[j korzeniowski]

well, here is what I wrote to a bunch of people, though some of the links may not transfer over ...

Hello All,

For some of you, nevermind how I got your email address, I have it. I think that you probably live in Chicago or the Chicago region if you got this, now let's just move on.

If you have been following the local news, you are probably aware that the Regional Transportation Authority, which includes the CTA, Metra and Pace, is strapped for cash. As this is public transportation it, like any other transit system in any other city in the world, requires government subsidies. The return on the investment is business, a vital city, cleaner air, less cars on the road, and so on. It simply enhances the quality of life -- while Chicago's system is not perfect and could use expansion, it is a very good system that, with upkeep and an injection of cash, could be among the nation's best.

There is a bill that will be voted on in the Illinois Legislature on September 4th called Senate Bill 572, and I urge all of you who live in this great city, and who take pride in this city and region, to take action in showing your support for this bill.

Before I get to my main "Targets", whom I have chosen based on my prior correspondence with their offices, or by just having read about them in the news regarding Chicago-area transit, let me say a few things about contacting these elected officials. First of all, it is easy. Just either call or email, and you are one more person they can flout (or consider if they are not a supporter of the bill) as someone who supports the bill. Secondly, I don't expect you to contact every single one of the below officials; in fact, I would suggest contacting either Governor Blagojevich, or one of Representative Hamos or Mathias for reasons listed below. Lastly, they don't have to be your representative. Still, you can let them know you are out there, and that you feel strongly about this bill

Targets:

* Governor Rod Blagojevich (D)

Governor Blagojevich is threatening a veto of Senate Bill 572 should it make it through the legislature. While I believe the Governor's intentions are good, now is no time to be an ideologue. As a populist, it sounds good to say close "corporate tax loopholes" as the Governor has suggested, but that also makes it more of a state issue, which would erode the needed support of officials from the rest of the state. Also, as Rep. Julie Hamos has pointed out, one man's corporate tax loophole is another man's business expansion incentive. Call or write Governor Blagojevich and tell him to support S.B. 572!

* State Representative Michael Madigan (D-Chicago)

Michael Madigan, the House Speaker from Chicago's South Side, has thrown his considerable weight behind S.B. 572 after no funding was provided for the CTA in the state budget recently passed following months of gridlock in Springfield. Call or write Speaker Madigan and tell him you are behind him in his support S.B. 572!

* State Representative Julie Hamos (D-Evanston)

S.B. 572 is Ms. Hamos' baby, and she deserves a call or a note of thanks and support.

* State Representative Sidney Mathias (R-Buffalo Grove)

LIke Ms. Hamos, Representative Mathias has put in a tremendous amount of effort in supporting this bill. He also deserves a call of support. (I am unable to locate an email address.)

* State Representative Tom Cross (R-Plainfield)

Rep. Cross seems to be holding S.B. 572 hostage in favor of holding out for more money for roads in the area. The purpose of this email is not for me to be (too) preachy, and I strongly disagree with Rep. Cross. This bill is just too important at this time in the region's history to hold up for any reason. This isn't just about having nice, shiny new trains, it is about the region's economic survival. Call or write Representative Cross and tell him to support S.B. 572 unequivocally!

* State Representative Brent Hassert (R-Romeoville)

Admittedly, I had not heard of Representative Hassert in following the developments regarding the region's transit funding. In a story in the August 30th online edition of the Daily Herald, however, he was quoted as saying that this bill was " ... a dog and pony show ..." Personally, I would call the remark flippant if it was not so nonsensical. I already emailed his office regarding this remark, and I have yet to hear back from anybody.

* Senator Emil Jones Jr. (D-Chicago)

The lead Democrat in the Democratic-led Illinois Senate. As a Democrat from Chicago, Senator Jones has been noticeably quiet during transit talks. Call or write Senator Jones to support S.B. 572!

* Senator Frank Watson (R-Greenville)

Senator Watson holds the highest ranking of Illinois Senate Republicans. Greenville is in southern Illinois, east of St. Louis; so, while his silence is not necessarily surprising, call or write the highest ranking Republican Senator to support S.B. 572

Remember, these are not rate hikes because inflation has caught up with costs, or because the CTA has some great new plans it just needs a little more money for, they are being proposed because there is a budget shortfall. This means that the fares will go up, and the service will actually get worse if no new funding is allotted to the RTA.

Please take action. Please feel free to forward this or any email on the subject to friends and RTA customers.

Other resources:

http://www.transitchicago.com/

http://savechicagolandtransit.com/actnow.asp

http://drivelesslivemore.com/index.php

http://movingbeyondcongestion.org/

http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/sb572

Cheers,
Matthew

[whyhuhwhy]

I'm assuming IDOT will be taking care of the "Avenues" problem next time the Ike is due for rebuilding. But the bigger problem is that you have 3 lanes of traffic dumping into an existing expressway with 4 lanes in each direction reduced to 3. I think the Ike extension was completely unnecessary and only built to serve the then (and still now) wealthy suburbs of northeastern DuPage County. That road is redundant and needs to go, especially with the planned O'Hare Ring Road.

The Stevenson needs to be widened to 8 lanes all the way to Joliet. They have the room to do it, and IDOT chose not to back in the 90's, ridiculous.

The Edens Junction can be fixed by doing away with the express lanes and adding two lanes in each direction, bringing the total on each side to 6, and they have room to do it, considering the amount of shoulder room express lanes require. Each of those is like already adding a 5th lane to each side, then the 6th comes in by way of shoulder work.

As for transit, I don't think you can equate Chicago's L to newer systems such as the Washington Metro or MARTA. The L has to work with what it has because building new rail lines in such an exisiting developed area is almost counterproductive. It's better in the long term to preserve current ROWs.

Wow you need to be in charge of IDOT. I agree with everything you said.

[j korzeniowski]

we're fucked, and i think i might try to get transferred back to europe. fuck suburbanites and chicago is just what most of us chicagoans know deep down: we are a provincial backwater, with the cultural centers on the coasts.

rest of the rust belt, here we come ...

http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/local_story_243192315.html

[whyhuhwhy]

we're fucked, and i think i might try to get transferred back to europe. fuck suburbanites and chicago is just what most of us chicagoans know deep down: we are a provincial backwater, with the cultural centers on the coasts.

rest of the rust belt, here we come ...

http://cbs2chicago.com/politics/local_story_243192315.html

I moved to Chicago from Europe 4 years ago and you can have the 17.5% sales tax and the unbearable cost of living there just so you can ride a train more often. Either that or do us all a favor and move to the "cultural meccas" on the coasts immediately where you can feel better about yourself. It's not like you are going to escape government funding problems and declining services. Welcome to the rest of the world 2007.

Bottom line is suburbanites shouldn't have to cover the cost of the El anymore than we should have to cover the cost of their highways. Neither is right. Tell me why you should have to pay for their highway needs out there. It is hilarious watching some of us complain when our El system is f*cked due to mismanagement and then go ahead and blame it on the suburbanites because they won't bail the CTA out. Ridiculous.

What's unbelievable to me is the solution some of us expect is to raise the already record setting sales tax in Cook County. I believe Chicago with it's 9.0% sales tax is the highest in the nation. Let's raise it again shall we because CTA employees have huge pensions and retirement benefits.

I hope the bill does not pass so the CTA can get streamlined. We need a doomsday scenario to wake the management up. There needs to be a lot of firing going on, and a wake up call for Daley. It's a bureaucratic mess that is not even coming close to paying for itself. So the solution? Let's become the UK and just get it over with. Let's raise the Cook County sales tax to 17.5% and continue to fund loss leading mismanaged transit services and just be done with it.

Blago was a complete idiot for never matching federal funds for transit/highway, but I have to agree with him that raising the sales tax on the entire county in order to pay for a bureaucratic mess, when our sales tax is #1 in the nation already, is just ludicrous. What's funny is most of us don't even use the CTA but we all pay for it. I'm a firm believer that people should pay for what they use in government outside of emergency services. I'm not really sure why we need larger government in order to manage and funnel our money. I shouldn't have to subsidize exurban highways like I do and they shouldn't have to subsidize a broken CTA. All the highways in this region need to get converted to tolls and the CTA fare should match at the least the cost of running it. But instead we have this attitude that other people should pay for it.

The one area I agree with you is Chicago is f*cked when it comes to transporation lately. There is very little on the table and very little planned to ease traffic congestion, get rid of bottlenecks, and shake up a completely mismanaged CTA system. The only area of our transporation/highway network that seems to be working and adequate is Metra (save for their horrible parking wait list).

Have fun in Europe.

[Busy Bee]

CTA explores Block 37 deal
Millions over budget, city talks privatization with Skyway firm

(Crain’s) — The massive subway station under construction at Block 37 is running as much as $150 million over budget, a shortfall that has prompted city officials to move to privatize the project.

Sources close to the matter say the city has begun discussions with Macquarie — the Australian investment bank that two years ago paid the city $1.82 billion to lease the Chicago Skyway — about buying or leasing the Chicago Transit Authority station underneath the high-profile retail and office complex now being built.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=26228&seenIt=1

[j korzeniowski]

I moved to Chicago from Europe 4 years ago and you can have the 17.5% sales tax and the unbearable cost of living there just so you can ride a train more often. Either that or do us all a favor and move to the "cultural meccas" on the coasts immediately where you can feel better about yourself. It's not like you are going to escape government funding problems and declining services. Welcome to the rest of the world 2007.

Bottom line is suburbanites shouldn't have to cover the cost of the El anymore than we should have to cover the cost of their highways. Neither is right. Tell me why you should have to pay for their highway needs out there. It is hilarious watching some of us complain when our El system is f*cked due to mismanagement and then go ahead and blame it on the suburbanites because they won't bail the CTA out. Ridiculous.

What's unbelievable to me is the solution some of us expect is to raise the already record setting sales tax in Cook County. I believe Chicago with it's 9.0% sales tax is the highest in the nation. Let's raise it again shall we because CTA employees have huge pensions and retirement benefits.

I hope the bill does not pass so the CTA can get streamlined. We need a doomsday scenario to wake the management up. There needs to be a lot of firing going on, and a wake up call for Daley. It's a bureaucratic mess that is not even coming close to paying for itself. So the solution? Let's become the UK and just get it over with. Let's raise the Cook County sales tax to 17.5% and continue to fund loss leading mismanaged transit services and just be done with it.

Blago was a complete idiot for never matching federal funds for transit/highway, but I have to agree with him that raising the sales tax on the entire county in order to pay for a bureaucratic mess, when our sales tax is #1 in the nation already, is just ludicrous. What's funny is most of us don't even use the CTA but we all pay for it. I'm a firm believer that people should pay for what they use in government outside of emergency services. I'm not really sure why we need larger government in order to manage and funnel our money. I shouldn't have to subsidize exurban highways like I do and they shouldn't have to subsidize a broken CTA. All the highways in this region need to get converted to tolls and the CTA fare should match at the least the cost of running it. But instead we have this attitude that other people should pay for it.

The one area I agree with you is Chicago is f*cked when it comes to transporation lately. There is very little on the table and very little planned to ease traffic congestion, get rid of bottlenecks, and shake up a completely mismanaged CTA system. The only area of our transporation/highway network that seems to be working and adequate is Metra (save for their horrible parking wait list).

Have fun in Europe.

eh, i haven't liked your posts at all since you started posting. you have the completely wrong outlook on how government should work, i.e., "i don't use it why should i pay for it?", and i'll respond to your silly post later. (also, you don't even have the slightest idea of how this funding bill works, nor what is at stake. actually, "taking the train more often" is exactly the point.)

i will have fun in europe, cheers.

[whyhuhwhy]

^

No offense but I could care less if someone I never met "doesn't like my posts." Especially someone who calls Chicago "backwater." What do I care what some self loather who thinks Europe and "the coasts" are cultural meccas with no funding problems or declining services of their own thinks of my opinions on government funding.

The bottom line is that the money to run anything has to come from somewhere. Your entire argument boils down to that we should have everyone pay for things you like, but you shouldn't have to pay for anything you don't like--i.e., because j korzeniowski lives nearby, uses it, likes it, and thinks it makes us more cool "like Europe," other people should pay for it 40 miles away, but he shouldn't have to pay for anything he doesn't use or like out there no matter how important it is to the region, like I-94, go figure.

