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/ Campaigns | Public Transit (CTA) Campaign | Coverage - CTA Links - Events - Letters - Research Public Transit (C.T.A.) Media Coverage:
CTA improved under new Chicago schools chief
Ron Huberman By Jon Hilkevitch | Tribune reporter January 28, 2009
CTA trains are running faster than they did 21 months ago when Ron
Huberman took over the agency, ridership remains stable and mass transit
isn't lurching toward another "doomsday" funding deadline.
"Ron's departure is a huge loss for
the CTA," said Susan Leonis, CTA board vice chairman. "He improved the CTA's
reputation in Springfield and Washington. He helped us get new state funding
for operations and he managed the very difficult three-track project on the
North Side, as well as eliminating slow zones on the Blue Line out to
O'Hare."
CTA: 25 cent fare hike in 2009 For originating story and video click here.
CHICAGO (WLS) -- The Chicago Transit Agency announced a 25 cent fare
increase for most riders. For originating story and video click here.
BY PETER SACHS -
December 15, 2008 | 3:00 PM The Regional Transportation Authority is hoping to get as
much as $675 million from the Obama Administration early next year for a
variety of capital projects. For originating story click here.
Little Village, like other neighborhoods,
fights for public transit For originating story and video click here. Students at the Little Village Lawndale High
School campus have one shot at using public transit close to the school door
when they get out for the day – on an unofficial bus route. Though it’s not an easy process, transit is a resource that’s worth the effort, Pitula said. “I think transit is important to organize around because
it’s an economic issue, it’s an issue of economic development,” he said.
“It’s also going to be a very important solution to global warming, it’s
going to affect all of our lives in ways we can’t even imagine right now.” For originating story and video click here.
For originating story click here. The CTA has cut 29 percent of its mechanics in the last 13
years, and the union claims those cuts means unsafe buses are on the roads. For originating story click here. West Side residents air grievances, make suggestions at CTA meeting!!
As the
trial period of the Chicago Transit Authority's West Side and West
Suburban Sub-Regional service plan comes to a close, the CTA looked to
West Side residents for feedback at a meeting held last week.
The
hearing began with a short presentation as CTA representatives explained
all the service changes implemented under the West Side/West Suburban
Sub-Regional Service Plan. They detailed the background behind their
decisions and the ways in which the service changes were adjusted to
accommodate for changing circumstances. The remainder of the meeting was
reserved for comments from the audience. Posted: Sunday, 26 October 2008 9:51AM For originating story click here. Bob Roberts, Newsradio 780 Reporting For originating story click here. |
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To look at the viaduct at 16th and Halsted, one would never guess that it was the site of a massive and bloody battle... Rally to remember the Battle of the Viaduct. (Click any image to enlarge) |
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To look at the viaduct at 16th and Halsted, one would never guess that it was the site of a massive and bloody battle. Part of the structure has been demolished. Weeds line the parkway on its south side. Small working class homes make way for the rapidly advancing condomania of University Village. It is an unassuming intersection where cars and buses whisk by on their way to UIC or to the fashionable yuppie gallery district of “East Pilsen.”
But in 1877, this viaduct was the focal point of a raging battle for workers rights. On Thursday, July 26, members of Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, the Industrial Workers of the World, Citizens Taking Action and other community members took part in a small march and rally to commemorate this historic battle.

The Battle happened when the bosses and their thugs attacked striking railroad workers in Chicago during the nation's first general strike — the Great Uprising of 1877. On July 26, 1877, police and mercenaries broke up a meeting of German immigrant workers at Turner Hall on Roosevelt and Halsted. By late morning of that day, 10,000 workers had assembled in the vicinity of the viaduct at 16th and Halsted. By the end of the day 30 workers lay dead.
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The march last Thursday departed from Plaza Tenochtitlan on 18th, Blue Island and Loomis. We marched down 18th Street, drumming, chanting. Marchers carried signs marking the Battle, but there were also signs calling for Transit Justice at the CTA. One sign read, “No Fare Hikes, No Service Cuts, No Layoffs.”
Another simply said, “Pink Stinks” referring to the CTA’s Pink Line experiment. The Pink Line is costing the CTA up to $8 million extra per year despite the agencies claims of a financial crisis. Long time Cermak Blue Line riders have been forced to take longer trips, make more transfers, and wait longer for the few Blue Line trains that remain in the wake of the Pink.
Once at 16th and Halsted, there was a brief rally with speakers from both labor and community groups. Michael Pitula a community organizer from LVEJO gave an overview of the Great Uprising of 1877. Charles Paidock of Citizens Taking Action, spoke about Martinsburg, West Virginia. This was the small rural town where the Uprising began in wake of two 10% wage cuts and work speedups. He remarked that this event was perhaps even greater in significance than the Haymarket incident of 1886.
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Labor was also present at this rally. A CTA bus driver spoke about the need for rider and driver unity on the CTA. An IWW member and transit activist spoke about the commonality between environmental struggles and labor struggles. |
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The rally was meant to highlight the relationship between struggles of the past and present. The strike of 1877 was a railroad strike. In 2007 Chicago faces a transit crisis with rail slow zones, discriminatory service, threatened fare hikes, service cuts, and over a 1000 CTA bus drivers facing layoffs. The railroad workers of 1877 were mostly immigrants during a time of intense xenophobia. Pilsen is an immigrant community facing persecution and gentrification today. In fact, 16th and Halsted is a gentrification hotspot. Even the political context of the two eras is ironically similar. In 1877, President Hayes lost the popular vote but won the Presidency, just as in 2000 and 2004 with Bush.
One young participant summed it up best saying, “The CTA is greedy and they want to take your money, so you better watch out.” The rally concluded with a lighting of candles to commemorate the 30 fallen workers killed in the Battle of 1877.
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Transit Bus Riders Exposed to High Levels of Deadly Diesel Emissions Coalition Calls For Action To Reduce Diesel Pollution
CTA and Pace buses are among the dirtiest-and deadliest-in the country. That's one finding in a new report on diesel pollution issued by the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago and the Illinois Campaign to Clean Up Diesel Pollution, a coalition of over 45 groups. (Click here to view this report entitled "Missing the Bus to Cleaner Air") "Chicago has one of the highest risks for cancer due to diesel pollution of any city in the country," says Anna Frostic, RHAMC's Environmental Health Advocate. "And we lag far behind New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Dallas in cleaning up our diesel bus fleets."
The Coalition is calling for equipping CTA and PACE buses with clean technology to reduce diesel pollution by more than 90%.
"Diesel emissions are almost impossible to avoid," says Frostic, "that's why we need to retrofit diesel vehicles with particulate filters to reduce their harmful emissions."
These findings build on the conclusions of another new report, issued by the Clean Air Task Force, which suggests that pollution levels inside CTA and PACE buses are four times deadlier than the air outside. (click here to view the report entitled "No Escape from Diesel Exhaust")
The Coalition is urging support for Illinois Senate Bill 268 (Collins, D-Chicago), which would create a public funding mechanism for retrofits of diesel vehicles in Illinois. It also calls on the Illinois General Assembly to require the clean up of the CTA and Pace diesel bus fleets by 2010 as part of any effort to increase and stabilize funding for public transit in Northeastern Illinois.
Other report findings:
Diesel fuel emissions are damaging our health and the quality of our environment. Each year, diesel engines emit millions of tons of particulate matter (soot) and air toxins that cause adverse health effects such as lung cancer, asthma attacks, heart attacks, and premature birth. The U.S. EPA recently strengthened the air quality standards for soot after scientific findings that these particles are more dangerous than previously thought.
While new engine standards that reduce soot emissions by 90% will go into effect in the coming years (see http://www.epa.gov/cleandiesel/), older vehicles may continue to pollute for another generation. Retrofitting 10,000 older engines with pollution control technology, such as diesel particulate filters, would eliminate roughly 15,000 tons of harmful pollution each year.
Through our campaign efforts, we hope to see over 2,000 CTA and Pace buses retrofitted, expand the use of green contract language, and achieve state and federal funding for diesel initiatives.
To determine the diesel risk in your area, click here.
Click here to review the Clean Air Task Force's report Diesel and Health in America: The Lingering Threat.
