CTA Tattler

stillwaiting,
The slow zones are being addressed by borrowing against future capital money...i.e. spending tomorrow's money today, and paying interest on it. The end result being less money in the future to replace things as they break. This is all well and good for the next 5-10 years, but what about after that? A bit risky to spend all that money now, isn't it? It's not as simple an issue as you seem to think it is...

Rather, more to the point, it had nothing to do with management 'competence' and everything to do with different management decisions (which of course would be cleared by the boss at City Hall). The old management simply didn't see bonding out future capital dollars as a wise move for anything other than maintaining fleet replacement cycles. New management is bonding out as much as possible to get the system to a state of good repair ASAP, presumably planning to deal with future resulting capital shortfalls when the time comes (when, incidentally, new management will be there to deal with it).

I suppose it would have been cheaper to let the blue line ridership continue to slide while fixing the slow zones slowly over the course of many years?

The funding formulas are such that lower fare revenue can result in lower operating subsidies. Not to mention that the CTA isn't going to get squat from the legislature if its own ridership is fed up with the system and abandoning it.

It's this kind of short-sighted thinking that plagued the CTA for so long. Thank goodness things are getting better now on that front.

Brian: "Google Maps already has a public transportation layer for Chicago. If you zoom in far enough, you'll get icons for bus and El stops. Clicking on the icons will bring up the next *scheduled* arrivals at that stop. Incorporating live GPS data with this existing layer would be huge."

For about a month, Google Maps had an equivalent of RTA Trip Planner installed for Chicago. It was a test, and I was soooo sad when CTA told them to take it off.

"For about a month, Google Maps had an equivalent of RTA Trip Planner installed for Chicago. It was a test, and I was soooo sad when CTA told them to take it off."

Brian -
That's not really accurate. CTA has been providing data to Google for about a year now and Google has been beta testing a trip planner site for Chicago. CTA and Google were set to announce the public version last December. Ron Hubermann hinted at it on a Trib web chat, but for some reason Google put the brakes on it - not CTA. Glitches?? For some reason Google quietly went live and then quietly took it down. Anyway, CTA continues to provide the data to Google. And Google continues to use the data to show the next schedule arrivals at a stop.

Sorry , that last response should be addressed to Dan, not Brian.

stillwaiting,
Can you monetize the lost blue line ridership versus the debt service on future capital money, plus the opportunity cost of having a miniscule capital program when the time comes? I don't know these numbers, but I at least acknowledge that this is a pretty complex decision and that different management styles with different interests in mind (both under direction of a whimsical boss) will come to different conclusions about policy. As an avid and frequent transit user, I'm definitely glad in the short run that the slow zones are getting fixed (and I'll probably even take a few additional marginal transit strips because of it, at least on the Blue Line), but I don't think many people appreciate the long-term significant of how it's being paid for. Borrowing against the future, be it for capital improvements or pension plans, is how so many government agencies get into massive financial difficulty and need these periodic "bailouts".

who said I didn't like gadgets? i just don't like using gadgets for something as mundane as trying to catch a freaking bus. But if the idea of one more reason to fiddle with your blackberry excites you, go for it.

--Dude
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Why go through the extra bother of fiddling with your computer every morning when you're already rushing around?
Besides, it would do no good for your transfer, if you have one, to check the travel times online before leaving the house.

I have no intention of getting a crackberry, either. That's not a good enough reason to shell out the cash, even if they can get the system up & running, which I have grave doubts about. Besides, the cost can be prohibitive for those things.

--Dee

_____________

That is on you then. Don't blame the system because y'all refuse to work with it. It takes mere seconds to use the service of ctabustracker.com--mere seconds that could be done as part of multitasking if you so see fit. It's squarely on you.

I share the sentiments of others that say that while this is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG overdue, I as a rider am glad that it is finally being implemented. Whether the benefits to riders are a conscious or incidental part of that plan (I can only see it being the former, no matter how that vein of "customer service" is worked with this program) is irrelevant. The fact is CTA is getting witrh the times and accommodating the many, many people among the ridership that have the means to take advantage of this feature via handhelds, and the many more who can take advantage by home computer.

That said, count me in with those who assert that this change will not go far enough in improving the sense of being served for riders, if the Transit Authority doesn't use this technology to improve the flow and spacing of buses and (especially) the accountability of bus drivers.

Only by doing these things, can the tracking system be truly successful. Again, regardless of whether that is in fact the primary intent of the system, with rider access to information being a bonus, addressing that for the better still counts as customer service--which the CTA is sorely lacking in and has been for seemingly forever.

And "Indira" is spot on: Bus signal priority will really put this city somewhat closer to progressive traffic management. A cheaper alternative is to make a larger initiative to move bus stops to the other side of intersections, something which seems to only be a case-by-case thing now. But signal priority, while likely not going to be easy to implement, will tangibly improve bus riders' experiences.

so say this works, and I'm approaching my transfer point & see online that the bus I want to catch is 3 blocks away or so. Can I tell the driver to put a little more speed on so I can catch it? What if the next one is verifiably running late & this is the one I *need* to catch? Granted, my boss would be able to confirm I was telling the truth about late buses... (wasn't there a post some time ago about hearing someone call in & say he was delayed on the L when the L was running smoothly? That won't work any more!)

I'll freely admit I think the electronic gadgetry has gone a bit overboard. Socially, I'm right here in the 21st century, but the rest of me was happier in simpler times. It's not a flaw, but merely a quirk.

Interesting comments here-

A few thoughts:

1) I see the source of skepticism here, but remember this. The infrastructure and connectivity HAS to come first before you can expect real world results.

2) Responding to the comment of radios and telling drivers to hurry up or slow down: that is a very hard human (and expensive) task. I surely cannot follow 2000 dots on a map and call everyone telling them what to do. What if the buses were outfitted with devices (flashing yellow red or green) to instruct the drivers to speed up or slow down??

3) As far as bashing the CTA for starting bus tracker once spring rolls around- realize that many people have been working all of this cold winter to get the fleet ready for this.

I'm not taking sides here, but just admitting that the CTA is trying to improve-- you can't expect overnight results with something this big and complex that so many people depend on. After all, when do you think all this work is done on the buses?? (in the middle of the night) The connectivity is nearing completion, hopefully usability and results will follow in the future.