I prefer a world where I don't have to help fund highways out in the exurbs and since I don't live by a double standard I don't expect them to fund the new Pink Line on a system where most of our cash fares goes to employee pensions. And that's the point. Not the transit versus highway part of it, it's that you like the idea of "trains" at any costs, even faced with the reality that the agency is mismanaged and we are paying more for their pension plans than the actual system. We need far more than suburbanites who live 40 miles away to help continue to fund a loss leader. We need a real shake up. We need Daley to get involved and the pension situation needs to be fixed. If $1.55 of every cash fare goes to CTA employee retirement benefits and health care than I'm sorry, but I don't consider raising already record setting sales taxes on everyone to be a real solution to the much more glaring core problem.

Who are you to say who has the "wrong view" of government anyway. It's all philosophy and opinion. I have no doubt my method would work better than your's and I'm sure you feel the same way.

Good luck in Europe. You certainly won't escape increasing automobiles, funding politics, and aging and declining infrastructure, that's bloody sure. But I hope you find what you are looking for.

[j korzeniowski]

^

No offense but I could care less if someone I never met "doesn't like my posts." Especially someone who calls Chicago "backwater." What do I care what some self loather who thinks Europe and "the coasts" are cultural meccas with no funding problems or declining services of their own thinks of my opinions on government funding.

The bottom line is that the money to run anything has to come from somewhere. Your entire argument boils down to that we should have everyone pay for things you like, but you shouldn't have to pay for anything you don't like--i.e., because j korzeniowski lives nearby, uses it, likes it, and thinks it makes us more cool "like Europe," other people should pay for it 40 miles away, but he shouldn't have to pay for anything he doesn't use or like out there no matter how important it is to the region, like I-94, go figure.

I prefer a world where I don't have to help fund highways out in the exurbs and since I don't live by a double standard I don't expect them to fund the new Pink Line on a system where most of our cash fares goes to employee pensions. And that's the point. Not the transit versus highway part of it, it's that you like the idea of "trains" at any costs, even faced with the reality that the agency is mismanaged and we are paying more for their pension plans than the actual system. We need far more than suburbanites who live 40 miles away to help continue to fund a loss leader. We need a real shake up. We need Daley to get involved and the pension situation needs to be fixed. If $1.55 of every cash fare goes to CTA employee retirement benefits and health care than I'm sorry, but I don't consider raising already record setting sales taxes on everyone to be a real solution to the much more glaring core problem.

Who are you to say who has the "wrong view" of government anyway. It's all philosophy and opinion. I have no doubt my method would work better than your's and I'm sure you feel the same way.

Good luck in Europe. You certainly won't escape increasing automobiles, funding politics, and aging and declining infrastructure, that's bloody sure. But I hope you find what you are looking for.

eek ... your reading comprehension sucks and you talk out of both sides of your mouth. and you still really don't know what your talking about. my calling my beloved chicago a "backwater" was more out of frustration, but i lived in europe for 3.5 years myself, and i travel there regularly. they actually invest in mass transit, and your characterizing my advocacy of transit as my love of getting on trains is silly. if you don't understand the importance of mass transit to a region then i can't help you.

[whyhuhwhy]

^

Why do you continue to quote my entire posts and take up so much thread space.

I hope you don't act this way toward people you know when they disagree with you or you don't get what you want. Your solution to someone who disagrees with you seems to be to throw a tantrum at them.

Your argument basically boils down to this: We need to fund trains at any cost and use anybody's money to do it, and since you disagree with me then you are not only wrong, but you can't read, you talk out of both sides of your mouth, your previous posts suck, you just don't understand government, you just don't understand transit, I just can't help you get it, insert next ad hominem attack here. I guess that is political discourse in the world of j korzeniowski's government. It's no wonder I have a problem with your form of government--it is clearly j korzeniowski's government and no one elses.

In the end, you missed my entire point. It's not mass transit I am against. I ride the CTA every week (buses). My prior home was EC1N London and I didn't own a car. I have grown up with transit. Why the hell would I be interested and talking about transit on an online forum dedicated to urban discussion if I wasn't interested in solutions.

But I can admit when I see a big turkey. When most of my cash fare for a train ride goes to pension and health benefits, then we have to think more deeply on what exactly we are funding here. And yet you continue to ignore this and offer no solutions. Since the end result of the management is a train ride you are willing to ignore any and all MISmanagement. CTA is a mess not only because it doesn't get funding, it's also a mess because of decades of inaccountability and mismanagement.

Either way, get real. You want Chicago to be London or Paris or Berlin. Chicago is not Europe and you can't alter its history. Most of its metropolitan area has developed within the last 50 years when the automobile was affordable and commonplace. European cities were pedestrian-only cities long before the automobile (or Chicago!) even existed. Of course they are going to invest in transit more--they don't have a choice. What are they going to do--widen High Holburn to 8 lanes and plow right through the middle of some of the most expensive real estate in the country with a highway?

Either way I have to put you on my ignore list. I have little doubt you will attack me for my opinions and I'm a vet on online forums enough to where I know when you can't win with someone and they aren't interested in discourse. Yeah yeah I get it, I just don't get it, I don't understand, etc.

[Busy Bee]

Does anyone else remember personal chat rooms? Can people still do that?

[nomarandlee]

^

Not the transit versus highway part of it, it's that you like the idea of "trains" at any costs, even faced with the reality that the agency is mismanaged and we are paying more for their pension plans than the actual system. We need far more than suburbanites who live 40 miles away to help continue to fund a loss leader. We need a real shake up. We need Daley to get involved and the pension situation needs to be fixed. If $1.55 of every cash fare goes to CTA employee retirement benefits and health care than I'm sorry, but I don't consider raising already record setting sales taxes on everyone to be a real solution to the much more glaring core problem. .

I agree, but didn't Huberman renegotiate the pensions with the unions as part of his shake up ? Maybe it is still not adequate but I think he said he was or did worked on that aspect which I agree was a major impediment.

Anyone who knows the labor financials of the CTA maybe could answer?

[the urban politician]

eek ... your reading comprehension sucks and you talk out of both sides of your mouth. and you still really don't know what your talking about. my calling my beloved chicago a "backwater" was more out of frustration, but i lived in europe for 3.5 years myself, and i travel there regularly. they actually invest in mass transit, and your characterizing my advocacy of transit as my love of getting on trains is silly. if you don't understand the importance of mass transit to a region then i can't help you.

^ While I agree that Chicago is a mess, do you think cities on America's coasts don't have similar problems? :haha:

This is America, my friend. Land of the free, home of the brave. We don't ride trains, nor do we pay for them. You already knew that. Americans don't want to pay for things that help a lot of black people and immigrants, even if a sizeable chunk of whites and affluent people use it.

Europe is nice, too, but expensive beyond belief. Get convenient train rides, pay 8$ for a loaf of bread.

It all balances out--you just have to choose what's important to you.

[mikeelm]

Amazing how silly people can be here sometimes.

[whyhuhwhy]

^ While I agree that Chicago is a mess, do you think cities on America's coasts don't have similar problems? :haha:

This is America, my friend. Land of the free, home of the brave. We don't ride trains, nor do we pay for them. You already knew that. Americans don't want to pay for things that help a lot of black people and immigrants, even if a sizeable chunk of whites and affluent people use it.

Europe is nice, too, but expensive beyond belief. Get convenient train rides, pay 8$ for a loaf of bread.

It all balances out--you just have to choose what's important to you.


Good post but I can't help if you are being sarcastic or just overly simplistic. The reason everyone I know that doesn't ride or want to fund trains en generale has little to do with fear of other races or immigrants. It's just that these people don't have a pressing need for one as they own an automobile and in reality have absolutely no trouble using it. For the vast majority of Americans, heck even here in the middle of Lakeview one of the densest neighborhoods in the country, the roads are plenty adequate even for the dense population and an automobile is the preferred way to get to and from work (especially in February). It's just the way it is. Thank God we have the bus system and the El though.

As for the suburbanites, I think of my parents. White, middle class suburbanites who would never agree to have their taxes raised for mass transit around where they live in Milwaukee, even though it's been proposed by several politicians there many times. Why? Because they would never use it. It's really as simple as that. Why would they want to have their taxes raised on something they don't need and would never use. You can't blame people for that. Nothing to do with not wanting "black people" coming to their suburb, which is happening anyway regardless of any transit links (suburbs are becoming VERY diverse lately if you haven't noticed).

On the other hand these same people ride and love the Amtrak Hiawatha from General Mitchell to downtown Chicago and use that as their preferred method over the automobile to travel the 80 miles from Milwaukee to Chicago, so they are very pro-train. But like anyone they need to see some pull factor (such as the convenience of the Hiawatha).

[Marcu]

I really don't see a problem with paying $2.50 or $3 to ride the el. Especially if it actually runs adequately (see blue line). I'll take that over an increase in the outrageously high as it is sales tax any day for the same reasons I would take tollways over income tax funded/property tax funded highways.

And we really have to think about implementing a DC-style system so that people commuting from 95th to Lake don't pay the same rate as people commuting from Harrison to Lake. Although there is the major political hurdle of a huge chunk of city workers living on the far nw or far sw sides.

[pip]

heck even here in the middle of Lakeview one of the densest neighborhoods in the country, the roads are plenty adequate even for the dense population

Maybe at 3am the roads are adequate.


So lets get rid of the CTA and dump a million plus cars on the road each day. You think traffic is bad now. Gridlock is bad for the economy, btw.

And using your train of thought. I require no governemnt services. So I don't want to pay taxes for schools, I have health insurance so no taxes for medicaid or any health service, I want financial aid for college gone, etc. You see where I am going with this?

[VivaLFuego]

I really don't see a problem with paying $2.50 or $3 to ride the el. Especially if it actually runs adequately (see blue line). I'll take that over an increase in the outrageously high as it is sales tax any day for the same reasons I would take tollways over income tax funded/property tax funded highways.

And we really have to think about implementing a DC-style system so that people commuting from 95th to Lake don't pay the same rate as people commuting from Harrison to Lake. Although there is the major political hurdle of a huge chunk of city workers living on the far nw or far sw sides.

The 'problem' with this way of thinking is that many people consider it to be a regressive pricing structure, by hitting the lowest-income people the hardest. In contrast to simply higher fares or distance-based fares, using peak/off-peak pricing is generally considered more 'progressive', as low-income people take a disproportionately higher share of off-peak rides.

It's also important to remember that part of why sales taxes are so high is because income tax and property tax are so low. The overall tax burden living in Chicago is not at all unfavorable compared to most other older major cities, we just load up on the consumption (sales) tax as opposed to the productivity (income/gross receipts) and wealth (property) that most other locations use.

[j korzeniowski]

Maybe at 3am the roads are adequate.


So lets get rid of the CTA and dump a million plus cars on the road each day. You think traffic is bad now. Gridlock is bad for the economy, btw.

And using your train of thought. I require no governemnt services. So I don't want to pay taxes for schools, I have health insurance so no taxes for medicaid or any health service, I want financial aid for college gone, etc. You see where I am going with this?

thank you, sir, you saved me a lot of time in going back and responding to whyhuh' in earnest.

cheers.

The 'problem' with this way of thinking is that many people consider it to be a regressive pricing structure, by hitting the lowest-income people the hardest. In contrast to simply higher fares or distance-based fares, using peak/off-peak pricing is generally considered more 'progressive', as low-income people take a disproportionately higher share of off-peak rides.

It's also important to remember that part of why sales taxes are so high is because income tax and property tax are so low. The overall tax burden living in Chicago is not at all unfavorable compared to most other older major cities, we just load up on the consumption (sales) tax as opposed to the productivity (income/gross receipts) and wealth (property) that most other locations use.

the other problem i often see is the notion that people have that, with increased fares, the service will become better. the rates are going up because the is a budget shortfall. you will pay more for the same service you get now. actually, it could get worse, as there will be more broken down trains and buses as i believe they will start using money originally designated for maintenance for day-to-day operations.

it's crunchtime, people, please visit this site:
http://www.savechicagolandtransit.com/actnow.asp

[j korzeniowski]

eek .. triplicate post ... forum slow for me today ...

[j korzeniowski]

see above

[j korzeniowski]

awesome ... there were four of these ...

[Marcu]

The 'problem' with this way of thinking is that many people consider it to be a regressive pricing structure, by hitting the lowest-income people the hardest.


