CTA Tattler

Am I alone in being annoyed that there's no way to opt out of these email missives from Huberman if you're a CTA cardholder?

I was deeply offended by that email. You can't plan ahead to better use a system that is completely broken. I know they need funding, but why admonish riders to plan better? I leave an hour and a half early every day for work - have been for at least two years because the CTA is so unreliable. How early should I leave now, three hours? My day is already 12 hours long, counting commute time and work time. I'm exhausted by the end of it. And I know I don't have it as bad as some people. When will this nightmare end?

"We are asking all of our customers to avoid the rush hour whenever possible by leaving early or late."

What a ridiculous request. There's a reason there's a rush hour -- because that's when we all need to go to work! If we all get up an hour early to avoid the rush then the RUSH HOUR WILL JUST START AN HOUR EARLIER.

This entire situation is just laughably twisted. My 120 Express bus is being eliminated this weekend, which will probably prolong my already almost hour-long commute another half hour. With all due respect to smaller cities, if this were Akron, Ohio or Butte, Montana, maybe I could live with budget cuts and curtailed service. But this is freakin' Chicago and there's no reason we should have to feel like a well-functioning and well-funded public transportation system is a luxury.

What would you rather him say?

Dear CTA Customer,

If nothing changes by November 4, you're all fucked.

Sincerely,

Ron Huberman

Don't change your travel times, at least not on Monday. If doomsday goes through, I want chaos -- packed buses and trains, exponentially more congested roads -- the whole nine yards. Any semblance of adaptation on our part will allow the city and the state to continue to ignore the necessity of the CTA.

At least that one is honest! I'm so sick of the CTA referring to all this as an "inconvenience." We passed inconvenient a long time ago. At this point, what they really need to say is that they're sorry for buggering up my entire day.

The worse Monday is, the more people will notice. I agree with Trish above, don't change your habits at all.

Well, Josh, the obvious answer there is that there's no need to say anything. I'm perfectly willing to bet that anyone who has a Chicago Card of any kind already knows what's going on. And Mike, no, you aren't the only one annoyed by the CTA's spam. I'm googling for Illinois antispam laws at lunchtime.

I was a little annoyed with the "don't travel during rush hour" line, too. I can't avoid rush hour even if I wanted to. And the last thing I want to do is stay at work until 7 pm to miss the evening rush after getting in at 7 am to miss the morning rush. Sigh.

My usual el stop (about .6 miles away from my atp to begin with) is closed for construction and now they are elmininating the bus that gets me to the next nearest el/work. So...I'm crying into my Cheerios right about now.

Josh: honestly, if I had gotten that email from Huberman I at least might have had a good laugh about the situation.

Hi- I am a journalism grad student trying to find people that will be affected by bus cuts in the Uptown area (X80, 135...) If the CTA cuts will be a pain in your butt and you live close to Uptown or the 46th ward, please email me at blankpaige@gmail.com

I must say, as a (current) down-stater, I feel bad for all of you, seriously. However, in a couple of months I'll be right along with you, so it'll suck for me too.

I wish the CTA wouldn't have screwed itself in the first place, but what I really wish is that the state legislature would get their heads out of their asses.

Hey Paige:

How about getting yourself over to uptown and finding people to interview there? If you're going to be a journalist, you need to get your b--- off of your computer and wonder around a little in the real world. Journalists do not just communicate by e-mail and telephone. They need to observe people in order to report.

MK,

You should probably email her/him back. I doubt she'll be back here to check on her query.

I appreciate the CTA's e-mail trying to keep people informed and prepared. I've brought the subject up with many co-workers who haven't even bothered to consider what they would do, and I think trying to get people engaged can only help.
Of course you can plan ahead! You can figure out which bus routes are running and how to use those and which ones aren't. While I'm not saying it won't be total chaos (which might be good for a few days - I agree with Trish and Loosh), you might as well figure out how you are going to get to work, even if it takes 3 hours.
While the rush hour comment doesn't apply to everyone, it does apply to some people. It's a strategy that lots of people are already using (working from 7am to 3pm) and that would ease that individual's pain if possible.
I do agree that there should be an opt out function as with any mailing list, that's unfortunate.

