CTA Tattler

lol... don't know if agitated was the right word, but I was definitely less unhappy than Cook County Commissioner Larry Suffredin when he asked Ron the same question when they were having a pow wow behind the podium after the "ribbon cutting". Larrys' reaction was less than happy...

I wasn't really unhappy till I found out that we probably weren't ever going to get the Washington street station back and that was a nice "present" from Frank K.

I had talked to Larry before the press conference and he brought up the pedestrian transfer at Washington after I said something about the Block 37 fiasco.

My comment that "we're screwed" was on the money. If Ron thinks that some private company is going to come in and fix the boneheaded "poor planning" that Frank foisted on the public and "rescue" the CTA from financial mismanagement, I would definitely like to get some of what he is smoking...it's definitely gonna be worth it.

I just summed it up as as saw it, i.e. we are screwed..lol

I'd also like to see Frank K have to give every bit of his salary back for costing the taxpayers $425 mil for a big hole in the ground. Carole Brown should do the same. It might not do much to ease the cost, but hey, sometime it's the principle of the thing.

Frank was a idiot. I give Carole points for being intelligent but she should have known better. I also think she should resign because she got duped, and as far as I've seen isn't even apologetic about the whole thing.

The optimist in me hopes that the gov might appoint someone that has the best interests of the riders as a major concern. The other alternative would be to add a board member who wasn't some fat cat, minister or someone else who got the job as a payoff from the Mayor and who would truly work for a clean, reliable, cost effective transportation system that we could be proud of.

I'd truly be happy with less things to complain about on the CTA (contrary to popular belief)

Also, I'll give Ron points for explaining the situation. I'd probably take them back for not making the public aware that the Washington Street station would be fallout from the block 37 fiasco. According to the sign that's still up there as of yesterday, the station will re-open in September 2008.

Besides, I think I exercised great restraint by not bringing up the Block 37 debacle during the press conference. It was really tough not too..there were so many snarky comments awaiting release ;0

It was really sad at the "ribbon cutting". First, there was no ribbon and no cutting...second, the tv stations didn't even bother to send reporters...they just sent cameramen.

KevinB

Just curious, how did you come to be at the press conference and start talking with Ron?

Why are you not blaming the real culprit; Richie, not Frank. Richie makes the decisions behind these big projects, not the CTA board.

PS I forgot to add (no coffee yet) that I think the station is a great idea, if they can get a grant to build it and then a private contractor to run the trains, it'll be a huge improvement and major convenience - something else we'll have that a certain OTHER large city won't have.

Chris:

It was actually a coincidence...although a part of me wonders sometimes if there isn't some grand plan and I'm just a cog in a infinitely large machine...lol

I was looking at a condo on Howard street and one of the things that the lady showing me the place mentioned that they were having a ribbon cutting at 2PM that day for the new station. I had about 45 minutes to kill so I wandered around to get a feel for the neighborhood and waited till they started. Didn't actually start till almost 2:30 but got to talk to Ald Moore and Commissioner Suffredin (they both know my family and I).
(I know, I could have made a crack about the CTA being late even for a ribbon cutting).

I'll admit I was curious about the new station...when I came in that morning, they were still using the old exit to the street.

Sometimes I wonder if I've been put on this earth to be a thorn in the side of the complacent and a champion for the underdog...I'll never be a Batman, but I can always strive for being a Ralph Nader (before he became an ass and perpetual attention seeker and spoiler)when he was about helping out the consumer.

On the other side, it's fun to take the wind out of some of these stuffed shirts who have no idea whats it's like to be the little guy...and it really appeals to my O'Henry sense of irony...

That reminds me of a pic I have to upload. Was coming home and taking the 22 Clark NB during a cubs game last week. Had to be let off in the middle of the street due to a Traffic Enforcement van parked smack dab in the middle of the bus stop...Aren't they supposed to help traffic problems and not cause them?
I snapped a pic of the offending van, and was going to drop a note to the city ;)

KevinB

To me, another frustrating element of the Block 37 debacle is that it took away what used to be a nice public space. What was once a nice setting for ice skating, the Christkindl Market, and art exhibits is now a very costly hole.

