CTA Tattler

Beware of the DOTS from Japan

A clean, well-dressed, nicely manicured man in his mid-40s paces the length of the Red Line train car from Garfield to Wilson.

He screams over and over:

"Are YOU Telling ME that that DOT that Flew here from Japan to Chicago Didn't Do NO Damage?!?"

He also seems to have a good knowledge of well-made trucks:

"You KNOW them Mercedes-Benz Semis Will Run Until the BODY Falls off Them!"

The satisfaction in running to make it

There's a certain gratification of just running full-out for a train and just barely making it.

I saw that Saturday night when a pretty 20-ish lass stumbled headlong onto the Red Line car at Granville, laughing and smirking at having actually made it.

She throws herself into a seat, totally out of breath, and just exclaims: " I ran a full block to make this train." She was talking to just whoever was in hearing distance.

Stark reality set in a minute later when she also remarked: "Of course, it won't mean a damn thing if I have to wait 20 minutes at Howard for the Purple Line."

Coming clean on the CTA

A young couple in their early 20s boards at Loyola. He's a redhead sporting a shaved scalp. She had a typical scene-ster black shag haircut and wears cool black Chuck Taylor shoes. They're talking about being at the bar the previous night.

She : "He was really cute but he just smelled so bad."

He: "Yeah, I have some friends who really smell, but it's because they don't shower."

She: "Yeah really, that's all it takes. I mean how hard can it be."

He: "I have one friend who doesn't really smell but his breath really stinks." 

Weekend quick hits

Here are some loose thoughts and random notes to close out a cold winter's weekend:

Windybits.com debuts. Frequent Tattler visitor/astute commenter Tom Sherman debuts windybits.com -- "Covering the ideas, events, and people in Chicago technology." Tom gives some thoughtful coverage to TECH Cocktail 3 and "A tech savvy Chicagoan's guide to the CTA." Good stuff all, and not just because he mentions the Tattler in the latter.

New way to complain about CTA to elected leaders. A couple folks noted in comments here last week the launch of Neighbors Project, "a local campaign to improve the Chicago Transit Authority." Go here to send an automated message to all your local representatives about your CTA complaints.

Newest Tattler medium. CTA Tattler has been fortunate enough to be featured on radio, TV and print. Now I've cracked the latest and hottest new medium: podcasting. Mike Stephen and Andy Hermann recently launched "Chicago's Almost Above-Ground Audio Magazine," Outside the Loop Radio. The guys interviewed me for a show a week ago. Kinda cool.

Dog gone problem with CTA Securitas?

I got this heartfelt letter from Dan at Dog Gone CTA.

I'm writing this as a worried and concerned CTA customer who feels this issue desperately needs to be addressed; The bomb sniffing dogs that the CTA has outsourced Securitas Inc. to handle. I have encountered these bomb sniffing dogs and their handlers well over 50 times in the past two years I have lived in Chicago.

Why do I remember how many times I encountered them? Because everyone of those 50 times I have seen these dogs appear overly fatigued. I have been around dogs all my life and even have volunteered in a dog shelter for the past year and all the sick and unhealthy dogs I have seen in that shelter do not compare to how physically drained these Securitas dogs look and act. I'm sure many fellow CTA passengers have witnessed these dogs which appear as though they are about ready to collapse (literally), so how is it that these dogs are supposed to be sniffing for bombs when it looks like they are barely able to stand up straight or keep their eyes open!?

I have a very high level of suspicion these dogs are continually being overworked, I have seen many NYPD subway bomb sniffing dogs in NYC and none of those dogs showed anywhere near the level of fatigue that the Securitas dogs display, in fact the NYPD dogs actually looked like they knew what they were doing (by that I mean actually sniffing around).

Preparing for chaos: CTA puts new Fullerton platform into service

The Tribune and Sun-Times report how the CTA is right on schedule to make our commute even more hellish than it already is:

"Northbound Brown Line trains will share a track with Red Line trains at the Fullerton station this weekend as CTA officials put a newly constructed northbound platform and track into service in preparation for Brown Line renovations later this year, CTA officials announced Tuesday."

Fabulous.

