CTA Tattler

Don't forget that Verizon and US Cellular are CDMA providers. Therefore, it might be logical for Sprint to get into the action, but if the other carriers want to provide service, they'll have to add the GSM infrastructure.

While Sprint may not have its own service there, Sprint users have been able to roam on the US Cellular network since the beginning.

How can you talk anyway when the trains are louder than a bratty 13 year old screaming.

I think the important part of this is that you can get data service and can use text messaging, etc. Phone talking is only useful in the subway when you are waiting for the train.

Speaking of car debuts - anyone have any idea about when the new "5000" cars are supposed to start delivery?

According to Chicago-l.org, who follow all things CTA rolling stock very closely, the first 10 prototypes of the new cars will be delivered by the end of this year, 2008, and will undergo 9 months of testing (cold and hot weather, LED screens in the cars, new and exciting AC traction power!). Then the first regular ~200 cars are to be delivered by 2010, and another ~200, depending on capital funding -ugh-, in 2012.

Speaking as someone who hates hearing people jabber on their phones nonstop, i'm not looking forward to this "service improvement".
There has been talk in the past about the CTA possible providing a "Quiet Car" for those that would prefer a somewhat more relaxing atmosphere.

Since US Cellular and Verizon are paying leasing fees for the privilege of me getting updates on Chad and Trixie's latest weekend adventure, can the CTA actually implement a Quiet Car without pissing off the cell companies? I would think that this would devalue the contract they agreed to.

Not looking forward to the oblivious idiots juggling their coffee, ipods and phones, texting away, as they try to hold onto a pole in one of the new SRO cars.

Do you guys just hate when people talk on the train in general? Because that's all people on cell phones are doing. Sometimes people are just annoying no matter what they're doing -- it's not the cell phone that causes it..

Joe Blow, this isn't your first trip to Tattlerville. You should already know we don't like anything we aren't doing when we're not doing it how we do it. Enjoy the ride. ;)

As I recall, it took so long because US Cellular had an exclusive contract for the first two years. Now that the contract has expired, other providers can take part.

Oh please. There have been studies done that prove that cell phone talking is more annoying than a conversation between two people. Your brain tries to fill in the other side of the conversation and it makes it harder to ignore. It's not the same. And anyone who makes that argument must be glued to their phone all the time and are tired of the nasty looks they get.

As far as a Quiet Car - people don't obey the rules NOW, on ANY car. There would be no way to enforce a Quiet Car.

Wow, I thought the "trixie" and "chad" generalizations were retired about five years ago.

CTA says they are working to bring the other cell providers to the tunnels as well so y'all have that to look forward to. I see a lot of people with tmobile phones close em up as the train goes down below.

and trixies and chads are still around. the chad term isn't used as widely as trixie though.

This has probably been discussed but: What happened to the New York-style test cars with the seats in a long row down either side, leaving the center of the car open? That seems like a lot better idea than SRO cars. Plus, you can avoid the whole having-to-step-over-the-person-in-outer-seat thing.

Actually, Joe Blow, the reason cell phone conversations are more annoying than in-person conversations is pretty well understood. An in-person conversation quickly becomes part of the noise floor because it's a fairly regular and rhythmic pattern. The cell phone conversation isn't. Every time the cell phone user who's nearby says something, it recaptures our attention anew, because there's been an unpredictable lag since the last time she or he spoke.

Just a FYI,

I was messing around with my Verizon phone this morning on my SB commute and I don't think the service is ready for prime time yet.

I was able to get a signal from the tunnel entrance to Clark/Division and then lost it until just before State/Lake.

KevinB

As of yesterday my Sprint phone isn't roaming onto US Cellular in the subway anymore. It shows a signal and a roaming indicator, and it will ring if you place a call, but you get a message that the call can't go through from this location. Once you get above ground, before the phone switches back to Sprint service, it works fine on US Cellular roaming.

I don't know if this is an accidental problem or something that was done intentionally. It seems to be internal to the US Cellular network.