CTA Tattler

This is rapidly turning into the "People on the CTA yelled at my wife" blog.

For those of you who want to know more about the CTA's plan for Bus Rapid Transit, go to their Board committee meeting this morning (9 a.m. per Carole Brown's post on Ask Carole).

Ron will be presenting it to the Board. (Odd he didn't do it BEFORE he announced it.)

Then they will post his presentation later today or tomorrow.

Maybe that will give us more details.

Sometimes I have politely asked the driver to let me off when I'm connecting with a bus that is _right there_ and the stop isn't for another block. In general, there are express stops anywhere you can make a connection but when one-way streets are involved, they pick just one of the streets. This isn't so bad, but one of the 4 combinations lets you see that you're just missing a connection, which is frustrating (I haven't yet had a driver help me out, but there's no harm in asking, right?)

@sam

I was thinking the same thing when I read it.

Your wife is clearly a CTA idiot magnet! As superpowers go, I think she should go back to the store and exchange it for another. :)

I am always surprised by the number of angry people who don't get it about express busses too. On the bright side, maybe walking the extra couple of blocks back lowers the blood pressure they raised by getting all shouty.

Sam-

So true! Maybe Kevin's wife should just stop talking to people on the bus, regardless of her good intentions.

(And just to clarify, because I now realize that could be read differently than I intended, by "CTA idiot magnet," I mean a magnet which draws CTA idiots, not that she's an idiot herself. And since this remark just lost what funny it had now that I had to explain it, I guess I'll just go shut up and get a cup of coffee now.)

The way I was going to phrase it was "Kevin, the lesson I'm learning from these stories is to make sure I'm not on an Irving Park bus with your wife."

I enjoy stories like this, especially in the middle of all the brawling that goes on in the political and policy posts. Entries like this are a lot closer to what the blog started out as.

Sam and swizzle can start their own uberpolitical CTA blogs and see who's more popular; most blogging sites are free, and clearly they've got time if they're here complaining, so they're already good to go. I wouldn't mind a nice long break from all that stuff to go back to posts about things that are "seen and heard on the Chicago Transit Authority."

I ride that bus too, and I also get "some sort of evil joy" when this happens. Usually about 2-5 people will turn and say/shout, "It's an express!" to the person rattling the back door. We've finally hit the point where more of them just didn't look at the sign than didn't know there was an express.
Except for that old man I see once in a while in the evening. He gets on the X80 (probably b/c it's the 1st bus to arrive) and then goes into a wandering rant about taxpayers, the CTA, the city, & Daley, and it all has something to do with the fact that the X doesn't let him off at Oakley. Includes variations on "Don't they know we have to get off here?" (there's sr housing there). I think he's too deaf to hear what he's been told & the drivers who deal with him don't want to yell back at him--looks bad to scream at a cane-toting senior.

I ride the 147 to work and back, and on the way home (I get picked up at Grand on Michigan Ave.) there are a lot of people trying to see what bus takes them where they want to go. However, we have a lot of bus drivers who don't say things in a conventional way. A woman was trying to determine if the 147 stopped at Belmont, all the bus driver would tell her was "I'm on the lakeshore at Belmont." The woman thought that was great as that's where she wanted to go, Belmont at the lakeshore. This happens a lot, instead of saying "No" or "I run express from X to X," the bus drivers frequently give a weird sentence instead that just confuses the rider. Maybe they enjoy it too? But then they get so angry that the rider doesn't understand.

Bob S., sweetie, I don't know why you think I'm complaining by stating that two entries in a row feature the author's wife being yelled at. Others noted the same. Your argument is, "If you don't like blank about blank, go away/start your own blog," which is just ridiculous. One doesn't have to love or exude positivity with every comment about every single spasm of a site in order to keep visting it. Personally, I prefer the updates about actual news on the CTA - this site excels at those.

I was on the Red Line a couple weeks ago and our train was announced to be going express from Belmont to Loyola. A man got on the train at Belmont and was completely distressed when we proceeded to pass by Sheridan, his stop. Then he pulled the knob to open the doors because, obviously, that would help. We had to wait twenty minutes for the train to get going again because the conductor has to walk the entire length of the train to make sure doors weren't open.

What made me angry was that people in the car who had seen the guy pull the knob were getting mad at the conductor because, clearly, it was her fault.

My eastbound 81 went express this morning. The bell wasn't working so the driver decided he didn't have to stop except at red lights or when someone yelled at him for not stopping when they'd asked him to stop (at stops, not in between them).

I like it when some oblivious rider of the 147 gets that bewildred look in their eyes when the bus heads toward the ramp on Foster and they end up getting out on the middle of LSD because some driver took pity on them and let them out there rather than all the way down to Michigan Ave. when all they wanted to do was go a block or two.

Since we're on the topic of express buses/trains, here's I've finally learned, after a few day's of frustratation: I take the SB red line downtown everyday, from the Lawrence stop. I now know to look due north once I board the platform. If there is no train in sight, (or if it is FAR FAR off in the distance), I immediately leave the platform, walk the 2 blocks down to Wilson, and board the platform there, as the next available train has a 95% chance of expressing--while half full--from Bryn Mawr to Wilson.

I know this isn't a life-changing revelation by any means, but now that I've (slowly) caught on, I'm a much happier commuter!

Oh, and yeah, the wife does seem to get into a lot of confrontations on the bus/train a lot judging from these posts here. Not making a judgement call, just sayin'...

I ride the Irving Park bus almost every day. Most of the time when someone freaks out about the express, several people tell them what the problem is. I only ever feel bad when the person is older or otherwise not apparently fully capable of negotiating the subtlties of the express bus. For some of the older folks that extra couple of blocks can be a big deal.

