platform trying to board an overcrowded train.

"No tailgating here -- the next party is at your house!" -- at Harrison.

"Be nice, don't get physical. You need a good hospital plan to ride this train." -- at Cermak-Chinatown.

"Sox-35th. Home of the Crosstown Classic. You can put it on the board, YESSSSSS!"