Freud said there are no accidents. Andy Warhol said everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. KevinB is observed and documented hounding RonH by none other than Kevin the Moderator. Yikes!

"To me, another frustrating element of the Block 37 debacle is that it took away what used to be a nice public space. What was once a nice setting for ice skating, the Christkindl Market, and art exhibits is now a very costly hole."

In case you noticed there is a sizable commercial and retail development on the site. B37 being totally empty for so long was a terrible embarrassment for the city to have this big hole in the middle of the central district with nothing meaningful on it.

Walked away saying "we're screwed" after the head of the CTA took the time to meticulously explain it to you?

There seems to be this very common misperception in all generations of the world that discourtesy implies toughness and strength. It really just doesn't.

Constant cynicism isn't strength. Constant discourtesy and rudeness isn't strength. Being hard and pointed isn't a useful tool if it's used all of the time. It only is when it's used selectively.

There also seems to be this misperception that public figures aren't actually human beings. That they must be perfect, their performance must be perfect, their intent counts for nothing, that they are what they lead and by virtue can be held accountable for all its sins, and that they have no feelings whatsoever nor is there any obligation to treat them with any sort of humanity.

You rock on, oh L'il Nader, oh champion of the underdog, oh thorn in the side of the oligarchs.

And, KevinB, humorously enough, you seem to have misread the intent of this post. It isn't "Hey, look how one of our own was in the spotlight briefly!" I'm fairly sure it's "Hey, look, KevinB actually got to be a to Huberman in person. Greaaaaaaaaaaaaat."

But it takes more than a station and a private contractor to run the station. It takes track and rolling stock. The reasons it won't work if it shares Blue Line track have been beaten to death here and a quick search will save a lot of rehashing. (Someone else's quick search today; I'm on deadline.)

And honestly, it makes more sense to me -- this is my official Unindicted Co-Conspirator "This project makes no sense at all but I'll support it if it helps *me*" moment -- to create rapid transit from the far north side to O'Hare. It's pretty damned insane for the Trip Planner (both RTA's and Google's) to tell me the fastest way to get to O'Hare is to take the Red Line downtown and then the Blue Line back out.

As for the Red Line portion of the Block 37 fiasco, I always felt Lake and Washington overlapped pretty tightly already, so I'm agnostic. (And Lake provides easier transfer to the El.) But the tunnel was a good thing, and I'd be impressed if Huberman made a real effort to bring it back.

@Michael J Harris - I totally agree with your comments about KevinB's "we're screwed" response to his conversation with Huberman.

I'm not sure why we need the Washington station, to be honest. I moved to Chicago after it closed, and I have never once thought that it needed to be open. The stops on either side aren't so far that you can't walk to them, and my feeling is the more stops, the longer the commute takes. I say close it down permanently, get rid of the sidewalk entrances to it, and in a couple of years, no one will care. Except perhaps for KevinB who, frankly, comes off as a bit of a jerk.

Michael J. Harris has it right on the money. You were disrespectful and rude to someone who patiently tried to help you with your questions. That the answer was something you didn't like was immaterial. I feel sorry for Ron that he has to deal with rudeness like that.

Keep washington Closed, block off the entrances, the area is perfectly served by the Lake and Monroe stops, as well as the elevated.

For O'Hare what about an express shuttle bus route from Kimball Brown to Jeff Park or Montrose Blue. Or maybe from Western since there is a quasi bus terminal there. Yes, the Lawrence Bus exists, but that thing is a nightmare.

[And honestly, it makes more sense to me -- this is my official Unindicted Co-Conspirator "This project makes no sense at all but I'll support it if it helps *me*" moment -- to create rapid transit from the far north side to O'Hare. It's pretty damned insane for the Trip Planner (both RTA's and Google's) to tell me the fastest way to get to O'Hare is to take the Red Line downtown and then the Blue Line back out.]

I'm with you on the totally selfish reasoning here - I live in Rogers Park, and getting to O'Hare is a miserable ordeal.

