Red Line subway weeknight closures; smart-card passback update
In the continuing effort to eliminate slow zones between Grand and Clark-Division on the Red Line by year's end, the CTA has separate closures in the subway for southbound and northbound riders this week from 9 pm till 5 am.
Tuesday and Wednesday nights, southbound Red Line trains will travel "over the top" on elevated tracks around the Loop. On Thursday and Friday nights, northbound train go "over the top."
Read the CTA press release for details. And Motormen/women: Don't forget to announce the changes.
Clarification on Chicago Card Plus passback rules. Last week I wrote about "passback headaches" for Chicago Card Plus users. It turns out that everything I wrote is true, except if you use the Transit Benefit, you must voluntarily give the CTA your credit card number at signup to cover the passbacks so your card won't convert to pay-per-use upon passback.
If you use the Transit Benefit at work and have not singed up to have your card covered by a credit card, here's what you do, says the CTA:
"There is a section on the TB/CCP employee application -- "credit card backup - optional" -- where customers can provide the required CC information and authorize CTA to deduct additional fares from that card. The form is also available on the CCP website under "employee enrollment form." Employees fill out the form, sign it, and submit it to their HR admin or TBA. If CTA gets the info from the employer before the close of the update window (the 15th of the month), then the customer should not have a problem the next month. The next update window (for November) is October 5-15."
So, if you have the Chicago Card Plus under the Transit Benefit for a 30-day pass, do the above to keep the pass in effect when you use the passback feature for friends and relatives. Cool. Thank you.
Still this doesn't explain the strange stuff that has been happening to Cheryl and her Chicago Card Plus.
Pity anyone that has to take the Red Line downtown through the subway these days. That thing has gotten SO slow. At least that's only because they're actively repairing it.
Oh yeah, and CTA, since you're telling us to "leave early" and "leave late", please do not start maintenance and track inspections at 9:15. I'm trying to "leave late", do not slow down my commute because inspectors are walking the track.
Posted by: Josh | October 03, 2007 at 02:07 PM
A CTA bus supervisor on the street once informed me that 9:00 is not the time people should start work. CTA policy, he told me, is that all members of the riding public are supposed to be at work by 8:00 or 8:30. So in his universe--and I really couldn't tell if he was making this up or not--you are leaving way beyond late.
Posted by: C C Writer | October 03, 2007 at 05:21 PM