The sales tax is naturally regressive as well, with the poor paying a higher % of their income in taxes. Also, the middle and upper class residents can alter their behavior and drive out to Oakbrook to buy the higher end items where the sales tax hits the hardest (tvs, computers, etc.). In many cases the poor cannot avoid the higher rate by driving outside the city/county limits

[Chicago3rd]

Am looking for a sharp object to slit my wrist. We got on the Blue line from O'Hare and thought it would shake apart. How did Seoul create such and extensive well run and clean system after WWII and the Korean war and we cannot even keep the couple of lines we have in good shape? Depressing.

Chicago is NOT first tier world class when it comes to public transportation. Wish we were really a first class city.

[VivaLFuego]

As a Chicagoan just back from Houston:
"Wow, I missed Chicago's public transit."

Comparing Chicago to Seoul is.....well, complicated. The built environments and government structures are so drastically different that comparisons are mostly meaningless and can't transcend the purely aesthetic ("Seoul has cleaner and faster trains! Chicago/US is inferior!"). Better to compare Chicago to say, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Boston, etc. Seoul is so much denser, and auto ownership is so much lower than Chicago, that transit operates on a completely different paradigm.

^jkor,
Marcu was referring to raising the base fare even higher in exchange for better quality service. Since the public operating funds (48% of operations) are totally maxed out, this wouldn't accomplish too much in terms of service quantitysince the farebox recovery ratio is mandated to be about 52%. However, if the state was good for an increasing share, then obviously quality would increase. However, some of the additional fare monies could be spent for badly needed capital improvements.

[j korzeniowski]

thanks, viva', now i see.

ho-hum, sb 572 failed. it fell 10 votes short of the needed super-majority. funny how the news about chicago "officially" entered the international olympics race the same day.

the region's downward spiral begins in 13 days (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-legis-web05sep05,1,2250146.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout)

i am really depressed about this, though ms. hamos did allow for this to be voted on again. i guess this still goes to the senate, it just has no chance of making it past blago' now??

[hoju]

OH man!! That sucks! So are these assholes going to actually do anything before the service cuts? Metra and Pace have scheduled cuts as well on the horizon. Metra's cuts totally decimate the weekend schedule. Do we have any hope at this point for a sensible funding plan? Maybe Blago will propose some business tax or something. Good luck getting it passed though. God what a bunch of retards we have in the state government.

[brint]

I live in Dallas, and I'm just up-and-moving to Chicago for no real reason at all, other than I liked the city and wanted a mature transit system. I'm just tired of waiting on Dallas to "get there."

How detrimental will the failure of this bill be to Chicago? It seems like service will still be OK. I haven't heard of any cutbacks on rail lines.

[Marcu]

^ Fares will go up and weekend service (especially bus service) will suffer. It's certainly not the end of the world like many would have you believe. No need to spread fear to promote an agenda.

[OhioGuy]

F8ck these state politicians. They're all pathetic. And Blago most certainly won't be getting my vote when he's up for reelection. I may be a hardcore democrat, but there isn't a single thing he could possibly do to earn my vote if he allows this state to completely overlook the CTA.

[Attrill]

:previous: Yeah, I'd take Ryan back over Blago in a sec (seriously).

I agree that this is not the end of the world for the CTA. It will be a pain in the ass late at night and on weekends, but this is in no way apocolyptic. It doesn't bode well for the state figuring out transit funding issues, but it is one of many issues the state needs to figure out. It pisses me off incredibly that this (and many other state funding issues) all comes down to dick swinging on the part of Blago, Madigan, and Jones. F'em all.

[VivaLFuego]

We're doomed!

No brint, this won't be too drastic if these cuts go through, with the exception of only a couple routes most of these have adequate duplicative service and the fare hikes (to $2) are not unreasonable assuming you get a smart card for payment (Chicago Card). No rail service will be cut, but I'd expect it to get a bit more crowded in the peak periods as riders readjust to a new equilibrium with the reduced bus capacity.



Of course, no one seems to be talking about what happens January 1 when the pension contributions law that Madigan made last year kicks in and CTA has to start contributing something like $150-200million additional per year....even if the sales tax hike doesnt pass, they've got to at least deal with passing the reforms of the pension and health care obligations (and the real estate transfer tax that would help pay for them, and only be in Chicago) so there isn't an implosion by about July 08.

[nomarandlee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-legis-web05sep05,1,2250146.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout

Fare hikes more likely: Transit-funding bill fails

By Ray Long and Monique Garcia | Tribune staff reporters
10:30 PM CDT, September 4, 2007


SPRINGFIELD - The Illinois House on Tuesday rejected a regional tax package to shore up funding for Chicago-area mass-transit systems, increasing the potential for fare hikes and service cuts at the Chicago Transit Authority and the Pace suburban bus agency.

House Democrats, led by Speaker Michael Madigan of Chicago, provided the vast majority of the votes as only a handful of Republicans from the Chicago suburbs supported the measure. The measure fell 10 votes short, but Madigan said he hoped to make up the difference quickly before transit riders face "great hardship."

..........House Republican leader Tom Cross of Oswego said transit funding should be addressed at the same time that a broad-based capital program is taken up to fund construction of schools, roads, bridges and other projects.

"For us to say we're only going to take care of one component of a two-part problem is a mistake," said Cross, who voted against the proposal. Suburban drivers, he said, expect the roads to be widened because they are "sick and tired of sitting in traffic."

The transit proposal called for a quarter-cent sales tax increase in Cook County and a total half-cent increase in the collar counties, where the revenue would be split between mass transit and other transportation matters. The legislation also would give the City of Chicago the authority to increase its real estate transfer tax to help fund CTA workers' pension and retirement funds.....................

Yea Mr.Cross, do your part to bring down the whole metro transit infrastructure because your little town of Oswego need to widen its roads.:hell:

[brint]

Thanks for the reassurance, Viva.

Do you know if the price tag on monthly pass will increase as well? Or will it just become that much better of a deal?

[Chicago3rd]

Thanks for the reassurance, Viva.

Do you know if the price tag on monthly pass will increase as well? Or will it just become that much better of a deal?

It will go up from $75 to $84 as published online on the CTA page and many other publications.

[Marcu]

It will go up from $75 to $84 as published online on the CTA page and many other publications.

Thanks for bringing that up. So the increase for an everyday transit user will go up by about $100 a year. Really not that bad considering the property tax transfer would have likely upped rent by at least that much and would have put Chicago residents at a financial disadvantage.




Yea Mr.Cross, do your part to bring down the whole metro transit infrastructure because your little town of Oswego need to widen its roads.:hell:

I can't blame Tom Cross for wanting to tie this into a bigger package. That's just how politics works. He doesn't want to come home having spent 2 weeks (which is something like 10% of the legislative session since they take months off) on something his constituency percieves as effecting only cook county. It's really no different than what any politician would do. Cook county constituents are a little hypocritical on this point.

[Chicago3rd]

Thanks for bringing that up. So the increase for an everyday transit user will go up by about $100 a year. Really not that bad considering the property tax transfer would have likely upped rent by at least that much and would have put Chicago residents at a financial disadvantage.



I can't blame Tom Cross for wanting to tie this into a bigger package. That's just how politics works. He doesn't want to come home having spent 2 weeks (which is something like 10% of the legislative session since they take months off) on something his constituency percieves as effecting only cook county. It's really no different than what any politician would do. Cook county constituents are a little hypocritical on this point.

Perhaps you don't know that Metra and Pace services areas "outside" Cook County. The package that didn't pass was all incompassing for Chicago, Cook and collar counties. So nothing hypocritical taking place in Cook County.

And I would NOT mind helping fund roads in Oswego if they had some sort of transportation master plan. But am feeling that their being republican and pro-growth their answer to all problems is more blacktop. In context the man should be arguing at this point for an extention of Metra from Aurora or a branch shooting off from the Joilet line......not attaching cars.

If one thing...I would make it a Constitutional law that all bills are voted on seperately and only amendments pertaining to subject at hand can be included.

[VivaLFuego]

This will all get dealt with the moment Metra has to slash service or having anything less than the most pristine capital assets of any commuter railroad in the country.

[ardecila]

I agree. I recently rode MARC in Maryland - no comparison to Metra.

[whyhuhwhy]

Maybe at 3am the roads are adequate.


Maybe you've had a different experience than me. I drive in rush hour every single day, morning and afternoon, on the local roads through the north side to/from Evanston and/or Children's Memorial and/or Northwestern Memorial Streeterville from Belmont. Sometimes I take Lincoln/Western, sometimes Ashland, sometimes Lakeshore, this afternoon home I decided to take Western to Foster to Damen and Damen home. I mix things up because I like to see the different neighborhoods and get bored with the same old route everyday. ALL of these routes have been plenty adequate and have ALWAYS been faster than taking mass transit. I'm sorry but this is just the truth.

BTW last time I decided to take the El from my home in Lakeview to Evanston Memorial it took me one hour and 42 minutes door to door. And I live very close to the Belmont stop. I can't even begin to imagine what type of road/weather conditions would be necessary for it to take me that long to drive up there. It takes me about 30 minutes to drive in the morning and 35 minutes in the afternoon. And owning a car already that's paid for and I can use for many other things besides just commuting, it's even cheaper to boot day-to-day (gas to Evanston or Downtown < CTA fare).


So lets get rid of the CTA and dump a million plus cars on the road each day. You think traffic is bad now. Gridlock is bad for the economy, btw.

Maybe you are in the wrong thread because no one in here insinuated anything close to getting rid of the CTA. How ludicrous would that be. I said it needs to get shaken up, have more accountability to its customers, and Daley needs to step in and get serious about it (to **IMPROVE** it!) but that is the extent of it.


And using your train of thought. I require no governemnt services. So I don't want to pay taxes for schools, I have health insurance so no taxes for medicaid or any health service, I want financial aid for college gone, etc. You see where I am going with this?

The money has to come from somewhere. Either way tax everyone and redistribute the monies to pay for services, or we charge people for using them. In my opinion, whenever it is realistic and feasible, we should pay for what we use (i.e., city dwellers should not subsidize suburban highways and suburbanites should not subsidize the 77 Belmont Bus). I know many people live in this world where we just need to form a Robin Hood society and have a public pot of money for everything, and this may work with some things, but that type of system for *everything*, which it sounds like you want, is intrinsically inefficient beacuse it requires bureacratic redistribution, politics and then there is the question of whose money is it really and who is accountable for it? Why do you think the CTA is in so much trouble? Mismanagement of *other* people's money and redestribution of your and my wealth in an inefficient manner while giving employees cushy pension plans and benefits that we continue to pay for with the *majority* of our fares.

But you seem to be reading someone else's message because I even specifically stated that things like education, that you mentioned, is not entirely realistic to self-fund and I specifically stated that I wouldn't cut funding for that nor many other government services so I don't know what you are exactly responding to.

[VivaLFuego]

ALL of these routes have been plenty adequate and have ALWAYS been faster than taking mass transit. I'm sorry but this is just the truth.<snip>
And owning a car already that's paid for and I can use for many other things besides just commuting, it's even cheaper to boot day-to-day (gas to Evanston or Downtown < CTA fare).


So I don't see why this is all even an issue for you. Just drive, since it's so much better for your lifestyle.

[pip]

Maybe you've had a different experience than me. I drive in rush hour every single day, morning and afternoon, on the local roads through the north side to/from Evanston and/or Children's Memorial and/or Northwestern Memorial Streeterville from Belmont. Sometimes I take Lincoln/Western, sometimes Ashland, sometimes Lakeshore, this afternoon home I decided to take Western to Foster to Damen and Damen home. I mix things up because I like to see the different neighborhoods and get bored with the same old route everyday. ALL of these routes have been plenty adequate and have ALWAYS been faster than taking mass transit. I'm sorry but this is just the truth.

BTW last time I decided to take the El from my home in Lakeview to Evanston Memorial it took me one hour and 42 minutes door to door. And I live very close to the Belmont stop. I can't even begin to imagine what type of road/weather conditions would be necessary for it to take me that long to drive up there. It takes me about 30 minutes to drive in the morning and 35 minutes in the afternoon. And owning a car already that's paid for and I can use for many other things besides just commuting, it's even cheaper to boot day-to-day (gas to Evanston or Downtown < CTA fare).



Maybe you are in the wrong thread because no one in here insinuated anything close to getting rid of the CTA. How ludicrous would that be. I said it needs to get shaken up, have more accountability to its customers, and Daley needs to step in and get serious about it (to **IMPROVE** it!) but that is the extent of it.



