CTA Tattler

More do's and don'ts for CTA riders

Here's some great advice for CTA riders from Cliff. Call it an addendum to my Ten Commandments for CTA riders:

So I'm riding the Red Line home last night during rush hour. I've got one of the single seats at the car end(faces inward). This blondish, Euro-trash wannabe Chad named Charlie who works for City Year (don't wear nametags on the CTA unless you work there!) boards the train, and winds up standing in front of me.

This effectively traps me in the crush until he gets off at Belmont. He reaches into his backpack (after swinging it around and clobbering a couple of other passengers with it) and pulls out Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. He leans against the door between cars and begins to read.

Now he could have actually been as cool as he looked. There definitely was an air of nonchalance about him. Unfortunately for him, he ruined it by scratching his crotch every 3 to 4 minutes. And I'm not talking a simple adjustment; this was under and back sort of scratching. Then for some odd reason he sniffs his fingers and puts them in his mouth! All of this is occuring within a foot or two of my face!

I'm not originally from Chicago, but I've lived here long enough and ridden the CTA long enough to create the following 5 rules:

#1: You're not alone. Don't act like it.

#2: CTA Buses and Trains are touched by hundreds of people everyday. So don't eat on the CTA unless you like the idea of hundreds of people potentially having touched your food. And wash your hands as soon as you can after leaving the CTA...

#3: It's public transit. It's a miniscule chance that you are as cool/hip/trendy as you think you are. And, yes, everyone else is laughing at you. They're just really good at keeping it inside.

#4: It's PUBLIC transit. If you wanted to have a private conversation on your cell phone, you should've stayed at home.

#5: If you wouldn't do it in front of your mother or a rabbi/priest, don't do it on the CTA!

CTA settles contract with labor union

The CTA Wednesday wringed some money out of the Amalgamated Transit Union in settling its labor contract, according to a Crain's Chicago Business report:

"Workers who now don’t have a payroll deduction for health care will be required to contribute 3% of their pay for health benefits, and contributions toward pensions will double to 6% of pay from 3%.  CTA pension contributions also will double, to 12% of payroll, but part of that money will be used to pay debt service on a proposed $1.5-billion bond issue that will be used to shore up an existing CTA pension plan that has been facing insolvency."

I also noticed that the CTA's deficit has now doubled to $200 million because of new contract liabilities.

In other CTA news . . .

Federal lawmakers rail against the CTA, from the Daily Herald.

Sedgwick closing affects #11 bus, from CTA site.

IIT design could save CTA millions, from Tribune's Getting Around column.

Deodorant girl

We're on the Red Line coming home from yet another White Sox loss. A 25-year old Trixie boards at Addison.

She proceeds to apply makeup during the entire ride. That's really not so unusual. I've seen many like her apply makeup before.

But never have I seen a woman pull out a stick of deodorant.

She pulls down her black short sleeve, shoves the stick in and applies liberally.

Nice.

Sights seen on the Red Line

A gorgeous young (early 20s) Asian couples quizzing each other on Spanish vocabulary flash cards. Perhaps a trip to Madrid is coming up?

Later, one guy warns another guy that he has shaving cream remnants on the side of his face near his left ear. The guy frantically starts rubbing his right ear until he's corrected. Then he exits the train feverishly rubbing his left ear.

An elderly woman sits fast asleep in the aisle. The young guy wearing earbuds sitting next to her by the window stands up to exit, waiting for her to move. But apparently he doesn't realize she is sleeping. He stands there awkwardly waiting about five seconds after the doors had already opened. She didn't budge from her sweet slumber. Finally he taps her knee, she jumps, and he runs for the now closing door. But he makes it.

Later in the ride, the same woman is reviewing her medical exam referral documents. One say: "Breast ultrasound -- urgent."

I hope she's OK.

Tribune's erroneous North Side-centric view of transit

I hope it's not because of the thousands of North Side RedEye readers. I hope it was just a plain mistake. But it was truly bizarre and questionable.

A week ago, the Tribune/RedEye published a graphic showing the "busiest of Chicago's transportation network." That included a list of the busiest bus lines. (See the graphic in the continuation of this post.)

The top three busiest bus lines in the graphic were the 151 Sheridan, the 147 Outer Drive Express, and the 152 Addison.

That list made me scratch my head when I read it. Particularly the Addison bus as No. 3 busiest.

And Michael Kmak over at the LiveJournal El Community thought the same thing, and posted about his letter to the Tribune editors.

