CTA Tattler

You might want to add that the CTA does not allow bikes during rush hour. Of course, they also don't allow food or drink, loud music playing, gambling, smoking, wanking off in the hobo corner...

how about RIDING your bike home you dumbshit. Theres nothing worse than some a-hole with a huge bike on a train during rush-hour. You're almost worse than a Cubs day-game.

First, I agree with Kevin's sentiment.

Second, I have NEVER seen someone with a bike during rush hour. In fact, since bikes were allowed on trains, I've seen a mere two or three people TRY to board with bikes and the operator wouldn't let them. Chill out, guest.

I agree with Cheryl. It's the CTA guys; you know, the Chicago TRIFLING Authority? Lots of things happen that AREN'T SUPPOSED to happen on a daily basis (i.e. smoking, gambling, eating, etc)

Isn't getting off and out of peoples way good advice in general? I often get off the train when it is not my stop to let people off, but I ama amazed how many people do not get out of my way when I need to get off. Thankfully, God made me a large man and everyone eventually does get out of my way.

If he followed the rules, he wouldn't be in the way in the first place. The CTA brochure on bikes clearly says: "Once on board, stand near either end of the rail car. Stand by your bicycle and hold on to it at all times.
Never block the aisle or doors."

sorry, I agree with guest. Ride your bike home....unless you're going from 95th to Evanston.

I also agree with guest, at least a bit. If you're on the el, why do you need a bike? It not as if the transfer fee to take a bus is something outrageous. Simplest thing: don't stand in the way, therefore you wont have to get out of the way.

Well I can think of lots of reasons to combine CTA & Bikes. Maybe you want to be clean at work, but plan to bike home? Maybe you want to get in a ride during/instead of lunch? Maybe that Evanston-to-Loop commute IS too far to bike, but HALF of it may be manageable. Maybe you want to ride the Prarie Path, but don't want to fight traffic from the loop getting there? Maybe, maybe, maybe. The CBF has fought hard to get the CTA to finally allow bikes, and the CTA is finally embracing the idea. See: http://www.biketraffic.org/calendar/events.php?id=E1698&act=0_1_2&grps=grps

I've found bike riders in Chicago (generally) to be arrogant and unconcerned about others. The same people who clog up the train and hold up the buses with their bikes are usually the same jerks biking on the sidewalk when they're supposed to be on the road. I'm glad that people bike (because it's healthy and good for the environment), but it seems like the majority of bicycle riders here are smug and inconsiderate. Just my experience in Chicago so far.

here are a few more possibilities 1) flat tire/other mechanical problem that renders the bike unrideable 2) running late, but still want to bike home 3) your starting point and destination are both fairly distant from the el, with no good bus alternatives.

Earth to mike: You are not an all-seeing, omniscient being. I've been on two evening rush-hour Red Line trains with bikes *this week.* And it's only Wednesday. (Yesterday, the jerk and his toy were sprawled out in the hobo corner, taking up the entire thing. Points for getting out of the way; points taken away for doing it in the most selfish way, including blocking an otherwise empty seat on a crowded train.)

Maybe we should start taking cell-phone pictures of these jerks and upload them to a special Flickr group.

And is there perhaps any chance that all the policy-setting office drones at CTA HQ dart out the door at 4? Because ending rush hour at 6, in general but particularly as applied to bikes, demonstrates a real lack of perception about the real world. I'll often get downstairs to a packed NB platform at Grand after 6 even on nights when the Cubs aren't playing. Rush hour (and the bike ban) should extend at least 'til 6:30.

Earth to mike: You are not an all-seeing, omniscient being. I've been on two evening rush-hour Red Line trains with bikes *this week.* And it's only Wednesday. (Yesterday, the jerk and his toy were sprawled out in the hobo corner, taking up the entire thing. Points for getting out of the way; points taken away for doing it in the most selfish way, including blocking an otherwise empty seat on a crowded train.)

Maybe we should start taking cell-phone pictures of these jerks and upload them to a special Flickr group.

And is there perhaps any chance that all the policy-setting office drones at CTA HQ dart out the door at 4? Because ending rush hour at 6, in general but particularly as applied to bikes, demonstrates a real lack of perception about the real world. I'll often get downstairs to a packed NB platform at Grand after 6 even on nights when the Cubs aren't playing. Rush hour (and the bike ban) should extend at least 'til 6:30.

Whoops -- apologies for the double post. I just "upgraded" my browser and it didn't refresh properly.

I've never taken my bike on the el, but there are a multitude of good reasons to do so-- though admittedly NOT during rush hour, rule or no rule.

I think it's entirely unfair to generalize that bikers in Chicago are "arrogant and unconcerned about others."

I see far more selfish and ridiculous behavior on the CTA everyday than I ever see from bikers on the city's streets. I still wouldn't say that CTA riders are generally "arrogant" or selfish.

Anyone who rides a bike on the sidewalk and is older than the age of 13 is an idiot. That's way more dangerous than riding on the street.

People often think bikers are inconsiderate when they ride in the street, even though they have a legal right and a responsibility to ride in the street. It's a function of a car-oriented society. You see something different and you freak out and blame the biker for traffic.

Pretty stupid.

funny thing. Right after this topic I go home yesterday to find a bike on the train during rush hour. Atleast he was polite and didn't have his bike in the way of people boarding or exiting. Nice job of the CTA prohibiting bikes on trains during rush hour :)

Brian, my experience has been that drivers and cyclists are equally rude. And that each "side" likes to vilify and generalize about the other.