CTA Tattler

I've been noticing that someone has been removing the seat inserts lately. Why on earth would you want one, there can't be any aftermarket/resale value (unless somebody has an el-themed rec room....).

I've noticed the cleaner trains, and I highly approve. Doesn't seem to be making an impression on the "rules are for others" eaters and drinkers, though. I know I'm projecting here, but it almost seems lately that a lot of onboard diners are making a show of it, being as obnoxiously conspicuous with their noshing as they can: the girl trying to drop Cheetos in her mouth from a height of three feet; the guy spreading his Jimmy John's feast out on the adjacent seat.

I occasionally fantasize about a random enforcement happening on the car I'm in, netting $600 or so at $100 per violation (perhaps an emergency-door walkthrough and a loud-iPod violation thrown in).

But a better fantasy is the one where everyone on the train actually acts like they care about someone other than only themselves.

We noticed this the other day and thought the floors were wet as well, we're not used to seeing clean floors!

Good Job CTA!

I also thought the floors were wet the first time I saw them - after that, I realized they were clean. What a strange thing - cleanliness on the red line!

I am also a member of the "We Thought The Floors Were Wet" club. I figured out it wasn't actually wet (after looking around to make sure I could keep my canvas sneakers and too-long jeans out of the "water") but could not figure out what was up with the shiny. So, thanks for solving this mystery. :)

In other news, this week I switched back to using the Blue Line to go to work, after having sworn off it in January due to it being a nightmare. I'm really quite impressed with the improvement -- I made it to Jackson from Division in about 20-25 minutes today. Way, way better than the old Blue Line. Pity the trackage isn't smoother; we all still bounce back and forth inside the car, but I'll pay that price in return for the speed. Not to mention, I didn't have to wait for three or four full trains to go by before I could squeeze on. I boarded and, though I was standing in the vestibule, there was actually plenty of room there for riders to board at Chicago and Grand! So far, this returning to the Blue Line experiment is working out pretty well. Kudos to Huberman on this one.

No mention of the seats. They look very clean in the photo. Are they doing something new with them, too?

"Why on earth would you want one, there can't be any aftermarket/resale value (unless somebody has an el-themed rec room....). "

Greatest idea in the history of man.

I saw the newly-treated floors as well. Naturally, I initially thought the whole car was covered with some new kind of foul soft-drink / urine / malt liquor substance. Imagine the pleasant surprise that it wasn't.

Maybe the CTA could deputize some ordinary people to be the Food Police. We could get badges and hand out tickets! It would be cool.

Can we add "No Vomiting or Urinating" signs, too? Actually, nevermind. Those people aren't generally in a state to be reading things...

Whoa I thought that was some defect of the red line train that I was on the other day! I'm so so glad that the floors will stay cleaner now--esp on the red line.

maybe they could do the buses too?

I too thought they were wet the first time I saw them and wondered "ew....what am I stepping on". I'm so glad they are doing this. Good work CTA.

I'd like it if sunflower seeds were permanently banned from the Chicago area. Those things (or at least their shells) are everywhere!

I actually once saw a teenage girl (on a southbound #4) spit the shells onto a sheet of notebook paper, and then tilt the paper directly onto the floor when it became too full of shells. I wanted to scream.

I stepped onto one of these trains last week and thought the same thing! They look so much nicer!

There's nothing at all wrong with drinking on a train or bus, provided it doesn't get spilled. There's also nothing wrong with eating something that has no potential for making a mess. But anyone who leaves their food or drink residue on the bus or train should be required to clean it up with their tongue.

Giant Rabbit and mcgirl, me too. I've been noticing this lately but every time I step into a clean car I automatically think, "Wow, someone must have gotten shot, puked, or defecated on one of the seats for them to clean the train" and it kind of wigs me. I'm glad that extreme filth is no longer required for a scrub down.

I started noticing this a few weeks ago- and I must say I was thrilled. Cars were actually CLEAN for the first time(literally) in YEARS!

I was hoping that some lazy crew was found to NOT have been cleaning for the last 4 years, and the bosses finally fired them...

I want to hope that things will stay clean... but i've already noticed that the newly "sealed" cars are getting trashed. I really do want to be optimistic, but it seems things will go back to just being dirty, with a somewhat shiny floor underneath.

We don't need more technology or new methods. We need more scrubbing.

How about going back to regular old nonabsorbent seat covers and not needing this special deep-cleaning process?

I have been told they did the cloth to prevent graffiti. How come they don't have cloth seats in New York? I have been there a lot lately and did nto see any graffiti on the seats.

There has got to be a better way than cloth seats. Yuch.

maybe they should spend less time making the floor look like it's wet and more time having enough trains to actually get people somewhere seated

The clean cars are wonderful. Regular maintenance will be required to keep 'em looking good, however. Already, some of the clean cars are getting nasty. But heh, I am thrilled to see the clean cars!

So much nicer! And they have stayed shiny for a few weeks. Thanks for solving the mystery -- I kept forgetting to see if anyone else was talking about the shiny floors.

They need to clean up the actual l station stops. Obviously the actual rail cars are important, but since we want a cleaner CTA, shouldn't the stops be concrete instead of stained junk? I think it attracts people to treat the stops like garbage and furthermore makes people think it is fine to dump, spit, and continue to be dirty around the stops and trains.

I was just looking for different schedules and came to this site, how funny everything I think is posted on here. With all the money in their budget, why do we not first SEE the results. Don't tell me that having cleaner trains and stops is hard to do. That should be the easiest thing to do with their budget. Just seems that nobody wants to find a REAL cleaning solution as opposed to letting CTA purchasing people give friends or others contracts for doing nothing. Even if that is the case, why don't they still find somebody or some products that will really clean up that stops. To me, I appreciate a clean environment, it lets me know that at least my fare is being used to show me courtesy. The stops need to be clean.