Finally on Friday the Tribune corrected its piece. Though you can still find the erroneous graphic online. Here's the text of the correction:

*A graphic about CTA bus route information in Monday's Metro section incorrectly characterized the routes shown, including the 151 and 147 routes, as Top 10 average weekday boardings. In fact, the Top 10 are Route Numbers 79/79th; 20/Madison; 9/Ashland; 66/Chicago; 63/63rd; 77/Belmont; 3/King Drive; 53/Pulaski; 4/Cottage Grove; and 22/Clark."

So, bottom line: The Tribune got the Top Three totally wrong, and half of the Top Ten are on the South Side. The original graphic noted no South Side bus routes

Hmmmm....

Weekend transit update

Here's a wrapup of weekend events.

Single tracking on Blue Line. "A single track will be in effect on the Blue Line between Grand and Damen this weekend and through next week. Southbound customers boarding at Grand, Chicago and Division should board on the northbound side of the platform.

Transit Riders' Alliance Meeting Saturday. The Alliance is a campaign designed to give transit users a voice in Springfield.  "We will bring you up-to-date on the action (or inaction) in Springfield and give you some tools to push for better service." The meeting, sponsored by Save Chicgo Transit, starts at 10 am Saturday, June 23, DePaul University's Chaddick Institute, 243 S. Wabash Ave., 9th Floor.

Cops can view bus cameras. "Police in patrol cars will soon be able to peer inside nearby city buses by electronically tapping into onboard video cameras, the Chicago Transit Authority's technology vice-president said Wednesday." The Tribune reports here.

Handing him his lunch

I've ridden the CTA long enough to know that one cardinal rule is that you don't touch another person's stuff.

So I was somewhat surprised to see a woman in her late 20s beeline to the only available seat -- because a lunch was occupying the seat -- pick up the lunch, and uncerimoniously dump the lunch on the lap of her neighbor. And it woke him up.

I think he was too dazed to take much offense, even though he shouldn't.

He went back to sleep and she got her seat.

Don't jam up transit card machine with too many coins

After seeing this post, Erin wrote about her experience with small change and the transit card machines:

This morning, I brought a handful of nickles and dimes to my station to buy a $2 ticket (I'm between Chicago Card Plus cards for a few days), and after I got to about $1.60, the machine read, "NO MORE COINS."

WTF! "No more coins"?! Legal tender! The agent there explained that the machine can't take more than 15 coins at once. How stupid is this? Luckily, the kind agent had a few quarters he exchanged me for nickles, so all ended well enough, but...how stupid!

Huberman on distance-based pricing and universal card

The excellent blog Sick Transit Chicago recently reported on two hot CTA topics:

"Huberman reported that the CTA has investigated distanced-based pricing. Converting its system to such a pricing system would cost the CTA $280 million, so is not a near-term solution. He said that going forward the CTA will build into its infrastructure the flexibility to switch to distance-base pricing, which he thought is a "great" idea.

-"When asked about the every elusive universal fare card, which made a quick appearance this spring and then was consigned to oblivion once again, Reilly smiled knowingly and launched into a riff about how we will all be paying for tolls, transit, parking and hot dogs with a "private card" of some sort. Glad to see it soon will be easy to transfer from service run by one service board to service run by another! So much for Phil Pagano's promise not long ago that we would see the universal fare card in 30 days."

After the Alert: Why those bridges were stuck up

We got a CTA Alert Saturday afternoon about bridges being stuck in the up position affecting traffic on the Pink and Green lines:

"CTA has announced Lake St Bridge stuck in "up" pos. Pink and Green Line svc disrupted at River. City working to repair."

Gapers Block today notes that the 90-degree weather caused them to be "stuck up."

Read the Sun-Times story here.

Bizarre overheard conversations

Good overheard cellers from my friend Lee:

Brown line around Irving Park:
Guy on a cell phone: "Is that what you want me to do? Is THAT what you want me to do?? You want me to drive a Mercedes to the Immigration office??"

Bus, Belmont near Ashland:
Guy on a cell phone: "You know what I'm going to do, I'm going to rent a tow truck and I'm going to come by tomorrow and get that car. I don't care if you can't pay, I don't care if you're in debt, I'm going to rent a truck and take the car back." Click off cell phone. Cell phone chimes. Guy answers. He says, "Yeah, I just talked to Mom. I'm taking the car back. Yeah, I know she's in debt. You wanna know why she's in debt? Cuz she's having to bail your ass out of jail every week."

News and notes on another CTA weekend

Here's what's happening in the wonderful world of the CTA.

