CTA Tattler

An ominous wind blows through the train car

I was on the Red Line returning home from work on Thursday, just about an hour after the news broke that both the state House and Senate had OK'ed Rod's change to the transit bill to give seniors free rides.

The wind was picking up as the jet stream dove south in the first hint of below-zero wind chills blowing in for the weekend.

As the doors opened at Loyola, a huge gust of wind whipped through the train car and tore from its frame this ad with this headline:

"The CTA is fighting for funding. We do not want to make these cuts."

Eerie, ominous and strangely apropos.

Yes, a big victory, but many questions linger

The biggest mass transit story in a year is hardly over. Many questions remain.

• Who will get free rides?
• Will there be means testing for seniors?
• Should disabled folks get free rides? The poor?
• Will fares rise to pay for the above?
• And what about capital funding?

So it ain't over yet folks. Meanwhile, here's a quick look at details on the bill, from the Associated Press:

REVENUE INCLUDES:

• $280 million from higher sales taxes in the Chicago region.
• $70 million in state matching funds triggered by sales tax.
• $55 million in state support to serve disabled people.
• $100 million from tax on Chicago real estate transfers.
• $25 million in state matching funds triggered by transfer tax.

SPENDING INCLUDES:

• $275 million for primary operations at CTA, Metra and Pace.
• $100 million for Pace to serve seniors and the disabled.
• $121 million for collar counties to use for road, transit and safety projects.
• $50 million for downstate transit systems.

CHANGES INCLUDE:

• Senior citizens can ride free on their local transit systems.
• Regional Transportation Authority must produce long-term strategic plan.
• RTA can settle disputes among its transit systems on fares, services and more.
• RTA must develop joint marketing plan for transit systems.
• CTA must make pension and health care reforms to control costs.

Source: Rep. Julie Hamos, D-Evanston.

Doomsday averted; legislators pass transit bill with free rides for seniors

We can all breathe a little easier. Today both the House and Senate OK'ed the mass transit bill with Blago's stipulation of free rides for seniors. Though they weren't happy about it.

And expect to see further refinement of who rides free (income test for seniors and an extension to the disabled).

Curiously, today's vote yielded one less "yea" in the House and two more in the Senate compared to last week's original vote.

More later.

D-Day for Doomsday

There's not much more to say.

We need:

• 60 votes in the House.
• 30 votes in the Senate.

Just do it. Today.

My prediction: They will. But it won't be easy.

It never has been.

A fresh look focuses on the people behind subway performers

A student-produced documentary airing tonight on WTTW Channel 11 cold help dispel some myths about subway music performers.

Pavan Bapu, a University at Illinois Chicago English student and maker of "Sound Underground," said one woman he interviewed was a backup singer to R&B artist R. Kelly, while others play regular gigs at nightclubs. These professionals find the subway to be "a secondary rehearsal space," Bapu said in a press release:

"Sound Underground," the debut project of the young producer/editor, was selected to premiere on WTTW-TV's "Image Union." The producer of the Chicago Public Television show says they receive hundreds of films each year, and rarely are student productions among the 40 or so chosen for broadcast.

"Sound Underground" airs Thursday, Jan. 17, at 10:30 p.m. and will be re-broadcast Jan. 20 at midnight. It meshes the CTA aesthetic -- the jumble of trains, signs and commuters -- with the performers' music and stories.

Pavan, 21, overcame many road blocks and bureaucratic hassles to make the film -- for under $100.

• With the help of UIC English lecturer and internship coordinator Linda Landis Andrews, he arranged for an independent study course to classify the film project as a non-profit and academic endeavor. It fulfilled his required Honors Activity.
• Next, the University of Illinois backed him with $2 million in liability insurance required by the CTA.
• A friend's father, who is a CTA planning engineer, volunteered to serve as the required CTA location supervisor for every hour the crew filmed underground.
• And the CTA agreed to waive over $60,000 in filming fees to grant permission to record.

With this kind of resourcefulness, something tells me the documentary is gonna be good stuff. So check it out tonight, and see the You Tube preview below.

Chi-Town Daily News also recently covered underground performers.

Hey legislators! "Just hold your nose and vote for it"

Our fabulous governor told skeptical seniors Tuesday to "just hold your nose and take a bus for free."

I would like to extend and amend that advice to state legislators, who will gather Thursday to consider whether to approve Blago's amendatory veto of the transit funding bill that calls for free rides for seniors:

"Just hold your nose and vote for it."

Some columnists and commenters have suggested that lawmakers should override the veto and pass the original bill again. Folks, that just ain't gonna happen.

In fact, there's still real concern about getting the legislators who originally OK'ed this bill.

Next steps?

