CTA Tattler

Funding woes got you down? Ride the Santa Train!

Special legislative session No. 18 came and went Thursday, just as the other 17 did -- without a solution to the transit funding crisis.

The good news is that Rep. Julie Hamos now recognizes that a capital spending bill will have to be linked with any transit bailout. Now her task is to convince Mike Madigan.

So, good luck with that Julie.

Holiday Train on the Blue Line. So, don't you feel festive after all this? Well then, you can catch Santa and his nutty CTA elves tonight on the Blue Line. They leave Forest Park at 6:19 pm, hit the Loop's Washington station at 6:48, and make it out to O'Hare by 7:39. Give or take a delay or two. Really, it's kind of fun to ride. Today's full schedule here. Future schedule here.

Political games not at all entertaining

So the state House turned down a vote on the plan to divert the state sales tax on gas sales to mass transit --at least for now. (And if they do approve it later, fares still may may rise.) Seems like many legislators wanted to make sure the casino bill was passed to fund state capital needs first.

And I'm OK with that. After all, there will be bucks in there for CTA capital needs as well.

But I don't like Madigan getting everyone's hopes up that this bill could pass without the casino/capital bill. As the Tribune reports:

. . . Madigan and Hamos drew "taunts from Republicans who complained that calling the bill for a vote was a just a political game.

"Oh, Julie, come on. You know this is all a bunch of baloney," said Rep. Rosemary Mulligan (R-Des Plaines)."

Yes, but we knew that.

Sigh.

London's subway silences "Voice of the Tube"

In case you missed it Tuesday, the folks who run London's Underground have fired the woman behind the taped announcements for criticizing service.

It seems that Emma Clarke had mentioned on her Web site that she stopped using the Tube because of the "dreadful" service. Of course, her site was overloaded with traffic so you may not be able to hear that or some of her other spoof announcements:

"We would like to remind our American tourist friends that you are almost certainly talking too loudly."

Another news report: "In another [spoof announcement] she announces that the passenger pretending to read a paper but actually staring at a woman's chest should stop, since he was 'not fooling anyone, you filthy pervert'."

We could use some of that lighthearted stuff at the CTA, but Lee Crooks, the guy who voices the CTA announcements, lives in Milwaukee, so he probably doesn't know too much about dreadful service or leering eyes. He probably wants to keep the job too.

It's nice to see that the London Underground folks -- even though they fired Clarke -- still have a sense of humor about it:

London Underground spokesman:  "London Underground is sorry to have to announce that further contracts for Ms. Clarke are experiencing severe delays."

House transit funding vote today? Check the Yahoo CTA news feed to the right later today to see whether the House votes on and passes the funding plan to divert some of the gas sales tax to the transit agencies.

Gasoline sales tax diversion gets key endorsement

State Majority Leader Mike Madigan on Monday threw in the towel on a transit sales hike and threw his support behind a Republican plan to divert state sales tax revenue on gasoline to the CTA, Metra and Pace.

Funny thing though -- Madigan made no mention of passing a state capital spending plan -- something Republicans no doubt will demand before voting to OK a transit bailout plan.

Another BIG question mark is how the state will fill the budget hole left by the diversion of gas tax funds. This seems like just another short-term bailout indeed.

Advance work begins on Grand Red Line station rehab: CDOT announced Monday that utility work will begin Thursday at the Grand and State Red Line subway station. There may be some entrances closed periodically, so be on the lookout for that.

Montrose station reopens: And a newly rebuilt Montrose Brown Line station reopened Monday. I'm sure the station looks great (I haven't actually seen it yet), but to me, this is the coolest thing about the project:

"Montrose station also features original artwork reflecting the street names within the community. The work is affixed inside the stationhouse and was created by artist Jason Pickleman. To foster a sense of ownership and identity within each station and the surrounding community, the CTA has partnered with the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs to install public art at all 18 stations included in the Brown Line capacity expansion project. Public art for each station in the project is a requirement of the Full Funding Grant Agreement and is part of the overall project budget."