The money has to come from somewhere. Either way tax everyone and redistribute the monies to pay for services, or we charge people for using them. In my opinion, whenever it is realistic and feasible, we should pay for what we use (i.e., city dwellers should not subsidize suburban highways and suburbanites should not subsidize the 77 Belmont Bus). I know many people live in this world where we just need to form a Robin Hood society and have a public pot of money for everything, and this may work with some things, but that type of system for *everything*, which it sounds like you want, is intrinsically inefficient beacuse it requires bureacratic redistribution, politics and then there is the question of whose money is it really and who is accountable for it? Why do you think the CTA is in so much trouble? Mismanagement of *other* people's money and redestribution of your and my wealth in an inefficient manner while giving employees cushy pension plans and benefits that we continue to pay for with the *majority* of our fares.

But you seem to be reading someone else's message because I even specifically stated that things like education, that you mentioned, is not entirely realistic to self-fund and I specifically stated that I wouldn't cut funding for that nor many other government services so I don't know what you are exactly responding to.

Really!? I take the "el" from Belmont and I don't live next to Belmont to Davis in Evanston then walk to Chicago and it takes me only 40-50 minutes or so door to door.

Traffic in Lakeview is a breeze? Ha!

[whyhuhwhy]

Really!? I take the "el" from Belmont and I don't live next to Belmont to Davis in Evanston then walk to Chicago and it takes me only 40-50 minutes or so door to door.

I didn't say the usual time was 1 hour and 42 minutes, I just said that day it was (and it was the last time I have taken the El to work because that can't happen to me again). It would never, ever take me that long to drive there. Never. I don't care if there is a blizzard.

Unlike some jobs, I can't be 50 minutes late like I was that day. I'm a doctor. It just can't happen. I can't rely on the El, to put it bluntly, and it makes me angry. I have tried many many times which goes to show you I would like to use and support transit.

BTW it takes you 40-50 minutes to get from Belmont to Davis. That's unacceptable. To give you an example, I drive from Belmont to *well past* Davis (to Central!) in Evanston every morning/afternoon during rush hour. I usually choose Ashland or Western, and it takes me a very reliable 25-35 minutes every single day. That is faster than the express train you take to a stop much closer to where I am driving and I don't have to go outside when it is 20 below zero.


Traffic in Lakeview is a breeze? Ha!

Never said it was a breeze. I just said it is more than adequate and always faster than taking transit for just about everything I have ever done.

If I had my way, I would take the El every day. I like transit. Don't you think I would rather just lay comatose or read on the train every morning and afternoon rather than be alert and drive? But it is slow and broken and worst, UNRELIABLE and could get me in big trouble from prior experiences--that is the point I'm trying to get across.

I am sincerely happy transit is working for you guys. I really am. Just sharing my 2 cents because some people on here act like roads are the enemy when MOST PEOPLE that live here use them to get to work, and they have a reason.

[pip]

BTW it takes you 40-50 minutes to get from Belmont to Davis. That's unacceptable.

here is what my post said:

"Really!? I take the "el" from Belmont and I don't live next to Belmont to Davis in Evanston then walk to Chicago and it takes me only 40-50 minutes or so door to door."


My post said "DOOR TO DOOR" which includes walking to and from the stations. I should have also added as I walk from Broadway/Belmont to the Belmont station I notice a line of traffic gridlock. I walk faster than the drivers drive by far and think thank god those driving in non moving traffic days are over for me!

[aaron38]

Okay, so yes it seems silly in the midst of a funding disaster to discuss system expansion plans, but I think the best way for the CTA to survive is for it to grow into a fully interconnected system that people can use for daily life.
And anyway, it's just a thought exercize.

I was looking at all the trafic on Western Ave, and thinking it would be really nice to have a CTA line.
For fun, assume funding magically appears. What do you think community reaction would be to an elevated line above Western Ave, running right down the middle of the street?

It would start at the north at the Brown line. There would be a stations at Irving Park, Belmont and Fullerton. A tie in to the Blue line at Western, then a station at Chicago. Then down to stations at the Green and southern Blue lines, maybe an Ogden Ave station, before ending at the Orange line at 35/Archer.

Personally I would love to have the stations at Western/Belmont and Western/Chicago. That's what got me going on this thought exercize. But is this something that everyone else would want? If the city built it, would people ride it?

[VivaLFuego]

^ The only rapid transit that can get built in this country these days is either subway or along freight ROW. Otherwise it will fail the Environmental Impact Study. LRT is feasible but impractically expensive for the relatively low capacity it gives you. More plausibly, keep developing the X49 as a BRT corridor: signal priority, improved stop facilities at the the half-mile streets where the X bus stops, bus lanes/no parking zones, and of course real-time bus information (estimates of arrival time and travel time).

Of course, the X49 is about to get cut on Sunday...

[MayorOfChicago]

Surprise!!!!

CTA slammed in federal report
Mismanagement, poor maintenance cited in probe of 2006 derailment, fire
By Jon Hilkevitch | Tribune transportation reporter
1:57 PM CDT, September 11, 2007

WASHINGTON - The Chicago Transit Authority's track-inspection process is "a case study in organizational accidents,'' marked by a management culture that allows falsification of records, deferred maintenance of bad rails and poor safety oversight, a federal report said Tuesday.

The findings issued by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded a yearlong investigation into the CTA train derailment and fire in the Blue Line subway that injured more than 100 passengers July 11, 2006. Inadequate information about the eight-car train's location in the tunnel, between the Clark/Lake and Grand/Milwaukee stations in downtown Chicago, slowed the emergency response to evacuate the approximately 1,000 passengers aboard the evening rush-hour train, the safety board said.

There were also problems with the 55-year-old tunnel's ventilation system in removing smoke caused by electrical arcing between the last car and the 600-volt third rail, the NTSB said.



Investigators determined within days that some wheels on the last car lost contact with the running rails due to the gauge of the track being out of alignment.

But a subsequent examination of documents, interviews with CTA workers and repeated walk-throughs with track inspectors in the Blue Line tunnel turned up severe systemic problems, the safety board said in a blistering report.

More than 80 percent of inspection records were missing for the Blue Line, the board's report noted. CTA tracks are supposed to be inspected twice a week, but one track inspector told a safety board investigator that he had inspected his assigned area only once in five months, the report said.

"We found hundreds of records missing, literally hundreds,'' said Cy Gura, an investigator who served as chairman of the safety board's track, signal and engineering group. "The CTA said the work was done, but there was no record. The [track] gauge problem was not reported and the fixes were not reported.''

In many other instances, investigators found that inspection reports were falsified to indicate that track was inspected when in fact it was not, the report said.

Gura, who accompanied CTA inspectors on their rounds, said they routinely marked off on their reports as having walked and measured track in the entire 6 miles of their territories, even though they actually came up about 1½ miles short by the time their shift ended.

"It looks like a lot of people were looking the other way,'' said safety board member Steven Chealander, referring to CTA management.

Problems uncovered included failures in setting up effective training, track inspection, maintenance and supervisory programs, leading to unsafe track conditions, the board said.

Mud and standing water in the subway tunnel, wet and rotten rail ties, corrosion of rail fasteners and worn or broken screws and tie plates accelerated the track's failure, while CTA inspectors failed to identify the obvious problems, the investigation found.

"The track had clearly been deteriorating for a long time. It did not happen overnight,'' said Bob Chipkevich, director of the safety board's office of railroad, pipeline and hazardous materials investigations. He said the conditions found at the CTA were the worst he has seen at any U.S. transit agency.

CTA officials said they have replaced some top management personnel and initiated changes, including improved inspector training and the use of more sophisticated track-gauge measuring equipment.

But Kitty Higgins, a NTSB board member who accompanied investigators to Chicago after the derailment, said the failures found at the CTA "should really be a wakeup call to transit agencies across the nation.''

"This accident is about the failure to understand and invest in a system of this age that carries thousands and thousands and thousands of people everyday,'' Higgins said.

The investigation also found that CTA employees were required to pull double-duty--working as both track maintainers and track inspectors, creating a conflict of interest.

"The maintainers are the same people doing the inspections. Where is the quality assurance there?'' said safety board member Robert Sumwalt.

A human factors expert at the safety board said the CTA's corporate culture apparently allowed mistakes and other failures to take place and occur repeatedly.

Referring to the management style at the transit agency, Gerald Weeks, chief of the board's human performance and survival factors division, said: "It sounds like a case study in organizational accidents.''

Sumwalt noted that budget pressures at the CTA often meant reduced staffing of maintenance personnel and inspectors.

"The result was that inspectors were often called away from inspections to make repairs,'' Sumwalt said.

The investigation also singled out the Regional Transportation Authority, which has rail safety oversight responsibilities, for failing to closely monitor the CTA, leading to unsafe track conditions continuing to exist, the safety board said. Lax monitoring by the Federal Transit Administration was also cited in the safety board report.

"Clearly there was very minimal oversight going on between the FTA and the state program,'' Chipkevich said.

[MayorOfChicago]

Surprise!!!!

CTA slammed in federal report
Mismanagement, poor maintenance cited in probe of 2006 derailment, fire
By Jon Hilkevitch | Tribune transportation reporter
1:57 PM CDT, September 11, 2007

WASHINGTON - The Chicago Transit Authority's track-inspection process is "a case study in organizational accidents,'' marked by a management culture that allows falsification of records, deferred maintenance of bad rails and poor safety oversight, a federal report said Tuesday.

The findings issued by the National Transportation Safety Board concluded a yearlong investigation into the CTA train derailment and fire in the Blue Line subway that injured more than 100 passengers July 11, 2006. Inadequate information about the eight-car train's location in the tunnel, between the Clark/Lake and Grand/Milwaukee stations in downtown Chicago, slowed the emergency response to evacuate the approximately 1,000 passengers aboard the evening rush-hour train, the safety board said.

There were also problems with the 55-year-old tunnel's ventilation system in removing smoke caused by electrical arcing between the last car and the 600-volt third rail, the NTSB said.



Investigators determined within days that some wheels on the last car lost contact with the running rails due to the gauge of the track being out of alignment.

But a subsequent examination of documents, interviews with CTA workers and repeated walk-throughs with track inspectors in the Blue Line tunnel turned up severe systemic problems, the safety board said in a blistering report.

More than 80 percent of inspection records were missing for the Blue Line, the board's report noted. CTA tracks are supposed to be inspected twice a week, but one track inspector told a safety board investigator that he had inspected his assigned area only once in five months, the report said.

"We found hundreds of records missing, literally hundreds,'' said Cy Gura, an investigator who served as chairman of the safety board's track, signal and engineering group. "The CTA said the work was done, but there was no record. The [track] gauge problem was not reported and the fixes were not reported.''

In many other instances, investigators found that inspection reports were falsified to indicate that track was inspected when in fact it was not, the report said.

Gura, who accompanied CTA inspectors on their rounds, said they routinely marked off on their reports as having walked and measured track in the entire 6 miles of their territories, even though they actually came up about 1½ miles short by the time their shift ended.

"It looks like a lot of people were looking the other way,'' said safety board member Steven Chealander, referring to CTA management.

Problems uncovered included failures in setting up effective training, track inspection, maintenance and supervisory programs, leading to unsafe track conditions, the board said.

Mud and standing water in the subway tunnel, wet and rotten rail ties, corrosion of rail fasteners and worn or broken screws and tie plates accelerated the track's failure, while CTA inspectors failed to identify the obvious problems, the investigation found.

"The track had clearly been deteriorating for a long time. It did not happen overnight,'' said Bob Chipkevich, director of the safety board's office of railroad, pipeline and hazardous materials investigations. He said the conditions found at the CTA were the worst he has seen at any U.S. transit agency.

CTA officials said they have replaced some top management personnel and initiated changes, including improved inspector training and the use of more sophisticated track-gauge measuring equipment.

But Kitty Higgins, a NTSB board member who accompanied investigators to Chicago after the derailment, said the failures found at the CTA "should really be a wakeup call to transit agencies across the nation.''

"This accident is about the failure to understand and invest in a system of this age that carries thousands and thousands and thousands of people everyday,'' Higgins said.

The investigation also found that CTA employees were required to pull double-duty--working as both track maintainers and track inspectors, creating a conflict of interest.

"The maintainers are the same people doing the inspections. Where is the quality assurance there?'' said safety board member Robert Sumwalt.

A human factors expert at the safety board said the CTA's corporate culture apparently allowed mistakes and other failures to take place and occur repeatedly.