A nice bit of sarcasm on the topic on Gapers Block today:

http://www.gapersblock.com/merge/archives/2007/10/#023501

And according to the CTA, the afternoon rush hour ends at 6, so despite the slowness of the service and the extremely crowded trains after that, I've apparently been avoiding rush hour for quite a while. They are so out of touch there.

Actually, journalists do all three, Adam. Why exactly are you positive Paige is not out there pounding the pavement, in addition to using online sources? Way to encourage young folks, btw.
>>>>>
How about getting yourself over to uptown and finding people to interview there? If you're going to be a journalist, you need to get your b--- off of your computer and wonder around a little in the real world. Journalists do not just communicate by e-mail and telephone. They need to observe people in order to report.

Why would this change your opinion of Madigan? He and Blagojevich have been playing at this game for a year or so. If he'd done this in May, I'd be volunteering for his next campaign. If he does it now I'll still be doing whatever little bit I can to help propel him out of a job. Same for Blagojevich.

lol... Elisa, yet ANOTHER case of mistaken identity. my comment is ABOVE "Posted by: adam", not below.

I think it's about time to change the format of the blog's comments so that people stop confusing who posted a comment.

"Of course you can plan ahead! You can figure out which bus routes are running and how to use those and which ones aren't. While I'm not saying it won't be total chaos (which might be good for a few days - I agree with Trish and Loosh), you might as well figure out how you are going to get to work, even if it takes 3 hours."

Shut up. You have no idea of my route, you have no idea how I am affected, and yet you tell me there is something I can do about it. Guess what? I know very freaking well how I will be affected, and by what routes. Have known for a while now. The point is, if they eliminate someone's way to get to work, and I mean ELIMINATE, there is no planning around that. And that is happening to hundreds if not thousands of people. How is it helpful to tell someone to plan ahead when all avenues of transit are closed to them? It's offensive and wrong.

Luckily I will still have access to the red line and brown line, but that doesn't mean I will be easily able to get to work on time. And it's not like 3 hours is an acceptable time frame of travel to get to work. You're so lala and casual! Thanks for the happy tips! You're awfully rude to assume that I don't know what I'm doing on a transit system I've ridden daily as my only means of Chicago transportation for almost 7 years now.

Some of us have known how we're going to be screwed by this for a long time. We don't need any perky admonishments that we can "plan" around a totally broken system.

Anna says, "You're awfully rude..."

Anyone else lol at this?

I'm going to be avoiding the trains as much as possible until the January cuts. Because they're going to be jammed. It's going to be worse in January, but I won't have a choice then.

Neal--I have to agree with Anna. There are a few condescending know-it-alls posting on this blog who seem to be here for no other purpose than to inform anyone with what most of us would deem a legitimate complaint that they are a lazy fool and any problem is all their fault. (I am guessing that they work for the CTA and are not very happy about Huberman coming in and telling them that the CTA mission statement is no longer "all passengers are evil and shall be treated with scorn"; they know they will get the boot one of these days for that attitude, so they take it out on us.) She's right to stand up for herself but, Anna, you might be better off ignoring them. (But do remember that their names appear after their posts, not before.)

Bah... even if this is 'saved' at the last moment, I still think they should stop the purple express at sheridan.

Why the hell does it not stop at sheridan now? I mean, that would be the easiest stop to implement in the entire system!

Arug

People, I see we're all getting a little testy under the stress of finding new ways to get to work. That's understandable. But let's all please try to treat each other with some respect, even when we don't like what the other person is saying.

Regarding changing the format to put the name of the commenter BEFORE the comment, rather than after -- forget it. Just deal with -- and remember -- the fact that a commenter's name comes AFTER the comment. Kinda like a letter to the editor. OK?