Southbound Red goes "over the top": "Due to planned construction work to connect the Red and Blue Line tunnels for the new transit station at Block 37, Southbound Red Line trains that normally operate through the subway will reroute to the elevated tracks" this weekend from 11 pm Friday till 1 am Monday.

Diversey station closing June 25. Yes, Diversey is next up for closure in the Brown Line reconstruction project. "The adjacent stations – Wellington and Fullerton – will remain open during the temporary closure of the Diversey station so customers may continue to use them to access Brown Line service."

CTA Tattler featured on Outside the Loop Radio. The good folks at Outside the Loop Radio interviewed yours truly on the occasion of our third birthday. You can hear the show Friday night at 6 pm on WLUW 88. 7-FM, or download the podcast here after it airs. It's Episode #38.

A glimmer of hope on funding front

Lord Blago summoned the two top CTA honchos to Springfield for a pow-wow on the $100-plus funding gap.

So CTA Board Chair Carole Brown and President Ron Huberman had to cancel their appearance at the final public hearing at 9 am Wednesday and hit Interstate 55 for a meeting with Rod and the legislative leadership team.

At least Rod is saying all the right things -- finally -- about getting more funding for the CTA, but he doesn't want it to come from increased sales or income taxes.

I frankly don't care where it comes from.

Just get it done.

Huberman: Changing corporate culture; building a "world class" system

Today, I continue with excerpts from my interview with CTA President Ron Huberman.

Q: What measures are you going to implement in order to change the corporate culture of the CTA, and foster an environment where employees must realize that customer service is priority #1?

"We need to inspire our work force to deliver the best product possible," said Huberman. "There must be clear guidelines and expectations. And the people who get the promotions are the people who deliver results."

Q: What steps does the CTA need to take in order to be considered a "world class" transit system, since it has been criticized by many as second class or worse? -- Question posted by Frank

"I don't disagree that we are not a 'world class' transit system," said Huberman. "But still I do think we do a very good job with a 100-year-old system."

He said the CTA has to figure out how to modernize the system in a way that makes sense. "Take a look at everything. Do we have the right rail cars? What does it cost per mile of track to upgrade? We have to balance all of this and find real value for our customer."

OK, that's sounds great, but how do you square that thinking with the fact that you're suggesting transferring $56.9 million in capital improvement funds to operations?

"Frankly, we're out of options," said Huberman. "I'm legally obligated to present a balanced budget and that's what we did. We took all capital projects that were not under contract already and converted those dollars to operating funds. This thing (the "contingency plan" submitted to the RTA) worries me terribly. But we're hopeful (that the Legislature will provide more funding). At the end of the day, people can't get from Point A to Point B."

Best laid plans gone awry by the six-suitcase woman

A Tattler tale from Susan:

It's crucial that I make my bus connection at Sheridan and Irving.

So last week, I got to the bus stop one day and there was a filthy woman, covered with layers of clothing in the 85-degree heat, with six suitcases. One large canvas bag had what appeared to be bundles of pantyhose.

She was standing in the middle of the road, racially ranting about "white Mother F***ckers on the North Side. You won't never catch me on the Jewel on the North Side. Don't wanna see anyone who's doesn't look like them. Don't want to hear anyone who don't look like them. And another thing, you won't never catch me in no park on the North Side."

It was an horrendous racial rant. It was awful. It was incessant.

Finally the bus came, but when I saw she was getting on that bus, I just let it go, thinking that I had saved myself an unpleasant 30-minute commute.

I thought it would be worth it, but I had to wait almost 20 minutes for the next bus.

And then when I finally got to my destination at the Six Corners, late for work, there she was, sitting on the bench, with her luggage, still ranting about the various injustices that she had experienced on the North Side.

Huberman's chief of staff to implement CTA's "mystery shopper" program

CTA President Ron Huberman has charged his new chief of staff Lydia Murray with developing his "mystery shopper" program to test customer-facing employees, Crain's Chicago Business reports in an interview with the Lakeview resident.

She also will implement Huberman's new performance management system, which he discussed in an interview with CTA Tattler.

Crain's reports that she cut her teeth doing numbers crunching in New York City as a member of the team credited with reducing crime: "She acted as a liaison between the mayor and police department, which implemented a program that mapped crime data and patterns to influence its decisions in deploying officers. The program, among a number of other factors, has been credited with contributing to New York’s declining crime rate during the 1990s under Mr. Giuliani."

(Photo from Crain's)

Happy Birthday to CTA Tattler

I made my first post to CTA Tattler on June 10, 2004. Many of the posts that first day were strange tales from my wife's commute, and I owe a big debt to her for helping found this blog.