Referring to the management style at the transit agency, Gerald Weeks, chief of the board's human performance and survival factors division, said: "It sounds like a case study in organizational accidents.''

Sumwalt noted that budget pressures at the CTA often meant reduced staffing of maintenance personnel and inspectors.

"The result was that inspectors were often called away from inspections to make repairs,'' Sumwalt said.

The investigation also singled out the Regional Transportation Authority, which has rail safety oversight responsibilities, for failing to closely monitor the CTA, leading to unsafe track conditions continuing to exist, the safety board said. Lax monitoring by the Federal Transit Administration was also cited in the safety board report.

"Clearly there was very minimal oversight going on between the FTA and the state program,'' Chipkevich said.

[Marcu]

Well now that the CTA will have less bus routes less things can go wrong due to a combination of mismanagement/lack of funds/incompotence.

And I guess this is why the CTA pushed so hard to get the transit bill through the legislature before this week. There's no way anything is happening now until there is a major shakedown at the CTA (yes another one). The fact that 80% of the records were "missing" is simply appauling.

[BorisMolotov]

so at this point will the state step in and provide the funding?

[whyhuhwhy]

here is what my post said:

"Really!? I take the "el" from Belmont and I don't live next to Belmont to Davis in Evanston then walk to Chicago and it takes me only 40-50 minutes or so door to door."


My post said "DOOR TO DOOR" which includes walking to and from the stations. I should have also added as I walk from Broadway/Belmont to the Belmont station I notice a line of traffic gridlock. I walk faster than the drivers drive by far and think thank god those driving in non moving traffic days are over for me!


Yeah I know what you were saying my response should have been more clear.

50 minutes getting from your place on Broadway/Belmont to Davis/Chicago is unacceptable when it would take you half that time to drive. This goes to show you how broken the CTA has become especially given that most of your travel is dedicated right of way with no stop lights and NO STOPS from Belmont all the way to the very northern border of the city.

You can poke fun at local traffic all you want, but it is local traffic. With the density of the surrounding neighorhoods there is no reason to drive long distances.

As far as commuting, I live a few blocks from you and to give you some perspective, with the horrible traffic that you are glad you don't have to deal with anymore, it takes me 25-35 minutes max during peak rush hour, door-to-door, from Racine/Belmont all the way to Central/Ridge (considerably farther north than your destination). That's a savings of almost one hour each day because I drive. That's unacceptable.

[pip]

50 minutes getting from your place on Broadway/Belmont to Davis/Chicago is unacceptable when it would take you half that time to drive.

Well let me see, hmmmmm. First off I don't live on Broadway/Belmont. I commented on my walk from that point and funny how you only quote the max time. Geez.

My friend has no parking and I don't. Street parking is just soooooooo easy to find and so quick!!! lol. Yup parking can be found in seconds and always right in front of my destination- hehe. Still smirking! I guess I could get paid parking at 160/month for my place then also pay for a spot at my friend's place too and then pay again for spots at all my other friends places as we all know parking is so plentiful and traffic is just so light- HAH. Nah, I will take the easy quick cheap way. The Train. Still can't get over how I walk faster than cars drive in Lakeview many time unless it is 3am. Oh and I hear parking is especially cheap in downtown!

[the urban politician]

Hot off the press:

Sept. 12, 2007
CTA, gov's office to meet: station
(AP) — Chicago Transit Authority President Ron Huberman told WFLD-TV that CTA officials plan a morning meeting with representatives from Gov. Rod Blagojevich's office to discuss the funding situation.
http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?id=26342

[j korzeniowski]

doomsday moved:

link to the trib (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-ctameet_websep13,1,2335363.story?coll=chi_tab01_layout)

just fyi, this is an email i received from my state senator on monday:

September 10, 2007

Dear Neighbor,

Over the past several days, many of you have contacted me to express your concerns and frustration with the failure of the Illinois House to pass the mass transit funding bill, SB 572.



SB 572 failed in the House mainly because the House Republicans who voted against it, want a broader capital program, including more funding for roads, to be part of the transit legislation. To address this issue, the Senate is scheduled to meet next Monday and Tuesday to introduce and vote on a new transit funding bill, similar to SB572, in conjunction with a capital project spending plan which will deal with other transportation and construction projects across the State, including funding for roads. With the inclusion of the capital spending plan, my hope is we will have the requisite number of votes to pass a mass transit legislation and send it to the House for a vote.



I understand and share your concerns and frustrations with the current state of mass transit and the impending service cuts and rate hikes. I fully support mass transit and will do my best in the coming days to find a solution to the crisis.



I hope you find this update informative. Please feel free to contact me should you have further questions on this legislation.



It is my honor to be your voice and represent your values.

Warm regards,



Carol Ronen

State Senator

District 7

[whyhuhwhy]

50 minutes getting from your place on Broadway/Belmont to Davis/Chicago is unacceptable when it would take you half that time to drive.

Well let me see, hmmmmm. First off I don't live on Broadway/Belmont. I commented on my walk from that point and funny how you only quote the max time. Geez.

My friend has no parking and I don't. Street parking is just soooooooo easy to find and so quick!!! lol. Yup parking can be found in seconds and always right in front of my destination- hehe. Still smirking! I guess I could get paid parking at 160/month for my place then also pay for a spot at my friend's place too and then pay again for spots at all my other friends places as we all know parking is so plentiful and traffic is just so light- HAH. Nah, I will take the easy quick cheap way. The Train. Still can't get over how I walk faster than cars drive in Lakeview many time unless it is 3am. Oh and I hear parking is especially cheap in downtown!

We could go back and forth all day, but we would obviously get nowhere, so consider this my last message.

The closest location you gave of where you live was Broadway/Belmont and I'm sorry I couldn't get more specific than that because you didn't provide the details. Would it make all the difference if you are a few blocks from there and I was more specific? I doubt it.

I only quoted 50 minutes because 50 minutes from Lakeview to anywhere in Evanston is unacceptable relative to driving--I don't appreciate that you insinuate I was trying to spin the numbers or misquote you (which, BTW, if you look back at our exchanges you have done multiple times, including misquoting me that I would be happy dismantling the CTA when I said I wanted to fix it and have more accountability, de-funding our education system when I said the opposite, and that traffic in lakeview is a "breeze" when I merely said it was adequate).

Let's just say that I live very close to you if you live anywhere near Broadway and Belmont and it takes me 25 minutes in the morning and 30-35 minutes in the afternoons to commute to a much farther destination than you. And I never have to deal with standing around in 20 degree below zero weather and I will probably never get fired for being literally 50 minutes late the last time I stood at the Belmont stop for 35-40 minutes while an out of service train just stood there blocking northbound traffic. I have taken the CTA to/from Evanston many times in the past. It is very convenient but it is much slower and much less convenient during inclimate weather. And there are times that it is unreliable like I mentioned earlier. With my job I have to be at the hospital at either 9 or 7AM depending on the day, no later. I have driven and taken the CTA enough times to know which is faster and more reliable. I literally save about an entire hour everyday I choose to drive rather than take the CTA. I work Mon-Sat so that's a good extra 6 hours every week I get because I drive.

Why do I even mention this? Because it is unacceptable, especially given that most of my CTA trip is dedicated express right-of-way. Some people need to admit that the CTA is slow, broken, and mismanaged, which should come as no surprise given recent federal inquiries. Luckily it seems most people in here realize this and that something needs to be done about it (and is hopefully being done). This is what it means to be a transit advocate! The federal official who probed the CTA said, and I quote, "the conditions found at the CTA were the worst he has seen at any U.S. transit agency." That should tick you off if you are a true transit advocate. This is our system. And people are screwing it up with YOUR money. The solution to this problem is to fix the CTA and get new people in there who are accountable to each other and to us, not to demonize the automobile.

[pip]

Let's just say that I live very close to you if you live anywhere near Broadway and Belmont and it takes me 25 minutes in the morning and 30-35 minutes in the afternoons to commute to a much farther destination than you. And I never have to deal with standing around in 20 degree below zero weather and I will probably never get fired for being literally 50 minutes late the last time I stood at the Belmont stop for 35-40 minutes while an out of service train just stood there blocking northbound traffic.

I know what you mean. I remember the time a friend was giving me a ride to work via LSD and there was a car accident. Traffic was backed up for miles. I can't afford to be late to work like that.

[Marcu]

Why do I even mention this? Because it is unacceptable, especially given that most of my CTA trip is dedicated express right-of-way. Some people need to admit that the CTA is slow, broken, and mismanaged, which should come as no surprise given recent federal inquiries. Luckily it seems most people in here realize this and that something needs to be done about it (and is hopefully being done). This is what it means to be a transit advocate! The federal official who probed the CTA said, and I quote, "the conditions found at the CTA were the worst he has seen at any U.S. transit agency." That should tick you off if you are a true transit advocate. This is our system. And people are screwing it up with YOUR money. The solution to this problem is to fix the CTA and get new people in there who are accountable to each other and to us, not to demonize the automobile.

Well said. It's amazing how many people are willing to cover for the CTA while, as the fed study pointed out, they are risking our lives and wasting our money. Let's just face reality. That is what's best for the CTA.

[forumly_chgoman]

Maybe you've had a different experience than me. I drive in rush hour every single day, morning and afternoon, on the local roads through the north side to/from Evanston and/or Children's Memorial and/or Northwestern Memorial Streeterville from Belmont. Sometimes I take Lincoln/Western, sometimes Ashland, sometimes Lakeshore, this afternoon home I decided to take Western to Foster to Damen and Damen home. I mix things up because I like to see the different neighborhoods and get bored with the same old route everyday. ALL of these routes have been plenty adequate and have ALWAYS been faster than taking mass transit. I'm sorry but this is just the truth.

BTW last time I decided to take the El from my home in Lakeview to Evanston Memorial it took me one hour and 42 minutes door to door. And I live very close to the Belmont stop. I can't even begin to imagine what type of road/weather conditions would be necessary for it to take me that long to drive up there. It takes me about 30 minutes to drive in the morning and 35 minutes in the afternoon. And owning a car already that's paid for and I can use for many other things besides just commuting, it's even cheaper to boot day-to-day (gas to Evanston or Downtown < CTA fare).



Maybe you are in the wrong thread because no one in here insinuated anything close to getting rid of the CTA. How ludicrous would that be. I said it needs to get shaken up, have more accountability to its customers, and Daley needs to step in and get serious about it (to **IMPROVE** it!) but that is the extent of it.



The money has to come from somewhere. Either way tax everyone and redistribute the monies to pay for services, or we charge people for using them. In my opinion, whenever it is realistic and feasible, we should pay for what we use (i.e., city dwellers should not subsidize suburban highways and suburbanites should not subsidize the 77 Belmont Bus). I know many people live in this world where we just need to form a Robin Hood society and have a public pot of money for everything, and this may work with some things, but that type of system for *everything*, which it sounds like you want, is intrinsically inefficient beacuse it requires bureacratic redistribution, politics and then there is the question of whose money is it really and who is accountable for it? Why do you think the CTA is in so much trouble? Mismanagement of *other* people's money and redestribution of your and my wealth in an inefficient manner while giving employees cushy pension plans and benefits that we continue to pay for with the *majority* of our fares.

But you seem to be reading someone else's message because I even specifically stated that things like education, that you mentioned, is not entirely realistic to self-fund and I specifically stated that I wouldn't cut funding for that nor many other government services so I don't know what you are exactly responding to.

^^^Just curious have you considered the Purple Line....express to Howard from Belmont.....I mean I know there have been slow zones...but 1hr 42 seems extreme.

I live in RP and for me to drive to DT Evanston is 15 minutes easy including finding parking, I also take the redline and it takes about 30 min which includes walk to Morse stop.

Metra is best...3 min walk to station and literally 5-6 minutes to davis...I hav e gone from door to DT evanston in 10 minutes actually i think it was 9

[VivaLFuego]

...I'm surprised CTA wasn't ready for the Fed report with the fact that basically everyone in the chain of command responsibly for track maintenance was fired after the derailment incident.

[TransitEngr]

I know this is not PERFECTLY on topic.... but I am working on a new transit station for CDOT. CDOT will finance the "L" station and build it for the CTA... obviously the CTA willl be the operator. Once this is cleared by the Alderman and the Mayor... then I'll tell you guys about it. It's nothing terribly fancy.

Anyway... so I have to surpervise my survey crew when they conduct their Track Level (up on the "L") survey.