Nick (or Arug) -- because they'd have to stop traffic in both directions on the Red Line to have the Purple Line switch tracks, grinding everything to a halt every few minutes? Rush hour's slow enough for me now, thanks.

From:
http://cbs2chicago.com/local/CTA.doomsday.budget.2.479865.html
(10/31/07 - Halloween night)

"And there are indications Wednesday night that they are so close, that Gov. Rod Blagojevich, before leaving Thursday for Springfield, is leaning toward asking the CTA not to start implementing its contingency plan, even though it's not the solution he envisioned last month."

Another empty promises Trick or Treat?

I say "Fool me once-shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me."

The ONLY result of not following through now(other than being an illegal practice of not balancing the budget), would be that this would be perceived in the media, in Springfield, and in Chicago, of the CTA(and now Pace, too) crying "Wolf".

Just say NO.... to legislative delays
Just say NO.... to more "PayDay loans"

Do what needs to be done to responsibly balance the budget and still keep some/most services running.

The impact may be the same as not clearing side streets in a snowstorm... a blizzard of a political fallout for our governor and state legislators this time, but perhaps it will also be the turnaround into recognizing the true value that public transportation has in today's economy.

Any other response will cause the RTA, CTA, and Pace(and soon enough, Metra) to fall further into financial shambles with no political or otherwise relief in sight.

I have seen the Purple Express stopping at Sheridan lately.

A stop at Sheridan for the Purple Express require no track switching due to the platform layout.

I think it's a great, easy, action. In my experience it's addison or sheridan where seats finally become available on the red line northbound at rush hour, let the purple be a bit more crowded until then and share the load.

Uh, Bob, why would the purple line have to switch tracks to stop at Sheridan?

Kevin, what you say might make sense--if it were not for the horizontal lines which appear to group each signature with the message following it, and separate it from the message above. This is clearly the source of much confusion. "Forget it" and "deal with it" are not respectful ways to treat people who take the time to come here and contribute their thinking. If there's a good reason why it would be prohibitive to make a change, why not just say so? Or, if you would prefer us to go away and shift our traffic over to a couple of other transit-rider blogs, we could do that. (One wishes it worked that way in the world of physical transit!)

O.K. Just trying this out... since I accidentally placed extra returns at the end of my last post, I'll place extra returns at the beginning of this one. And sign it to match.

John T

CC writer -
It's Kevin's blog.
He can do as he wants.
He's already addressed the format issue several times before.
Many of us wouldn't mind if you left for other parts.
Perhaps the format is being used a measurement to separate those who can think and reason from those who would be nattering fools.

Signed,
(name posted below - as is every other name on this site)

Kevin, I was simply suggesting that so that fewer people would be confused and end up saying things to the wrong person, as if it matters anyways.

alpha, if the point of the format was to weed people out, it doesn't work, although you were obviously being sarcastic.

I just find it interesting that he says, "let's all please try to treat each other with some respect, even when we don't like what the other person is saying," yet using terms/phrases like "forget it," and "Just deal with," aren't necessarily being very polite/RESPECTful. In earlier comments there is talk of people on here being condescending, well, when phrases like that are used and saying it's his blog, he can do what he wants, is just that, the "owner" of the blog being condescending. How are we to expect readers/commenters to not be as well?

I think that Bob S. was talking about having the Purple Line train stop and turn back north at Sheridan, not just stop and continue south.

This is interesting, Kevin. The name-callers are backing you and telling the polite ones to go elsewhere. What would you like us to do?

CC Writer:

Do you not see the oddity in apparently descibing yourself as one of "the polite ones" and making this statement: "Or, if you would prefer us to go away and shift our traffic over to a couple of other transit-rider blogs, we could do that." I think that is increadibly rude, especially when talking about something as minor as the page layout. This is Kevin's blog. If you don't like the way everything is done than you don't have to participate. The suggestion of changing it was already made and rejected. There was no need to be make such a rude comment. And I like the names being under the posts. It is easier to focus on one side of the screen. You know who is speaking without having to look at the other side and this makes for a quicker read. I have no idea why there are people that get confused and I don't think it would be worth it to change the lay-out just for those people.