I never take the train downtown and then back out, though. Two better options I've found are:

1) Take the Red Line to Sheridan, and then the X80 to Irving Park Blue Line. However, this option isn't great either, with the still existing slow zones on the Blue Line. Once those are fixed, this will be a much better option (although of course the only way to avoid the slow zones is to take a cab).

2) Take the 290 bus from Howard to the Cumberland L. I actually have gotten to like this one better than option 1. Again, existing slow zones from Cumberland to O'Hare add a good 15 minutes or so to what it should take.

Both of these options actually were presented to me by the RTA trip planner at different times, by the way. I've never had it send me downtown and then back out unless I select trains only.

But yeah, in a perfect world where the CTA has an extra $750 million on hand and every house already has a new pony, a far north side line to O'Hare would be great.

Why is there such an uproar over the freakin' Washington Street station? The stops in the Loop are, seriously, like 1-2 blocks apart. Plus, there's a Red/Blue transfer at Jackson! Once again, it's just something to bitch about for those that want to keep digging..

I think you folks are reading something into this. I said: "So, basically, we're screwed" and shook my head in disgust and left...there wasn't much else to say, as the likelyhood of a private contractor coming in and rescuing the CTA and fixing it's problem is about the same as me winning the Megamillions grand prize. I really think if Ron was honest about that actually happening, he'd agree...

In addition to the station itself, the other thing that we lost is the blue/red line pedestrian transfer point that was close to the Lake Street station and convenient to the Daley Plaza, the Metra station in the park and literally everything else downtown. There was a whole warren of underground pedways that connected together and the loss of Washington is definitely a cut right in the center of that warren.

Also, I was never rude to him. I think Kevin can back me up on that. I listened quietly and intently to his explanation, asked a question or two and then made an observation.

Get your facts straight folks. I take the time to do that and so should you. But then I understand it's easier to make rude comments based on your perception. I know, I was there.

KevinB

"I said: 'So, basically, we're screwed' and shook my head in disgust and left."

[...]

"I was never rude to him."

[...]

"We had to burn the village in order to save it."

OMFG!
I'm going to agree with strannix!
Take the 290 from Howard to Cumberland & then the L to O'Hare, except of course in July you'll have to take the bus shuttle while the O'Hare L is shut down.

As to who should take the blame for the Block 37 station: Kreusi for sure. He's an idiot that has brought the CTA & especially the rail system to its lowest point ever! Carole Brown, certainly some blame, but then she rarely ever takes the CTA, which is the real problem with Carole Brown.
As to Daley, he never takes the CTA, except for some PR bullshit. And that's the problem with Daley, he never uses it & has no personal understanding of how bad it actually is. He appears to have believed whatever Kreusi told him & never looked any deeper.
A lot like that halfwit in the White House for the last 7½ years.

[Take the 290 from Howard to Cumberland & then the L to O'Hare, except of course in July you'll have to take the bus shuttle while the O'Hare L is shut down.]

I meant to add the best piece of advice: fly from Midway. Being newer, the Orange Line runs pretty well, and you can get from Roosevelt to the Midway station in just over 20 minutes.

You folks are free to interpret Kevin B's comments however you like -- rude, not rude, whatever. But I will back him up in saying thta he did listen to Ron respectfully and didn't give him a whole bunch of crap. He did say, "So basically, we're screwed." But at that time, I didn't take it as sounding disrespectful.

Losing the transfer tunnel at Washington would be a big deal. I was under the impression that the north stairwell down to the transfer tunnel would be closed because of the B37 track connection, but the south stairway would be left intact so that eventually the transfer tunnel could be reopened.

ALL THAT SAID....
Once B37 is done, there would still be an unpaid, mezzanine level transfer between the Washington/Randolph mezzanines of the Red/Blue lines via the Pedway, which is now non-continuous due to the B37 construction. So it would basically be a transfer between Lake Red Line and Blue Washington. CTA could reconfigure the fare gates to allow for a "free" farecard transfer similar to that between Lake/Red line and the State/Lake L stop. Certainly not as nice as the paid connection, but better than nothing.

