CTA Tattler

What's up with sweltering hot buses that have the windows locked?! I was on a sauna-like 22 this morning and all the windows had screws tightly securing them closed. There was no air flow. It was packed. It was awful. Sigh.

Alex, I was probably on the same bus (the windows on mine were screwed shut), and the driver kept on going on and on about moving to the back when there was pretty much no movement space.

Also, I would bet you that it was the old lady who floated that air biscuit. The elderly often do things like that for either attention or because they know they can get away with whatever they want. For example, you will often see the elderly walk very slowly across a street just to get attention.

If it's bad, get off! There's another bus right behind it and this one is empty.

Not so much, Payne. The other 22 closely following us was packed to the gills. The fact is that it shouldn't be bad. Why are the windows screwed shut? Even in winter that makes no sense.

I want to give the CTA the (admittedly very slim) benefit of the doubt and think that their liability insurance providers have forced them to seal bus windows so kids can't lose their arms or noses and get millions of dollars. It's still insane and stupid, but it at least puts the insane and stupid elsewhere. (The CTA already has more than its share.)

I keep forgetting to bring my foldout Torx screwdriver with me, but when I do I'll mention which size opens those windows. It's so mindnumbing to be on an airconditioned bus on a gorgeous day because the windows don't open. Can't open. *Aren't allowed* to open.

I think the windows are sealed shut on buses and trains because of A/C. What's the point of running A/C if people are just gonna open windows? Plus, on the hottest of days, I'd much rather have the A/C on since even open windows provide little draft, and its just moist sticky air anyway.

Hey, it's not my website, but really, this deserves highlighting? We all have crap weeks with nutsos next to us ... it's not really interesting to hear yet another complaint about CTA riders who listen to their music loud.

Getting off a bus and getting on the next one is not a good idea. I think it was reported a few months ago that if you try to go to the same train stall or bus line within a certain amount of time, the card will not work. I had to go buy a train ticket one time so I took the #157 bus down to union station. 5 minutes later I tried to get back on the bus to go back to work and my card didn't work and the bus driver just let me ride without paying with cash. How about Huberman fix that :)

And my most recent crazy riding story.... as usual, a lady was begging for money to get her some breakfast. She was talking about grits, eggs, toast, bacon...... I was wishing I had that breakfast in the morning. This one lady pulls out some of her left over sausage patty to give her. The homeless lady said "I can't eat that, I'm a diabetic" and walks away. The patty did look sorta like a cookie. Everybody starts laughing saying if you were truly hungry and a cookie was the only thing you could find to eat, she would have taken it. She just probably wanted the money to use for other things. About 3 stops later a guy gets on asking for a 50 cent bus card. First off, there's no such thing. Second, he makes a point to get in everybody's face and ask them personally. Towards the end of the ride all the passengers on the train start asking each other "Can you pay my rent", "Can you pay my child support", "Can you pay my car note".

cmama,

The only passes I believe have a time limit on them are U-Passes. Transit cards and Chicago Cards should be able to work immediately after using it once to allow you to pass it back to someone else. The U-Pass has a twenty minute time limit for train turnstiles and certain bus routes to prevent just that.

Hey, I made it! Sorry, I didn't even get a chance to check the Tattler all week. At least Mike Harris cares to not care about me in any way..

when I was riding on the sheridan 151, one day recently I was sitting in the back riding the bus(taking up one seat)a yuppie girl with bad acne and bad breath sits next to me and instead of asking the man to her left(another weird yuppie)who was reading the tribune louding sipping a starbucks taking up one and a half seats,instead of asking him to move over she turns to me a loudly exclaims "can you please move over?"in the rudest of tones, she was out of line and did not ask the yuppie to move over at all, the crowd turned around as if though I had did something wrong,Her breath smelled like she practiced canabalism on a daily basis and her face was oozing from the acne.Im sure she could have asked the yuppie who was hogging two seats but she porposely tried to embarass me,I started to snap windy city style but I just chalked it up to her ignorance,I couldnt move over if I wanted it was a crowded bus,what nerve, some people shouldnt be allowed out the house!Ignorance comes in all colors, shapes and sexes,I was not about to let her edge me into a confrontation.Karma will deal with people like this,im sure of it.

Snapping Windy City style would be hooding your eyes and saying, "Hey doll, open your eyes, there's nowhere for me to go". And if she was a certain type of very self righteous yuppie, that would not have diverted her. It might have at least taken care of the crowd. Living here now for 17 years, I've gotten so cruel, ha ha. The heck with 'em. I might have said something about her putrescent skin, like, "Don't get too close to me, I don't want to catch your skin disease". :)