If only the CTA was as good at listening to its customers as it is at making our lives living hell. But sure,  we know -- "Temporary (two years) inconvenience, permanent improvement."

Of course, CTA President Frank Kruesi bent over backwards to put the positive spin on the whole situation:

“Having the new platform and new track at Fullerton in place prior to beginning three-track operations throughout this corridor is key to keeping this station open to customers during the remaining construction work for the Brown Line capacity expansion project,” said CTA President Frank Kruesi. “Coordinating construction work at 18 stations while maintaining service for customers throughout is no small feat. We have committed a great deal of time and effort developing and implementing plans for this project so we can simultaneously operate service and increase capacity. Although we have asked our customers to make adjustments to their travel patterns because of the work, the most important thing is that trains are continuing to run and provide service for our customers.”

No small feat. Uh huh.

How about accomplishing a small feat and giving us more alternative routes and buses when this mess starts in April?

Otherwise, you can expect that nice bump in new CTA customers to disappear and not return even when the project is done. 

Smart card mittens do the trick on cold mornings

Subway Knitter Colleen Meagher has a warm solution to a cold problem -- stay warm on those cold mornings with her special mitten with a built-in pocket for your Chicago Card smart card.

Or in her case, for the Charlie Card in Boston.

No, you can't place an order for her to knit one for you, but you can place a bid online to win a pair, with your winning bid going to Rosie's Place, a shelter for homeless women.

Thanks for the tips from Charlie at Charlie's blog on Boston's MBTA. He's a former Rogers Park resident and CTA rider doing a great job on his own with his Boston T blog.

And another tip of the hat to Tattler contributor Liz for her email about Colleen.

Crain's examines what's wrong with the CTA

Great report by Crain's Chicago Business this week:

Crumbling walls and seedy stations: "The agency pegs its unfunded capital needs by 2011 at $5.8 billion."

Choosing expansion over new signals: "You can't be so enamored of glamorous capital projects that you are neglecting the million people you serve a day."

Suspect decision-making by CTA management: "Mr. Kruesi often has spent its limited capital dollars on ostentatious expansion projects rather than the smaller, cheaper, more mundane maintenance that keeps trains running on time."

Jacqueline Leavy of the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group considers the decision to build a super-station under the Block 37  "an example of the CTA's focus on glitz over grit — gilding the lily instead of taking care of immediate needs."

Check out the interesting charts below:

Crain's photo by Stephen J. Serio. Crain's created the graphic above. Story via Gapers Block.

"Da Bears" echoes through train car

Aboard the Red Line heading north late on Saturday night before the NFC championship game, a 40-ish guy tries to rouse a crowded Red Line train leaving Wilson. This was after spying a teen-age girl wearing a Bear scarf.

"All right, oh yeah, on the count of three, Da Bears! One, Two, Three: Da Bears!!!!"

Just the two of them - "DA BEARS!"

"C'mon everybody, C'mon! One more time: One, Two, Three! DA BEARS!"

Well, four or five people that time.

Obviously at that time, they didn't know Da Bears are heading to the Super Bowl! Whoo-Hoo!

Do you think the team will take the Blue Line to O'Hare for their trip to Miami?

Top cop's son mugged on CTA; cops solve it quickly

"Numerous police officers were redirected to work the robbery" on a Blue Line train last Thursday night of the adult son of Chicago Police Supt. Philip Cline.

Yes, that's right: A bunch of cops were pulled off their regular jobs to try and solve the mugging of a CTA train passenger. The victim lost a cell phone and cash to two men and a woman. But of course he was a well-connected victim.

And to be fair, here's the rest of the story: Victim Timothy Cline is an employee of the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force. The Tribune reported: "There was some concern of sensitive information or phone numbers related to drug-trafficking investigations being compromised by the theft of the phone, the source said. However, . . . no information was compromised."

Further, a police spokesman said: "Additional police were assigned to the case because it was a mugging on the "L," and police believed it might be part of a pattern of robberies. She said the suspects, who have histories of gang involvement, are being investigated for other robberies."

Moral? Next time you're a CTA crime victim who wants the crime solved, make sure you are the offspring of a top police official who works on drug investigations.

Moi? A cynic?