The Block 37 failure is an example of malfeasance on the highest order. Courtesy shouldn't be a concern as the public and taxpayers express the appropriate reaction - outrage.

Kevin B- there or not, when anyone ends a conversation with the comments "We're screwed" and walks away, its rude. I understand your sentiment, and you clearly wanted to convey your disappointment, but it comes off as- intended or not- a jerk move.
There is a better way to handle that situation.

While I agree with you in a lot of respects- Block 37 IS a disaster and the CTA is far from perfect, please remember that Ron is doing the best he can under the circumstances. He's a young guy who has inherited a complete mess of a system from his predecessors- political pressure and red tape abounds, he had (and still has) a financial crisis right out of the gate, and he has millions of critics every day, constantly passing judgement. Its fine- its part of the job- BUT, imagine, Kevin B, having that kind of pressure, every day. Would you do as well? Honestly?

Yet, he STILL takes the time to explain something to YOU- drawing a diagram, even, and you dismiss him with a flippant comment.

Grr.

"1) Take the Red Line to Sheridan, and then the X80 to Irving Park Blue Line. However, this option isn't great either, with the still existing slow zones on the Blue Line. Once those are fixed, this will be a much better option (although of course the only way to avoid the slow zones is to take a cab)."

Just curious, why not get off at Berwyn and then take the Foster bus to Jefferson Park stop? That would save you the trouble of going further south than you need and then having to go back further north once you are on the blue line. That seems to be an easier solution. The Foster bus (#92 I believe) does a turn around at the Berwyn station and usually run pretty frequently.

I have to say, Ron is definitely giving it his all according to this picture. One of the big battles he faces is public perception and I have to say he's doing his best according to this picture. I mean, he got out a notebook and started drawing... Say what you want, but it certainly appears like the man cares a great deal. It's not his fault he took over from incompetents.

Also, I'd like to note that Kevin B appears to blocking the entrance/exit turnstile. Good thing this wasn't the Sedgwick stop!!!

So how are we "screwed" without the Washington station? I've lived here with it and without it and haven't seen a great upheaval of societal flow because of its absence. And as others have pointed out, there are other adjacent stations.

But I did love this part:

"Sometimes I wonder if I've been put on this earth to be a thorn in the side of the complacent and a champion for the underdog"

I'm going to make you a cape so you can run from station solving CTA problems. Someone get cracking on that logo. Maybe a giant "B"...

I'll admit that it's not the best job you could have. I'll admit he got the short end of the stick following Frank. I've even given him the benefit of the doubt.

I went to hear him talk at the City Club about funding.

I even talked to him then.

I told him that in my opinion he was fighting a losing battle on funding until he could prove to the legislature that he was cutting waste to the bone and if they gave him more money he would make sure it was spent wisely.
At this point, I don't think he's really done much to do that on this front. The union concessions would have had to happen anyways.
He's hired more and more people at the admin offices, the one place that you can cut without impacting service.

On top of that he's made several comments that have done even less to convince me that he has the best interests of the rider at heart and most everyone else I've talked to agrees that it's business as usual. The first was the July 3 debacle last year that he called in the press "A minor inconvenience".

The second was his failure to put into action the communications procedures needed in a emergency even after the aftermath of the blue line crash.

For me the breaking point was the "blaming" of the red line riders for the self evacuation right off the bat. Even Mayor Daley didn't like that.

I also think he should have put the brakes(pun intended) on the Block 37 right after he got in and called for an independent outside eval of the possibility(maybe put it in a slow zone). There is no way that it was going to work and be within any sort of budget. The whole express thing using blue line tracks was a pipe dream. There's a couple other ways using metra tracks that would have been a viable option but they were never really looked at seriously and they could have been accomplished without the mess that we are in now.

He still hasn't gotten costs in hand and even recently he's been compared to a "drunken sailor" the way he spends money from some of the city hall insiders.

It's not that I think he's not capable of doing the job, I just don't think he's got his priorities in the right place.

