CTA Tattler

Excuse me, Mr. Bike

Note to the young 20-something couple on the Red Line at 5 p.m.:

You can't bring bikes on the trains or buses during rush hour. UPDATE: I'm wrong. Bikes can go on the exterior bike bus racks at all times. Sorry.)

I saw them waiting at the south end of the northbound Red Line at Grand, essentially hiding from the motorman. (To their credit, I have heard motormen announce no bikes were allowed during rush hour.)

Then the two of them snuck on the 7th and 8th cars.

At least they got on separate cars.

Well, Jack Benny seemed to like it OK

Cell conversation overheard on the Red Line between Belmont and Addison on a Cub game night:

"Why are you going to Waukegan? What!?! To eat!?! You can eat at Wrigley you know."

"Why do I care? I care because you have my TICKET!"

"Quarter till 7!?! Goddammit!"

She slams her flip phone shut, and turns to her boyfriend: "I'm so annoyed! Why are they going to Waukegan?"

You know, as much as I sometimes hate the long-suffering Cubs fans and how they make regular commuters suffer, I'll really miss all that drama when this awful season ends.

Why the Airstream trailer is on the roof

Brown Line riders probably have wondered for years why there is a 60s-vintage Airstream trailer on the roof of a four-sory building north of the Montrose stop. The Chicago Tribune explains why:

"The trailer belongs to architect Edward Noonan, who uses it as an employee lounge and, in the past, has cooked gourmet meals on the Airstream stove for open-air parties." Noonan owns the building on the 1800 block of W. Sunnyside, which is headquarters for his architecture co-op called Chicago Associates Planners and Architects.

The trailer is almost impossible to see from the street, which makes it one of my favorite "El-level views."

(Photo by Barry Brecheisen for Chicago Tribune metromix)

CTA posts slow-zone map

In the last few weeks readers here have wondered where the slow zones are on the CTA's train system.

Not too long after those queries, the CTA posted this map (in pdf).

Also, CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown helpfully explains some of the slow zones on her blog.

As for fixing the slow zones, Carole says:

"Overall, we have identified funding to eliminate about 90% of CTA's slow zones (including all Red Line slow zones) and we're moving forward with repairs. The new federal transportation law signed by President Bush this week includes a significant increase in federal capital formula funding that we hope will accelerate these types of improvements. As I have noted previously, the next step is to secure non-federal matching funds to ensure that Metra, Pace, and CTA can qualify for these much-needed federal dollars."

CTA expands Go Lane pilot for Chicago Card users

Last week the CTA announced the expansion of its Go Lane pilot project for Chicago Card users to include the #156 LaSalle route and the #20 Madison route to the pilot.

Excellent idea guys. I wonder how long the pilot project lasts and when it will roll out to all train stations and buses.

The CTA press release about the expansion had these interesting information tidbits about the Chicago Card and ridership in general:

"Currently, 115,886 Chicago Card Plus farecards and 91,399 Chicago Card farecards are in circulation for a grand total of 207,285 Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus farecards.

"CTA currently provides approximately 1.5 million rides on an average weekday and has shown strong growth in ridership for the first half of 2005. Through July of this year, ridership is up 3.5 percent system wide over the same period last year."

Train fire shuts Red Line; our alert users are in-the-know

A northbound Red Line train at Bryn Mawr caught fire just before 6 p.m. Wednesday, and the members of our CTA wireless alerts group provided great information throughout the 90-plus-minute delay.

ChicagoPoe and at least seven others kept us up-to-date on train status, including information about where power was shut down, what lines were affected and what alternate bus routes were being recommended. Finally, our friends at CTA_HQ (the name in our group that the CTA uses) told us at 7:28 p.m. that "Red and Purple Line trains have resumed service."

This is how we envisioned the group working when my brother and I first put this alerts group together.

