CTA Tattler

This couldn't be any plainer than the nose on your face, Frank!
Time for current CTA management to go!

Wow. Yeah, the article does make very clear the many ways in which we are in very deep trouble. How depressing. How doomed are we?

>>"You can't be so enamored of glamorous capital projects that you are neglecting the million people you serve a day."<<

Yes. It takes hours just to travel a short distance from one side of the city to the other.

Yet it's more important to bring the Olympics here, flower boxes, bicycle sidewalks, the Bean and other items....

I agree with Renee. Let's stop this insanity with the Olympics and Block 37 and do the things that need to be done to the CTA and other infrastructure projects. I realize it's not as easy as this, but a first step is not re-electing Daley.

You wouldn't think it was possible, but this morning the CTA managed to have both reduced service and a blockade of trains around Clark/Division. I was afraid they were going to go for the hat trick and throw in a derailment or fire or something.

Full story:

http://community.livejournal.com/chicago_el/333267.html

As harsh as it may sound, but we should not help the CTA until they prove to us they are serious about trying to raise funds for these unfunded/underfunded projects... You don't have to cut jobs to cut costs.... hire college students to paint, apprentice to help with constuction work. You're keeping the same # of jobs and also helping a younger generation get work experience. Also, what does every person who was not raised with a silver spoon do when they have a big home improvement or want to go on an expensive trip.... they put money into a savings. Maybe if lawmakers see the CTA cutting out the waste, bloated payroll and save a buck or two at the end of the day... they'd actually get more respect when they ask for more funding.

cmama,

True, true, and true.

Way to hit it on the nose!

There needs to be some financial oversight from Downstate over the next few years. Where is all of this $$ going?!?

A coworker pointed out to me an article in Red Eye today which outlines the pay and responsibilities of the customer assistants.

Apparently they are paid between $32 and 50k a year (or about $15 million a year combined!) to ALLEGEDLY handle customer questions, certain fare card problems and, get this, light maintenance! What, you mean they AREN'T paid to sleep, talk on their cellphones and just generally loaf about? I'd have never guessed!

The CTA contact also claims there are about 284 CAs, which seems low since I see at least three CTA employees hanging around my stop pretty much every time I come through. Given that there are more than 130 stations, all with at least two shifts, I have to wonder what the assigned function of all the loitering employees I see is.

In any case, this all makes me wonder where one can obtain a full listing of filled positions at the CTA. I'd also like to find a detailed description of the duties of each position and what the agency's performance appraisal policy is for each position.

Many, myself included, have long suspected that despite it's poor-mouth claims to be doing it's best with the little money it has, that the agency in fact pays for a lot of headcount that really add virtually nothing to service quality. If these people were either fired or retasked and made to meet stricter performance criteria, maybe the agency could make some real headway on service and maintenence issues that don't require billions of dollars to fix.

Some progress in this kind of dimension would go a long way towards proving that the agency can handle more resources wisely.

While on the red line (Howard/Dan Ryan) during rush hour this morning the conductor announced over the intercom that the line was "lacking in rail cars today...there aren't enough rail cars."

cmama, what you describe would require a change in state law to allow CTA to get around its union contracts that prevent "hiring college students" and apprentices. Or it would require a union arbitrator that gave CTA something it asked for instead of everything to the uninos. And what would demonstrate to you that CTA is "serious" about raising funds for these unfunded needs? You can't be in the same zipcode with anyone from CTA leadership without hearing pleas for money. How do you think Crain's got all of its data? Do you think they just made up the numbers, or did the engineering calculations themselves? Of course not -- this is all information CTA has published before, and I know folks in my office spent huge amounts of time preparing information for this crain's story. THese things in the media don't just happen, they come about through a lot of work.

Nobody here seems to remember, Richard & Frank know what we NEED and WANT!

Crains has it right!

Good article. The topmost picture is of the Main Street viaduct on the Purple Line that was completely rebuilt in 2005. the beams and iron used to shore up the old viaduct, as shown in the picture were put into place in the summer of 1992!