I know if I was a legislator in Springfield and I read about the $425 million dollar hole I'd be in a real hurry to give him 6 billion in capital money. I think thats one of the reasons that a capital bill hasn't passed (along with some of the gov's antics)

My comment "So basically, we're screwed" was a summation of what he told me. It was a pretty accurate one if you ask me. He could have said "thats not the way I see it or responded in any way" and he had to go, so I left it there.

My concern about the Washington station itself was secondary to the reopening of the red/blue pedestrian tunnel. At this point in the construction it doesn't exist anymore and will not exist until the entire project is completed, which again, has the same chance as a snowball in a very, very hot place. That was straight from Rons mouth(well not the chances for completion part) and Kevin can also confirm that if my word isn't good enough.

KevinB

I second the suggestion of taking the Red Line to Berwyn then the #92. It still takes forever, but it's better than training into the city just to turn around.

As far as flying out of Midway - that's a great option, provided there's a Midway flight going where you need to go. I prefer Midway for many reasons, but sometimes it just isn't an option.

Yes, usually it's faster for me to take a southbound bus to Foster and then pick up that bus to Jeff Park. I have to game the trip planner to check that timing, though -- unlike strannix, going downtown on the Red Line and then back up on the Blue is usually the trip planner's first suggestion for my location.

And going to Midway is even less appealing than going downtown on the Red and then back to O'Hare via the Blue; it has all of the disadvantages of that trip and more, and a much worse selection of flights. The airport itself is marginally less unpleasant than O'Hare, but I try to minimize the length of time I'm in any airport.

Anyway, getting back to today's post, why is a CTA spokesperson still talking about "airport express service"? That disturbs me a whole lore more than any imagined sin KevinB might have committed.

Unless it is rush hour, the Foster 92 bus from Berwyn to Jefferson Park Blue Line isn't bad. It should take no more than 30 minutes, with some usual traffic. Back in the days before the slow zoning of the Blue line, if the train came right away, it was possible to make it from Berwyn to O'Hare in about 45 minutes. It usually takes that long via car due to the horrible traffic on the Kennedy at nearly all times. The 92 also now has bustracker, which I have used a couple times already. I like knowing how long my wait is going to be.

I've considered the 92 bus from Berwyn, but haven't tried it yet. I did take the 81 from Jefferson Park to Lawrence one day; that was a bad enough experience that I wrote off the 92 also, perhaps unwisely. I may try it next time, thanks for the tip.

[And going to Midway is even less appealing than going downtown on the Red and then back to O'Hare via the Blue; it has all of the disadvantages of that trip and more, and a much worse selection of flights.]

Could you elaborate on this? I don't find the Midway trip bothersome at all, and would like to know your reasons for feeling otherwise.

Based on both Kevin's and Kevin B's description of what actually happened, I don't think Kevin B was rude. Parts of open and honest exchanges can appear to be rude if taken out of context, and what I'm reading is that a few people are allowing their bias against Kevin B to cloud their ability to objectively look at the whole situation in context.

Or perhaps they're not even making an attempt to look at the whole exchange objectively.

1. ron's ridiculously better than frank, but i still love how people think you shouldn't question authority figures or that somehow the CTA has been magically fixed. for cryy-iii.

2. maybe the 'screwed' was a little euphemistic, but at least he didn't say 'fked.' fact of the matter is, if they don't do anything with that, a shitload of money was still waaasted and for naught. and we get nothing for it. screwed it is. i wasn't there, and maybe it wasn't the best way to end the conversation, but just cause ron drew a diagram doesn't mean it changes the outcome of the actual situation.

3. umm. the walk from lake to clark is WAY different than the walk from washington to the blue line stop. first of all, one is underground and out of the elements. second of all, one doesn't require an up and down of stairs with a shitload of luggage (although, if you're going to midway, the trick is to take the red line to roosevelt and transfer to the orange line there ... escalators, baby. escalators.). third, the walk from state to dearborn is just whole lot shorter than the walk from state to clark/lasalle. fourth, there was the whole pedway thing and the cool store run by the blind people. fifty, there was the whole walking from one stop to another if one was too crowded in the loop. sometimes, even one stop can make a difference.

