uh oh, CTA wants to raise fares (Chicago, Rio: maintenance, tax)

[prairiestate]

There are a number of motels on Stony Island Ave. For a 1st time visitor, this would be one of the best places to stay to immerse yourself in Chicago.

Zanzibar Motel
8101 S Stony Island Ave
Chicago, IL 60617
773-768-1430

Stony Island Motel
9201 South Stony Island Avenue
Chicago - 60617
Phone: (773) 731-8812

Seville Motel
9101 South Stony Island Avenue
Chicago - 60617
Phone: (773) 731-6600

[Avengerfire]

^ Ok. This must be a joke and a cruel one at that. Not funny at all. ^

To the OP: DO NOT even consider these motels to stay in.

[Tenzo]

I laugh at some of the hotel names.

"The Willows" used to be a transvestite hooker hotel back in the late 80s

[chet everett]

The section around the Zanzibar is actually a little fixed up:
8101 S Stony Island Ave chicago IL - Google Maps

But yeah, Avengerfire is right, the hotel itself is no place for out of town vistors.

Although if you do decide to venture down there, you could pick up some hot links cheap at Moo & Oink:

http://local.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=...12,238.75,,0,5

[ChiMack]

CTA, Pace facing service cuts - Chicago Breaking News (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/06/cta-pace-metra-facing-service-cuts.html - broken link)

[Chicago60614]

yes......we know. I assume you're posting these now just to be annoying?

[Avengerfire]

For anyone that will be affected:

"CTA to eliminate 3 bus routes"

"...In Chicago, the No. 173 U. of Chicago/Lakeview Express and the No. 174 U. of Chicago/Garfield Stations routes are being cut, effective Sept. 6...

...In Evanston, meanwhile, the CTA is eliminating the No. 200 Main Shuttle on Sept. 6. Ridership has declined to fewer than 100 rides per day since Rand McNally closed its corporate headquarters on the route in January, officials said..."

CTA to eliminate 3 bus routes - Chicago Breaking News (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/08/cta-to-eliminate-3-bus-routes.html - broken link)

[scarletneon]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

For anyone that will be affected:

"CTA to eliminate 3 bus routes"

"...In Chicago, the No. 173 U. of Chicago/Lakeview Express and the No. 174 U. of Chicago/Garfield Stations routes are being cut, effective Sept. 6...

...In Evanston, meanwhile, the CTA is eliminating the No. 200 Main Shuttle on Sept. 6. Ridership has declined to fewer than 100 rides per day since Rand McNally closed its corporate headquarters on the route in January, officials said..."

CTA to eliminate 3 bus routes - Chicago Breaking News (http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/08/cta-to-eliminate-3-bus-routes.html - broken link)

I have to be honest, service to Hyde Park is abysmal.

[Chicago60614]

I read through the 2007 audit done on the CTA by an independant source. It was to find out why the CTA is always in such a crisis, and how they're wasting all their money.

The results actually found that the CTA performs just as good or better as far as operating expenses per revenue mile/hour/passenger compared to the other large agencies in the country.

What it all boiled down to is that the CTA has been the worst funded transit agency for decades now. They're basically forced to run in a state of permenant "partial shut-down" because they've never had enough funding to properly run things since the middle of the 20th century. I'm sure they could still cut a lot of overhead and "fluff", but at the end of the day they're operating on financial life support, and just before the system finally crashes the state will fork over just enough money to keep it going for another year. It's become normal to be budgeted amounts for repairs and maintenance, but then every single year that money is diverted to actually keep trains and buses running. After decades of that you're completely screwed.

This was suppose to be the year they got a solid footing with the sales tax increase, but of course it was a disaster because the economy went to hell. EVERY transit agency is in dire straights these days. I'd have to disagree with the OP. There are two different situations going on here at the same time. It's not like the CTA got all their new sales tax money and went out and bought a horse farm or something. Imagine if they hadn't pushed that increase through - then we'd have some SERIOUS problems.

[TommytheGreek]

Hey Scott a pal, why don't you a try moving back to Iowa, man? I got chunks of transplants like you in a my stool.