Penny New Year's Eve rides; girls gone wild
Once again, the CTA is promoting public transit over drunken driving by offering penny rides on buses and trains from 8 pm New Year's Eve Sunday till 6 am Monday, New Year's Day.
I wonder why they don't just offer free rides? I mean, now it's gonna screw up balances on Chicago Cards/Plus. I mean, if you take a round trip without transfer, and your Chicago Card balance is now $10.75, it will be $10.73 after tonight. And you can't add anything less than a nickel to the Chicago Card at the vending machines. That would drive me nuts to have an odd balance like that.
C'est la vie. I'm glad I have a monthly pass. Be safe out there tonight.
Girls gone wild on the CTA
I was just astounded by this story, so I have to share it with you.
Woman And Innocent Bystander Stabbed On CTA Bus
From CBS2: "A group of women boarded a CTA bus near 44th and State streets and when they got inside, they chased a woman who boarded at the same time to the back of the bus, according to a Wentworth Area detective. One woman from the group stabbed the woman they were chasing with a knife, the detective said."
Lovely. Happy New Year.
Whenever I've taken the el on New Year's (always with the "penny rides" in effect), the gates are open -- they let you walk through. Over the years, I've seen this at Addison (Red), Howard (Red), and Main (Purple).
I do wonder why they advertise it as penny rides -- my guess is that there's a legal requirement that they charge something.
Posted by: Rhett | December 31, 2006 at 04:18 PM
I think the point of the penny rides is to stick some pennies in your pocket/purse at the beginning of the night and then not worry about how to get home at the end of the night. When I was in high school the rides were free, but I think the CTA wanted to get some kind of a tally of how many people were riding. Also, I'm pretty sure the machines will deduct full fare from your card, I almost used mine a couple years ago and the bus driver told me not to, and let me on for free. Don't know how that would work at the el stations, though, since none of the turnstiles accept change anymore.
Posted by: Kerry | December 31, 2006 at 04:35 PM
Totally free getting on Orange/Green at Roosevelt coming home from the Bears game as well. They had about a dozen staff members on site flashing transit cards to open the turnstiles.
Posted by: JennL | December 31, 2006 at 11:52 PM
I do not believe this
Posted by: fornetti | August 31, 2008 at 05:15 AM