CTA Tattler

The CTA's rising fuel bill and what they're doing about it

CTA President Ron Huberman said at last week's board meeting that rising cost of diesel fuel could burn a $25 million hole in the CTA's budget this year.

But through seemingly small changes, the CTA has improved mileage on its buses from 2.76 mpg last May to 3.27 this May.

“Through simple measures such as relocating where some of our buses begin their routes; redesigning our newer buses to be lighter in weight; and limiting the use of our older, less efficient buses, the CTA saved 335,500 gallons of gas in May 2008 versus May of last year,” said CTA President Ron Huberman. “With the rising cost of ultra low sulfur diesel fuel, this equates to approximately $1.2 million in savings for the CTA in one month. We’re eager to see the continued improvement in these areas as more of our aging buses are retired and replaced with more fuel efficient, low emission buses and hybrid buses that will begin arriving late this summer.”

The CTA also announced Tuesday it's evaluating a new battery-powered hybrid electric bus that would get more than double the mileage the current fleet gets -- up to 8 mpg. Right now it's in a pure testing phase on several routes over three weeks, and funds would have to be identified for purchase. But it's good to see the CTA looking for more ways to save money.

UPDATED: CTA repairs vs. festivals could make for a long summer

UPDATE: I just got a note from the CTA that there is no Red Line diversion planned during the Taste of Chicago -- June 26 through July 6 -- nights or weekends. Thank you!

With the summer festival season in full swing now, I have to wonder how the throngs of people from Taste of Chicago and other events will get home with the Red Line sharing the elevated tracks after 9 pm with the Brown, Green, Pink and Orange lines.

A reader wrote me last week about crowds of people spilling down the stairs to the El platform after a recent Movie in the Park showing at Grant Park. As I mentioned, Taste of Chicago and July 3 will be even worse.

Hey CTA! Perhaps you folks should look at the calendar and select certain nights when you won't shut the Red Line subway for slow zone repairs.

Howard, Armitage El stations now accessible

The CTA last week added two new train stations to its growing list of accessible stations -- Howard on the Red Line and Armitage on the Brown Line.

The Armitage platform was lengthened last year to accommodate eight cars, but the station itself was just finished last week with two new elevators for seniors and anyone else needing help getting to the platform level.

And on Monday, the CTA opened a new south entrance at the Howard terminal with escalators and elevators for the disabled. The south entrance is also adjacent to the newish parking garage, providing a quicker and easier connection to it. The new entrance is also closer to most of the bus staging areas on the west side of the terminal.

With the addition of Armitage and Howard, the CTA reports that 83 of its rail station are now accessible.

While you're checking out the Armitage elevators, be sure and check out the artwork that's part of the new station:

"The Armitage station features an original glass and ceramic tile mural on the north wall inside the stationhouse created by local artist Jonathan Gitelson. The piece, entitled Chicago ‘El’ Stories, is comprised of 45 photographs depicting memories of Chicago that have shaped the lives of customers who use the Brown Line Armitage station. Tile grout lines simulate a street map of the surrounding community."

Below is a Flickr photo by rjseg1 of the Armitage station interior, showing the expansive art project.

CTA adds some routes from North Side garage to Bus Tracker

June's addition to the CTA's Bus Tracker system are routes out of the Forest Glen Garage.

These routes can be tracked on the site starting June 23, are: 54A, 56, 56A, 68, 77, 78, 80, X80, 81, 81W, 84, 85, 85A, 86, 88, 90, 90N, 91, 92, 152.

Now remember folks: The CTA is rolling out these routes for Bus Tracker by garage. They are methodically equipping buses garage by garage with the equipment needed to get the info to the tracker system. So KevinB, I know you're looking for the No. 22 and 36 buses to be added. Well they will be as soon as all the buses in the North Park Garage are equipped.

Thanks to a sharp-eyed Tattler fan who emailed me over the weekend about signs posted on some of those routes.

Happy Anniversary to CTA Tattler

It's been such a crazy week (as usual) at CTA Tattler that the fourth anniversary of writing this blog passed by quietly on Tuesday. So, as a point of personal prerogative, Happy Anniversary to me!

And thanks SO much to all of you out there for your encouragement, participation and faithful readership.

Here's my very first post, and some nutty stories I wrote in the first month of June 2004.

Happy Anniversary to CTA Tattler

It's been such a nutty week (as usual) of CTA news that my fourth anniversary of writing this blog passed by quietly. So two days later, as a point of personal prerogative, Happy Anniversary to me and CTA Tattler!

And thanks SO much to all you for your encouragement, participation and readership for these four years.

For history's sake, here's my first post. And crazy thing I wrote about in that first month.

-- Kevin O'Neil

CTA puts brakes on public funding of Block 37 superstation

President Ron Huberman recommended to board members Wednesday that the CTA seek private funding to build out the Block 37 superstation and develop and operate direct service to the city's two airports.

Still, Huberman had to ask the board for almost $46 million in additional funding to finish construction of just the shells of the subway tunnel and station.

And board members were not happy about that.