What can I do to help?
If you would like to get involved, please contact Anna Frostic at:
afrostic@lungchicago.org or fill out an application to volunteer.
"I think that's excellent because it's used," said Smith, who lives in Lakeview. "It's always packed. It's better than the 145, which has way too many stops."
Huberman and CTA chairman Carole Brown hailed the $20 million in new internal belt-tightening as yet another sign to the General Assembly and the governor that the transit authority deserves new funding to erase a more than $100 million operating deficit.
Huberman had identified $18 million in administrative cuts. The CTA will also transfer $57 million from its capital improvement budget to prop up the operations shortfall, but that move will defer maintenance on buses and trains and likely lead to less reliable service.
"This is not about playing politics," Huberman said. "We need a structural fix" to correct the state funding shortfall, he said.
But the strategy of rolling out piecemeal cost efficiencies could backfire, raising questions about the CTA's credibility. Customers, and suburban and Downstate legislators already are skeptical that funneling millions of additional dollars to the CTA would improve the transit authority's often-criticized performance.
"The CTA has a long history of scaring riders with doomsday scenarios. They claimed the sky was falling, and now only half the sky is falling," said Michael Pitula, a community organizer with the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization.
The revised contingency package of service cuts and fare hikes would take place on Sept. 16, barring state action on funding, officials said. Regardless of whether the revised cuts are implemented, the CTA is printing new bus and train schedules. That will cost the agency $2.1 million, Huberman said.
Huberman acknowledged that the new budget contingency package, containing $7.5 million in service reductions and $7.5 million in fare hikes, would still create tremendous hardships, especially for the elderly, people in poor neighborhoods, students and commuters who do not have access to cars. But the goal is minimizing difficulties by scaling back the doomsday plan, he said.
"Buses will still be crowded, and we realize some people will still be left on the curb," Huberman said about the plan to operate 314 fewer buses during peak hours.
As an incentive for riders to save money and while also helping to speed up boardings of trains and buses, the CTA plans to waive the $5 fee to purchase Chicago Cards.
Some civic and business groups blamed the sorry state of transit funding in the Chicago region on state officials neglecting the operating and capital needs of the CTA, Metra and Pace for years.
---- jhilkevitch@tribune.com
Chicago -- El transporte público de la ciudad estaría por aumentar de precio. Tras meses de posponer un voto por un plan presupuestal para hacerle frente a un déficit de $110 millones, los miembros de la Junta Directiva de la Autoridad de Transporte de Chicago (CTA) votaron ayer por un plan de contingencia modificado.
El plan, sin embargo, contempla aumento de tarifas y recorte de servicios menores a los anticipados inicialmente por CTA.
Dicho plan de contingencia modificado incluye: aumentar las tarifas del tren a $3 en la hora pico, (en lugar de los $3.25 anunciados antes) y a $2.50 en el horario regular, mientras que las tarifas de autobús aumentarían a $2.50, 25 centavos menos que lo anticipado.
Asimismo, se suspendería el servicio de 39 rutas de camiones, en lugar de los 63 planeados inicialmente, y se mantendrían las líneas del tren Morada Expreso y Amarilla, que anteriormente estaban programadas para ser eliminadas.
Adicionalmente, unos 700 empleados de la agencia serían dados de baja.
Ron Huberman, presidente de CTA, lamentó tener que llevar a cabo el plan.
“CTA hizo todo lo que se le pidió para poner sus finanzas en orden. Tomamos muchos pasos para reducir los costos y evitar el impacto a nuestros pasajeros. Pero el sistema tiene problemas estructurales de financiamiento y las medidas de eficiencia administrativas no se van a resolver solas. Sin un financiamiento adecuado de Springfield, nos veremos forzados a reducir el servicio y aumentar las tarifas”, dijo Huberman.
Según CTA, el recorte de servicios dejará ahorros por $7.5 millones y el aumento de tarifas producirá otros $7.5 millones. Asimismo, transfirió $57 millones de su fondo capital al operativo y espera producir otros $20 millones al reducir costos laborales, que incluyen reducción de tiempo extra y la contratación de firmas consultoras, ingresos por renta de propiedades y la venta de equipo, entre otros.
Michael Pitula, coordinador de la Campaña por el Transporte Público Igualitario de la Organización de Justicia Ambiental de La Villita (LVEJO), dijo que ese grupo se oponía a los incrementos y reducción de servicios.
“Aumentan las tarifas, pero no suben los salarios. Esto es como recortar el sueldo de las personas”, dijo Pitula, quien agregó que la agencia necesita buscar financiamiento en el gobierno local y federal.
En la calle, usuarios como María González reaccionaban a los anuncios y calificó el aumento de tarifas como “un golpe para todos”.
“En mi caso, tengo como único ingreso el Seguro Social. Me va a sacar de todo mi presupuesto. Será más difícil pagar los gastos, sobretodo con la electricidad que está tan cara”, comentó González.
La reducción de servicios, aumento de tarifas y despidos se llevarían a cabo el 16 de septiembre si no llegan más fondos del gobierno estatal, según dijo CTA en un comunicado.
RECUADRO
En números
* CTA enfrenta un déficit de $110 millones
* Suspendería el servicio de 39 rutas de autobuses
* Subiría la tarifa del tren en hora pico a $3 y $2.50 en horario regular
* Subiría la tarifa de autobús a $2.50
* Se mantiene el precio del pasaje reducido en $35 mensuales
Fuente: Autoridad de Transporte de Chicago
Valuable Information in Greenopolis
I want to salute you in including Sarah Finkel’s stories in your paper. It was so good to see the article she wrote last month about Soy Organic.
Having bilingual information about resources in the community that can help us to be healthy is so valuable.
Regarding Ms. Finkel’s article on climate change: It was good that you showed the map of migrating climates, because I think it is one of the simplest ways to show people the outcome of very complicated processes in a way they can understand.
I wanted to propose some solutions that are more aggressive than her suggestion to improve automobile fuel economy. As a society, we need to move beyond car culture. Instead we need to repair, enhance, and dramatically expand our public mass transit systems. In Chicago, we also need to shut down the Fisk and Crawford coal power plants and make the switch to renewable wind and solar energy.
Another important point in the climate change discussion is whether our solutions will promote equality and help everyone’s environment, or if environmental quality is only for the wealthy and privileged in our society. Global warming is an economic and human rights issue that is already generating many victims and huge costs for indigenous peoples in the South Pacific, in the Northern regions and in places like New Orleans.
According to the reports this year by the planet’s leading climatologists, humanity now has less than 10 years to curb global warming before its effects are irreversible. We need to think big and act quickly to do what it will take to create a sustainable society for all.
Michael Pitula
Community Organizer – Public Transit, LVEJO (Little Village Environmental Justice Organization)

Public comment sought on extending Red Line
Tribune staff report
Published March 19, 2007, 8:14 PM CDT
Chicago Transit Authority officials are asking for the public's comments on the extension of the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line during a meeting scheduled for next month.
The proposed extension would take the Red Line from the existing south terminal at 95th Street to a new terminal at 130th Street, a move that would streamline several bus-to-rail connections, CTA officials said.
The first meeting will be held April 10 in the 4th floor auditorium of Chicago State University's New Academic Library, 9501 S. King Drive. The second meeting will be April 11 at the West Pullman branch of the Chicago Public Library, 830 W. 119th St.
Both meetings will be held from 6 to 8 p.m.
CTA: Get used to it Blue Line repairs would take 3 years, $100 mil.
March 19, 2007
BY MONIFA THOMAS Transportation Reporter
Even if the CTA gets the money it needs immediately, it would take at least three years for the agency to fix the rotting rail ties and worn-out track that cause many of the slow zones on the O'Hare branch of the Blue Line, officials said.
Gov. Blagojevich and the state Legislature have so far given short shrift to requests from the CTA and its sister agencies for a multibillion-dollar capital funding program that would allow them to make long-delayed repairs on the aging transit system.
"It makes me feel like the state Legislature has abandoned us," said 55-year-old Michael Pagano, noting the lack of a long-term funding source for mass transit. "I guess I'll have to bear with it until the state gets its act together."
