CTA Tattler

Shell game thrives on Orange Line

A regular Orange Line rider tells us of his experience with the shell game:

I was on the Orange Line going to Midway today when a man and a toothless lady boarded the train at Halsted.

As soon as they got on the train the man pulled out a board and the bottle caps - a shell game. He then proceeded to try to lure unsuspecting passengers into the game with the help of the toothless lady and another man who I assume was with the con man. They got off at Kedzie.

This is the first time I've seen them on the Orange Line - I've seen it on the Red Line once -- but expected it. Wonder how frequently this happens other lines?

Japanese train simulation game borrows from Brown Line

A reader emailed me last week about the new Japanese train simulation game released for PS3 that includes shots of the Brown Line. Photos from the Brown appear prominently and without shame on the Web site:

Wonder how much $ the CTA gets for this?

CTA/RTA audit calls for complete RTA oversight overhaul

The Illinois auditor general replaced released a report last week calling for an overhaul of how the Regional Transit Authority is run, and how it oversees the CTA, Pace and Metra.

Shockingly (ha!) it " recommended that the transit agencies re-examine system expansion plans and focus on bringing the system into a state of good repair," the Tribune reports.

You mean like, for example, how about fixing the Red Line infrastructure north of Addison before pouring millions in the superstation under Block 37?

Yeah, how about it?

A human face behind CTA "medical emergency"

A number of folks here have complained about being delayed by all sorts of CTA nonsense, including medical emergencies.

But on medical emergencies, I always just shake my head and say, "well it could have been me or someone else I knew."

Friday's Chicago Tribune featured a news obituary for Dennis Gordon, a 58-year-old musician and newspaper designer. He died after collapsing on the CTA's Brown Line on the way to work on Tuesday.

I actually remember hearing his band play in the 1980s. And it turns out that my daughter knows his son.

So the next time you hear the announcement about a delay due to a medical emergency, instead of cursing the idea of being late, perhaps the proper response should be: "There but for the grace of God go I."

Taking rowdy matters into your own hands

Wendy wrote me yesterday, saying she had just found CTA Tattler Thursday. She, like all of us, had many stories to tell of her daily commute. This one, well, this one took a lot of courage. Here's to you, Wendy:

Yesterday on the Brown Line, I kicked three drunk men off the train. I had worked late, was tired, just wanted to get home in peace. At about the Chicago stop, some drunkards got on and started getting rowdy and yelling at each other and threatening to take people's money and were swearing up a huge storm, being really crude, etc., etc. Stop after stop it got worse and worse and louder and louder. I got madder and madder.

Nobody was doing anything. Finally, after one man started pounding on the wall and acting really menacing, I got to feeling that my personal safety was being threatened. Or at the very least, they were going to start a fight with each other, they'd have to stop the train, call the police, etc., etc.. and then I'd never get home.

I sort of of snapped. I got up, marched over to their end of the train, and unloaded on them with all the righteous fury and sense of justice I had. I yelled, pointing at them right in their faces, "You, You and YOU are getting OFF this train at the next stop! It doesn't matter where you wanted to get off, you WILL be getting off the next time these doors open! If you don't get off, I'll be pressing the button and telling them to call the police!

"This is ENOUGH! ALL OF YOU ARE LEAVING THIS TRAIN!" They all stopped in their tracks and looked at me all slackjawed. One man apologized and mumbled sorry or whatever, and I just blared, "We do NOT need this type of behavior on our way home from work!" I was not interested in apologies. I stood there yelling at them until the doors opened, and then pointed at the door and shooed them out yelling, "GET OUT! GET OUT!" They all herded out and just kind of stood there on the platform, not knowing quite what to do. (It was Southport)

The doors closed, and we were off. I heard a few "thank you's" from the other passengers on the train. I then parked myself back in a seat and rode in peace the rest of the way home. After my husband stopped laughing when I told him about it, he wondered why I didn't just get out of the car, or catch another train.