She and I brainstormed the idea behind CTA Tattler, and she came up with the name. Thanks, Susan. And it's strangely apropos that I just reached 1 million "hits" to the site this weekend too.

What started as a repository for things "Seen and heard on the Chicago Transit Authority" has evolved into a community that gives voice to the everyday rider. And so I thank you also, loyal readers, for sticking with me and pitching in with your stories, frustrations and sometimes even triumphs.

And a big shout-out to the CTA itself, whose employees have never backed away from a question or controversy. These folks are people too who ride the CTA and who spend their lives trying to make our experience better. So thanks to Noelle, Greg, Carole, Ron and all the rest.

And a final thanks to my brother Dan, who first inspired me to blog. He's an Internet consultant who founded CTA Alerts and designed this site.

Peace, and safe travels.

-- Kevin O'Neil 

Red Line subway reroutes, other miscellany

Work to connect the Red and Blue Line subway tunnels will cause upcoming reroutes of the southbound-only Red Line. It will "go over the top" instead of through the tunnel from 9 p.m. Thursday, June 14 until 5 a.m., Friday, June 15, and from 11 p.m. Friday, June 15 until 1 a.m. Monday June 18. (It also did that last night, but that's old news.)

More details here.

Also, this weekend -- starting at 11 pm Friday through 3 pm Sunday -- southbound Red Line trains will bypass Granville, Thorndale, Bryn Mawr, Berwyn, Argyle and Lawrence stations for track maintenance work. Details here. (It's odd that I couldn't find this notice on the CTA's Web site.)

In other news:

A story by the Tribune's Eric Zorn about a helpful CTA customer assistant who retrieved his Walkman from the tracks prompts questions and comments.

Also, Zorn suggests the CTA consider charging no fares, and points us to a Web site that chronicles seven smaller cities that successfully implemented a no-fare system.

Finally, Chicagoist posts the CTA's graphic comparing the current fare structure with the proposed contingency fare.

CTA public meeting no waltz in the park

More than 200 angry CTA riders visited Michelle's Ballroom Thursday night, but they didn't come to dance.

They came to vent.

But CTA President Ron Huberman was the perfect dance hall host, graciously greeting customers before the big dance, and then passionately explaining the CTA contingency plan -- a heinous mix of service cuts and fare raises. (See the plan here, in pdf.)

But as Ron noted, the plan is contingent on funding from Springfield. "The minute -- the very minute -- that we get funding from Springfield, this plan goes away," Ron said.

Huberman told the overflow crowd how his staff and him came up with the plan, and then got out of the way for CTA riders to give their opinions.

And those riders waltzed to the mike most of the evening, some with thoughtful ideas and comments, others with rants and raves. (One commenter strayed far from the CTA issue and asked: "What do we get from the $900 billion we spent on this war? DEAD ENEMIES!!!")

I had one big "ah-ha!" moment: when Huberman put up a slide on the percentage of public funding that various cities get for their transit systems. Here it is:

Given these figures, I'm amazed the CTA's deficit was just $110 million.

If you haven't yet, you MUST call or write your state legislators.   

Huberman holds CTA managers accountable in "War Room"

We had our first interview session with CTA President Ron Huberman last week, with another set for next week. We only got through a few of the questions you contributed. Check back over the next couple of weeks for the complete interview, which I'm debuting today with my own question:

Q: The front of my Chicago Card Plus says: On Time, Clean, Safe, Friendly. Many CTA riders scoff at that and say “I wish.” What is YOUR wish for the typical commuter’s CTA experience?

A: In answer to this question, Huberman escorted us to the "War Room" to show us how he believes in the CTA credo and how he's enforcing it.

The War Room is a converted conference room that holds about seven staffers and a blizzard of paper reports tacked to the walls. The reports track the key performance indicators that they are currently working on -- the "metrics" that really matter when it comes to performance. The metrics are essentially the same as the CTA credo: Clean, On Time, Courteous, Safety, and others.

The reports are aligned in rows that are headed by the names and titles of the people who are responsible for the metrics. For instance, one row has the name of the vice president in charge of bus operations, and the names of the heads of each garage appear beneath that. In holding managers accountable using measurable metrics, Huberman draws on his experience at the Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management and Communications, with their focus on hierarchy and reporting structures.

"If we look at one of these measures-- the number of days between a deep bus cleaning, for instance, and see that there is a problem, we bring that person in here and put them on the hot seat,” said Huberman. Also, by comparing stats across the system, managers can see where the successes are and compare methods. "We want to learn why some things worked well here and not there,” said Huberman.