4. but until/if/when they fix it, i personally like taking the lawrence bus out to jeff park. granted, i'm near lawrence, but the lawrence bus runs 24 hours opposed to the foster bus which is a LOT less reliable.

"i still love how people think you shouldn't question authority figures or that somehow the CTA has been magically fixed. for cryy-iii."

Straw man misstatement of the position. No one's saying don't question authority, nor is anyone saying the CTA's been fixed.

We're saying you don't have to insultingly question authority, and the CTA has better leadership under Huberman than it did with Kreusi.

My comment "So basically, we're screwed" was a summation of what he told me. It was a pretty accurate one if you ask me.

OK, if you put it in that context I sort of understand you. Don't necessarily agree, but understand. As it was printed here, it seemed to concern only the Washington station stuff.

I have tried the 81 bus to Jeff Park and when I have tried it that route is a LOT slower than Foster as well as the bus being a lot more crowded. Traffic on Lawrence is terrible in most places. Foster moves really well once you get past about Kimball, in some places by the cemetaries it really flys along well. Also another benefit of the 92 is that the route starts right at the Berwyn Red line. I have hopped on a waiting 92 bus countless times before it started its route. Very nice in winter and if its raining! The only benefit I see is that the 81 does run 24 hours, so if its late, you'll have to take it anyways.

For any purpose of going east or west, the buses on Diversey, Addison, Montrose, Foster & Peterson are faster as they don't have all those shoppers on the bus.
But only Foster goes to the L at the relatively far west end [Jeff Park].

strannix, my point's just that I'm trying to avoid taking an hour and a half to get to an airport. With that in mind, for the destinations I travel to and the schedules I prefer, the airlines at Midway have far fewer options, and it generally takes even longer for me to get to Midway than it would to get to O'Hare via the suboptimal route of the Red Line downtown and the Blue Line back. (Though the trip planner swears that it takes about as long, or longer, for me to take a bus to Foster, the 92 out to Jeff Park, and the Blue Line to O'Hare.)

If you live close enough to the Red Line to take it a few stops (I don't), that's always going to be faster than a bus, I'm sure. But note that the Foster bus loops around down Berwyn and Sheridan and then west on Foster from there. Unless you're loaded down with luggage, it's often faster to walk from the Berwyn stop to the corner of Foster & Broadway; back when that was my commute, I frequently got on buses I'd missed at Berwyn by doing that.

When are they going to open the auxiliary entrance to the Buena station on the Red line? It soooooooo far to walk to either Sheridan or Wilson!

"is that a few people are allowing their bias against Kevin B to cloud their ability to objectively look at the whole situation in context."

Maybe if he ever said ONE positive thing, I would consider his opinions more valid. But as it is, I consider him to be a cranky crank who complains about everything, no matter how small. He dosen't even believe that any improvements have been made to the CTA at ALL since the new regime, and that's just ludicrous to me.

One of the things that does bug me about this is that we lost the Washington station. True, it's not a huge deal, as it's very close to Lake and Monroe, but the point is a functioning, open station was taken out of service for no reason, and will not be reopened.

That's like just up and closing Argyle one day. Sure, Lawrence is pretty close. But what was wrong with Argyle? If the CTA was like "this will speed commutes and affect few people" that would be partly true and excusable.

But in this case, the fact that Washington will never open has been kept a secret, and most people probably aren't aware of it. I wasn't...I always thought it was closed for construction, but not ruined by construction. That seems pretty retarded, since the airport superstation was never going to be used anyway.

For O'Hare trips , I've been taking the Red Line to Addison and then the Addison (152) bus to the Addison Blue Line stop. I tend to like this a bit better than doing Foster bus to Jefferson Park as it is much longer E-W bus trip.

http://www.transitchicago.com/maps/maps/200806N.html

Another option is to get off at Belmont and take the Belmont bus (77) to the "Bemont" blue line station. The #77 runs 24/7 while the #152 only runs through late evening, but Addison Red Line station has the elevators for your luggage.