Last night's emergency alerts came on top of an innocent mistake made where one user thought he was texting a friend about dinner, but sent it to the whole group. Again, this stuff will happen as we all get used to the technology. He apologized and there was even a bit of lighthearted bantering about it. But hey guys, let's do be careful on that stuff, OK?

The bottom line is that group members excellent information about a major rail shutdown in real-time for those in the know -- the riders who were affected.

One more thing: Maybe you were already home from work and didn't care about that rail shutdown. So, turn off messages from the group. Here's how. You can always turn them back on before you go to use the CTA again.

A picture is worth 1000 words -- except on CTA?

Dunl shares this unfortunate tale of rules run amok.

Waiting for the southbound Red Line "L" last night at Grand just after 7 PM, with a few other people on the platform. One is a loud-talking guy who's part of a small group.

A few minutes into his loud-talking, he takes out a little point-and-shoot camera and snaps a few pictures of his friends.

"Who's taking pictures!?" the Star Security woman from the south end of the platform, hopping off the milk crate she's been sitting on and ambling northward. Another flash. "You can't take pictures! No pictures! There's no pictures allowed!" Star Security shouts.

"I-I didn't know," mumbles previously loud-talking guy, putting his camera away.

"I'm TELLING you NOW! No pictures!" Star Security retorts rudely. She strides past the "offender," making her presence clear, "checks out" the more northerly end of the platform and heads back toward her milk crate.

Two years ago, Ben Joravsky had a piece in the <i>Reader</i> about John Mattison, who, taking pictures on a CTA platform, had been told it was illegal to take pictures on CTA property. The article quoted CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney as confirming that taking pictures is not against the law, except for rules governing things like impeding the flow of traffic, commercial photography and filmmaking.

So was this Star Security guard just taking it upon herself to oppose photography, or are security guards being instructed to stop people from taking pictures? Is it the CTA giving this instruction, or the security company -- in contradiction of public statements from the CTA?

It's not just that the security guard was making a big deal over something about which she was wrong (I believe, still), but she was also incredibly rude, loud, and generally unpleasant about it.

Slithering Blue Line entertainment

Chicago newcomer Brandon shares this slimy story with us:

My wife and I (both new to the area) were on a crowded Blue Line train heading from Damen travelling north toward the Belmont stop when a young guy got on somewhere in between carrying his pet boa constrictor around his neck.

I thought it was a fake until I saw it's tongue do that "tasting-the-air" thing -- flickering up and down.

Everyone around, standing and holding onto a pole, stepped back slightly as one guy pulled out his cell phone and asked if he could snap a shot of it and its owner.

The young guy kinda took a gangsta pose and I then realized that the snake was his bling-bling. Natural, organic bling.

CTA affords great views, but alas, not artwork

Gapersblock.com reported last week on a Web site chronicling fabulous artworks on view in train stations around the world -- and the stations themselves as works of art, as pictured here.

Needless to say, the CTA is not on the list.  Though they have done a nice job with the Chicago Avenue station.

The CTA did make the list of Metros with a View. Interestingly, one of the photos on that page shows the LaSalle/Van Buren El stop with the lovely Metropolitan Correctional Center in the background.

The CTA also offers lots of other cool El-level views, some of which might actually land you in that correctional center.

Game Boy or Wrigley? Easy choice

Two brothers about 8 and 6 years old board the Red Line with their Dad at Berwyn at 7:30 a.m. The older boy is holding a Game Boy.

Seats are scarce, with a couple single aisle seats adjacent across the aisle and behind the other. The boys hop into seats, one behind the other. The older begins playing the game, with the younger brother hanging in the aisle, straining to peer around his side at the action on the tiny screen.

Soon, the woman sitting at the window next to the older brother gets up, moves across the aisle and gestures kindly for the younger to take her vacated seat so they could play together.

They eagerly accepted.

A minute later: "Yeah, we got to the next level!"

Another few minutes later, their Dad points out the window: "Look! There's Wrigley Field!"

The Friendly Confines momentarily holds their interest, and then it's back to getting high(er) on GameBoy.