General sales tax vs. gasoline sales tax

When the state Legislature meets Wednesday, many Republican legislators will be advocating for HB 4161 over SB 572. The former would use gas sales taxes to support public transit, and the latter would raise the general sales tax.

It figures to be an interesting battle to see which bill passes.

Of course Rep. Julie Hamos, the sponsor of SB 572, has her reasons why it's the best solution to the funding crisis. But so does the non-partisan Civic Federation.

Rep. Sandy Cole of Grayslake, a co-sponsor of HB 4161, also articulates some good reasons for backing her bill. A big difference in the two is that the Republican version calls for a yet-to-be-determined fare increase.

Cole makes this spurious argument in favor of a fare increase:

""Between 2001 and 2006, the price of gasoline has increased 68 percent, but CTA cash fares have only increased 15 percent. It is fair to expect riders to pay for increased fares, just like motorists have to pay more for gasoline."

Carfree Chicago has a good retort to that argument in comments on a post about the subject at Illinois Transportation Issues:

"Why should transit riders be punished for using an efficient form of transportation not affected as much by the shifts in the price of gasoline? Trains don't run on gasoline. It justs sounds like pure whining -- we have to pay more so you should too!"

I'd like the Republicans to fully show their cards on what that fare increase should look like.

Why I am thankful this year

Thanksgiving Day Eve makes me ponder why I am a thankful CTA rider. Here's why:

Slow zone heroics: Who would have thunk it? A simple shifting of priorities and the awful Blue Zone subway slow zone finally disappears, soon to be followed by the Red Line subway zone. And speaking of the man who made that happen. . . .

Ron Huberman: The new CTA president has brought business acumen and analytical management tools to run the transit agency more like a business. He uses these tools to hold management accountable for their workers and work processes.

Clean floors and seats: What a difference it makes to board a clean train or bus, after the CTA instituted new cleaning processes.

Strangely, Gov. Blagojevich: After all, he's been great blog fodder for snarky posts, despite that pesky funding issue.

On-time Brown Line rehab: Many kudos go to the CTA and its contractors for delivering nicely rehabbed Brown Line stations on time. For instance, a year ago the CTA shut down the Montrose and Addison stations for rehab, promising they would be back in a year. And by damn, they are! That's an accomplishment in these days of construction delays.

A not-so-hellish three-track hell: Early this year, I was bemoaning  the hellish commutes that would ensue as a result of the CTA's three-track project due to the rebuilding of the Belmont and Fullerton stations. I'm happy to report that for the the most, I was wrong. Sure, commutes are a bit longer, but really, it hasn't been all that bad.

Savechicagotransit.com: The folks behind this Web site have quietly and modestly harnessed the political power of thousands upon thousands of transit users to tell the powers that be what we think of their lack of legislative leadership and action. They've done it by channeling our collective voices through emails, letters and rallies. Keep it up. Though I hope you go out of business real soon. And I think you guys wouldn't mind that.

CTA employees: To all the bus drivers and motormen, customer assistant agents and janitors, planners, track workers, communications specialists, and everyone else I missed: Thank you.

You, kind readers: Knowing that you're there and reading this blog helps keep me going. Thanks for your tips and comments -- and even for occasionally clicking on the Google ads. Keep reading and keep riding.

Oh, and this is not an all-inclusive list. Feel free to add your own thanks. But please, let's avoid the snark today. Thank you.

And Happy Thanksgiving! 

No grinching the holiday train; Blago orders legislature to convene

Yes, much to the chagrin of some Tattler readers, there IS a CTA Holiday Train this year. Some of you folks have wondered how the CTA could keep the tradition going this year as it struggles for funding.  So I asked a CTA spokeswoman about that:

"The Holiday Train runs in regular revenue service so  there is no additional cost  to operate it," Noelle Gaffney said in an email exchange. "On some of the trips the train has stops where we deliver food baskets to community organizations-- but the food baskets are paid for by donations from CTA employees.  A CTA employee serves as Santa - on his own time.  There are some minimal costs for the lights and decorations (some are reused from prior years). And although there are some costs, the train generates a significant amount of goodwill."

