Good luck getting to work on Monday (Chicago, Bradley: transfer, buy)

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by Drover

I guess my experiences are somewhere in between. The CTA bus drivers are generally fine, the people who sit in those little booths generally act like they'd rather chew thumbtacks than answer a question or offer assistance.

I've found the PACE bus drivers to be unusually surly.

I also have not had much of a problem with CTA workers. (The first night i was EVER here, when my friend and I were just visiting, they had the red line going over the top and I had no idea what was going on, and this woman at one of the loop stations spent a good 5 minutes trying to explain it to us. We ended up taking a cab because we were still confused, but she was extremely nice.)

Except for the 84 Peterson bus. Man, if you catch that thing at the wrong time, you have to cover your body for fear of the daggers shooting out of the drivers' eyes. (I, however, have found one that is really nice and one that just doesn't give you the look of death, so that's good, but then again he doesn't talk to you either...).

of course that bus is usually horrible to catch and late all the time, so maybe those drivers get b-tched at a lot. *shrug* i'm just trying to get to Target.

[j33]

Originally Posted by KevK

I rode the CTA for years when I lived there and I rarely saw employees like you describe. All of them were very courteous and nice and answered any questions I had or referred me to somebody who could.

I've been riding the CTA on and off since 1988 (wow, is that really almost 20 years?) and that has not been my experience. You got lucky.

[supernerdgirl]

Originally Posted by j33

I've been riding the CTA on and off since 1988 (wow, is that really almost 20 years?) and that has not been my experience. You got lucky.

I think a lot of it is luck.

It's like, if you would have stepped into my old place of employment (a thrift store) and ran into some of the people, you would have gotten treated pretty well. On the other hand, if you would have ran into me or the girl that i worked most closely with, we HATED being there so much, we probably would have blown you off.

[browneyedgurl]

Originally Posted by supernerdgirl

Except for the 84 Peterson bus. Man, if you catch that thing at the wrong time, you have to cover your body for fear of the daggers shooting out of the drivers' eyes. (I, however, have found one that is really nice and one that just doesn't give you the look of death, so that's good, but then again he doesn't talk to you either...).

of course that bus is usually horrible to catch and late all the time, so maybe those drivers get b-tched at a lot. *shrug* i'm just trying to get to Target.

Good ole 84, I have to catch that bus on my way to work. But there's this one driver who I always seem to get, and she is actually quite friendly. She seems to have remembered my face, and always says hi and asks how my day 's been going. It's refreshing.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by supernerdgirl

I think a lot of it is luck.

It's like, if you would have stepped into my old place of employment (a thrift store) and ran into some of the people, you would have gotten treated pretty well. On the other hand, if you would have ran into me or the girl that i worked most closely with, we HATED being there so much, we probably would have blown you off.

Give it a few more months or a few years and you will see what we are talking about.:-(

[ahava]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Give it a few more months or a few years and you will see what we are talking about.:-(

I guess if I lived in the city and had to ride the CTA daily I would feel that way, but as a sporadic rider my experience has been the same as supernerdgirl's. It's been hit or miss for whether a CTA worker is friendly or surly, but the overwhelming majority for me are just passive. The last time I rode a PACE bus I was with some friends who had never rode a bus before (ahh, suburbanites) and didn't know what the fare was. One of them only put in a dollar, and the bus driver didn't say anything. And sometimes, surliness can be a good thing. A few weeks ago my daughter and I were downtown to tour a school, and we had to take the 156 LaSalle bus to get there. I have a Chicago Card but because I use it so infrequently I haven't gotten the hang of using the touchpad and it usually doesn't work the first time I do it, but I always keep walking and hope if it doesn't work the driver won't notice or say anything. Well this driver on the LaSalle bus was less than pleasant about informing me that my card hadn't worked. Surly to the max. So we're riding the bus and at some random street in Old Town two people tried to get on the bus and the driver told them they'd have to catch the next one. He spent at least five minutes arguing with them before they finally got off the bus - he wouldn't let them on because he saw that one of them was holding a knife. Thank god he was paying attention and cared enough to not let those people on the bus, who knows what they would have done. My 7-year-old was sitting right next to me, you know? It was scary.

[Avengerfire]

All I am saying is when someone has lived here as long as I have and been on just about every bus route and train route thousands of times as I and a few others here have, most people will agree with me. I am not trying to say because I was born in Chicago that I am better qualified to report on the quality of the CTA than a newcomer,but the CTA has gotten worse every year.

I am glad a few of you have had mostly good,neutral, and only a few bad experiences, but from what I know, that is not the norm.

Hopefully things will eventually improve and the agency will hire better people in the office as well as on the street.

I urge all of you to vote.

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by Drover

I've found the PACE bus drivers to be unusually surly.

Oh, I agree with that! This one particular woman driver that I always ended up with on the PACE bus I took, seemed to have it in for me! My boyfriend at the time said she was jealous, but I still think she could have been a bit more professional. Only one PACE driver I could remember when I took the buses from the burbs was really nice. He even opened his bus door to say "Hello!" when he saw me as he slowly rode by (I was walking in the neighborhood). Other than that, well, I like the CTA drivers much better.

[Avengerfire]

Originally Posted by ITChick

This is terrible and it's not going to hurt the big law makers like it will the little folk who depend on the CTA to get to work, the doctor, the grocery, etc. I can think of at least fifty people in my little circle alone who are going to be effected by this negatively. And it will hurt many businesses as well that depend on their employees to show up on time using the CTA.

It is not going to happen. They called it off because the Union claims
"religious leaders" urged them not to do it.

The real reason is the action would have been illegal. The CTA suits and City knew this. It would be very easy to replace most of the non-workers at the CTA with people that want to work if it came down to it in the long run. The Union knew they would not gain any favorable opinions from the people that know many CTA workers are crap to begin with.

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by supernerdgirl

i'm just trying to get to Target.

Heh. Is that the Target on Peterson? Love that one!