Huberman said some of these metrics were in place when he started, "but they weren't aggregated."

(CTA photo by Noelle Gaffney)

Public hearing dates on CTA's contingency budget

CTA Board Chair Carole Brown was kind enough to post the dates for public hearings on the CTA's proposed fare increases and service cuts on her blog:

Tuesday, June 5, 6:30 p.m.
Sherman Park Fieldhouse
1301 W. 52nd Street
Chicago, IL

Wednesday, June 6, 6:30 p.m.
Michelle’s Ballroom
2800 W. Belmont Avenue
Chicago, IL

Monday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.
University of Illinois at Chicago
Student Center East
750 S. Halsted, Room 302
Chicago, IL

Wednesday, June 13, 9:00 a.m.
CTA Headquarters
567 W. Lake, Chicago, IL

In addition, you can submit public comment to the Board by email at ctaboard@transitchicago.com or writing to the following address: Chicago Transit Authority, P.O. Box 7567, Chicago, IL 60680, Attention: Gregory Longhini, Assistant Secretary, Chicago Transit Board. All written comments are due by June 11.

"The Chicago 'L' " book tells rich stories in photos and words

The Chicago "L" is a new book that covers the history of the "L" up to today through 240 photographs, many of which have never before been published. It was released today.

Operating 24/7 since 1892, the world famous Chicago "L" carries half a million people everyday over 222 miles of track. But the heavy, rumbling "L" has a lighter side, too. It is sought out by tourists, featured in major motion pictures, enjoyed by wide-eyed kids, photographed by admirers, and studied by historians. Both the Smithsonian and the Chicago History Museum have recently enshrined Chicago "L" cars as the showpiece of major permanent exhibits.

To tell the story of this celebrated transit system, including a look at its precursors, "The Chicago L" draws on captivating historical photographs, drawings, and maps. Most of the images were culled from the Chicago Transit Authority’s vast photo archives; others were gathered from libraries, museums, schools, vendors, and individuals across the country.

Author Greg Borzo was born a few steps from the "L," enjoys riding it almost everyday, and gives history tours of several "L" lines. Formerly the editor of Modern Railroads magazine, he is now a science writer at Chicago’s Field Museum. Ride with him — through space and time — over one of America’s greatest urban treasures, this massive structure of 19th Century riveted steel that is one of Chicago’s most enduring icons, pulsing from the heart of the Loop out into the surrounding neighborhoods and suburbs. This educating and entertaining ride brings the "L" to life.

More than 10 billion people have ridden the "L," which over the years has survived numerous attempts to tear it down. Today the future of the "L" is secure. New services are being added and new lines planned. "The Chicago L" shows how the early "L" lines helped to build Chicago as well as how today’s "L" helps to revitalize neighborhoods and tie the city together. This book will help you discover the "L" -- in all its grit and glory.

[PHOTO CAPTION:] Chicago's L started running in 1892 on the South Side. Yes, that's a steam locomotive pulling the train! It was not until 1897 that the line converted to electricity adopting the third-rail technology that had been pioneered at the World's Columbian Exposition. So add the "L" to the list of innovations that came out of the Fair, including Cracker Jacks and the Ferris Wheel.

[PHOTO CREDIT:] Courtesy of the Chicago Transit Authority

After the Alert: Brown Line train kills bicyclist

We got the CTA Alert from Vana1 at 5 pm Sunday: "All NB brown stop @ belmont due to emergency. Bus shuttles to kimball."

It turns out a southbound Brown Line train struck and killed a bicyclist at street level near the Rockwell station. It was an accident.

My sympathies to the victim's family and to the CTA motorman. How awful.

Your turn to lobby the Illinois Legislature and Blago

My brother Dan and I had our first interview with CTA President Ron Huberman Thursday afternoon. We had a good chat, the results of which I plan to post as soon as we finish it. We had to cut it short because Ron was very busy Thursday, monitoring the CTA funding situation in Springfield.

Huberman spent a few days this week lobbying Illinois legislators for funding so he can avoid making the "doomsday" cuts he laid out for the CTA board last week. At this writing, it didn't look good for the legislature to address the CTA funding issue. They appear to be putting it off till later this summer.

That's where you come in.

Write your legislator.

And our friend Tony Coppoletta at Save Chicago Transit has made it as easy as a click of the mouse to do. Just go here and send your note about CTA funding to your legislator and the governor.

It's time to do your part.