Here we are in 2008 and I still remain hopeful that our region’s transit system will finally get a long-term sustainable operating funding solution. Many of you may question my optimism after a year of short-term fixes and false hopes. Well first, I have resolved to be positive in 2008. Second, CTA provides 1.5 million rides everyday; we are a critical component of the region’s—and the state’s—economy. I continue to expect that Governor and the General Assembly will ultimately do what’s right for Illinois.
Governor Blagojevich and the legislative leaders continue to have transit front and center on their agendas, and in their own unique way hopefully move towards resolution of this long-overdue crisis. Ron, myself, CTA labor unions, Mayor Daley, all the media outlets, and just about everyone else it seems are pushing to make 2008 the year of positive transit change.
In the meantime, CTA is once again preparing for massive service cuts, fare increases and lay offs. You have surely heard our announcements on buses and trains, and as the day approaches you will see/hear more and more media coverage.
CTA is also moving forward prudently with what we can control—we’ve made significant progress on slow zones, with Harlem to Jefferson Park now running at full speed in the Blue Line and work beginning on the Red Line North slow zones, the Brown Line construction project is moving forward with new stations opening (Addison being the latest) and the other single-tracking happening soon, the bus-tracker pilot is up and running, and we’ll have some other projects to announce soon that will make riding the CTA a whole lot nicer.
Some of these projects, including our work on the Blue Line, were possible only because we shifted funds from other, important capital project budgets. This is not a good practice. And because the funding for many of these projects was programmed in the last state capital program, which ended in 1999, CTA’s infrastructure is in dire need of a new state capital program.
We have a lot at stake in 2008. I encourage you to stay vigilant and continue to let your state elected officials know that transit is important to you.
57 Comments:
Thanks greatly for the update on Bus Tracker.
As to the comment from on why 20 Madison was tracked, but not X20 Madison express (the staffer said grant for one route; insufficient funds for more buses), I assume he was fired when he explained. Right?
Because of course, anyone who knew they only had funds for one route, and chose a route that parallels another route, so that using the tracker, you'd be unable to see all the potential buses you might take to your destination -- the person who made that decision is a friggin' idiot. His answer just means he should have chosen a different friggin' route. And it remains an idiotic answer, since today, you obviously have funds for more GPS units -- so put some on 20 so that the thing posted actually provides service.
I mean, how can anyone who works in transit be so dumb! Your existing tracker, far from giving useful info, ACTIVELY MISLEADS PEOPLE!!!
This is the sort of thing that makes people wonder who the hell is in charge over there. I know, I know, it was done under Kruesi. But how can anyone give that explanation with a straight face? How can they say anything but "it was a stupid decision taken under previous management, and we've demoted/fired/changed the responsibilities of the useless, politically-connected manager who made such a dumb decision.
I am just cruising by, but I suggest that the post by anon 1/5 2:25pm be deleted because:
- it's a complaint and there are other more appropriate places to send those;
- complaint is poorly described;
- it's just a rant and calls another person a name; and
- makes denerating comments about a transit agency when claiming political connections get people a job with the agency.
Honestly people... can I offer a clue?
Using limited information provided by anon, as an outsider in California, I'll surmise that the tech/equipment used to track vehicles is purchased as part of new vehicles purchases (installed at the plant where buses are built). And, CTA chose to put new buses on the local 20 with the X20 (express?) retaining the older equipment.
Sounds reasonable to me. No?
Of course, CTA could have selected to buy individual units and installed on existing vehicles... but that ability is limited by available funding. And we all know he primary purpose of transit agencies, right? And that is to provide the service.
What's this I hear about CTA having a financial crisis? Gee... that could explain for not buying individual units for buses.
Go to this website to write a letter to:
Governor Rod Blagojevich (if you live in Illinois)
Your Representative (if you live in Illinois)
Your State Senator (if you live in Illinois)
I deleted the form letter and inserted my own text:
I hope the people of Chicago and the northern counties which
depend on the transit system (Pace, Metra, and CTA) remember
what their elected officials did, when election time comes.
Go to this website to write a letter to:
Governor Rod Blagojevich (if you live in Illinois)
Your Representative (if you live in Illinois)
Your State Senator (if you live in Illinois)
http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/fundpublictransit
I deleted the form letter and inserted my own text:
I hope the people of Chicago and the northern counties which
depend on the transit system (Pace, Metra, and CTA) remember
what their elected officials did, when election time comes.
