News update: Phallic art, Madison bus GPS tracking, transit crime drop
Since I've added the Yahoo CTA news feed to my blog on the right, I haven't been noting CTA stories in the news quite as much. But there are exceptions, such as today.
Kimball phallic art? We've heard about much angst lately over new artwork installed at the Kimball station (fuzzy photo borrowed from topix.net). Everyone's a critic. I'm just glad the CTA is including art in the Brown Line rehab. And I love this quote from the head of the community group that OK'ed the art project: "Nobody in the group saw this or any inkling that this was sexual in nature or phallic in nature or whatever," said John Friedman with the Hornet Park West Association. So whaddya think?
No. 20 Madison via GPS. The CTA this weekend unveiled its Web site for the $1.3 million tracking system -- a pilot project that allows riders to locate buses as they make their way on routes, and even set reminders on when to head to the bus stop, based on that location. At first glance, it seems like you could get a lot of information from the Web site, but it's wonky and not especially intuitive. But until I get a chance to try it out, I will withhold final judgment. How about you. Have you tried it? What do you think?
Feel safer? Crime drops on CTA. The CTA and Chicago police were boasting about an overall 5.3% drop in crime so far this year on the transit system. That compares with a 1.4% increase in the first five months of 2005. Robberies were down 34%, and thefts, the most common crime, were down 6.7%. We've certainly had our share of flashers, gropers and con men on CTA vehicles. But personally, I've never really felt threatened on the CTA, and I have noticed an increased police presence in the last year. What do you think?
I've tried the #20 Madison tracking pilot, and I think it's just fine, and I wish they would just go ahead and implement this systemwide without a long test. I don't know what's wonky about it; seems simple and informative to me: tells you when the next few buses will arrive and, if you want, shows you a map of the route and where all the buses are on that route.
It's another case where the value of a system has already been proven by transit authorities in other cities, and we just need to get it going here.
Posted by: Scott | August 08, 2006 at 07:15 AM
I tried the bustracker, and while it seemed to work pretty well, there were some times when the map locked up. The noticeable thing I saw is that even at about 9 p.m. on a Saturday night, the buses were bunched (2 westbounds were within a block, and also 2 eastbounds). Thus, instead of a bus every 12 minutes as promised, there were intervals in the 20 minute range. What could be causing that kind of delay on a Saturday night?
On the art: If it is phallic (I don't think so), it has more balls that most of CTA management.
On crime: The "deaf vendor" scam has moved from the CTA to suburban shopping malls.
Posted by: jackonthebus | August 08, 2006 at 09:05 AM
The bus tracker is useless if it doesn't work on cell phone Web browsers. It doesn't have to be a big fancy constantly updated map; I'd be happy to enter an address or intersection and get a text page back that tells me the next buses that are arriving and whether they're on time, ahead of schedule, or behind. For busy stretches like Michigan Ave., a text field could let us enter a specific route number, and if left blank it would just show all the buses approaching that address. But it's the people on the street who need the info, much moreso than the people at home or work.
Posted by: Bob S. | August 08, 2006 at 10:32 AM
how about this for the rail stations... a display that shows estimated time of arrival. Again, something else in Paris I found useful for the CTA. As for the Buses...Maybe they need to re-evaluate their schedule and traffic patterns to update the times.
Posted by: cmama | August 08, 2006 at 10:48 AM
I think it looks like golf clubs.
Posted by: Cheryl | August 08, 2006 at 11:17 AM
I was watching the news this past Saturday afternoon and saw the exciting news on the tracking system... so i decided to experience it first hand. I visited the Madison + Jefferson (20) bus stop. I was pleased to see that the display was working well. It fit in seamlessly with the bus stop stucture. It displays the time and temperature, and the ETA of the next two busses for the specific stop. I waited for both busses to arrive and they were both on time, just as predicted. This was at 4:45pm on a tuesday traveling west.
Having the display at each stop, or maybe every couple of stops, would make it soooo much more convenient to ride the busses. If the tracking system was also implemented on the rails, that would complete the package.
As for the internet site... it worked pretty well, but it did freeze up several times when I used it. It would be great to use in inclement weather so that you don't have to go down to your stop to see when the bus/train arrives, and also safer because you wouldn't be standing there for 20 mins+ and becoming a target for a criminal.
Above all--- No more waiting impatiently for your ride to come. We all know that it is a shot in the dark sometimes when planning our busy schedules around the CTA!!!
Posted by: Troke | August 08, 2006 at 06:09 PM
About the drop in crime: It may well be that there's been a decrease in crime on the CTA. However, since the numbers depend on reports, they may simply reflect a drop in reported crimes. It's possible that fewer victims are even bothering to report?
Posted by: Brian | August 08, 2006 at 07:48 PM
The bus tracker will never go system wide!
It will choke on the following routes: #4, Cottage Grove; #6, Jeffrey; #22, Clark; #36, Broadway; #55, Garfield; #151, Sheridan [to Clark/Devon, not the Belmont short runs].
All of these routes are screwed up beyond belief!
Posted by: jeff | August 08, 2006 at 09:42 PM
The Kimball station art is only remotely phallic. For better examples, see: http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/phallic/nominees.php
Posted by: Another Guest | August 09, 2006 at 12:51 PM
The Blue Line southbound from OHare to Downtown in the morining is scarry to ride. My daughter was swore at because she wouldn't give a guy some money to buy a sandwich. The next day we were followed by another guy off the train. They say to press a red button if anything happens. I complained to the CTA and told the police at Lake where we got off and it seems now there is security that wasn't there before and watching to see if people pay. There also was so many homeless you couldn't sit down and the smell made me choke.
Posted by: Donna | January 12, 2007 at 04:31 AM