For months, L riders have been dealing with almost-daily service disruptions and delays caused by derailments, equipment failures and major construction projects like the Brown Line expansion.
The number of systemwide slow zones has more than doubled since last February, stretching out travel times.
Band-Aid repairs
The Blue Line slow zones, which affect 30 percent of the tracks between O'Hare and the Clark/Lake station, are largely the result of rail ties that are falling apart at a faster rate than they were expected to.
The CTA has said contractors hired by the City of Chicago to extend the Blue Line to O'Hare Airport in the early 1980s may have used a different type or amount of preservative on these ties than was used elsewhere on the system.
The CTA has been making Band-Aid repairs where it can. As of last week, for instance, the speed limit on all but 600 feet of 6 mph slow zones on the Blue Line had been increased to at least 15 mph, CTA President Frank Kruesi said.
2 years of construction
But getting rid of all the Blue Line slow zones would cost about $100 million in capital funds that the CTA says it doesn't have. Only $63 million has been budgeted through 2011 to repair track defects throughout the entire system.
If additional funding were to come through today, it would take "a good year of design and at least two years of construction" to fix the segments of the Blue Line where trains currently travel at reduced speeds for safety, CTA's vice president of engineering, Glen Zika, estimated.
"Almost anything done on the capital side is a very time-intensive situation," Kruesi said. "It takes an enormous amount of planning. When that stops, there's an awful lot of catch-up, and that's what we're dealing with now."
mjthomas@suntimes.com
State's Top Auditor: Public Transit In Financial Disaster
WBBM's John Cody reports.
CHICAGO (WBBM/CBS 2) -- The state's chief auditor says even doubling fares of Chicago area transit systems wouldn't provide enough money to bail them out. Illinois Auditor General William Holland said in his first ever report that mass transit in northern Illinois is in a serious financial crisis. Holland estimates the CTA, Pace, and Metra together are almost $6 billion away from meeting their needs for new equipment and maintenance.
He says expenses have risen at three times the rate of income. He said he's not predicting shutdowns, but he says delayed maintenance and replacement will lead to increasing delays and service problems on the CTA. Problems were seen at all three organizations, and all of them are under funded, Holland said. They lack the revenue to cover current operations and replace an aging fleet of buses and rail cars, he said. At the CTA, the audit uncovered $45 million a year in costs related to absenteeism, which Holland characterized as very high.
Further, Holland said, Pace and the CTA do not coordinate bus routes and there are redundant routes that cost money. The most serious problem with Metra is that even though ridership is up, the cost of running trains is rising at three times the rate of revenue and stands to get worse, Holland said. "Even if Metra were to double fares, it wouldn't even come close to covering the shortfall," he said.
Holland said he does not advocate doubling fares, but the comment was intended to illustrate the financial straits the agencies are in. Holland said CTA management improvements might save several millions, but wouldn't be nearly enough to cure the larger financial problems in the billions. In fact he said regional agencies together are almost $1 billion short of meeting operating and purchasing needs this year alone. In addition to advocating centralization under the RTA, Holland suggested lawmakers review the funding formula that relies on sales tax.
Contents of this site are Copyright © 2007 by WBBM. CBS 2 contributed to this report.
CTA Orders Exam Of Dirty Trains, Buses
Bob Roberts Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM) - The CTA's inspector general has some real dirt to check on --filthy trains and buses. WBBM’s Bob Roberts reports CTA Chair Carole Brown ordered the audit Wednesday amid a rising crescendo of complaints about filthy buses and trains. Last year, the CTA received only 133 complaints about dirty trains and buses through "official" channels. But any check of local newspaper columns and Brown's own blog show growing dissatisfaction with the food, drink cups, newspapers and other trash left behind by riders.
Brown said one rider recently stopped her on the street to complain, and Vice Chair Susan Leonis said she has heard from "many riders." "Easy things, in my mind, like cleaning a train or cleaning a bus, are things that we should be doing as a matter of course," Brown said following a board meeting at which Leonis suggested that clean-up work be outsourced to private contractors.
CTA Executive Vice President Dick Winston said that currently, CTA trains and buses are supposed to be swept each morning before they go into service, and that personnel at terminals between runs are supposed to pick up any on-board trash they spot. CTA Vice President/Bus Operations Bill Mooney said that each maintainer is required to clean 28 buses as they are refueled each morning. Winston said that CTA buses are supposed to get a top-to-bottom washing once every 18 days, and "L" trains once every 35 days.
Brown said she has heard some complaints recently from riders who are upset because of the layers of salt that covered buses, especially windows, for much of the winter, but said most complains are about the conditions inside trains and buses. "'Clean, safe, on-time, friendly,' is part of our mission statement and it's important to me," Brown said. "So, whether or not I really believe that our customer service has slacked off or that we're not being as responsive to customer concerns is less important than what the people who come down here and take the time to voice their concerns believe." One Edgewater rider, Mark Lovelace, told Transit Board members that he believes the CTA is in a "customer service crisis," and cited the condition of trains and buses as one example. Transit officials told the CTA's board that the number of complaints about filthy buses has increased substantially, even though buses are being washed inside and out almost twice as much as they once were.
By contrast, they said, complaints about dirty "L" trains increased only 9 percent, despite a reduction in full cleaning and washings. Kruesi said CTA is experimenting with technology first used by airlines to try to clean planes faster between runs, and said it is working well. Leonis said privatizing the cleaning of CTA buses and trains may require re-negotiation of contracts with its unions, but urged is consideration to determine if it would be cost effective.
She was quick to deny that filth is being allowed to accumulate, and service to slide in general as a bargaining tactic with the General Assembly to provide additional operating and capital funding. "We just have a lot of issues in the past year," Leonis said. "There are those who think or say that perhaps we're letting it go and that we're doing it on purpose. I know that that's not true."
In other action:
-- The CTA's board approved an agreement with the city of Chicago to display airline flight information at its Clark/Lake station downtown, in an attempt to help riders who are taking the "L" to O'Hare and Midway. Information for O'Hare would be posted on a monitor on the Blue Line subway platform, while information for Midway would be posted on a monitor on the Outer Loop "L" platform. When board member Michael Chandler asked if it would make more sense to put the monitors outside of the "paid" area, to inform riders whose planes may be cancelled or delayed before they pay fares, CTA Vice President Patrick Harney told him areas outside of the turnstiles are not under CTA control.
-- CTA is purchasing 15 additional farecard vending machines, that will be placed at select CTA "L" stations and sales outlets. The machines are geared primarily toward tourists and occasional users.
-- Although ridership was up 1.1 percent in January, the CTA went $3.6 million over budget. Treasurer Dennis Anosike (ANN'-oh-syk) blamed the costs of diesel fuel, repair parts and overtime run up primarily keeping its aging bus fleet repaired. The CTA paid $2.63 a gallon for diesel fuel in January; it has budgeted $2.50 a gallon for the year.
Contents of this site are Copyright © 2007 by WBBM
Mar 14, 2007
What Will It Take For CTA To Operate Better?
Troubled Public Transit Agency Has No Easy Way Out Of Woes
Rob Johnson - Reporting
(CBS) CHICAGO The terrifying subway fire on the Chicago Transit Authority’s Blue Line last July exposed serious flaws throughout the CTA rail system. CBS 2's Rob Johnson reports on the trouble on the tracks, and whether those problems will ever be fixed.
It was a dubious year for the CTA’s ‘L’ trains. Nowhere was that more true than on July 11, 2006. The eighth car of a southbound Blue Line train derailed, shutting off power and starting a fire. Passengers thought they were going to die, some saying they feared burning alive.
A group of 65 survivors is suing the CTA for negligence. A judge determined the CTA was at fault, boosting chances for settlement, but preventing lawyers from further investigation of the accident. Attorney Dan Kotin believes there are serious track defects. “I suspect there are some significant, long term on-going problems down there,” Kotin said. The day after that legal decision, the CTA axed five workers including track maintenance foreman Darryl Nelson who says he does not believe there was anything wrong with the track. But CTA president Frank Kruesi, who recently took CBS 2 on a tour of the ‘L’ system, defends the firings.