Farley,
CTA bought individual units for the buses, and did not buy new buses preequipped. And as anon 2:25 said, they bought a certain number initially, and then rather than choosing to use them along a route where that would mean letting customers know about every bus that's coming, they instead chose to use them on a route where this would mean that one in every 2 or 3 buses on that street were not actually tracked.
Since the whole point of the public tracker is to allow you to plan by letting you see when the next bus is coming, not telling you about many of the buses that are actually coming IS A BIG F**KING SCREW-UP!
Go back to California, Farley. You don't have a clue what you're talking about.
Farley -
Please ignore the trackertroll.
While logical, your explanation doesn't fit the bustracker situation. Unfortunately, we have one fellow poster who lives only for bustracker and believes the CTA is committing some capital offense by not rolling it out as speedily or the way he would like it. We ignore him. He's like the idiot who sits in the back of the bus muttering all day -- you start to tune him, and his vitriol, out.
Bus tracker has been in pilot phase for a while now on the #20. The equipment is being installed on all buses - garage by garage. They have frequently indicated that it is about to be made available for public use -- only to hold back. It's frustrating, but not the end of the world for those of us with a life. Your attempt at an explanation didn't deserve that personal response.
THIS IS AN IDEA TO BE BROUGHT UP TO THE LEGISLATOR "Or whos ever in charge of helping mass transit and the laws"
Ok, Since they just came out with the no smoking in public places law in Illinois, The state can make extra money from having a SMOKING PERMIT for bars and etc.
Let the places choose, With the money that the state can make off this... THE MONEY CAN GO FOR MASS TRANSIT!
Let the business choose, Let the business and the smokers help save mass transit!
Everyone can benefit off this, Bother smoker and non-smokers have a choice of where to go, The business can make money from the customers from both smokers and non, State wins cause its more money, And Mass transit wins and helps the mass transit situation!
Its about time someone or something can benefit from the smokers!
Thats not a bad idea, With the state offering smoking permits for business,Some bars,etc can be smoking and some of the other bars and such dont have to be,So its not like people wouldnt have a choice,And then the businesses can have there smoking customers back while other non smokers have theres,The state will be making alot of money off of the permits...AND RIGHT THERE CAN BE THE EXTRA MONEY FOR THE MASS TRANSIT!
"Ron, myself, CTA labor unions, Mayor Daley, all the media outlets, and just about everyone else it seems are pushing to make 2008 the year of positive transit change."
Daley??? Are you kidding me??? He has been virtually silent through all the Doomsdays, either being on conveniently scheduled vacations or mumbling a couple platitudes.
In November and December he found a (little) bit of a voice but it's far overdue. Through his negligence and apathy Daley has not been a friend to the CTA.
Anon 3:51-
Probably easier to just increase the cigarette tax. This would have the advantage of generating the needed additional funds without exposing us all to smoke in public places. Think of it as individualized smoking permits. :-)
Unrelatedly, I know there's more than one person on here that's posted about the bus tracker from time to time, since I have a couple times over the years and I'm not the guy who posted earlier in the thread. No doubt there are more than just the two of us! Feel free to call me crazy, too, but once this 60 degree weather passes, I'd kind of like to know when the darn bus is coming! The CTA is presumably only holding back on the expansion for public relations reasons related to the service cuts/fare increases; but that's a silly reason to hold off on significant improvements that you've already contracted for.
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
...Feel free to call me crazy, too,...
Anon 3:51 -
I didn't mean to imply that anyone who is interested in bus tracker is crazy. Sorry, if it came across that way. I'm interested in bus tracker, too.
I also did not mean to imply that the anon-trackertroll is the only one interested in bustracker. The tone of the comments on bustracker make it clear that there are several interested, informed posters. There is also an ugly bitter troll who hijacks many threads with his venom. Almost as if the CTA's failure to launch as promised (repeatedly) is a crime akin to dissing his mother.
The contract for the bus tracker pilot was awarded in 2004, a couple years before the X20 route was created.
Carol,
Still wondering (since my previous posting was deleted) ... what the difference is between the bus tracking system which will be available for the public, and the tracking system used in the control center, which is able to track buses on any route?
