CTA Tattler

My commute to school yesterday was, if anything, faster than usual. I did note though that the Lawrence bus on the way home was more than three times as crowded. By the time it got to the red line station after turning around at the lake it was full! That's insane. If they're going to encourage everyone to take the bus instead they're going to need more buses.

It might be somewhat easier to finish the canopy once they can build the platform to full width. They've had exactly one day to do that so far.

The progress they are making at Belmont is nothing short of amazing compared to the rest of the Brown Line. The contractors never moved that fast when constructing the new track at Fullerton.

Every single day I use the station there is substantially more steel up and forms built for the concrete track supports/bed.

Hey,
Is it my imagination or are there about a gazillion more CTA "employees" around who now do NOTHING other than hand out flyers about 3 tracking? Shouldn't all of these extra CTA "employees" be put to work cleaning & maintaining L cars? Where have all of these CTA "employees" been hiding all of this time? I assume they have been picking up paychecks....why have we not been seeing them actually performing any actual work. The trains are all still dirty and nasty and very little if anything CTA has seems to work properly and yet CTA seems to feel that they have extra personnelk available to stand around all day handing out leaflets instaed of contributing to the CTA providing reliable, safe and clean transportation! This type of incompitent if not criminally negligent management of human resources is the main reason CTA's budget is so badly screwed up every year.

Dan-

They're there so that if and when something does go wrong and you become the first person to start moaning and crying about it, they'll have people on hand to fix it in a timely manner or to make the proper adjustments. They're covering all their bases with this project, but don't expect these people to be making your day absolutely miserable after another week or two.

As far as train cleanliness goes the Brown and Purple lines beat all the others hands down every time in my experience. What are the staffs at the Kimball and Linden Yards doing that is so different than the other lines?

The Red Line is indeed often depressingly filthy and grime covered. Orange is typically middle of the road. Pink and Green lines have a 50/50 chance of smelling like a sewer backup.

Two things. First, Dan, news outlets have reported that the many of the extra CTA employees that were standing on platforms handing out literature were office workers who volunteered for the task. Damn them! Sheesh, you really can't win with some people.

Second, somehow, my commute from Western to Wash/Wells was about 5-7 minutes faster than it always is. When things don't break down, that's a pretty reliable 35 minutes. Today, it was about 26-28 minutes or so. Now, I worked from home on Monday, so I haven't done the NB commute yet.

I am pleasantly surprised so far...
How interesting that we are down to 3 tracks and everything *seems* to be running much more efficient and speedy.

How interesting that we are down to 3 tracks and everything *seems* to be running much more efficient and speedy.

Yup. Less passenger load results in more idyllic conditions. For now.

Ok, the constant negativity is getting obnoxious. Yes, the three tracks is not a good thing. Yes, things will slow down. However, if "all hell" didn't "break loose" like you originally thought, that should be a GOOD thing. Not an excuse for you to say that "all hell will break loose at another time" (just you wait!). Maybe the CTA didn't screw up nearly as bad as you thought?

Dan,

You need to move away from Chicago. you've completely lost it. Those nice people are there to help you on their own time. They're volunteers. Get a grip , would you? You're already at a fever pitch and it's day 2. I can't wait until you're frothing at the mouth at day 5.

the reason the commute didn't slow down that much is that the work hasn't started yet. you've got a week of this before the trains are on 3 tracks _and_ slowing down for workers along the way.

You neglect to mention what has happened to the bus system. The lost drivers (and I do feel bad for them contrary to what you might think) as well as all the poor frowning faces that don't even get the chance to get on a bus, purely because the buses are full before they even get back on Michigan.

My inbound commute was fine (but I get to work after 9 usually). Outbound I could definitely see a difference. Packed Brown/Purple @ the Mart around 6:15pm and a 10+ min wait between trains. I let the first go by and had to squeeze on the next one.

At Fullerton about 6 Brown & Purple came and went before we saw our first Red. Do Brown/Purple get primary access b/c the Red has to switch tracks?

And yes....this week is light. The real test will come in the next few weeks when school is back in and the Cubs have home games.

I've been midly surprised at how smooth it's gone so far... granted, it's only been couple days. The only thing that was kind of annoying was all the extra purple line people on the brown line side of the Quincy station at 5pm. My travel times were about the same.

I've braced myself for the extra delays and extra people everywhere for the next while. Gird your loins people! Let's prepare ourselves for the times when we'll need to be patient and mature about inconveniences. There's really nothing we can do about the situation, but we do have a choice how we react to it and interact with fellow passengers. I'm hopeful it won't be all doom and gloom. I'm sure some days will be worse than others, just like it always is. Keep your ipods charged and your soduko puzzles handy. See you on the tracks!

I'm completely baffled as to why they reversed the Purple Line during the construction.

I get on at Quincy, so now I either have to ride the Brown or Purple all the way around, or take the Orange to Clark and transfer there.

At 5 or so, the Mart starts to get packed, and a lightly loaded Purple meant that at least most of the waiting passengers would get on and transfer at Fullerton or Belmont to the brown if they needed to.

With the config now, I'd *hate* getting on at the mart. Might be faster to get on going south and travel all the way around the loop.

Going home yesterday I got on a #148 bus that apparently came off the outer drive at Wacker, so its first stop heading North on Michigan Ave. was at the Tribune Tower stop, where I was. I hope they keep that up! Starting with empty 148's at that stop is perfect - the bus fills by the time it heads back onto Lake Shore to go express, and everyone still gets a comfy ride, without overcrowding.