I have to undergo the CTA safety training course and I have a few questions.

1. How dangerous is the 600Volt 3rd rail? If one trips and lands their hand (or any exposed skin... face, etc.) on the 3rd rail... does it have the potential to kill?

2. I know I have to wear rubber work boots (obviously no steel toe) to the training and any other time. Does anyone recommend any specific brand or type of boot that's electrically isolated for increased safety?

Thanks,
TransitEngr

[Busy Bee]

I'm no expert of electric heavy rail power supplies, but i always thought that you had to slip part of your body underneath it, either touching the underside or the back of the third-rail "hood." I've always thought this because I've seen pictures of people walking and resting on the third-rail. Is there an expert out there? Maybe Viva knows, or drop an email to the fella that runs Chicago-L.org (http://www.chicago-l.org)

[TransitEngr]

I'm no expert of electric heavy rail power supplies, but i always thought that you had to slip part of your body underneath it, either touching the underside or the back of the third-rail "hood." I've always thought this because I've seen pictures of people walking and resting on the third-rail. Is there an expert out there? Maybe Viva knows, or drop an email to the fella that runs Chicago-L.org (http://www.chicago-l.org)

We don't have 3rd rail "hoods" in Chicago. I've seen them in DC and Atlanta.

The train car contact shoes sit directly on top of the 3rd rail here.


Thanks for the suggestion about e-mailing Chicago-L.org... Cheers!:cheers:

[Busy Bee]

Yeah, I guess I never noticed that they were unprotected in Chicago. Learn something everyday.

[Busy Bee]

Yeah, I guess I never noticed that they were unprotected in Chicago. Learn something everyday.

[ardecila]

Read this FAQ question (http://www.chicago-l.org/FAQ.html#3.1) at Chicago-L.org

Basically, it's very difficult for a person to ground the 3rd-rail up on the elevated structure, because the wooden ties and the 3rd-rail supporting dowels are all non-conductive, so long as they are dry. Down in the subways, on a solid-fill embankment, or on the ground, the 3rd-rail is much more dangerous.

[TransitEngr]

Read this FAQ question (http://www.chicago-l.org/FAQ.html#3.1) at Chicago-L.org

Basically, it's very difficult for a person to ground the 3rd-rail up on the elevated structure, because the wooden ties and the 3rd-rail supporting dowels are all non-conductive, so long as they are dry. Down in the subways, on a solid-fill embankment, or on the ground, the 3rd-rail is much more dangerous.

Thanks, I'll continue to do a little research. But for the most part it looks like I'll be in greater danger at the CTA safety training (required to step over the 3rd rail in a yard) vs. my actual work up on the "L".

[Chicago3rd]

The Chicago Tribune editorial is recommending the RTA not take the advancement offered by Gov. Bagofnonsense. I agree at this point. Bogofnonsense is NOT doing this to help out the "people" on the public transportation system here in Chicago, rather he is doing it to let himself and the legislators, who have had 11 months to work on this, off the hook for a few more weeks. We need to have change and that can only occure when the people get mad enough to make change. On this rare occasioin I agree with the Tribune.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0914edit1sep14,0,6905707.story

[VivaLFuego]

I know this is not PERFECTLY on topic.... but I am working on a new transit station for CDOT. CDOT will finance the "L" station and build it for the CTA... obviously the CTA willl be the operator. Once this is cleared by the Alderman and the Mayor... then I'll tell you guys about it. It's nothing terribly fancy.

Anyway... so I have to surpervise my survey crew when they conduct their Track Level (up on the "L") survey.

I have to undergo the CTA safety training course and I have a few questions.

1. How dangerous is the 600Volt 3rd rail? If one trips and lands their hand (or any exposed skin... face, etc.) on the 3rd rail... does it have the potential to kill?

2. I know I have to wear rubber work boots (obviously no steel toe) to the training and any other time. Does anyone recommend any specific brand or type of boot that's electrically isolated for increased safety?

Thanks,
TransitEngr
Ardecila's explanation is pretty good. It definitely has the potential to kill, but the L will be the safest of any (obviously subway and embankment ROWs will have the most potential for grounding). The training is alot of fun though, at least it was for me. Just be careful and you'll be fine. While you're up there, trains are required to slow down to 6mph, and it's a real treat to stand right next to one of these beasts rumbling by, and even better to be on the catwalk between 2 of them passing eachother.

[Marcu]

The Chicago Tribune editorial is recommending the RTA not take the advancement offered by Gov. Bagofnonsense. I agree at this point. Bogofnonsense is NOT doing this to help out the "people" on the public transportation system here in Chicago, rather he is doing it to let himself and the legislators, who have had 11 months to work on this, off the hook for a few more weeks. We need to have change and that can only occure when the people get mad enough to make change. On this rare occasioin I agree with the Tribune.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/chi-0914edit1sep14,0,6905707.story

The Sun Times also had an editorial blasting the legislature and Daley. Looks like there is enough support and exposure out there to finally get something done in the next couple of weeks.

[chitowngza]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-cta_bd_16sep16,0,5809671.story?page=2&coll=chi_tab01_layout


----------------------------------------
CTA's deeper crisis: Decades of neglect
TRIBUNE EXCLUSIVE: Workers tell of substandard track inspections, lack of training and ignored warnings about safety of deteriorating system
By Jon Hilkevitch and Monique Garcia | Tribune staff reporters
September 15, 2007

Chicago Transit Authority foreman Elios Gil was losing sleep at night worrying about the almost 18 miles of dilapidated track assigned to his inspectors and repair crew.

His track gang, which at one point dwindled to just eight people, couldn't keep up with the wear and tear of trains constantly pounding on the almost 60-year-old tracks.

"Usually, we don't have enough equipment to take care of our maintenance," Gil told National Transportation Safety Board investigators slightly more than a month after the July 11, 2006, Blue Line derailment and fire that sent about 1,000 terrified passengers fleeing the dimly lit subway tunnel with rings of black soot around their mouths and nostrils. "Sometimes we have to wait."

His account was one of dozens in an NTSB investigation file obtained by the Tribune. Thousand of pages containing documents and transcribed interviews with CTA workers tell the hidden story of why track inspections were hit or miss, repairs were backlogged and managers either failed to correct dangerously deteriorated track conditions or claimed they were unaware of them.

The workers told of a system that at its best met 50-year-old standards and at its worst left workers unnerved, imagining scenarios like the smoky fire in the muddy subway tunnel last year—or worse.

Since the derailment, inspections have been stepped up and thousands of feet of track have been designated slow zones, evidence of an aging and decrepit transit system.

Even though the slow zones will allow trains to keep running, the steel tracks just inches below passengers' feet remain in dire need of repair.

The Blue Line accident probably would not have occurred if the problems between the Clark/Lake and Grand/Milwaukee stations in downtown Chicago had been red-flagged and the area designated a train slow zone, records revealed.

The core issue, investigators found, was not funding troubles, but a gross lack of management and oversight by the CTA and its parent agency, the Regional Transportation Authority. Investigators were unable to determine what had become of thousands of inspection and maintenance reports, raising questions about whether they were done at all or were either lost or destroyed.

It is a disturbing picture of the nation's second-largest transit system, which each day carries half a million passengers a total of 225,000 miles over its eight lines.



Warnings ignored, some say
CTA inspectors said that some foremen ignored verbal warnings and paperwork about unsafe track, prompting some rail inspectors to write their findings on subway walls in chalk as evidence that the weak links on the line had not been simply overlooked.

Some of the dates scribbled on the walls went back as far as 1996, track inspector Brian Hill said Thursday in an interview with the Tribune.

"Because they never would come [fix] the problem, to cover ourselves [we'd write on the walls,]" said Hill, who was among five employees fired after the Blue Line derailment. "You know what CTA means, right? Cover Thine You-Know-What."

During the investigation, thousands of documents detailing the condition of the tracks could not be found, raising questions about whether the inspections were completed and whether managers were alerted to the growing problems and took action.

More than 80 percent of the records for Blue Line inspections done between May 2006 and the accident the following July were never found, investigators said.

Those records, which were stored in boxes in rail yard trailers and not reviewed by higher-level managers, should have detailed thousands of rotting wooden railroad ties, rusted bolts and worn rail.

The missing files, which inspectors and maintenance workers said they completed, were a mystery to frustrated employees who said they did all they could to report potentially dangerous conditions.

Often, inspectors were told that there wasn't manpower, money or materials to get the job done.

Gil told the NTSB it disgusted him to see millions of dollars being spent for station upgrades when the tracks were a mess.

"The train doesn't run on the station," Gil said. He pleaded with the safety board to help him.

"We got big problems here," Gil said.

Darrell Nelson, a 31-year CTA veteran, was transferred from supervising track work on the Brown Line to the Blue Line less than six months before the derailment.

He voiced frustration at the inexperience of inspectors and track workers, but he dutifully reported up the command chain all issues brought before him, he said.

Nelson, 52, said he walked into a backlog of Blue Line projects and wasn't made fully aware by his predecessor or the inspectors who worked for him that problems were so serious and widespread. He thought the track structure in that area of the subway was fine.

"If the men don't bring anything to me, how am I supposed to know?" he said in an interview with the Tribune. "Why in the hell would I come to work knowing I have a year and seven months until retirement and not do what I am supposed to do knowing that any negligence would impair safety?"



Subway inspections difficult
Working at the track level is no easy feat, especially in the dark, dank belly of the subway lines. Two-man crews, paired up for safety, must do their work as trains rumble by every seven to 10 minutes.

They trudge through mud and muck, often equipped with little more than a flashlight, safety goggles and a vest. Instead of calibrated instruments, they use rudimentary inspection tools, and they are given a wooden ruler or a stick with markings to measure the width, or gauge, of the tracks.

Many track-walkers carry a collapsible carpenter's ruler that unfolds to 56½ inches—the proper width of the track. In the cave-like subway tunnels, where light bulbs are either burnt out or covered in grime, the workers hold one end of the ruler against one rail and stretch it to the other.

A mistake of an inch or even less could cause train wheels to jump the track.

Repairmen also described to investigators the challenge of eyeballing faulty parts among the thousands of screw spikes, fastening clips and steel plates holding together miles of rails—the very foundation of public transit in Chicago.

They said it's difficult to spot a cracked spike if it is wedged in a plate or to see a rotted and split tie sitting in standing water.

"You've got a tie with a plate on each side of it, four screw spikes in each plate and two fastening clips," said Nelson, who also was fired amid a huge public outcry after the Blue Line derailment.

"Hitting every washer, every bolt, every spike, you would be down there all day and not complete your work. The problem was that a lot of the new guys didn't know what to look for," he said.

Although inspectors are required to check their corridor of track twice per week, that happened rarely, if ever, for a variety of reasons. Inspectors say that to do the job right, there isn't enough time to cover all the tracks in the five hours allotted per day.



Inspector training questioned
Inspections were often cut short to fix problems discovered. Inspectors also complained that they had to learn on the job because training consisted of a one-day class.

"One day, one class a year. It wasn't enough, especially when you've got lives at stake," said Blue Line inspector Bruce McFall, also fired after the derailment.

Track inspector Bryant Martin spent more than three years on the job and was never issued the CTA's Track Maintenance Standards Manual, he told NTSB investigators. The manual is considered the go-to guide to trouble-shoot problems, but Martin learned while he worked.

In the wake of the NTSB report, CTA President Ron Huberman said changes are coming but will take time. Track work must be fitted in between rush periods and between trains coming through the subways and elevated corridors every few minutes.

The NTSB stopped short of saying commuters should keep off CTA trains.

But spokesman Peter Knudson said, "We believe the CTA system could be significantly safer. While we are encouraged that the CTA has taken some steps, the work is not done until they address our safety recommendations in totality."

CTA Board Chairwoman Carole Brown directed much of the blame at the agency's previous administration, which was headed by mayoral confidant Frank Kruesi from 1997 until this spring. Other board members agreed that Huberman's leadership bears no resemblance to the way Kruesi ran the CTA.

"Six months ago, we would have been told we didn't have any problems," CTA board vice-chairwoman Susan Leonis said.

Mayor Richard Daley staunchly stood by Kruesi during tough times, including service cuts and fare hikes. But the failings that were so explicitly outlined in the NTSB probe prompted Daley to criticize the supervision of track maintenance as "a disgrace. You talk about the safety of people riding public transportation."