That would have been the sensible thing to do I suppose. I've done it before, no big deal. But for this one time, I figured why should I have to move, or inconvenience myself in any way for those ignorant drunks.

If they had been maybe a tougher sort of crowd, I'd probably not have done anything. Or maybe I would have. I dunno. I'm sick of idiots making life miserable for the rest of us regular folks. All we want is to just get to where we're going without any trouble.

How to keep safe on public transit

In all the other spare time I have when I'm not reporting or writing for this blog (or earning a living), I'm a community policing CAPS beat facilitator.

At our January beat meeting, Chicago Police Lt. John Wittenburg, Tactical Coordinator for the Police Public Transit Unit, gave a short presentation on keeping safe on trains an buses. He said the biggest CTA crime problem is pickpocketing and thefts. He said if you need to report crime while on a train car give the dispatcher these pertinent pieces of info: train line (ie., Red, Blue); direction of travel; car number; location (ie., pulling into Belmont).

He also left these handy-dandy cards with safety tips. Download pdf file below.

Download CTA_safety_tips.pdf 

New CTA security?

Thanks to Charlie for sharing with us a member of the new CTA security team.

Who let one loose?

This Tattler gem comes from my wife:

I had just reached the top of the Davis platform, and was walking past a clutch of about six people waiting for the southbound Evanston Purple Line. As I passed, one of  them let loose with just about the loudest fart I had ever heard. Loud and long.

I kept my composure -- stifling the urge to laugh -- and continued walking. When I got about 10 feet past them, I turned around and looked to see if I could figure out which one had passed gas. As soon as I turned, a woman in her late 30s, dark ponytail and black glasses just smiled at me and gave an exaggerated shrug with her shoulders her hands upraised and pushed out to the side, like -- "well, it could happen to the best of us, and it happened to me." A priceless look.

Let he who has not farted cast the first stone.

May he rest in peace eternally

Anytime I write about awful odors on the CTA, I get emails and comments from readers who want to share their foul stories. This one takes the cake for being among the saddest and most disturbing:

I once got on the Red Line with a friend and we were immediately assaulted by the most foul, rank odor I've ever smelled in my life. Everyone on the train had their shirts over their noses and looked like they were going to be sick. We tried to move to the other side of the train but the smell was just as strong.

At the next stop (Grand, I believe), the doors opened and a couple of cops entered our car, carrying a body bag. They walked straight to the Hobo Corner and left a few minutes later, having filled the bag.

Later that night, while watching the news, I discovered that a hobo had died in the Hobo Corner. It was a little disturbing and very ironic.

How to get fare refunds caused by short supply of Chicago Cards

The CTA on Friday announced terms of a class action lawsuit it settled in late January with customers who had to pay extra in fares because Chicago Cards were not available in late December 2005 and throughout January of 2006.

That's when there was a scramble by riders to buy the smart cards because riders who didn't use the smart cards started paying 25 cents more for cash fares on Jan. 1, 2006. But the CTA quickly ran out of Chicago Cards, and riders paid extra for a month until supply could be replenished.

There's $200,000 available for refunds, and of course the CTA is not making it easy for passengers to get the refunds. Tiffany Chancellor, who filed the class action suit, gets $600 of the $200,000, leaving $199,400 for the rest of you.

If you tried and couldn't get a Chicago Card during that period, you must download the claim form here. The form directs you to enumerate the different retail outlets where you attempted to buy the card, including addresses. And you have to estimate "how much additional money . . . you paid in fares during January, 2006, because you were unable to obtain a Chicago Card and, instead, had to pay your bus and/or fares with cash, at the increased fare amounts that went into effect on January 1, 2006."

Once you clear that hurdle and submit the claim form by MAy 29, you have to go in person to CTA headquarters between Sept. 13 and Nov. 12 and receive that amount as a credit on your Chicago Card.

Hey, good luck guys!