And in 2004, the CTA jeopardized that goodwill when then President Frank Kruesi derailed the Holiday Train during that year's funding crisis. There was an immediate backlash, and Board Chairwoman Carole Brown overruled him and brought it back.

And lots of folks love the train, such as Chicana on the Edge. And check out this Flickr photo set of tagged photos.

Here's the schedule. On the day after Thanksgiving, the Holiday Train travels around the Loop El tracks from 4 to 5:15 pm. Check it out. Seriously, it's fun. 

Governor calls special CTA session: Gov. Blagojevich has written state legislators to call them to a special session Wednesday, Nov. 28, to "get something done before we face another Doomsday scenario," reports the Tribune.

Hey, good luck with that.

Better maintenance management puts more buses on the streets

Lost amid six press releases issued when the CTA announced Jan. 20 as its newest Doomsday was news detailing CTA "management efficiencies that have resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of buses put into service each day."

According to the press release:

"By developing a system to catch up on preventative maintenance, over the past three months the CTA has been able to reduce by 89 percent the average number of daily runs canceled due to defective equipment. By training managers on absenteeism and demanding more accountability, the number of daily runs canceled due to manpower shortages decreased by 34 percent in the same time period."

The CTA also noted it has been working with the Civic Consulting Alliance to leverage more than $2 million worth of pro-bono consulting services since May. Those consultants include Booz Allen Hamilton, who helped CTA President Ron Huberman launch his "Performance Management" initiative. Using performance metrics, Huberman holds his managers responsible for such things as cleanliness, safety, courtesy, etc.

Now, that's smart management. Here are some other results of the Civic Consulting Alliance partnership, in the continuation:

How refreshing! Opposites on the same page

It's highly unusual for management and labor unions to both be on the same page.

But not when it comes to solving the transit funding crisis.

At one press conference Thursday, we had transit union officials threatening some sort of "job action" if there was no funding agreement before the end of the year: "We've done our part -- done what Springfield told us to do," said Dennis Gannon, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, referring to the pension and retiree health care reforms. "We don't have an agreement after Dec. 31," Gannon said. "After the first of the year, everything is up for grabs."

And then later in the day, RTA Chairman Jim Reilly was pounding the podium with the same message: "Responsible people have to act now . . . before the end of the year."

Strange bedfellows. But certainly no stranger than seeing Republicans and Democratic leaders get on the same page.  Hell, I'd like to see all the Democrats get on the same page.

What do you think about a one-day "job action"? Aside from the fact, of course, that a strike would be illegal.

The Tilt-a-Whirl ride toward sustained CTA funding

Remember the great carnival ride called the Tilt-a-Whirl?

This Wikipedia definition references the chaos theory, and quotes the ride's inventor: "A further object [of the ride] is to provide amusement apparatus wherein the riders will be moved in general through an orbit and will unexpectedly swing, snap from side to side or rotate without in any way being able to figure what movement may next take place in the car." (Emphasis mine.)

Yep, that just about sums up yesterday's transit summit, which actually included Mayor Tax-a-Lot.

From the Crain's report:

Mayor Daley left the summit first, saying he was "very optimistic."

Not long after, "House Speaker Michael Madigan exited and announced that he was leaving what had become a “non-productive” meeting filled with “a lot of non-productive shouting and threats.”

Then it's Sen. President Emil Jones' turn to spin: "I think we could wrap this up in a day or two. . . . The issues that are separating us are minute.” 

And guess what? Blago says they are all invited back today for another spin on the Tilt-a-Whirl.

Except, I'm about to throw up.

(Photo from Wikipedia.)