CTA gripes (Chicago, Cambria: credit, buy, camp)

[long101]

I cant remember the last time I sat down on a rush hour commute. Even if seats are open I will typically stand, seems some people 'need' to sit down for their 10 minute ride, I dont get. I would much rather have to stand then let a train pass by and wait 10 minutes for the next train for the chance to pile in.

[Bird4Prez]

Good points made for the most part. I guess I will have to agree to disagree with some of you. I don't think you can ever justify a 16-45% rate increase from one year to the next (for the 30 day cards to the 1 day cards). That is just indicative of poor management to me. If Jewel's prices suddenly spiked 16-45%, I would go to Domenick's.....unfortunately that isn't how it works with public transit. The CTA knew they would have to raise rates like this probably 5 years ago....if they did any kind of cost projection analysis. Why not ease into things with a 1-5% annual rate increase over a longer period of time. It would have been a much easier pill to swallow for a lot of the city's poorer residents. To raise rates so dramatically the same year that the payroll tax holiday expires must have been a real burden for some folks in town. Also, anyone that has been out to O'Hare within the last several months (and probably Midway.....but I haven't been there for a few years), would've seen/heard Rahm talking about how green and innovative the city is. If he truly wants the city to be a model of green innovation.......why wouldn't he work with the RTA/CTA to keep public transportation extremely inexpensive. Cars have to be the biggest environmental issue in town considering that the city always seems to be in the top 5 nationally for traffic/gridlock. We'll see how this increase effects ridership in the long run. Maybe it won't decrease ridership at all, since gas will continue to hover between 3.75 and 4.75 (if not higher) for the forseeable future.

As for the seats, I don't think you could comfortably fit 5 people on there regardless of how "non-fat" they are. I saw several skinny teenagers from New Trier High(at least that is what their sweatshirts said) riding from Howard to somewhere south and they all seemed to be struggling to fit 5 on the benches together.

As for the schedules screens, I have seen "Service Temporarily Unavailible" too many times to count. This may be because I work non-traditional hours, but it seems to increase during poor weather....when really want to know when your train is coming.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Bird4Prez

As for the seats, I don't think you could comfortably fit 5 people on there regardless of how "non-fat" they are. I saw several skinny teenagers from New Trier High(at least that is what their sweatshirts said) riding from Howard to somewhere south and they all seemed to be struggling to fit 5 on the benches together.

While the seats are small, I've done several short (10 minute) rides on the Pink and Purple Line in the Loop. I've been in the new trains when they were full and I have done the sitting on the seats. I've also witnessed several times the red line being packed with everyone occupying a seat. I can personally say that they can fit everyone on them and even "fat" people (not terribly fat though). You aren't squished, but you don't have a ton of room. But I have done this where I sat down and every other seat was taken too. I'm not huge but I'm not terribly skinny either (average weight for my height) and it was good enough to be comfortable. You'd be surprised how it can seat people.



As far as the rate hikes go. Think about it like this. The state is broke pretty much. If we want to have even better public transit, we are going to have to pay. If there's 1 million riders per day and the rate goes up $1/ride, then you've just allowed CTA to make an extra $1 million/day, or $365 million/year (or more). If they use this towards making new stops and/or extending the lines, I'm all for it. I will gladly put up $1 extra per ride so we can have more coverage via public transit (especially trains).

[ChicagoMeO]

the new seats are NOT good for those who NEED a seat, since you all say its good for more people allowed to stand. but some people need a seat and cannot stand.

[emathias]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

the new seats are NOT good for those who NEED a seat, since you all say its good for more people allowed to stand. but some people need a seat and cannot stand.

The percentage of people who need a seat is still easily accommodated as long as people give up their seats to those in need.

Originally Posted by Bird4Prez

...
The CTA knew they would have to raise rates like this probably 5 years ago....if they did any kind of cost projection analysis. Why not ease into things with a 1-5% annual rate increase over a longer period of time. It would have been a much easier pill to swallow for a lot of the city's poorer residents. To raise rates so dramatically the same year that the payroll tax holiday expires must have been a real burden for some folks in town.

As far as rates going up, it's always a battle, so it really makes no sense to raise them incrementally every year - plus, you'd have to re-publicize the new prices every time and reprogram all the fare machines, etc. Changing fares has a cost of its own, so raising them by more, but less frequently actually saves money over the long term - decisions like that are basic management analysis. As fare collection is improved tech-wise and the cost of fare changes are reduced, it wouldn't surprise me if they went to incremental increases annually. The CTA is already at or ahead of peer agencies when it comes to fare collection. Boston still issues their monthly passes based only on calendar months instead of 30-day passes. Toronto still uses tokens for crying out loud.

And the CTA isn't a social welfare agency - they are a transportation agency. The best management in the world can't magically make money appear from nowhere. The CTA can't levy taxes, it is bound by local, state and federal laws about how it can do many of its tasks and how it can pay its employees. If you want the CTA to have more money, don't complain about the CTA, complain about the people in power who control both the subsidy for the CTA and the costly rules they have to abide by.

Originally Posted by Bird4Prez

...why wouldn't he work with the RTA/CTA to keep public transportation extremely inexpensive. Cars have to be the biggest environmental issue in town considering that the city always seems to be in the top 5 nationally for traffic/gridlock. We'll see how this increase effects ridership in the long run. Maybe it won't decrease ridership at all, since gas will continue to hover between 3.75 and 4.75 (if not higher) for the forseeable future.

It's not projected to reduce ridership. Where would Rahm get this extra money for the CTA? Raise taxes? On who? Or perhaps by shutting down other city services? Which ones?

[Midwest Revival]

It's funny because the Northside stations are nice and clean(Most of them), though the stations on the southside(Red Line & Green Line) are dilapidated and the smell of urine is enough to overcome you.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by Midwest Revival

It's funny because the Northside stations are nice and clean(Most of them), though the stations on the southside(Red Line & Green Line) are dilapidated and the smell of urine is enough to overcome you.

Except the ones that are like Chinatown, Sox-35th, etc.. lol. I was actually thinking about this today and how messed up it actually is.

[marothisu]

Originally Posted by ChicagoMeO

the new seats are NOT good for those who NEED a seat, since you all say its good for more people allowed to stand. but some people need a seat and cannot stand.

The number of people who absolutely need to sit are very much in the minority. It's not like there's no seats available for them. By increasing the capacity of the cars, they are doing more long term planning for the CTA to hold more capacity. Also, as I stated before, you don't have as often the "Crap, I can't fit in this and I have to wait for the next train to go home" ****. I hate that, and it's going to increase customer satisfaction as a result too. The people who complain about having to stare at someone's crotch in a crowded train? Tough ****. There's far worse things in the world you could be subjected to. Look downward or to your side if you can.

[Midwest Revival]

Originally Posted by marothisu

Except the ones that are like Chinatown, Sox-35th, etc.. lol. I was actually thinking about this today and how messed up it actually is.

Of course 35th & Chinatown would be well-maintained, they are tourist destinations. Im talking about the stations like Ashland/Cottage Grove. Southside always gets the bad end of the deal, same with Metra. Compare the Metra stations on the Southside to the ones up north or in the suburbs. They have rotting wood platforms and tiny little pre fabricated huts where the ticket machines are. Disgusting...

[JBVirtuoso]

Eh, the green line stations aren't that bad. I think they were rebuilt in the early 90s. There are many unfavorable adjectives I can think of to describe those stations, but dilapidated isn't one of them.