"This project has been a disaster," said board member Susan Leonis, a long-time critic of the project first developed by former CTA President Frank Kruesi.

Crain's Chicago Business reports:

"At an occasionally testy board meeting, CTA President Ron Huberman blamed inflation in building materials, logistical woes and the unexpected difficulty of relocating a century’s worth of utility lines on the block, located between the Daley Civic Center and Macy’s State Street flagship store."

CTA President Carole Brown laid blame for this fiasco squarely at the feet of Kruesi. “Time after time, we were told everything is great, everything is on time and on budget,” Brown said. “Ron and his staff have done the best he could in carving a solution to a very, very bad situation.”

Huberman deserves credit for cutting his losses. But it sounds like Kruesi pulled a fast one on the board. And here's the CTA's spin on the story.

Red Line emergency: evacuation improvements, but communication woes linger

This time the train outage was not the CTA's fault. But when a robbery suspect decides to jump the tracks at rush hour and kills himself, the incident still puts your emergency response systems to a crucial test.

The evacuation of passengers from stuck Red Line trains went pretty well, but overall communication to passengers still needs improvement. And it's hard to add capacity to an already maxed-out system at the height of rush hour.

Here was my experience. I got to Grand Avenue Red Line station at about 4:50. The incident happened at about 4:30. Station attendants were turning back passengers, saying the power was shut off. They talked vaguely about shuttle buses, but there was no one at street level to tell passengers about the alleged shuttles. So I headed over to the Brown Line stop at the Merchandise Mart.

When I got there, the northbound platform was packed. Two Brown Line trains arrived in about 10 minutes, but no one was able to board. So I decided to head south and travel back around the Loop. At least I got on a train. By the time my train reached the Library station at State and Van Buren, the train was pretty much at capacity. And each station along Wacker was packed wall-to-wall with desperate passengers.

And desperation was the rule. Passengers were pushing, shoving, yelling and screaming, trying to worm their way onto the train filled to capacity. Passengers were told to use the Brown and Purple Lines as alternates to the Red, but that math just doesn't work. There simply is not enough capacity there.

Add clueless Cubs fan to the rush hour madness, and the desperation is doubled.

Then there are the typical communication problems. I had heard from a friend that the Red Line were supposed to be running on the elevated tracks. But I saw none in the time I was waiting for the Brown.

Then at 5:33, a CTA Alert from CTA headquarters came to my cell phone, saying the Red Line service was closed from 47th to Grand. Two minutes later, our Brown Line motorman told us the subway was open and said we could transfer to the Red Line at State and Lake. So which was it? I decided to stay put.

After a long Brown Line ride, I transferred at Belmont, hoping to hop on a train. But the Red Line there was packed, and desperate Cubs fans shook their heads on the platform, concerned about losing valuable drinking time.

I hopped a Purple Line train instead and headed to Howard, figuring I could double back two stops to Morse. Interestingly, this train did NOT stop at Sheridan as it usually does on Cubs game days.

I finally got home after two hours. It usually takes about 35-40 minutes.

Lessons learned:

1. The CTA still needs to get its act together on coordinated communications efforts.
2. Avoid outages at rush hour. There simply is not enough spare capacity on other lines to cover an entire line being down.
3. Passengers need to show a little more patience. After all, it's not really the CTA's fault that some guy decides to rob a store, run across the expressway and jump barricades to electrocute himself.

$20 million in TIF dollars for Block 37 CTA superstation?

The city council on Wednesday will consider $20 million more in tax-increment financing funds for the much-ballyhooed Block 37 CTA superstation, according to a Crain's Chicago Business report.

And even that may not be enough to finish the ill-fated project that has been beset with cost overruns since first approved by the city in 2005. Greg Hinz of Crain's further reports that the extra cash "will cover only costs already incurred."

"Until even more money is found, those people say, the semi-completed station will be mothballed, much like an unfinished basement in a home whose owner has poured the concrete but can't afford to install carpeting, paneling and other finishing touches."

Yes, you read that right -- "mothballed -- anything which is put into storage or whose operation is suspended."

This is truly outrageous. Since we've come this far on the project, it probably ought to be finished, but with private funding, as Crain's suggested last fall. The CTA claims the tunnel linking the Red and Blue lines will give the agency flexibility in managing train equipment. And then there's the alleged high-speed train route to both O'Hare and Midway airports.

Kudos to Crain's and Hinz, who have been out front in reporting on this topic.

BGA has CTA salary database

Chicago's Better Government Association has a new resource on its Web site: a database of salaries of Chicago public employees, including those employed by the CTA.

The average salary is $51,593. With a cursory look at salaries, it appears that the average bus and train operator earns about $50,000.

What others are making:

Ron Huberman, CTA President, $198,000.
Carole Brown, CTA board president: $50,000 (part-time).

By comparison:

Richard Daley, Mayor of Chicago, $216,210.
Todd Stroger, President, Cook County Board, $170,000.

As CEO of such a large government agency, I don't think Huberman (or Daley for that matter) is paid enough.