"I can understand if somebody loses their job has got excuses for why they shouldn't be held accountable for it. But you know what? That’s their job,” he said. Rick Harris is the president of the union that represents two of the fired workers. He says CTA maintenance procedures are outdated and the men were scapegoats.
"I think what we have is a situation where we needed to hurry up and show the public that we had taken some action. So what's the best we can do, we fired some people,” Harris said. Kruesi, too, admits there are serious shortcomings in the rail system. “There are areas that need the work and the work hasn't been scheduled yet or there is no money for the work,” he said.
And that is why the CTA is hoping to win approval for an ambitious plan to update tracks, trains and towers. That proposal will cost $5 billion over the next four years. Kruesi is counting on the legislature to come to his rescue. "There's got to be funding for transit, it's got to happen this year or we're going to be shrinking the system,” he said. But already leaders show little support for Kruesi's costly request. "I don't know that $5 billion is a realistic number for Mr. Kruesi,” said Rep. Tom Cross (R-84th). "I'm quite sure the mayor's not living in a dream world and maybe Kruesi thinks we have a money printing machine downstairs,” said State Sen. Emil Jones (D-14th).
So the $5 billion seems unlikely, which leaves Kreusi with this dire warning. "People are going to switch and go into cars and if they do that it is going to be even more congested on the roads,” Kruesi said. If it seems like Kruesi is alone on this last ditch plan to help the beleaguered riders of Chicago, it's because he is. His position has been weakened recently by speculation that Mayor Richard M. Daley is planning to dump Kruesi for someone more popular in Springfield. Of course it is important for the CTA to get this right, because the biggest concern is the safety of the half million people who ride it each day.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
March 13, 2007
By Ed Schwartz
The once-heralded Crosstown Expressway, which was stillborn in 1976 for a number of reasons, has shown a recent flicker of life. The noises you're hearing along the proposed route are the sounds of the paving crowd, fabrication fairies, hired truckers (oh-oh) and friends of the power structure with salivary glands as big as asphalt tanks.
The ringing bells in the Crosstown Corridor aren't from churches. Chicago's well-connected elite are hearing cash registers. Ring-a-ding. But it's no sale. Sadly, now whenever big-buck "civic improvements" are discussed, the initial assumption by many taxpayers is another influential nest is about to be feathered. Cynical? Yes, but this is Chicago. Here it's just doing business. Building something as huge as the Crosstown project would create numerous inconveniences for drivers, commuters, merchants and untold other affected interests. That's why the idea was a quickly deflated trial balloon when it was first proposed.
How did the traffic situation in the Chicago area become so troubling? The answer is poor planning, lack of foresight, lack of research. The result of all these shortcomings is that travel times locally are unpredictable and longer than ever.
Our streets were not designed to carry the volume of new millennium traffic. Many of our busiest streets are too narrow for more than a single lane in either direction with curbside parking. Visit similar business corridors in Los Angeles and note that most of their busiest streets have two or three lanes for each direction and offstreet parking for business almost is mandatory. Lacking a public transportation infrastructure such as ours, the planners in places like California realized that auto usage only would grow and the need to accommodate it was unavoidable.
Whether you drive or use buses and cabs, I suggest you keep close track of the time it now takes to go just about anywhere, and you'll soon realize how many hours you're wasting going nowhere fast. The anger generated by this even has a name: road rage.
The Crosstown Expressway was proposed in 1979 as one solution to free up our local expressways from the huge volume of interstate trucking that is forced through the downtown area via the Ryan, Kennedy and Stevenson expressways. The Crosstown might sound like a good idea on paper, but it would be years in the making, and the ramifications of relocating thousands of residents, business locations, and related needs in today's dollars would total a number most of us couldn't even read.
The only way to get commuters out of their cars and off the jammed streets and expressways is to provide the kind of public transportation that is more attractive than driving. Just off the top of my flat head, I would say that it would take some or all of the following to make that happen:
Buses and trains that run on time regardless of the weather.
Buses and trains that are cleaned every day. This includes windows.
Bus drivers, motormen and other transit employees schooled on customer service.
Train stations, subway platforms and elevated stations that are patrolled by Chicago police.
Trains and buses that receive regular "ride-alongs" from police transit officers. Slapping cameras everywhere is not the answer to stopping crime.
All CTA commuter trains more than two cars in length manned by a minimum crew of two, a motorman and conductor. This answers commuters' concerns about safety and security.
A full-court press on scheduling so the infamous Chicago rush hour parade of bunched up buses is stopped.
A major review of service cuts in recent years to determine which communities are underserved.
A fraction of the cost of a Crosstown Expressway probably would pay for the above suggestions and all the others that daily riders can list, too.
If the Crosstown talk was meant as a trial balloon, it appears to universally have been popped. Before digging a ditch from one end of the city to the other, we need to fix what we already have.
One way to make public transportation more attractive is to generate some pride among the people operating the system. That means consistent supervision, a system of raises, promotions and rewards for providing good service and a career path in public transportation.
I've never been to Europe or Asia, but I've heard some of their subways and commuter lines are better than anything in the United States. Look at the innovations the Japanese have instituted with Bullet trains.
We put a man on the moon almost 40 years ago. You can't convince me the CTA is unmanageable. Maybe they should hire a retired astronaut to run the place.
Ed Schwartz, a native of the Southeast Side, is a former late-night radio personality in Chicago. He can be reached at Chiguy46@aol.com.
CTA Red Line Comes Under Fire For Service Problems
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Rob Johnson Reporting
(CBS) CHICAGO Critics say a Chicago Transit Authority crisis is on and that the impact is heavy on the most heavily used line in the city: the Red Line. CBS 2's Rob Johnson reports that transit officials are trying to convince the 200,000 riders that there is no crisis. It's a crucial time for the Red Line as it weathers what have been frequent service problems in recent weeks. "In the last month, noticeable things have been happening smack dab in the middle of rush hour, and so that's affecting an awful lot of people," said CTA President Frank Kruesi.
It is a candid assessment from the CTA boss about recent incidents, where Red Line commuters have been delayed, re-routed, and generally inconvenienced, because of continued track and equipment problems. "That's the longest trip I've ever taken from downtown to 79th Street in my life," said one commuter. "This is ridiculous. North, south it takes me two hours to get home and it should only be a 30-minute trip," said another commuter. Such increasingly common service shortfalls have also come to the attention of South Side state Rep. Marlow Colvin. "To hear about these type of service delays for reasons that have yet to be explained causes great concern," Colvin said.
Meantime, CTA critic Jacqueline Leavy is concerned that the CTA is playing a shell game with maintenance money to fund some of the mayor's pet projects like the Block 37 super station. "When you see the Circle Line and the Block 37 taking precedence over repairing cracked ties and rails, you have to ask yourself who's responsible," Leavy said. On Monday, CBS 2 News asked the man responsible to respond to these serious service issues. "When there's a problem, when there's a crack in the rail... this is not a great situation," Kruesi said. And after last summer's debacle, where soot-covered riders had to be rescued from a packed rush hour Blue Line car, Kruesi knows that only trouble-free trips can help him avert a confidence crisis with CTA customers. "I am not minimizing this... I am apologizing," he said. "We are running trains while we are fixing things."
Despite Kruesi's candor, he can't promise these problems are going away anytime soon. He says the CTA needs $6 billion in infrastructure improvements -- money he is hoping to get from the General Assembly and Congress.
Pink Line still gumming up Loop
But delays shrinking, some routes faster
December 18, 2006
BY MONIFA THOMAS Transportation Reporter
Six months after its launch, the Pink Line still is causing delays on some CTA L lines, while improving travel times on others.
The CTA says its elevated trains are taking 21 seconds longer on average to make it around the Loop than before Pink Line service began in late June. Though relatively minor, the effect of the Pink Line on other routes is among a growing list of factors conspiring against CTA train riders in a year that also has seen a rapid increase in the number of slow zones throughout the rail system and a string of track malfunctions that have caused major service disruptions.
Orange Line riders have seen the highest increase in travel times because of the Pink Line. The average trip around the Loop is now almost 90 seconds longer than it was before the CTA added its new hue. Still, it's an improvement over the week the Pink Line launched, when Orange Line trains took an extra four minutes to clear the Loop.
