CTA Tattler

So, that is ... G-Rod throwing a hissy because we're not being appropriately appreciative of his generous personal loan? After he completely screwed us over by doing everything he could to prevent legislative solutions?

Charming.

This won't do. How much worse is it going to be in November, when we're having to shell out more money to heat our homes and do the extra laundry that comes with dressing for a Chicago winter?

Right now it would be an extra $7.50 a week for me. I know it would be a lot worse for other folks, and imagine how much worse it will be in six weeks. There's no way Springfield is going to pretend to care in November if they can coddle us with $25 mil in September. Stick to your guns, RTA. Your city deserves better.

Personal loan? All he did was free up money already allocated to the CTA a week early. It does avert layoffs/route closures but it certainly isn't anything other that political grandstanding. I'll vote for a Republican before I vote for Blago again.

It's basically a government payday loan advancing next year's budget. Blago's white horse plan puts the CTA/RTA into further budget deficit. I thought his hissyfit was hilarious because the CTA is well aware that it's screwing them over more than before. I'm doubting that the General Assembly will give any money to the CTA/RTA when they talk on Monday. At this point, service cuts and fare increases look better than more deficit. As bad as taxes are, they serve a purpose to build and maintain infrastructure. If it protects the CTA from the GA, then by all means tax me!!

I don't really feel better or worse with what he's doing. We drives me bonkers is we pay more, but they cut bus routes and deliver the same shoddy service. Maybe if my money was going to improvements (instead of keeping CTA afloat) I wouldn't have a problem with the increase.

I wish they'd just get it over with and charge $3.50 for full-time "Sunday service" and cut bus service to half what it is now. Maybe then people who ride transit would finally protest in the streets. Maybe then Chicagoans would finally throw our "public servants" out on their asses. And that includes Daley who somehow seems absent of all this, as if his budgets over the past decade or more haven't contributed a nickel more than is required by law to the CTA. I'd like to see the southbound Red Line packed by the time it reaches Granville. I'd like to see 2-hour 8-mile rides during rush hour. I'd like to see the business leaders revolt when this mess cuts into their bottom line. I'd like to see people from Winnetka and Skokie and Lincolnwood who use Edgewater and Rogers Park as thruways gridlocked on Lake Shore Drive. I'd like to see downtown descend into chaos as every parking garage fills.

I'd like to see this because I fear that if it doesn't happen, it'll just be band-aids as usual for public transit in the Chicago area. And Chicagoans will take what scraps they're given and they'll say thank you. And they'll keep reelecting these disconnected jokers who don't care about them.

This reeks... now a long term solution needs to include these borrowed dollars, in addition to the previous needs. Millions of dollars from NEXT year's budget is now gone.

The Shell Game on the CTA/RTA MUST END!!

(imagining Blago and State Reps in baggy pants on the Red line saying "Guess which shell holds your 24 million? - oops now it's gone)

Blogojevich is so useless. Swooping in with a half-assed "solution" to a problem that's his fault -- the sales tax increase would've passed easily in the absense of his idiotic veto threat. I really feel like everyone, literally everyone, can afford a tax hike of 25 cents on $100.

I say we start calling and sending letters to the International Olympic Committee informing them of just how bad the transit is here in Chicago and that we thank them for their consideration, but they'd be better off elsewhere.

Imagine how fast Daley would wake up if the IOC came calling with hundreds of well reasoned letters saying, "What haven't you told us?"

like I said yesterday, it's a very temporary bandaid, and it's nothing more than, in technical parlance, "robbing Peter to pay Paul". But, & I'm probably being foolishly optimistic about this, it will cover us for the meeting next Monday in Springfield without having to fire & rehire everyone for the tune of some $3M if our elected officials deign to give us the funding. Get ahold of everyone & harass them. I would include Daley, but he's too busy in France, investigating bikes (look at their Metro system, Richey-boy! Not the &^%*&^ bikes!)
And how do we contact the IOC? Love to do it, but where should I look for contact info? We shopuld tell them to make a surprise trip into Chicago & check out the transit from O'Hare down to wherever the games would be held, and any number of buses as well.