I used to live by Western. When the CTA first introduced the ChicagoCards the Western buses said "Go Lane" on the digital read out. I thought they were rooting for the high school and was surprised, since Clemente is also on Western and was not getting that kind of a boost. That experience makes me think twice about bitching about people who don't get the difference between an 80 and an X80.

Edd,
Good tip, but why not just start at the Wilson stop? Then if the train is express you are styling, and if it is not, you still get on. Why go to Lawrence at all?

Sam, honeybunny, hush up, silly. Our forbidden love is supposed to be our secret.

XO, Bob S.

"And it's wicked fun to see their reactions when the bus doesn't stop"
What, are you from Boston? Thats wicked cool.

My kingdom for an express bus.... The express hasn't been showing up much lately and I've been forced to take the local. This morning was especially packed and hellacious. One of my students boarded and perforated my liver with her purse and reacted rudely when I attempeted to remove purse from liver. She told the student next to her, "who does this bitch think she is touching my stuff." The other kid pointed out who I was and the student with the purse answered, "I don't give no fuck who it is." I ignored the whole scene but thought it was a hilarious bit of serendipity that "Why Can't We Be Friends" by War was playing on my iPod. It was great when the kid had to come to me about 45 minutes later to ask a favor. We enjoyed a teachable moment about karma and double negatives.

Well my mp3 moment anytime I'm on the CTA and my playlist comes to "Eve of Destruction" which should be voted the official CTA theme song :)

I had a kidney moment the other day. This young ish girl (early twenties) had a purse the size of hoover dam. After about the fifth time it bumped into my side, I said in a rather loud voice "It's a good thing I have two kidneys since you've just damaged one of them with your purse". The next person may only have one and not be so lucky.." The look I got was priceless :)

KevinB

KevinB... was the kidney-jamming unavoidable given the crowded nature of the bus? If so, I usually give them a pass, although I sometimes try to use mental telepathy to tell them that it might be better for all of you remove the bad and hold it closer to the floor.

Oh, and everyone knows the official CTA theme song is "Highway To Hell"

I thought it was "Crazy Train" or "Ball of Confusion" or maybe the Gang of Four's "Outside the Trains Don't Run on Time."

Train in Vain, anyone?

I had a doofus drop her heavy purse right in my lap this morning. She was too busy studying for her board exam to be a psychiatrist to notice someone was sitting where she wanted to put her purse down on the seat.

I wonder if the psychiatrist to be learned that Freud said there are no accidents.

sounds like the beginnings of an entire soundtrack. Intersperse with short tracks (ha!) of squealing brakes, the standard announcements--both old & new--and everyone's favorite: this train will be moving shortly. We are paused due to ________. (framed by whatever noise they're using these days as an alert). Add on that "I Hate the CTA," too.

Dee... that alert noise is that annoying BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP, which could make the beginning of a cool CTA dance track.

It was avoidable and it was on the train. I have a backpack and it goes between my feet. I never understand why women have to have their purses under their arms. On a train/bus it just provides a nice easy opportunity to get pickpocketed. Hold the darn thing in front of you...

KevinB

Kimberli & a few others:
There are no conductors on any L trains & there haven't been any in years!

There is a motorman/woman who runs the train.
Conductors open the doors.
And it certainly doesn't take 20 minutes for the motorman to walk the length of an 8 car train & back to close the doors.

But what should we expect from a Kimberli, who is undoubtedly a blonde & will soon be seen on Jaywalking.

They're not "motorman/woman". They're Train Operators. Calling them "motorman/woman" is more annoying than seeing a TM mark used in conjuction with CTA.

BTW... A conductor on a railroad, including CTA trains when they still had them, is the supervisor of the train. They're the one's in charge of everything, not the engineer, motorman, train operator, brakeman, or any other employee on the train. The conductor would be responsible for staying on schedule, and making any field decisions, including whether or not to contact the dispatcher.

Everybody seems to use the terms "conductor" and "operator" (or "conductor" and "engineer" if talking about Metra trains) interchangeablly, including the media. I used to get annoyed about this but I don't anymore. I don't think that people using the word "conductor" indicates they are unaware that there is not more than one employee involved in operating a train. Besides, if what Rusty says is correct and conductors were the ones who were in charge of the train then it would seem that it would not be false to call operators (or motormen, if you want to call them that)"conductors" if they added those responsibilities.

I don't know--during some of the rush hours I used to see on the Blue Line, it could take 5 minutes or more to make your way from one end of the car to another. Sardines had nothing on us! That does presume that the train isn't all the way in a station. Walking outside would naturally be faster, but I still don't find 20 minutes unbelievable during rush hour.
I wouldn't have liked it. But I can't help but think of the driver pushing past everyone in the 1st car, possibly wrestling with his car's emergency exit, then walking down & manipulating the open one, and then trying to get back in his cab. Think Blue Line, about 5:30pm at Clark & Lake, to O'Hare. Or it used to be that way.

Unindicted Co-conspirator--

Aren't you the charmer? Thank goodness you know better than I. I guess I completely made up the incident and I'm so glad that you are here to correct me. All that bleach I use on my hair (how smart you are to use your monitor as a crystal ball!) must be killing all those brain cells that I've been trying to protect all these years.

>When the CTA first introduced the ChicagoCards the Western buses said "Go Lane" on the digital read out. I thought they were rooting for the high school and was surprised, since Clemente is also on Western and was not getting that kind of a boost.

For a while, some of those Go Lane buses with their accidental ad for Lane Tech carried paid advertising boards for their cross-river rival, Gordon, which I thought was, well, wicked funny. Revenge of the public schools.