The southbound Green Line and the Purple Line -- which, like the Orange and Pink lines, run clockwise through the Loop -- are also running slower on average. Evening rush hour worst. But the northbound Green Line and the Brown Line have sped up since the Pink Line came along. The northbound Green Line takes 17 seconds less to get around the Loop, while the Brown Line is 22 seconds faster.
The CTA said it made these improvements by directing motormen to stop their trains closer to the ends of the platforms at the Clark/Lake and Library stations, making it easier for tower operators to direct train traffic through the Loop. CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said the delays associated with the Pink Line have been mostly limited to the evening rush hour period between 4:45 and 5:45 p.m. Not everyone takes the full ride around the Loop, so the degree of impact depends on where people get on and off, Gaffney said.
CTA President Frank Kruesi said the "minimal" increase in travel times on some lines is offset by the increased frequency of trains circling the Loop. "More frequent service translates to better service," he said. "Even with a slightly longer trip through the Loop, the net effect for customers is a substantially shorter trip."
By Jon Hilkevitch and Richard Wronski
Tribune staff reporters
Published February 23, 2007
Also, the CTA, Metra and Pace are counting on the state to provide $226 million in new operating subsidies for 2007 to avert service cuts and fare increases as early as summer.
Among the recommendations, the audit proposed that the General Assembly consider revamping how political appointments to the 13-member RTA board are divvied up between Chicago and the collar counties. A change to reflect demographic shifts in the region since the creation of the RTA in 1974 could increase the influence of the five collar counties.
Currently, appointees to five RTA board seats are named by the mayor of Chicago, four seats are filled by officials in suburban Cook County and three by the collar counties. The collar counties may be entitled to an additional member, the audit said, based on the 2000 census.
The audit also noted that one seat on the RTA board is reserved for the CTA chairman, but the chairmen of the Metra and Pace boards are not represented.
"The General Assembly may wish to review the composition of the RTA board," the audit said.
Holland's report advised the legislature to look at strengthening the RTA's role in financial management; decisions about daily operations and long-term capital-improvement planning; coordination of fares and technology; and how the transit agencies' performance is measured.
But the report also indicated that the RTA, whose responsibilities include financial oversight of the three transit agencies, does not effectively use the muscle it already has.
"The RTA lacks clear performance measures for itself and for the service boards," the audit found.
It cited Metra for not reporting its on-time performance record and ridership levels on the commuter railroad's Internet site.
Chicago Metropolis 2020, a non-profit civic group that advocates better planning and regional cooperation, welcomed the auditor general's recommendations.
"People who live in all parts of the region want the RTA to work for them," said Jim LaBelle, deputy director of Metropolis 2020. "The point is having someone accountable for producing results. Right now, no one is."
Pointing to conflicts and redundancies, the audit report said that coordinated fare policies are practically non-existent and that the CTA and Pace on some routes, such as along Harlem Avenue and in Evanston, compete against each other for bus riders.
Combining some operations would result in efficiencies that would enable CTA and Pace to provide new services to customers and to devote more resources to maintaining aging fleets, the report said.
The CTA, Metra and Pace operate many buses and rail cars that are older than the average age of fleets of similar-size transit systems, the audit said.
Meanwhile, state lawmakers have been warning transit officials that transportation funding is only one of at least five "mega-fiscal problems that are being brought to Springfield in 2007," said Steve Brown, spokesman for Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan (D-Chicago) (this sentence as published has been corrected in this text).
The RTA and the transit agencies should be prepared to provide improved accountability and accept reform in exchange for financial help, Brown said.
A spokesman for House Republican Leader Tom Cross of Oswego put it more bluntly.
"We want to make sure the transit agencies are running as efficiently as possible regardless of whether we are adding money or not," said Cross' spokesman David Dring. "We need to address the wasting of taxpayer dollars."
jhilkevitch@tribune.com and/or rwronski@tribune.com
Commuters relying on the Chicago Transit Authority "L" system should start anticipating an even longer commute as the Chicago Transit Board unveiled plans for reconstruction to expand the tracks at the Fullerton and Belmont train stations that will require one of the four tracks to be shut down for over two years.
Northbound running time between the Loop and Belmont is expected to increase along with customer wait times as the frequency of trains in the area is reduced, especially for the Brown and Purple Lines.
The Chicago Transit Board met last Wednesday in the CTA main office building to outline their tactics for handling the impact of these service changes.
Plans include providing supplemental bus services, running the Purple Line along the Outer Loop route of the Brown Line and increasing train frequency on the Blue Line south from Jefferson Park and north from UIC/Halsted in anticipation of an increase in the commuters' use of the Blue Line as an alternative.
CTA representatives are characterizing 2007 as the "year of decision," but the customers appear dissatisfied with many aspects of the public transportation system.
Transit advocate Michael Pitula of the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization was the first to voice his concerns on behalf of a community, suggesting that the Chicago Transit Board "reevaluate their spending priorities."
Money used to run the Pink Line could be spent on new equipment and maintenance crews to repair the damage done to the subway tunnels following the Blue Line derailment and fire of last summer," said Pitula.
The LVEJO has been working with riders who want full restoration to the Blue Line service to 54/Cermak and to have the Pink Line reduced in frequency or eliminated entirely, citing CTA ridership statistics from 2006 that showed a decline in all branches of the Blue and Pink Lines from August to November.
LVEJO surveyed 70 percent of riders want a full restoration to the 54/Cermak branch.
To prove these claims, Pitula submitted to the board heart shaped Valentine messages from dissatisfied senior citizens of the Pilsen area, including one that read, "there aren't enough couches at my house for all my friends who hate the Pink Line."
Other speakers also took their turns. Jennifer Gilly, who moved to Chicago to access the CTA and reduce her dependency on a car, has lost faith in the public transportation system.
"Since moving to the city I've found that it's both faster and less expensive for me to drive my car. And where I once saw access to the public transportation system as a privilege of living in the city I now see that the privilege is having a car so that I don't have to deal with the CTA," she said.
Michelle Smith, candidate for Alderman of the 43rd Ward was the last to speak. Smith has campaigned at major bus and "L" stops in the ward.
"Unfortunately at every stop I have heard complaints about the intolerable service on the CTA for our residents," said Smith.
Smith addressed concerns about the upcoming reconstruction at the Fullerton stop, one of the major train stops in the Lincoln Park area of the 43rd Ward, highlighting the possibility of reversing one of the remaining three tracks using newly installed signaling equipment in order to accommodate the peak commuting period southbound in the morning and northbound in the afternoon.
Overall, the CTA ridership statistics of last year showed a 0.5 percent increase, continuing a series of annual increases and putting ridership at its highest level since 1993.
This was due mostly to increased traffic on trains as a result of riders opting to avoid traffic on buses, but with the proposed reconstruction on major "L" stations slated to cause serious service disruption and a growing discontentment with the CTA pet project, the Pink Line, that trend may not continue.
The three-track reconstruction at the Fullerton and Belmont train stations is tentatively scheduled to begin Monday, April 2.
If you are near a window of some type, then this isn't news to you; it's disgusting outside. Cold, snowy, windy — all the trademarks of our beloved Chicago winters. And not surprisingly, commutes of all types are screwed up.
While there are many reasons to dump on the CTA, we hold the Pink Line above almost all others as evidence of why things need to change. Maybe the fact that it derailed this morning will help convince Frank Kruesi to get his act together? Service had resumed by about 12:30 p.m., but knowing the CTA, residual effects will be felt throughout the system.
If you aren't feeling the CTA love today, take care on the road this afternoon. It won't be pretty out there. Mike Claffey, Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman, urged "people to avoid driving if possible and to stay off the roadways tonight and early Wednesday as conditions are predicted to grow worse."
Maybe it's just time to call it quits and get out of the city? We just heard a report on ABC 7 that almost 1000 flights have been canceled or delayed at Midway and O'Hare, so that is probably not going to happen either. We'd like to say things will look up tomorrow, but they actually look pretty crappy, sort of like today.
Also, Chicagoist's South Loop correspondent is reporting that power is out in that region. Has anyone else heard about this?