You also have to account for Cubs games during the summer.

+++
Maybe if he ever said ONE positive thing,...
+++

Well, you see, that's evidence that you've got a bias that you can't put aside in order to consider things objectively.

Keven B may complain a lot. But he has said positive things on occasion. Rarely. Seldom. So seldom that I'm pretty sure I don't have the time to hunt any of those times down. But to even capitalize "ONE" as if it were an absolute does more to tell us what you think of him than what he's really said.

There are some people here that I have a very low opinion of, but while they can usually be counted on to say things I think are stupid, even those who I think are purposely trying to disagree with me occasionally say something I can agree with.

No one is perfect. And it follows that no one is on the other extreem, either. So if you're sure that he's never once said a positive thing, that's just exposing your bias (and your inability to overcome it), but it doesn't reflect reality.

You need to be able to look past the person and your feelings about that person to objectively evaluate the content of what they're saying. It's too bad more people in this world don't do that. (And I'm not just talking about the world's feelings about Kevin B).

++++
For O'Hare trips , I've been taking...
++++

It all depends on how far north you're starting. I like the 290, but since it runs only every 40 minutes to Cumberland, you have to plan carefully. (And the ride is 50 minutes from Howard to Cumberland!)

Foster is a good trip. I agree about walking down Broadway if you're traveling light, and just missed a bus at the station.

But let's face it: There is no great alternative. On the other hand, I'm also not sure there's really that much demand for a significantly greater alternative.

(On the other hand, I think walking with lugage from the Red Line to O'Hare is still less of a bother than going through security. I *hate* flying anywhere these days. The trip to the airport is the least of what bothers me.)

Actually I did say something positive:

Also, I'll give Ron points for explaining the situation.

which is in the first reply to the story.

You just didn't read it, Pete. FYI, I don't complain about everything.

One poster said it best, on the CTA its like the death of a thousand cuts. Its not one big thing, it's the sheer volume of the small things. Like watching people trip over the hoses at the Addison station because someone decides that rush hour (8:15am) is the best time to power clean the platform there, or the bus driver on his cell phone who almost plows into a car and a pedestrian he didn't see, or the bus driver who zooms on past you when he knows that you want to board the bus, or the new SB Red line slow zone from North/Clybourn to Clark/Division that started two days ago, or the (get the point yet?).

I also give points for the bus tracker (when it works...my first experience using it was not good though, but I gave it a chance).

I'll give Ron points for getting the 3 track thing over faster like he's promised if he does.

Frank was an idiot. I didn't expect much from him. I don't think Ron is an idiot (and I've never called him one), but at the same time, my expectations are much higher for that reason.

Is it better? I haven't seen alot of positive things, a few, but the jury is still out. At least it's not worse and no one has died yet. Thats positive, right?

The day when I can get from Addison to Lake in 30 minutes or less with little or no delays 7 out of 10 times, I'll admit it's better. 70% is passsing...

KevinB

Has anyone found taking the Irving Park Express X80 over to the Blue Line to be significantly quicker than taking the Foster 92? I've never been on the X80, so I have no idea how reliable it is, etc. Probably a moot point for me since I can walk to the Berwyn Red Line. By the time I wait for Red, go down to Sheridan, catch the X80, I'm sure any time savings would be wiped out. Also more time on the Blue Line doubling back from Irving up to Jefferson Park.

Sharon, the auxilliary stairs at Buena? Please explain? I wasn't aware that there was a station there any longer to have extra stairs.

Sharon was being facetious :)

"The day when I can get from Addison to Lake in 30 minutes or less with little or no delays 7 out of 10 times, I'll admit it's better."
I remember when there was a lighted sign on the Granville viaduct that said it was 24 minutes to the Loop from there!

And to whoever said last week it was only 200 feet between buses at the Howard terminal, I measured it.
From the 22 bus stop sign at the north end to the 206 bus stop sign at the south end it's not 200, not 300, not 400, not 500, but 570 feet.

That shows a total disregard for the ability of many passengers to travel that far to change buses & will cause many to just miss a connection.