The CTA should accept the money and implement many of the planned cutbacks, such as the redundant express buses, and more sensible fare increases, including bringing the first transfer to at least 50 cents (a dollar is more sensible) and the second transfer to at least 25 cents (50 cents to a dollar is more reasonable). If there's too much service at too low a price, it's foolish not to take these steps. And over the course of 14 months, these cutbacks should be sufficient to accommodate the budget transfer.

The sales tax is a stupid, head-up-your-ass idea. Don't get me wrong; I'm a tax-and-spend liberal. I like when the government takes money from citizens -- and more from richer people -- and uses it to build infrastructure (that second part is the theoretical part here in Chicago). Everyone wins.

But sales taxes at the register here in Chicago already total anywhere from a minimum of 9.25% to a maximum of 12%; that's about the highest in the country. Whining "it's just another quarter on a $100 purchase" is like slapping someone in the face so they'll forget how much getting kneed in the groin hurt.

If partial service cuts and fare increases were implemented, this would give the legislature more than a year to develop the fair funding formula the RTA needs without raising taxes.

Carol Ronen's email to me
wrote:
September 12, 2007

Dear Neighbor,
There is good news to report. Governor Rod Blagojevich announced today that he will accelerate State funding to provide an immediate $37 million to the Regional Transportation Authority this month, which will provide $24 million more for the CTA immediately. This funding should allow all RTA/CTA services to function without interruption while the General Assembly finalizes a longer-term funding solution.

As you are aware from my previous update, the Senate will be in special session next Monday and Tuesday to address the problem of mass transit funding.

I hope you find this update informative. Please feel free to contact me should you have further questions on this legislation.

It is my honor to be your voice and represent your values.

Warm regards,

Carol Ronen
State Senator
District 7

My response:

Wow, a cash advance on the state credit card. Whoopie. There is nothing good or surprising about this. Another band-aid fix for a crumbling system and another democrat putting the Governor ahead of her constituents. Ride the trains and buses sometime and see what us proles are putting up with on a daily basis. Edgewater is held hostage by the CTA. The neighborhood is plagued with cumbling infrastructure and slow zones. It functions as an LSD thruway for lone car-commuters during rush hour. Where are our slow zone fixes? Where are smart ideas like an HOV-2/bus lane on LSD? You should be advocating for your constituents, not condescending to them.

It looks like the International Olympic Committee (IOC)does not have any email contacts. So, old fashioned mail is the main option.

http://www.olympic.org/uk/organisation/ioc/index_uk.asp

I think the trick is to write something that does not sound like we're asking them to get involved in local politics. I'm sure they avoid local politics like the plague. The key is to point out that we are concerned about having a good 2016 games - wherever they end up.

I'd love to know what a 'redundant express line' is. I have a choice of taking the 144, 146 or 148 to get to and from work, or the Red line. If I'm on a bus, I'm not taking up space on the subway. If you take away one or two of those routes, then everyone who has the same choices I have will either be standing around waiting for the one bus with enough room on it to board, or we'll end up back on the subway.

Does anyone know if the Illinois constitution allows for the recall of the governor? If it does, then I seriously think we need to begin a recall campaign now. I'm ashamed I voted for this political hack!

Cheryl, by "redundant express routes," I'm referring to the eight bus lines whose route numbers include X's.

Cheryl,
I think they are talking about the 80 and X80, the 49 and the X49, where the route is identical but the express stops less frequently. They should charge more for those, at least.

I think the extra charge for the express buses actually makes sense.

Illinois currently doesn't tax for periodicals - maybe that's a place to mine for cash.

The ADAPT group, who keep blocking up city buildings and basically holding the building and its inhabitants hostage in an effort to make a statement about the treatment of people with disabilities, are making great headway in their cause. Perhaps a few hundred people standing around in the middle of Lake Shore Drive might help Blago see the light.

As for writing to the Olympics people, you hardly even need to send a letter. Just cut out articles about this mess and mail to the folks in charge.

There is no recall in Illinois...yet. Blago continues to make a compelling case for amending the state constitution. I'm a life-long Dem and have never voted for him! 3+ more year of him? Enough already!