"Bummer Dude" by Swanksalot.
Originally posted: February 13, 2007
The CTA debate: incompetence or poverty?
One truth of new media is that, like a river, users will take the conversation where they want it to go. A perfect example is the comments area following yesterday's High Five feature on this blog. The first of the five items featured a pointed one-liner about Chicago Transit Authority woes, and the headline linking to the feature on the front of chicagotribune.com referred to the CTA item.
And, lo and behold, a spirited and, to my eye, well-informed discussion of the CTA has broken out, boiling down, essentially, to the question of whether poor management or chronic underfunding are primarily to blame for the system's problems. You can visit it and contribute here.
Yeah, it's funny how new media works sometimes. Almost two years ago I wrote a blog entry commenting on a Tribune article about the annoying guys in Las Vegas who pass out cards for escort services. If you search for "I hate Las Vegas" (with or without quotes), it comes up in the first page of Google results. To my surprise, it has become a gathering place/support group for all kinds of Vegas loathers, especially current and former residents. Although it has attracted far more comments than any other blog post, few mention the card flickers that I wrote about in the bulk of the original entry.
Posted by: DJWriter | Feb 13, 2007 4:28:34 PMWhy the CTA is rotten to the core:
From Thursday's Trib, Sec. 2, P 1:
"[Carole] Brown complained that she saw four CTA buses broken down on the street, with passengers inside, while she was driving home from work on Tuesday.
No injuries were reported, CTA and police officials said. The transit agency is investigating why the front car of the southbound train left the tracks as it was nearing the 54th/Cermak station around 10 a.m., the latest in a series of recent derailments on the CTA system. This time, only a half dozen passengers were aboard the train, and service to the line was restored by 12:15 p.m., Chicago Transit Authority spokeswoman Wanda Taylor said. Blue Line trains were not affected, because the incident occurred after the morning rush, when only Pink Line trains travel to 54th/Cermak.
Elsewhere on the system, Red Line trains experienced delays this morning because of unrelated mechanical problems at Cermak-Chinatown and at Fullerton, Taylor said.

Michael Pitula - LVEJO Public Transit Organizer being interviewed for Newsbroadcast
For CTA President Frank Kruesi, yesterday was a bad day at the office.
As if the problems affecting the downtown Loop trains and the southbound Red Line weren’t bad enough, yesterday was the monthly CTA board meeting, and the management team at the agency got a bit of an ass-handing-to.
At issue was a life insurance policy for 11,000 CTA employees and retirees that is set to expire in 18 days. The policy was presented to the board by CTA management on Monday, and its members were expected to vote on the policy yesterday without giving it a thorough review. If they hadn’t voted to accept it, those 11,000 folks would be sans life insurance.
While board members later said the policy is a “good deal” and any lack of life insurance would probably have been temporary, ABC-7 connects the dots between this latest incident and the “careless” (to use CTA board chair Carole Brown’s word) mismanagement at the agency over the past year.
No Brown Line permits? Poor communication with riders during the Blue Line fire? Illegal demolition of historical architecture? A reasonable person could argue that laying blame at Kruesi’s feet for yesterday’s routing problems, funding issues, slow zones, and questionable capital spending is unfair. But the agency frequently demonstrates a lack of basic, short-term managerial skills.
When asked why the policy was just now being brought up for review, Kruesi said, "I'm going to have to find out specifics about what happened here.” Wait … you don’t know? We’ll give Kruesi the benefit of the doubt and say he does know why it happened, but the answer isn’t anything he wants in the press. But not having an answer makes him look like he either doesn’t know or doesn’t care.
Let’s put it this way: things are so bad now that the CTA is patting itself on the back when nothing goes wrong. As Brown says in the ABC-7 piece, “what we have to do is set standards for our professionals and when they don’t meet those standards, get new professionals.”
Speaking of, our Frank Kruesi Dead Pool is still running. Leave your guess as to when the CTA President gets kicked upstairs in the comments here.
Also at the board meeting: the plan for express train service to the airport (from the CTA superstation that no one asked for) is on hold, the trial period for the West Side rail and bus improvements has been extended and it’s unlikely that an aldermanic plan to put conductors back on trains will happen.
Posted by Scott Smith
December 13, 2006
Crack In Track Reroutes Southbound Red Line
Trains Run On 'L' Instead Of Subway From Fullerton To Cermak
(CBS) CHICAGO Southbound service on the Red Line was rerouted to the elevated tracks for a period of time this morning after a crack was spotted in one of the rails.
A train operator noticed the crack in the Red Line subway tracks around 9:45 a.m., CTA officials said.
As a result, the CTA diverted all southbound Red Line subway trains to the elevated tracks from Fullerton Avenue to Cermak Road.
By 11:55 a.m., service had returned to normal.
December 13, 2006
Nonstop airport trains on pause
But premium service plan isn't dead yet
BY MONIFA THOMAS Transportation Reporter
The Chicago Transit Authority board nixed a contract Tuesday that would have allowed the agency to move forward with plans to offer nonstop train service to O'Hare and Midway airports from the Loop, but officials said the plan isn't dead.
The $1 million contract with PB Consult Inc. would have authorized the consulting firm to begin seeking private investors interested in managing the proposed service from the CTA's new Block 37 subway station.
Fare would be $10
According to a business plan released by PB Consult in October, the CTA would have partnered with a private firm that would have operated the nonstop trains to both airports, complete with wider seats and other creature comforts, at a fare of $10.
But without major system enhancements that would allow airport-only trains to bypass regular Blue and Orange Line trains, the nonstop service wouldn't reduce travel times. Those enhancements could have cost $771 million to $1.5 billion, PB Consult said.
CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown had expressed strong reservations about approving an airport service that wouldn't save riders time and could potentially cost the CTA millions if investors weren't willing to foot the entire bill.
Brown cited those concerns again Tuesday after a 5-1 vote killed the proposed contract.
"There needs to be an evaluation of the assumptions and conclusions drawn in that study and an appropriate plan on how to proceed. That has yet to be done," Brown said. She also said that the public should be given a chance to comment on the proposed service before the agency makes any decisions.
CTA President Frank Kruesi said he agreed with the board's action and supports developing a more concrete business plan. But Kruesi also said that direct service to the city's airports is still in the CTA's plans. "The airport direct service will be running within 30 days of the opening of retail at Block 37," Kruesi said.
Pink Line trial extended
In other action Tuesday, the board voted to extend the trial period for the Pink Line for an additional six months before making a final decision on whether the line should be made permanent, changed or scrapped. The extension also applies to bus route changes on the West Side and in western suburbs.
December 13, 2006
Double trouble for Chicago Transit Authority
Train, staff concerns at meeting
WLS By Ben Bradley
December 12, 2006 - On a day when it was slow-going for the morning commute on two of the CTA's train lines, the board chairman accused the staff of being careless with contracts.
The big backups were caused by a snag in switching equipment on the Orange Line and a crack in the tracks underground on the Red Line. While the trains had trouble staying on schedule Tuesday morning, the CTA board was also put in a tight spot by the staff: Approve a contract they had only been briefed about Monday -- or risk losing life insurance coverage for all 11,000 CTA employees plus retirees. It is an example of what some see as a CTA management team that from time-to-time runs off course.
During the Tuesday morning commute, all Orange Line trains were forced to change tracks and travel around the Loop in the opposite direction they normally would. A few hours later and 30 feet below ground, a track maintenance worker discovered a crack in the Red Line tracks. Those trains were immediately rerouted above ground until the problem was fixed, but it added to the Loop train congestion.
"We're very cognizant of some of the issues we've been having and are trying to improve -- but, yes, I'm as frustrated as some of our riders," said Carole Brown, CTA chairman president.
The CTA has stepped up its inspections and maintenance following this summer's smoky Blue Line derailment below ground. But Carole Brown is also frustrated by other -- totally avoidable -- problems.
In July, the renovation of three CTA stations on the Brown Line was delayed because CTA construction teams never bothered to get the necessary permits from the city.
"I am disappointed," Brown told ABC7 in July. "What we have to do is set standards for our professionals and when they don't meet those standards get new professionals."