• Rep. Julie Hamos and her House Mass Transit Committee will a public hearing at 2 pm today, Room 16-503 at the Thompson Center.
• The Legislature returns to Springfield Thursday to vote on HB 656.

Check out the fact sheet on HB 656 from Hamos' Web site.

And hold your breath for at least 30 votes in the Senate and 60 in the House.

No Pants Day recap: "Everything can be more fun without pants"

Here is Bluebummer’s account of last Saturday’s No Pants Day Chicago. He also took the photos, so thanks for sharing, Justin Hardesty! (There are more photos in the continuation.)

We met at Granville and Magnolia at 2 pm. About 40 to 50 people participated. The reason the number is unclear is due to people joining us on the train.

It worked very well. The plan was that there were three groups. Each group had a different car and each person or couple people were assigned a stop.

At the stop before yours you would stand up and lose your pants, stow them away in your bag, and then exit at your stop. Then you would wait for the next train and enter the same car you exited on the previous train.

It was fun to watch the reactions as someone would get on the train and see the first no pants person. Then they would take a seat and notice the big picture. The look on their faces would go from “OK, that was strange”  to “what the hell!” Once everyone was depantsed and aboard the second train it was pretty full of both bottomed and non-bottomed people.

When we arrived at Monroe everyone exited the train. The platform was soon flooded with pants-less individuals. On the way back north the reactions when everyone got on the train at the same time was priceless.

The lady who was sitting right next to me had no idea what just happened. She was floored. She then asked me why I have no pants on. I told her, “My roommate was yelling at me and I ran out of my apartment and COMPLETELY forgot my pants.” She said,  “OK then what is everyone else’s story”

I told her I had no Idea what their stories were and maybe she should ask them. She asked the girl sitting directly across from me. The girl looked right into her eyes and said, “Sorority initiation” and rolled her eyes. 

We then each got off at designated stops and did the same going back up to Granville. When we reached Granville we got off the train and went back over to our meeting spot and took a no pants picture in the parking lot. 

All in all very successful first no pants for Chicago! I learned everything can be more fun without pants!

Blago bloviation: Big talk for a little man

For a guy who is risking the success of the Legislature's transit funding solution with his insistence on free rides for seniors, he likes to talk big:

"If you are a senior citizen in Chicago, there are some dark clouds all over, dark clouds hovering over your head. Well, I've got good news for you," Blagojevich said. "If the lawmakers approve my bailout of the CTA by giving to our senior citizens free public transportation, then those dark clouds are going to roll away. The sun is going to shine. You can get on the Red Line and everything will be just fine."

"My bailout."

WTF?!? Is he nuts? Why yes, it appears he truly is. Self delusional if nothing else.

At least Daley had it right in his criticism of Blago on Saturday:

"Now we have people with disabilities saying 'We want it,' and we have students saying 'We want it,'" Daley said.  The governor should have spoken up earlier. Now, Daley said there's no guarantee the general assembly will again pass a bill, which, as it was last week, passed by just a handful of votes. "All this just puts everything up in the air for another week, which is really unfortunate," Daley said.

Meanwhile, probably the best dissing of the Gov came from his buddy Mike Madigan: "I congratulate the governor for breaking his campaign promise." Ouch.

Rod fired back that Madigan was old enough to take advantage of the free rides for seniors.

Finally, CTA Prez Ron Huberman warned that fare hikes may be needed in 2009 to pay for the fare break that Blago wants to give senior citizens.

Fabulous.

A No Pants success

About 50 people participated in the first CTA No Pants Day Saturday, according to Bluebummer. He promises a story and photos later.

Meanwhile, I found a few pix by jatherton on Flickr. Enjoy.

 

"Free rides are a terrible idea that should be dropped" -- senior citizen

I've heard from a few senior citizen transit riders since Thursday's bombshell announcement by the governor.

Billy's comment here yesterday best summarizes their concerns:

I'm a senior, and I wrote to Blag and my "representatives" that the free rides are a terrible idea that should be dropped. Being old doesn't mean being poorer than a lot of other people, and seniors already have reduced fares if they want them.

All this will do is make old folks look like the leeches who made mass transit fail. Blag is trying to transfer his own culpability to a whole class of citizens who didn't ask for, and don't want, this "special" treatment. The idea is insulting and divisive. If the governor really wanted to help seniors he'd have worked to assure fast, safe, reliable transportation for everybody in our region. Instead he and his legislative counterparts have done nothing but destroy it.

If he thinks he's won support from seniors by this pathetic ploy he is sadly mistaken. I don't know any "beneficiary" who is not disgusted by it. I hope, if the legislature doesn't stop it, the courts will strike it down.