Still wondering (since my previous posting was deleted) ...
Anon 1/08/2008 9:53 PM
Anonymous 9:53 PM -
You mean the almost identically worded question you posted at the bottom (post #72) of the previous thread on the blog at 5:34 PM on 1/06/2008?
It may not be answered, but it sure wasn't deleted.
"The contract for the bus tracker pilot was awarded in 2004, a couple years before the X20 route was created."
So what? Did the contract state that the pilot program must have been used by the #20? If so(which I doubt), that is obviously nuts. If not, then the obvious question is why did the CTA choose a route for which a pilot program would be meaningless. It is really stupid decision making any way you look at it.
And, for the record, I am a different poster than anyone else in this thread and have only posted about the bus tracker once or twice before(on any blog). I think it is absurd to suggest that there is only one person who is posting about this. It is pretty easy to see from the writing styles that many of the posts are from seperate people. Personally, I don't care very much about the fact that this has taken longer than they first stated. Sometimes things are more complicated to implement than people originally envision. But what I do think is inexcusable is for the pilot program to be completely absurd and of pretty much no use. How can people judge its effectiveness and interest when the program does not give its users enough information for it to be worthwhile?
I think it is truly ridiculas for anybody to suggest that people who ask questions about the bus tracker are acting as if "it is the end of the world". The CTA is a public agency and it is sort of our job to ask questions about things. For the most part, I use the rail system rather than the busses so it would not affect me very much. But I still have mentioned it one or two times because I am concerned whether an agency that works for us is operating wisely and efficiantly.
FOR CHICAGO TRANSIT EXPERTS AND ADVOCATES:
Chicago Tonight will feature the transit funding crisis for the complete program this next Monday. If you have anything that may be of interest for them or a question or issue that you think is important to bring up, please go to the Chicago Tonight website at wttw.com.
If you just want to talk about "bus tracker" and insult other posters, don't let me stop you.
"If not, then the obvious question is why did the CTA choose a route for which a pilot program would be meaningless."
If the X20 wasn't created until 2006, how would they have known that the route would have been "meaningless" when the contract was being written (presumably circa late 2003 or early 2004)?
And how exactly would you have written the contract? I haven't seen the contract language, but I imagine it doesn't read anything like "the route on which the bus tracker pilot shall be installed will be determined according to the whims of anonymous posters on the Chairwoman's web log, and the contractor shall have no more than 30 days with which to comply with such whims and adjust the route, equipment installation, and programming accordingly."
The legislature passed a 1/4% sales tax increase. I own a small business, and I have to say I'm OK with this. Several employees take the bus, as do I, and many customers too.
Now, it's up to you, Blag.
Office of the Governor
312-814-2121
TTY: 888-261-3336
Please don't let us down with some pointless stand on a principle you don't actually have.
- Sincerely,
- the bustracker troll.
Going forward towards January 20, 2008, I and other CTA employees have many reservations. Proposed State Legislation would eliminate single retiree lifetime medical insurance benefit promised to current employees. Payroll deductions could increase an additonal 6% per month. Doomsday Three will eliminate bus service to many CTA employees, myself included causing me to either take a Pace Bus or buy a car. During Ron Huberman's short tenure as CTA President He's managed to alienate most line and management workers. His new Performance Management grading system no fails most CTA professionals, yet provides no resources to improve overall performance. It really is a shame that Mayor Daley picked a man how leads by numbers not by inspiring people.
Seniors already get reduced fares for the CTA. I don't believe that all seniors should get free rides. I don't believe in it anyway, but in the midst of a budget crisis, I definitely don't believe in it. The governor is a horrible panderer.
I also do not support this free rides for seniors. Firstly, many seniors can afford to pay for their rides. Secondly, with the reduced rate they receive, it still is much cheaper than normal. $0.25 tax per every $100 is not a huge increase. Plus, in the midst of a funding shortfall, if it will cost the CTA $15 - 20 million yearly, this is definitely a bad idea.