On Tuesday, Brown and other board members once again scolded CTA staff during a meeting.
"It's ridiculous," said Brown, referring to the managers' request to vote on a multi-million dollar life insurance package for the transit agency's 11,000 employees and retirees that they only informed the board about on Monday. CTA management insists it submitted details of the life insurance program to the Board office on December 1; but for an unknown reason, the plan was not passed on to CTA Board members until Monday. The current policy expires in 19 days.
"Are we backed into a corner -- into a box -- to say 'This is it or we're putting people at risk?'" said Nicholas Zagotta, CTA board member.
ABC7 asked CTA president why his staff is just now serving up a life insurance policy for approval that expires in two weeks.
"I'm going to have to find out specifics about what happened here," said Frank Kruesi.
The board voted to approve the life insurance policy, which they said they believe is a good deal.
Also on Tuesday's agenda, discussion of the CTA's Pink Line experiment, which will last for another 6 months. According to the board, ridership on the Pink Line is up 7-percent since the pilot program began.
Also, a transit watchdog group called for the CTA to bring conductors back on the trains in the downtown area. It's not expected to happen.
And, finally, a consultant hired by the CTA to help save money and generate revenue suggested selling naming rights to some CTA assets. For instance, one day there could be "The Sox Stop at 35th Street."
December 12, 2006
Pink Line Decision Day For CTA
Bob Roberts Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- When the CTA's board meets Tuesday it must make some decisions about the future of the Pink Line.
WBBM's Bob Roberts reports the service, which routes Douglas branch trains around the Loop "L" 21 hours each day, began its life as a six-month experiment on June 25.
The board could extend the experiment, make the service permanent, authorize changes or scrap the service altogether.
Until now, CTA officials have voiced nothing but optimism about the Pink Line, and have said that its own ridership surveys show that most riders prefer the new routing to the old Douglas Blue Line service, which survives on 17 rush-hour round trips each weekday.
The Pink Line's critics remain, although its staunchest opponents now are asking for a 50-50 split between Pink and Blue Line service on the Douglas branch.
The Little Justice Environmental Justice Organization hopes to present petitions and speak at Tuesday's board meeting, at CTA headquarters, 567 W. Lake St.
The group's transit director, Michael Pitula, said he believes a 50-50 split would give riders "better balance and more options for getting around Chicago."
Its proposal for a 50-50 split represents a change in attitude toward Pink Line service by the group, which has opposed it from the start.
"We do realize that there are people who use the Pink Line and benefit from it," he said.
Pitula said he still believes that the Pink Line bogs down all service that uses the Loop "L" and that the money spent on the Pink Line could be better used elsewhere, such as hiring track maintenance crews to make repairs in the wake of last summer's Blue Line derailment and fire.
He contends that many more riders prefer the old routing, still used each rush hour by a handful of trains; CTA has said consistently since summer that its own rider surveys show the exact opposite.
CTA planners have been assessing the impact of Pink Line service in general, and have looked in the past week at the impact a 50-50 split would have. A CTA spokesperson said that at first glance, they have a number of questions.
The first is whether the CTA would have enough "L" cars to provide such service, because cars would not recirculate as quickly going to and from O'Hare as they do by going around the Loop.
That becomes critical, in their view, in view of construction underway on the Brown and Red Lines, in particular because of delays expected to be caused when the North Side main line, which carries Red Line, Brown Line and Purple Line Express trains, is reduced next spring from four tracks to three between Armitage and Belmont through 2009.
The spokesperson said that additional Douglas Blue Line service could impact the number of Blue Line trains to Forest Park.
Forest Park service was increased at the same time Pink Line service began.
Contents of this site are Copyright © 2006 by WBBM
December 12, 2006
Orange Line Throws Riders for a Loop
We woke up this morning to news that the CTA’s Orange Line train is running in the opposite direction around the Loop, which strikes us as so ridiculous that we’ve decided to finish the rest of this post in limerick form.
The Orange line is all loosey-goosey
Or so says its Prez Frank Kruesi
A defective switch
Has caused the glitch
Screwing rush hour for all that you see
After Roosevelt, toward Adams you’ll travel
Counterclockwise, try not to unravel
'Round the Loop then you’ll fly
As you exclaim with a sigh
“It’s better than a horse with no saddle.”
Board the train on the opposite platform
From the side that’s usually your norm
There’s no fix in sight
To put it all right
Not to mention the incoming rain storm
Update - 10:08 a.m: Not only is the Orange Line problem affecting all Loop service, but the southbound Red Line is being re-rerouted over the elevated tracks between Fullerton and Cermak-Chinatown. Northbound Red Line trains are not affected.
Update - 12:04 p.m.: Southbound Red Line subway service has been restored between Fullerton and Cermak-Chinatown. Orange Line is still bass-ackwards.
Update - 1:37 p.m.: The Orange Line will run counterclockwise around the Loop through the afternoon rush hour and into tomorrow morning. Customers will need to board it on the Brown Line platform. In order to repair the switch that caused the problem, the Pink Line will also run in the opposite direction (its first stop in the Loop will be at Washington/Wells) after 9 p.m. tonight through Wednesday morning. Customers will need to use the Brown Line platform for boarding it as well. No pushing or shoving now, OK?
Group Wants Pink Line Re-think
Bob Roberts Reporting
CHICAGO (WBBM) -- The CTA next week must make some decisions about the future of the Pink Line -- and one group of transit advocates wants a big change.
"What we are proposing that every other train be Blue Line and then Pink Line" on the Douglas branch, said Little Justice Environmental Justice Organization Transit Director Michael Pitula.
WBBM's Bob Roberts reports the group intends to present petitions Tuesday to the CTA's board asking for such a change.
Pitula says it would give riders "better balance and more options for getting around Chicago."
The 50-50 split represents a change in attitude toward Pink Line service by the group, which has opposed it from the start.
"We do realize that there are people who use the Pink Line and benefit from it," he said.
Pitula said he still believes that the Pink Line bogs down all service that uses the Loop "L" and that the money spent on the Pink Line could be better used elsewhere, such as hiring track maintenance crews to make repairs in the wake of last summer's Blue Line derailment and fire.
He contends that many more riders prefer the old routing, still used each rush hour by a handful of trains; CTA has said consistently since summer that its own rider surveys show the exact opposite.
CTA planners are assessing the impact that a 50-50 split would have, but a spokesperson said that at first glance, they have a number of questions.
The first is whether the CTA would have enough "L" cars to provide such service, because cars would not recirculate as quickly going to O'Hare as they do by going around the Loop.
That becomes critical, in their view, in view of construction underway on the Brown and Red Lines, in particular because of delays expected to be caused when the North Side main line, which carries Red Line, Brown Line and Purple Line Express trains, is reduced next spring from four tracks to three between Armitage and Belmont through 2009.
The spokesperson said that additional Douglas Blue Line service could impact the number of Blue Line trains to Forest Park.
Forest Park service was increased at the same time Pink Line service began, on June 25.
The CTA's board approved Pink Line service as a six-month experiment. The board could elect to make changes, leave the service as it is, or eliminate it, but CTA officials have voiced nothing but optimism about it since its launch.
Community Group Reports Pink Line Problems Slowing Down The CTA
Little Village Environmental Justice Organization reports rider feedback regarding commuting delays to work, school, and healthcare.
Chicago, July 10, 2006 – In its first two weeks alone, the Pink Line has been creating major delays for CTA customers across the city. Little Village Environmental Justice Organization has been surveying riders and has identified the following problems with the new Pink Line service:
If the CTA cannot fund its $200 million annual pension costs, it also may not be able to afford the $5 million Pink Line. On June 12, 2006 Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan put the CTA on notice that the State of Illinois may take money from the CTA’s operating allocation if the CTA cannot meet its $200 million/year pension commitments? This would make it difficult to iron out the difficulties the Pink Line is facing.
Please take a moment to download and fill out this short rider survey:
CTA Riders Survey / Encuesta De Pasajeros De CTA
Testimony for June 14 CTA Board Meeting
Good afternoon. My name is Michael Pitula. I’m the Public Transit Organizer for Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. I live in Pilsen, and I am here today on behalf of the many residents of Little Village, North Lawndale, the Near West Side, Pilsen, Berwyn, and Cicero who ride the CTA.