Actually its of the Hollywood bridge at 5700 N.

Yes that's the Hollywood viaduct. Our leaders have shown through excuses and indifference that they care more about the gridlocked single-motorist commuter traffic that drives under it every day than the thousands of transit commuters who roll over it.

I didn't have an opinion either way on the idea of putting conductors back on the trains until my experience this morning, now I'm sold.

A non-obvious CTA worker boarded a SB blue line train this morning. Immediately, he noticed a solicitor harassing a woman. The worker identified himself and kicked the bum off the train at the next stop while communicating over his radio. A station later, he noticed that the stop announcements weren't working correctly and he radioed to the driver to make announcements over the intercom. When that failed to work correctly, he went from car to car (as best he could) making sure there were no disabled folks who were missing their stops as a result of that.

For all the talk of bad customer service (especially in today's Red Eye) this gentleman's work was a breath of fresh air.

Lawsuit: Boy Falls Through 'L' Tracks To Ground Below http://www.nbc5.com/news/10897848/detail.html

Hi Chicago. Regarding this story, only $50K? Suprised a trial lawyer has not stepped forward as this is worth far more.

I don't like lawsuits that are misplaced or excessive as it drives up the costs. However, in this case, the CTA has some issues with Chicago/Franklin.

Chicago/Franklin is an extra long platform dating back to pre subway times. In those days, everyone excepted that riding the train required some risk. Today, people don't think about hazards or expect someone to leap out of nowhere to warn you that your McDonalds Coffee is burning hot. At Chicago, the platform is long enough for a 12 car train. The caveat: The platform curves. When 2-4 car trains are in operation, those train stops around the curve. This creates a gap significant enough for a small child to fall through.

I can remember the countless times growing up and how protective my dad would be...he couldn't see very well..but he liked trains and knew their many hazzards. As an example, one time, I hopped on a train and tried to keep the blinker doors from closing. My arms were stuck out of the train. He shoved my hands in while the train started moving and told me to get off at our stop.

When my dad's eyesight worsened, there were at least two times he fell onto the subway tracks. It's scarey...especially when no one is in the subway to help you from the CTA.

Chicago/Franklin is poorly marked and is a saftey hazzard...and has been so for years. Conductors used to say to be careful getting on and off the train and use caution. Someone should check the automated announcement...I doubt anything is mentioned. ...hence...lack of markings on platform+gap in between train and platform=management negligence.

If the management really cared, more heads would role rather than offering political cover and this could have been prevented.

Where is George Krambles when you need him?

On a better note, gotta love that two pair set painted in Orange and Blue as well as the Metra coach. GO BEARS!

article or no article, the cta is a bust, pure and simple. every day it's another problem. fridays seem always to be the worst. if it's not track work, it's a bad door, defective trains, power outages, signal clearance problems, in short, everything. the employees are generally nasty and ignorant and simply do not care. chicago has pretty planters, sculptures where ordinary citizens spit water from their mouths and 1000 taverns in and around wrigley field. and lets not forget the new trump tower, that 92 story shrine of greed for status seeking social climbers clamoring to pay 800k for 585 square feet of motel space. but good luck trying to get from one end of town to another on our miserable train and bus system. having traveled to other parts of the world, i can say with authority that the cta is the worst i've ever used. it's totally unreliable and if you're trying to get to work or anywhere on time, don't count on it. and leaving earlier is no guarantee that you will get there any sooner. the cta needs to be taken out of daley's hands and made a private agency or under some sort of third-party authority. nothing should be in the hands of a city that continually raises sales taxes and fees to fund its various and sundry scandals. chicago does not deserve the olympics, and it would absolute folly if the committee were to put them here. this city can't even get its own citizens around via transit or its constantly clogged streets, expressways and airports. i shudder to think how it will deal with the onslaught of millions of people from all over the world. forbes magazine recently granted chicago the dubious title of most stressful city in america. congratulations, chicago! you always wanted to be ahead of new york. now you are!