MK, how do you figure it is rude for me to very calmly volunteer to do exactly what a name-caller tells me I ought to do--go away? Somehow I thought the choice whether to come here was up to each individual. What exactly is the obligation on my part to endure name-calling by others in order not to be the rude one? How often would you require me to come here and post to not qualify as rude according to you? Will you be trashing me daily if I fail to post, as much as if I did post? And what may I say and what may I not say? May I have opinions that appear to me (and others) to make sense? Or are all my opinions subject to your superior wisdom and permission at all times, and how did you qualify for that? And what are the special rules that allow certain people to tell other people they are stupid and lazy and out of line and yet not be considered rude, even though the operator of this blog has asked us to be nice? Please work out your own logic and make up your mind what it is you want before you go lecturing me any more. Thank you.

OK, you guys are right that it was rather rude of ME to say "Forget it" and "Deal with it" to my loyal readers, in the same breath that I asked you guys NOT to be rude. Point made and taken.

I do think it's best to keep the names at the end, but let me consult with my designer -- my brother Dan -- to see if we can take some of the confusion out of the design.

Stay tuned.

Huberman's e-mail comment about avoiding rush hour did say "whenever possible." So if it's not possible, then he's not talking to you. And more generally it's silly to be offended that his e-mail is not perfectly tailored to acknowledge your own transit situation. It's a mass e-mail. What would you prefer - that the CTA simply not communicate with its customers on the eve of the legislature's consideration of desperately needed funding? Or maybe they should spend lots of staff time writing customized e-mails to individual Chicago card users? Everybody should simmer down.

As for the purple line - you can always ask why can't an express train just make *one* extra stop, since it would be *so* convenient for me if it did... but if you want express trains you draw a line somewhere. The purple line already isn't as express-y as it used to be - why diminish it further?

Oh, and about funding - the capital bill is a horrible, horrible bill. Capital funding for transit is like, what - 5% of the bill? That's pathetic. Madigan should just push through the sales tax bill and leave town. The senate will pass it because they want to get reelected. Okay, I guess they all have to come back to override the governor's veto (he already knows he's not getting reelected), but you know what I mean.

Thanks, Kevin. MK was right at least that the blog is *yours* to run. I don't envy you having to deal with the inevitable problems that come with vitality and traffic on any web site or discussion list. Do you ask the abusers to leave...do you ask the people who don't like being abused to leave...do you let the chips fall where they may...do you stand back and let people work it out publicly...do you encourage the constructive majority to simply shrug off those few who feel the blog is there for them to get their kicks putting people down?

I appreciate the time you and your brother put into running this thing--there's much more going on than in the ones attached to the Tribune and Sun-Times, and I dare to hope it's having some positive influence on the entire sorry situation we are facing.

Post-a-Comment;

There is a very, very, very good reason why the Purple Line should stop at Sheridan. Assuming the 2nd round of cuts go through, the Red Line is going to be VERY VERY VERY packed by the time it gets to Sheridan and the 1/2 of Buena Park who doesn't shift to Wilson/other bus routes/cars will be getting on/off at Sheridan. Even with the train only price hikes the trains are going to be a lot more crowded and anything to relieve this would be helpful, since it will a) take more people off the platform who transfer at Belmont (now that purple and brown run the same way around the loop) as well as b) taking some of the crush off the crowded red.

Kevin, thanks for I guess you could say clearing things up.

I just wanted to state that I'm not necessarily saying that there is anything wrong with the format, or that I want it changed, I just notice that every now and then (or, with a post with many comments like this... usually once every post) someone confuses who is writing a comment and although it it is probably pretty obvious who they are talking to, I just figured maybe it could be avoided by a small format change.