Chairman Brown, our organization worked with these communities and with Congressmen Davis, Gutierrez, and Lipinski to get the federal funds to Rebuild the 54/Cermak Blue Line and restore weekend service.
The result: Cermak Ridership is up 23% this year compared to 7% for rail service on the entire system.
The NEW $5 million PINK LINE train service is unproven and fiscally irresponsible. Especially at a time when the CTA will have to cut service and raise fares to meet its $200 million annual pension costs.
Chairman Brown, I talk to 54/Cermak riders day and night, and I can tell you that they are confused, upset, and outraged about the Pink Line.
Riders want to know why the CTA has spent nearly three months hyping the color Pink, but didn’t tell us that the line will take money from all other existing CTA bus & rail services.
With no new cars until 2009, the CTA will have to take cars off existing lines -- cars that are critical whenever there is a breakdown on any rail line.
Also, the Pink Line will increase your employee budget since you need to hire more operators to run it.
It isn’t hard to see that the CTA is soon going to find itself between a rock and a hard place. Or perhaps I should say “between a rock and a Pink place.” As services decline and fares increase, existing customer base will drop, catching the CTA in a vicious cycle.
Beyond helping fail to meet the CTA’s stated commitments, the CTA’s Pink Line will threaten national security, and violate the civil and disability rights of riders.
To run the Pink Line, direct Blue Line service between 54/Cermak and O’Hare will be cut from about 100 trains every day, to just 17 trains a day, weekdays only.
This will create a National Security Issue when TSA personnel at O’Hare, U.S. Postal workers, and Amtrak/Metra workers who depend on ONE DIRECT Blue Line cannot get to work on time safely at the nation’s largest Post Office, second busiest airport, and one of the busiest train stations. This will needlessly complicate the lives of critical personnel, and may endanger National Security.
What’s more, by cutting rapid transit to employment, educational, healthcare, and other opportunities across the city, the CTA’s $5 million dollar Pink Line will violate the civil and disability rights of its riders. Blue Line service cuts associated with the Pink Line will effectively split the city in half for Latinos and African-Americans who make up 90% of the riders on the 54/Cermak Line.
The cuts will violate ADA standards, making it harder for disabled riders to get to and from the Polk Street station, the only ADA complaint station within a mile of the Illinois Medical District.
Why compromise train safety and upset thousands of riders, particularly during the rush hour, by slower train service at a cost of $5 million??
Chairman Brown and the rest of the board:
VOTE TODAY for fiscal responsibility, train safety, national security and to protect civil and disability rights of CTA riders.
VOTE to continue all 54/Cermak Trains on the present route to/from O’Hare and cancel the Pink Line NOW!
Please take a moment to download and fill out this short rider survey:
CTA Riders Survey / Encuesta De Pasajeros De CTA
5/12/06: Save 54/Cermak Blue Line from going Pink!...more (Informative map and contacts (Word doc).
Publicado el 05-04-2006: SUBJECT: La Raza story - Controversia sobre “Línea Rosa” La CTA planea modificar el servicio a las comunidades de Pilsen y la Villita con la nueva Línea Rosa. Mientras insisten en que resultara en servicio mas rápido y eficiente, a miembros de estas comunidades les preocupa que el acceso al centro, al aeropuerto O’Hare y a la UIC sea más complicado, demorado y costoso. The full article is available by clicking here.
Mass Transit or Mess Transit?
Read several very important letters from fellow riders.
On June 1 st, 2006 the CTA Plans to cut the Blue Line in half. It will cut off the Douglas L/54 th Cermak Blue Line branch off from the Forest Park Blue Line branch.
Instead of the 2 lines connecting at the Racine station, the Douglas L will run directly north of Polk across the newly rebuilt Paulina Connector to the Green Line. From there it will turn east to downtown, where it will circle around downtown on the elevated loop and then return via the Green Line and Paulina Connector to Polk St. and 54 th/Cermak... read entire article. Download article (Word)
CTA union hits long-shifts plan
By Jon Hilkevitch - Tribune transportation reporter - January 14, 2004
The safety of CTA train riders is being compromised by a move to require Orange Line rail operators to work up to 13 hours a day, the union representing the employees charged Tuesday. The expanded hours, effective Jan. 25 on the line between the Loop and Midway Airport, are intended to increase labor productivity and do not compromise safety, CTA officials said. The contract between the transit agency and Local 308 of the Amalgamated Transit Union permits longer work hours, but until now the option has been used only on the Purple, Blue and Red Lines. Under the plan, the rail operators would work four-day weeks.
The union recently filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, according to Local 308 president Ethel Carter. "This increase will make it mandatory for train operators to be on the clock and in service for up to 13 hours," Carter said, adding the longer hours raise serious concerns about fatigue. "These same train operators are responsible for safely driving the trains and ... operating the doors at each station," she said.
CTA officials said the changes, taking into account longer lunch hours, breaks and times in the rail station, would mean less than eight hours of driving time, well under standards in other areas of the transportation industry. The Federal Highway Administration allows long-distance truck drivers to work 11 hours straight between 10-hour rest periods.
"This is not a safety issue," said CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney. She said union leaders are getting a backlash from members because the union recently asked the CTA to end a pilot program that paid an extra $1 an hour for workers who worked up to 13 hours a day.
Though the maximum hours logged by airline pilots, truckers and other transportation workers are tightly regulated under federal laws, the Federal Transit Administration neither requires nor recommends specific rest periods for mass-transit operators or bus drivers.
"It's a loophole in the system," said a former agency official.
CTA train operators work eight-hour shifts, with overtime provisions. Many operators work a split shift, divided by a long rest break, that enables the transit agency to schedule more trains during morning and evening rush periods.
Petition Sheet English
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Let's work together to Keep the Douglas L Open to O'Hare 24/7!
Campaign for Better Transit (CBT) / CTA / RTA / Metra
Great Article from CBT: Is There Equal Access for All To Public Transportation in Metropolitan Chicago?
http://transit.homestead.com/Blue.html
Citizens Taking Action at http://www.CTAriders.org
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By Adam Burck - July 17, 2006
*With new Circle Line, does CTA have riders' best interests in mind?*
I'm glad to see the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is looking at enhancing the "spoke system" for elevated train lines. This will improve connections so, for example, someone on the Far North Side does not need to head all the way into the Loop in order to go to the Northwest Side.
However, I'm sad to see that the corridors being considered are so close to downtown.
Putting the northern leg of the proposed Circle Line at North Avenue, about five minutes before the Loop — the current transfer point to the Blue Line — minimizes the impact of the new service by adding one more transfer to the trip.
This adds a big variable: How long will I have to wait for the Circle Line train to arrive? It could add up to 15 minutes in travel time. Knowing how unpredictable CTA service can be, I would stay on the Red Line into the Loop and transfer there.
CTA planners surely know about the disincentive provided by "mode splits" — the planning term for "transfer." So, why wouldn't they put the Circle Line at a location that would have the maximum possible impact for the most riders? It seems to me that the benefit to the greatest number of CTA riders is not the driving force in the current plan. Who benefits from transportation resources besides the transit riders?
Real estate interests. Commercial interests. These are part of the equation, but the biggest weight should be placed on service to riders. The current Circle Line configuration doesn't do that.
Though I'm speaking to the North Side leg of the Circle Line, as I know this area of the city best, I'm sure South and West Siders could enlighten us on prospects in their areas. The proposed South Side corridor extends to 35th Street, I believe, which is much farther from the Loop than the North Side proposal.
Given the serious need for improved transit services, I hope the CTA will reconsider the Circle Line corridors for the first newly constructed train line since the Orange Line. (Though the Pink Line was hyped as a new line, it's simply a renaming of existing service and slight reorientation along a small segment, using an existing elevated structure.)
With the Circle Line, the CTA would be building anew, so let's get it right. There's a lot at stake. Improved transit service helps folks get around without cars, improving air quality, diverting income from auto expenses to better uses and clearing the streets.
Adam Burck is executive director of the Edgewater evelopment Corp.
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