Kruesi, known for his style of micro-management, labeled the systemic problems with rail inspections and maintenance that occurred under his watch as "indefensible."

"I'm the first person to acknowledge that the NTSB investigation uncovered things that needed to be fixed," Kruesi said. "It should have come to my attention."

Former CTA inspector Hill noted bitterly that some of the conditions workers had complained about for years have been corrected since he was fired.

"I saw on the TV the other day how bright it looked down there [in the subway]," Hill said. "One of the guys I used to work with, he said, 'Man, it looks like Times Square down there.' "

jhilkevitch@tribune.com

mcgarcia@tribune.com



•U.S. infrastructure, like CTA, is in dire straits. PERSPECTIVE

[chitowngza]

While I'm here I'll share (which hopefully is allowed) the email drafted by Huberman and sent yesterday (Fri 14 Sep 2007) to those of us who use the Chicago Cards:

----------------------------
Dear Chicago Card and Chicago Card Plus Users:

I am writing to inform you that the fare and service changes scheduled for September 16th have been postponed. This means that the cost of your passes and fares will not increase on Sunday, and any routes scheduled for elimination will continue to operate.

However, the temporary loan of $24 million provided by the State postpones these changes for less than two months. On November 4th, if the Illinois General Assembly has not acted, we will be forced to increase fares and reduce service.

The bottom-line is we need a comprehensive plan to fund mass transit.

I know that you are frustrated about the potential service cuts and fare changes. So are we. That is why we are again asking you to join with us and tell our State leaders: "No More Doomsdays. Fix Mass Transit."

Please visit transitchicago.com, or call 1-888-YOUR-CTA, for information on how to contact your state legislators. Please make your voices heard as we fight to preserve and improve the mass transit system Chicago needs and deserves.

Thank you again for your support. We are committed to improving your experience on the CTA.

Sincerely,
Ron Huberman

[VivaLFuego]

^ A decent article by Hilkevitch in the trib. It's sad that it took a derailment to wake up certain parts of the organization to those troubles. Since then, all the subway lighting has been replaced and of course the track standards were significantly tightened (hence all the slow zones that cropped up right after the derailment as a result of the re-inspection).

The article had a slight slant though. For one, it's somewhat false to say that a lack of funding had nothing to do with it. Adequate capital investment would have allowed for a more timely replacement of the 60 year old ties and tie plates with those of a more modern standard (concrete and composite-based) that require much less maintenance. Most "old-style" track components, such as wood ties with spiked-on steel plates, have an asset life of 20-30 years, and obviously these were much, much older.

Also, the article seems to fully exonerate the proverbial "little guys" while blaming lazy management, when of course its more complex than that.... several of the lower-level inspectors and foremen falsified their inspection reports, claiming they had inspected track that they had not, etc. It was definitely a top-to-bottom failure, and basically everyone in the chain of command was held accountable: Not only that whole inspection team, but the manager of track maintenance, and subsequently the vice president of facilities maintenance and executive VP over facilities and construction have all been replaced. The report is of course worthwhile, but the timing is bad and the spin the media puts on it is worse. The problem is solved, so let's move on....or at least that should be CTA's message.

[Chicago3rd]

Also, the article seems to fully exonerate the proverbial "little guys" while blaming lazy management, when of course its more complex than that.... several of the lower-level inspectors and foremen falsified their inspection reports, claiming they had inspected track that they had not, etc. It was definitely a top-to-bottom failure, and basically everyone in the chain of command was held accountable: Not only that whole inspection team, but the manager of track maintenance, and subsequently the vice president of facilities maintenance and executive VP over facilities and construction have all been replaced. The report is of course worthwhile, but the timing is bad and the spin the media puts on it is worse. The problem is solved, so let's move on....or at least that should be CTA's message.

Seems to me even if you would like to apply the blame to the little guy and protect management....that seems awkward. What is management's job? Did their little people get managed?

We all know that Kruesi let everything go to hell in order to prove his point that CTA was going to hell. His philosophy was to also punish CTA riders in the worst way (his cuts verses Ron's more user friendly cuts). And we will NOT eve go into the worthless bus managers.

[AnotherPunter]

I'm sure this is a completely naive question and probably addressed somewhere earlier... but has there ever been serious discussion of completely replacing the current El infrastructure? I.e., moving to a new mode (possibly tunnels under the existing El lines or a new monorail system)? It seems abundantly clear that the existing infrastructure is on its last legs. We can continue to perform emergency maintenance on the existing system or we can start clean. Obviously, given the difficulties we have getting funding from the state and federal government for repairs to the existing infrastructure, funding for something like this would be a huge huge obstacle. Still, it seems like the crisis point has been reached or is quickly approaching. At a minimum, I wonder if there have been schemes dreamed up out there and posted on the web or sitting on a self in some library that I could go obsess over for a few hours.

Thanks folks, sorry for the newby dreamer question.

[OhioGuy]

One question and one complaint from me today. My question concerns the brown line reconstruction. I'm wondering why it's possible for the trains to operate at high speeds through the construction zone at the Montrose stop, but have to operate slowly through the Addison & Southport construction zones? What's the difference? (particularly between Montrose & Addision which are both at nearly identical stages in their reconstructions... how is it safe to operate quickly through Montrose, but not safe through Addison?????)

And the other is a complaint from today. I rode the brown line down to Belmont and planned on switching to the red line to head to Clark & Division. As we were pulling into Belmont, a red line train was there. Yet as we were slowing down for the stop, the red line train departed. Why the f&ck did the red line operator not wait so that riders could transfer between the two trains??? I ended up waiting nearly 15 minutes for the next red line train to show up all because the damn operator couldn't allow 10-15 extra seconds for transfers. Grrrr....

[VivaLFuego]

^AnotherPunter,
Not a naive thought, and actually definitely a common and frequent one. Each new administration, be it at CTA/RTA/the city/etc. considers the question, and basically always come to the same conclusion. There's no reason the current technology has to be so decrepit, and with adequate funding the system would function just fine (look at the Orange/Green/Pink lines, for example)....far and away, the most efficient use of capital dollars is to renovate the existing infrastructure as opposed to building new. Of course, theres some ambiguity in that rationality often is completely absent in political discussions, especially as you get to higher and higher levels of government; it's possible that it would be easier to get political support for building a $15 billion new subway system than it would be to get such support for a $5 billion modernization program of the existing infrastructure. Would a politician rather cut the ribbon on a new subway, or on a station that already existed on a line that already existed (even if the former cost 3-4 times as much)?

^OhioGuy,
The slow zones at the Brown Line station construction sites are usually in place while the caisson foundations, bents, and flange angles are repaired/replaced, hence why they are in place at some stations and not others, and why they are in place even though you seemingly dont see any work being done at track level.

[Chicago3rd]

One question and one complaint from me today. My question concerns the brown line reconstruction. I'm wondering why it's possible for the trains to operate at high speeds through the construction zone at the Montrose stop, but have to operate slowly through the Addison & Southport construction zones? What's the difference? (particularly between Montrose & Addision which are both at nearly identical stages in their reconstructions... how is it safe to operate quickly through Montrose, but not safe through Addison?????)

And the other is a complaint from today. I rode the brown line down to Belmont and planned on switching to the red line to head to Clark & Division. As we were pulling into Belmont, a red line train was there. Yet as we were slowing down for the stop, the red line train departed. Why the f&ck did the red line operator not wait so that riders could transfer between the two trains??? I ended up waiting nearly 15 minutes for the next red line train to show up all because the damn operator couldn't allow 10-15 extra seconds for transfers. Grrrr....

I think traffic has improved because the lines no longer wait for each other. Especially north bound lines.

There could have been workers at the stations on the brownline stations that made the driver slow down.

Redline..unless you were riding after two a.m. you should not have had to wait that long. That is another issue CTA should address...following schedules.

[OhioGuy]

I think traffic has improved because the lines no longer wait for each other. Especially north bound lines.

Waiting 10-15 extra seconds shouldn't have been asking all that much for the red line to do. There are only two transfer stations in the area (Belmont & Fullerton), so it's not as if the lines are going to lose much time. I'm not saying one line should wait for a different line to show up as that would be wasting time. But when the two lines have trains at the same station at essentially the same time, they should be allowing riders the opportunity for a convenient transfer.

There could have been workers at the stations on the brownline stations that made the driver slow down.

They slow the trains down at Addison no matter what time of day, regardless of whether workers are present. At 2am we can speed through Montrose while we can't speed through Addision. I'm doubting Addison has works present 24/7 and Montrose doesn't. If that was the case, the Addison reconstruction should be way ahead of Montrose right now instead of exactly even. I'd say about 80% of the time I'm on the brown line we don't slow down through Montrose, but we *ALWAYS* slow down through Addison. The two stations were torn down at the same time and appear to be almost exactly even on their progress, so I just don't understand how there can be such a huge difference between the two. It's been like this ever since I moved here last January.

Redline..unless you were riding after two a.m. you should not have had to wait that long. That is another issue CTA should address...following schedules.

Oh, I definitely know it shouldn't have been that long between the two red line trains, but that's how long the wait was. But that's pretty typical for the CTA... trains rarely run on a consistent schedule. A minute or two off... ok, no biggie. But it's not uncommon for it to be much bigger than that. Strangely enough I just got off the brown line at Damen 1.5 hrs ago, and just as I exited the station another outbound train came through. Now I don't want to complain (afterall I'd love for that kind of frequency to occur all the time :D), but I think that shows just how inconsistent the spacing is between trains. You never know if you're gonna be stuck waiting 15 minutes for a train, or just 2 minutes for a train... but rarely will you wait what should be the normal 7-8 minutes between trains (and again that 10-15 seconds I wanted for my transfer yesterday would *not* have made that big of a difference overall... the problems are the big spacing gaps that occur).

[Chicago3rd]

Waiting 10-15 extra seconds shouldn't have been asking all that much for the red line to do.

Those 10-15 extra seconds are really 10,000 to 15,000 extra seconds if the trains are loaded. Waiting for the train as scheduled most of the day 5-8 minutes shouldn't have been that hard. 15 minutes was uncalled for.
How long was that red line already there? I am not trying to be difficult. But the one thing I have noticed is that there seem to be a lot smaller gaps with the 3 rails between Fullerton and Belmont and I have stated my belief as to why the system is running better between those two spots.




They slow the trains down at Addison no matter what time of day, regardless of whether workers are present. At 2am we can speed through Montrose while we can't speed through Addision. I'd say about 80% of the time I'm on the brown line we don't slow down through Montrose, but we *ALWAYS* slow down through Addison.

Do you think they do that to agitate us? Could there be an engineering reason why they have to slow down?

What kills me is why stations like Sedgewich and Armitage seem are left open for service but are getting done way quicker than any of the stations they closed!

I see no excuse for being so far off schedule either. Of course if something out of the ordinary would have occurred CTA would have put audio on and informed all its customers to the delay......not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[OhioGuy]

Do you think they do that to agitate us? Could there be an engineering reason why they have to slow down?

Oh, I don't think they do that to agitate us. I definitely think they want us all to get to our locations as quickly as possible. But that's why I asked the question. I just wasn't understanding why the big difference between Montrose & Addison speedwise when they seem exactly the same to me. I get the most joy out of my entire ride on the brown line on the stretch between Irving Park & the curve toward Damen (northbound or southbound). The trains go soooo quickly through that stretch, regardless of it being a construction zone. It's like heaven on earth and I just want more of it through Addison as well, haha. ;)

[VivaLFuego]

I already gave you the answer, OhioGuy...

[munda]

Chicago should do more improve its mass transit

they're dooms day keeps coming and going

[OhioGuy]

I already gave you the answer, OhioGuy...

I saw that. So are you saying the repairing/replacing of caisson foundations, bents, and flange angles weren't necessary at Montrose while it was at Addison? Otherwise I'm still confused why the slow zones have only been an issue at Addison and not at Montrose when they seem the same to me.

[VivaLFuego]

I saw that. So are you saying the repairing/replacing of caisson foundations, bents, and flange angles weren't necessary at Montrose while it was at Addison? Otherwise I'm still confused why the slow zones have only been an issue at Addison and not at Montrose when they seem the same to me.

Either they're only necessary at Addison, or perhaps they're only working on one at a time to minimize the cumulative inconvenience of having the slow zone in place. I'm not on the project. But I know structural work was part of the scope around the stations, and it would be work that you wouldn't see from track level.