"Cheryl, by "redundant express routes," I'm referring to the eight bus lines whose route numbers include X's. "

So your definition of "redundent" is something that will get you to a destination in around a third of the time? I guess airlines are all redundent as well since they always go to places that you can drive to. You might not care how long it takes to get somewhere, but many people do. And if you do some research you will see that when those routes were introduced the ridership increased dramatically in those areas. Maybe it makes sense to charge more for them but it is nuts to elimanate them.

I'm for keeping the express lines but charging extra then. I use two of them quite frequently and they are definitely worth an extra quarter a ride.

MK,
It all depends on how far you ride. I ride Irving Park every day from the expressway west for a little over a mile. With the congestion at Six Corners there is no real advantage to the express bus. If you rode from Wrigley Field to Cumberland, or some other long distance it would probably make sense. For that reason I think another 25 or 50 cents for the express would be reasonable. I would usually not pay it, but you might. That's paying for different services and should work out fine.

I remember when some express buses cost an extra quarter, and it was worth it.

I detect two opposing tendencies at war within the CTA. One is to add routes and service at times and places of high demand--a sensible thing to do, one would think, since it can create an upward spiral in ridership, and improved service and facilities might justify charging a little extra to help the books balance. The other is to look at such services as "redundant". This thinking assumes that it is perfectly logical to cram more people onto existing buses and trains, to endure longer waits and less pleasant rides, the goal being simply to generate more income per vehicle mile without regard for people's frustrations...after all, they have no choice. This Soviet mentality may also account for the CTA's creeping attempt to phase out seats on buses and trains over the years--they are apparently a luxury the public can no longer be allowed, as they interfere with packing the cattle into the cars.

Now, how can we kick out the commissars and let the entrepreneurs take over?

Farebox revenue isn't the place to look for funding. It's expensive to collect all that cash, and process those tiny transactions. It's a waste of resources to consider fare increases on express buses. It's like missing a day of work to have a garage sale at home.

A viable mass transit system is a must for the economic well-being of a city. Those with the most to gain are the employers. Mass transit gives them a larger pool of workers, and even makes it easier for employees to drive to work.

Imagine if an employer downtown had to either provide parking for every employee, or only hire people who could walk to work!

Cities with stable transit systems often use taxes on employers as a significant part of their funding. Taxes they can levy without the permission of pandering polititions from rural areas who have constituencies that don't understand how the economy depends on mass transit.

I'd also be in favor of the taxing of parking spaces, and fuel tax (for fuel used in passenger vehicles, but not commercial vehicles.)

Poor funding methods involve competing for money from any general funds collected from sales tax or property taxes. And any dependence on funds that require votes from rural legislators should be avoided.

Or everyone can waste time debating whether an extra 25-cents for an express bus will raise any money. But if you're going to do that, you'd might as well set-up a lemonade stand. The economic impact will be about the same.

This isn't a game of nickles, dimes, or even quarters. And even if you do stack-up enough quarters, get back to me after you factor in the cost of counting them. I doubt you'll find enough money to keep a single bus on the road part-time, let alone solve the funding problems of the system.

I doubt that the CTA's fare collection equipment is smart enough or programmed to distinguish between routes, in terms of what to charge.

Would it really be worth the expense to collect an extra 25 cent? Just roll it into basic fares for all buses/trains and call it a day.

Since people have to pack a lunch since the commutes are outrageously non-rapid, maybe the CTA could make very quick cash by selling the things commonly seen strewn all over its vehicles - coffee, donuts, chicken wings, sunflower seeds and beer.

The could instruct vendors go thru the cars like in a baseball park, reupping at key stations. I'm kidding, but what the hell!

Seriously, I need to ask Carole again, but months ago I asked why the CTA buses never power off at their turnarounds if they're going to be idling for more than 5 minutes. It would conserve expensive fuel and save on power.

It appears that the governor has been riding
the CTA's trains or hanging-out on the subway
platforms because he's now playing
" Three-Card Monte" with the CTA and he's
controlling the cards.

I was thinking more like an extra dollar for express buses. I take the blue line from Oak Park to Rosemont and back five days a week, and I would gladly pony up an extra dollar for an express. (I know it's impossible because it's a train and not a bus, but a girl can dream, can't she?)

Clearly new taxes are the way to go. Good luck finding a politician with the guts and clout to implement them. Maybe Rosemont will get the casinos after all, and the taxes from that could go toward the RTA.