2nd day of getting to work on time for most people. 2nd day of injuries for some. Today I was exiting the belmont station at 10:45 am and saw a shadow pass by my face. A split second later felt BLINDING pain in my foot. I look down to see a huge railroad board (i have no idea what the correct term is- extremely heavy big *ss piece of wood) next to my foot. I look up and a CTA worker is peering at me through the gap in the boards he was removing and mouths "Are you okay?" No, I was not okay. A giant plank of wood fell from the sky onto ME. I was then told I needed to file a report by a CTA worker who walked away and never came back. Nobody offered to help me file anything. When I inquired about it one of the men who asked me if I was okay asked me for my ID and wrote my information down.... on a purple piece of construction paper.
I was in complete shock and my foot was throbbing so I continued on to the doctor. Foot is not broken. Went back to the station to fill out an OFFICIAL report (read- NO construction paper) and the same worker who did my "report" before informs me that they're having a lot of trouble at Belmont. Yesterday a worker fell from the tracks and badly injured himself (i didn't see anything about that in the paper!) and then today they almost killed me with a random piece of wood. So after he fills out the report including writing that I did not need medical attention (nobody asked me if I did or not) he gives the report to me. Yes, he gave the ONLY copy of the report to ME. How is it that he plans on filing a report when I have the only copy? Not sure, guess he can turn in that purple piece of construction paper at his office. I called the CTA and was guided to the claims office, which literally consists of a voicemail that says "If you got hurt, leave a message" which I did at 11am and nobody has called me back (i'm pretty sure they never will). I also called the Alderman's office and have heard nothing (again, not surprised).

So now I'm sitting here at work with one shoe on because the other foot is swollen and red thinking who CARES if I get home late today, I just want to LIVE.

Thanks for nothing, CTA.

I took an alternate route home today and I'm not sure if I can take riding the bus for sixty blocks for the next three years. It added an extra half hour on my commute and was more annoying. It may be better to just suffer on the train and get home a little later than that.

The commute in on the brown was smooth as silk today. The cars were emptier, faster and we didn't have to pick up the usual five hundred billion frat boys and sorority sisters that live at the Southport stop. Nice...but will it last?

Hey Bus Driver,
It's so great that CTA has thought ahead and give the Red Riders 10 extra 147 Michigan Ave. buses to take. Did ya'll not think to add in a few more 148 Express buses to Damen? And what's with the shuttle to Broadway and Wilson that says it's going to Damen on the marquee? Are we all supposed to pile up on the #11 Lincoln Ave. buses which by the way I don't even know where to get on. If you work anywhere along Michigan Ave. and were counting on the 148 Express your are SOL forget the 145 Express that disguses itself as an Express bus. Today I left work 15 miunutes earlier and waiting 45 minutes only to have the only 148 to Damen not even stop on my stop on Erie and Michigan. WTH CTA!!!

OneLessFoot,
safety at construction sites is a pretty big deal in this day and age (be thankful, they lost, i.e. to death, about one worker per week building the Empire State Building). But seriously, make as many calls as you can to the assorted CTA numbers, such as customer service (888-yourcta), post on Carole Brown's blog, etc. I'm sure the LAST thing CTA wants to deal with right now is an injury liability issue getting turned into a bigger deal than it has to be. It is good to hear that you are -probably- ok, i.e. no breaks.

Our of curisoity, were you dealing with CTA employees or construction contractors (i.e. from FHP Paschen, not CTA employees), since that would clearly impact their familiarity with how to navigate the labyrinthine beaurocracy of forms and reports. Also, which platform was this on (north or south), and where on the platform, so the rest of us can be mindful?

So, I'm sure you guys are pretty sad that the brown/red/purple line commutes so far this week have not only been smooth, but -- in some cases -- faster than before. What to complain about, the CTA being prepared for a tough situation and handling it well and all..

I mean, OF COURSE things will be awful next week (you hope) so the trains will run really slow (you hope) so you can complain endlessly about what a horrible organization the CTA is and how they completely dropped the ball on everything (you hope). What would you talk about otherwise?

I asked one of those "securitas" thugs if anyone turned in my lost cell phone and he demanded money! I couldn't believe it that he would do that. Who hires these clowns anyways and why do they always have a cell phone glued to their ear?

The 148s go by State and Lake, and up Michigan from Lake. I saw three at 4:45 all making the turn onto Mich.

Timing is everything I suppose.

To dnash:

I'd get your paperwork in order as soon as possible if I were you. The Criminally negigent and or incompetent CTA workforce and their subcontractors are grinding people up and spitting them out one body part at a time. Its well known that many construction workers and or riders are being injured due to this half- assed project on a daily basis butt hey are all being "agressively encouraged" to not file claims thru the normal channels in order to not hold up construction This type of scandelous corrupt behavior is not unusual for the City of Chicago and its agencies to cover their asses when they get caught behind the 8 ball and has been exposed on multiple occassions by local news outlets in the past few years.

Everybody reading this post should be on the lookout for several stories breaking here in Chicago on at least TWO seperate TV news stations about passengers being serious-ly injured and needing hospitalization for injuries sustained on L cars when they lurched or stopped suddenly and that the cars were at least 400% overcrowded due to the CTA's Criminally negigent and or incompetent planning and management of this project. I also hear that there are several similar stories about bus passengers but that cannot be confirmed at this time

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