[Chicago3rd]

Either they're only necessary at Addison, or perhaps they're only working on one at a time to minimize the cumulative inconvenience of having the slow zone in place. I'm not on the project. But I know structural work was part of the scope around the stations, and it would be work that you wouldn't see from track level.

The bridge at Addison over Lincoln and then the one over Addison must add to the engineering complication of Addison.

Not to freak out Viva out...but I have been overall amazed with the brownline station rehab.

I will be sad to see all those stations added back onto line. The ride from Western to Belmont has been a lot faster overall having three stations closed.

[ardecila]

Maybe it's just an after-effect of waiting so much at Clark Junction, but I've noticed a definite fast zone between Clark Junction and Addison. It's so fast it's unreal, for the CTA at least.

Here's another thing I don't get... why does the Orange Line travel so slowly on track that's only 15 years old?

[hoju]

Well, the solution that we are going to get for mass transit is shaping up to be the same kind of bullshit we see every year. A measly 200mil band-aid loan for one year so we can continue to have a broken system for years to come:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-legis19sep19,1,6298326.story
Casino, transit funding bill OKd
SPRINGFIELD—The state Senate on Tuesday bypassed a long-term fix for Chicago area mass-transit systems, instead passing a plan for a massive public works program that would expand gambling and offer stop-gap funding for public transportation.

[nomarandlee]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-transit_20sep20,1,7158468.story

Transit officials unmoved by plan
By Richard Wronski and Jeffrey Meitrodt | Tribune staff reporters
11:33 PM CDT, September 19, 2007

While Gov. Rod Blagojevich pumped up a rare political victory for his mega-billion dollar public works program Wednesday, mass transit is the real loser, according to lawmakers and transit officials.

The head of the Regional Transportation Authority suggested the governor's plan for a $200 million transit loan tied to his construction plan "would only delay" a looming bus and train service crisis, while a top Pace official called the approach a "Band-Aid." And the CTA continued its silence Wednesday.

Frank Beal, executive director of the influential business-backed civic group Chicago Metropolis 2020, called the Senate bill a "cockamamie scheme that promises a lot to a lot of different people," but ultimately delivers little for mass transit..........................

[the urban politician]

I'm beginning to find this issue so damn depressing that I no longer click and read articles that pertain to it.

Unless I read a headline that says "Vote passes for long-term transit funding plan", I'm no longer interested.

[OhioGuy]

Ok, so I tend to complain a lot when it comes to the CTA. I tend to get frustrated very quickly when I'm riding the El because of the numerous slow zones. But I thought I'd post a compliment this morning. On Wednesday evening I headed downtown for dinner with some friends and took the brown line down there. Typically it's been taking closer to 45 to even sometimes 50 minutes to travel from Lincoln Square to the loop on the brown line. Much to my surprise and delight I actually arrived downtown within about 35 minutes at most. I can't remember the last time I arrived downtown that quickly. So thank you, CTA! :)

[ardecila]

The Sun-Times is reporting that IL Senate President Emil Jones is tentatively throwing his support behind the sales-tax funding plan, at the risk of angering Blago.

First of all, the legislature isn't completely putting off the sales tax plan, and they aren't stopping at the idiotic casino plan.

Second, despite the fact that he is a Democrat, Jones' support could convince certain Senate Republicans to vote in favor of the sales tax hike.

So, basically - WTF is Blago doing, with wide support from both houses of the legislature for the sales tax proposal? He's making more bad decisions than Rex Grossman! The difference is, Grossman only comes out on Sundays.



The Sun-Times also reports that CTA under Huberman is making a big investment in keeping railcars and buses clean. The party line under Kruesi was that seats were cleaned every 3 weeks, but in reality only every 9 months! Now they've shifted personnel from platform cleanup to vehicle cleanup and started installing new sealants and coatings to prevent staining and odors.

[DHamp]

I've been working on this little pet project of mine for the past few days and I thought I'd share it here. It's a massive expansion proposal for the CTA 'L'. Especially amidst funding troubles and low expectations, there should be a clear goal for the future of the system. It would instill a sense of direction and competence if we all knew there was a greater goal. This is my proposal, and I'm happy with how most of it turned out. For the most part, my plan uses freight and Metra ROWs to expand the system. There are a few instances where lines must go down alleys, new subways, and force minimal demolition, but I think it could work. It's not my "ideal" system (which would require TONS of subways under most major roadways -- never going to happen), but it's about 100 times better than what we have now. I'm thinking of sending this to Huberman. Give me feedback if you like/hate it.

Here's the link (http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&msid=101519563040973441290.00043a955db560f99e961&ll=41.84092,-87.63382&spn=0.419981,0.935211&z=11&om=1)

I'll briefly explain the system I've come up with.

Red Line:

The only change is an extension down the median of I-57 all the way to 127th street.

Orange Line:

I've added a second branch that travels down a freight ROW to the city limits at 87th and Western. This is needed to service the greatly under-serviced southwest of Chicago.

Yellow Line (Skokie Swift):

No changes.

Green Line:

I've extended the West 63rd Street branch all the way to Midway. I think it's absolutely necessary to give service to the airport from the South Side. It continues to travel down the alleys behind the commercial frontage of 63rd street. The east 63rd branch continues to travel directly over 63rd all the way to Jackson Park. With the extension of the Brown Line to the South Side over the Green Line tracks, the south branch of the green line can run express to downtown starting at 59th Street.

Blue Line:

There is an added branch that travels up the median of the Edens to Devon. This is probably the least important addition I've made.

Purple Line:

No changes.

Brown Line:

I have made two extensions. The Brown Line now travels South over the Green Line tracks to 63rd near King Dr. After that, it continues straight south over a rail yard and then runs parallel to South Chicago Ave. over freight ROWs to 99th and Ewing. I've also extended the north end of the line though mostly alleyways and to the Blue Line, where it continues to O'Hare in the Kennedy median. I propose temporarily renaming it the Bronze Line to coincide with the 2016 Olympics.

Silver Line:

I borrowed this idea largely from this website: http://www.grayline.20m.com/ I renamed it the Silver line to coincide with the 2016 Olympics. It uses the Metra Electric ROWs to provide more frequent CTA service to the south lakefront and free up the Metra from making inner-city stops other than a few transfers -- speeding up Metra service as well. I only removed the Blue Island branch because the extended Red Line services the same area. The 99th/Ewing Branch (revamp of Metra's South Chicago branch) needs to be subway since frequent CTA service on the surface would be dangerous and create traffic havoc.

Pink Line:

I've created a new branch to service more of the West Side. It splits off of the main West L branch it shares with the Green Line West of Western Ave. and travels over Metra ROWs to the city limits at Harlem and Fullerton. There is an opportunity to expand this line all the way to O'Hare over the same ROWs.

Black Line (Airport Shuttle):

This is probably the most important of all of my proposals. It pulls everything together, better, in my opinion, than the proposed 'Circle' Line. And it's easy! It starts at O'Hare and runs down the Blue Line tracks to near Cicero. There, it elevates and runs straight down the freight ROW east of Cicero to Midway. It continues over the ROWs which turn east south of 67th and then southeast again east of Halsted. It then travels parallel to 95th street until it meets the Silver and Brown lines that run parallel to South Chicago and ends at 99th and Ewing. There is an option to extend this line to the Gary-Chicago airport. This line has the potential to service a large part of the city and it creates transfers to all the other lines, new and old, except the Skokie Swift.

Gold "Circle" Line:

I've actually drawn the proposed circle line as well as my own altered proposal. Mine uses less subway but covers more north-south distance. I did this because I don't think the 'circle' as it stands will give service to any areas that don't already have it, plus I don't think demand to travel from the areas along the current route will be great enough. My circle line travels very closely to all four major sports venues in the city (Wrigley, United Center, The Cell, and Soldier Field) as well as McCormick Place, the Museum Campus, the Loop, Mag Mile, and Gold Coast. The name also coincides with the 2016 Olympics.

Like the proposed Circle Line, my Gold Line has a complicated route. It uses the Freight ROWs south of 39th street, the Metra electric ROWS to Roosevelt, a 2-block stretch of new subway to connect to the Red Line. Then it uses the Red Line route to Belmont, turns and uses Brown Line tracks to Lincoln Ave. and continues West over new L down alleys and over some empty lots to the Blue Line. Then it runs down the Blue Line tracks to Ashland where it continues down the new subway path until it goes 'El' near the Pink/Green line. Continue south between Ashland and Damen to the Orange Line until reaching the freight ROWs south of 39th.


That's it!

[Marcu]

^ Well done. As far as the yellow line, there's already an Oakton Street stop in the works along with plans for Central Street and Old Orchard stops. Hopefully in about ten years the yellow line will have 5 stops instead of the current 2

[VivaLFuego]

Cool, looks pretty sweet and thorough. I'd show you all my Chicago rapid transit fantasy, but it would probably depress you.

Also, alot of lawmakers either voted against or present for the funding plan because of blago's veto threat; they would only want to vote for it if it would surely pass, so theyre not on the record for voting for a tax increase that didnt even pass and thus didnt even produce any result they can point to. If Jones and Madigan can assure their chambers that there are enough votes to override the veto, then it's got a chance in hell of passing.

[DHamp]

Cool, looks pretty sweet and thorough. I'd show you all my Chicago rapid transit fantasy, but it would probably depress you.


Your fantasy system might be similar to my fantasy system. If you don't mind sharing (assuming it's in a format in which you can share it), would you let me see it? PM me, so as not to depress the rest of the SSP populace. ;)

[pyropius]

Wouldn't there be schedule reliability issues with using so many freight ROWs? Isn't the reason why Amtrak finds it so difficult to avoid delays in most of the country because it has to pull over to allow freight trains by?

[DHamp]

Wouldn't there be schedule reliability issues with using so many freight ROWs? Isn't the reason why Amtrak finds it so difficult to avoid delays in most of the country because it has to pull over to allow freight trains by?

I think it depends on how well it is done. Many parts of the current CTA L system are already built over, on, or alongside existing freight or Metra ROWs. Long stretches of the Orange and Green lines are good examples of this, but other CTA lines do this as well. If you spend enough time on Google Earth, you really appreciate the major role rail has had in shaping our city. Where possible, I think we should take advantage of these ROWs to advance our passenger transit as long as it doesn't interfere (too much) with other rail uses.

[pyropius]

I think it depends on how well it is done. Many parts of the current CTA L system are already built over, on, or alongside existing freight or Metra ROWs. Long stretches of the Orange and Green lines are good examples of this, but other CTA lines do this as well. If you spend enough time on Google Earth, you really appreciate the major role rail has had in shaping our city. Where possible, I think we should take advantage of these ROWs to advance our passenger transit as long as it doesn't interfere (too much) with other rail uses.

Yes, I was imagining problems if the CTA had to use the same tracks as the freight trains, but on second thought, that doesn't make much sense, since the el cars would require a dedicated track anyway for their third rail. Am I correct?

[DHamp]

Yes, CTA trains require special tracks with third rails. I'm not sure, but there may be different track dimensions than those of freight rails as well, so there shouldn't be any problem with CTA and frieght getting in each other's way if done properly. Several Metra commuter lines run on the same tracks kind of tracks freight trains can use but even they have dedicated tracks and don't have to share. Now Amtrak may be a different story; I don't really know.

[sukwoo]

Yes, CTA trains require special tracks with third rails. I'm not sure, but there may be different track dimensions than those of freight rails as well, so there shouldn't be any problem with CTA and frieght getting in each other's way if done properly. Several Metra commuter lines run on the same tracks kind of tracks freight trains can use but even they have dedicated tracks and don't have to share. Now Amtrak may be a different story; I don't really know.

Many Metra lines share the same tracks as freight. In fact, the primary reason for Metra delays is interference with freight traffic (same reason for Amtrak delays). I ride the Union Pacific-West line every day out to Geneva and we're often held up 10-15 minutes due to freight trains in our way.

That being said, a lot of the ROW in the city are probably abandoned or underutilized by freight, so this might not be a huge obstacle.

[DHamp]

I probably didn't make it clear that some Metra lines do share tracks with freight and others don't. That's what I meant. I come from a Metra Electric point of view, and that line never shares with freight, but I imagine some of the others may.

As land uses in the city have changed, I would imagine some freight ROWs in the city are less used than they once were and a restructuring to add new CTA lines wouldn't affect freight traffic much, if at all. I'm not an expert, though, so I could be completely wrong about that. I just want a world class transit system; we deserve it.