Carole:
Did I miss something? I just watched the news and it appears that Huberman actually is SUPPORTING the governor's move to make rides free for seniors. I can understand the rational for not actively speaking against it when there is a risk that the legislation might not get enacted. But to actively praise such an atrocious idea is another matter. The RTA chairman, who I now have lost a huge amount of respect for, also praised the move. This provides free rides for thousands of people who make very high saleries. If you ride certain bus and train routes for both the CTA and Metra you will see that there are quite a few people 65 and older going to high paying jobs as lawyers, stockbrokers, or other very high income occupations. This creates a pretty large loss of revenue that will need to eventually be made up somewhere else. Needless to say, everyone else will have to pay higher fares to support this. It is absolutely unconsciounable for any of the transit leaders to be supporting this. If you think that doing so makes you look good, you are dead wrong. I think most seniors will be insulted that the governor thinks they need free rides. Or perhaps the governor made some sort of threat to do something if you guys didn't actively praise the idea.
BLAGOJEVIC TO CITY:
SENIORS RIDE FREE OR NOBODY RIDES!
"If I don't get my way, I'm taking my veto pen and flying home", Gov says. "I mean, this isn't about the city. It's about my last chance to find some constituency, ANY constituency, that I might convince to vote for me in two years."
"If the good people of Chicago can't take the bus, let them fly their airplanes," says First Lady Patti Antoinette. "That's what we do. Well, we fly the state's airplane, but you know what I mean."
"Patti, tell Papa Mell that next Christmas, he can take the bus to our house for free, he's such an old fart. Bwah-hah-hah-hah-hah-gag-cough-skjdjklkjsk."
"Shut up, Rod. The Mell family doesn't take buses."
Seniors ride free? I have to agree with anon 10:18, RTA/CTA shouldn't have praised this decision.
And even if the legislature passes this bill, doesn't the CTA still need to come back later for Capital funding?
Carol our CTA office was abuzz after exempt employees read a copy of recently passed transit-funding legislation. Salaried transit workers were not represented last summer during union negotiations. Much to our surprise the retiree single lifetime medical insurance I had been promised was gone. After more then five years at CTA my dream of retiring early with paid medical insurance was gone, gone, gone. Ron Huberman spoke of a historic union benefits agreement; hey it’s a screw job from most employees’ perspective. Governor Blagovich is asking for free transit to all seniors over age 65. Hey there is money to continue CTA’s promise to provide me single retiree medical insurance – What’s Up!
Pseudonym: Miss. Colleen...
Regarding safety at CTA. During Ron Huberman’s tenure accidents have increased multifold. Today’s accident at Midway is a result of Performance Managements numbers only style of running things. Supervisors and Managers no longer have authority to correct employee behavior because they are under the gun regarding numbers. Mark my word a quick check of safety data will reveal Huberman’s causing unsafe work practices to proliferate.
http://tinyurl.com/2ddzab
Good column by Rich Miller about who gets the blame for the transit funding mess.
Heard from a 17-year CTA worker about losing health insurance benefit
A 20-year CTA worker who just learned Senator Ricky Hendons’ transit bill takes away his single fully paid retiree medical insurance benefit. This worker is planning to retire soon; this worker is very upset because CTA did not explain to exempt employees they would lose a promised benefit.
After reading a printed copy of transit bill I must confess that I plan to find another job that offers paid retiree medical. CTA will now be deducting an additional 3% for pension and 3% for retiree health care fund. Exempt workers have not had pay rise in almost three years. Now we are being required to pay more for sales taxes and old age deductions.
For almost ten years I have planned to take an early retirement know that fully paid retiree medical insurance would allow me to live a healthy retirement. That financial benefit is gone. Now I will have to pay 45% percent of market cost that will increase due to medical inflation. How can a person on a fixed CTA pension keep up?
Opposed passing flawed mass transit bills that abolish CTA retiree benefit
As a CTA employee with almost 9-years employment, I am opposed to transit bill that eliminates promised single retiree paid health insurance. RTA has new taxing abilities that should be able to fully fund existing benefits without using State Legislators to cancel promised benefits. When I reach old age a fully paid medical insurance policy would give me greater peace of mind. Working in transportation is hard physical and mental work exposing workers to many hazards. Taking away paid single coverage is a flawed legislative action.
Great idea by our Governor to provide all seniors free mass transit rides. If CTA keeps taking away benefits I may need to ride CTA trains 24/7 since I'll be unable to afford retirement.
Hey guys:
Your union agreed to this stuff almost a half-year ago. If you have a problem with it you should take it up with them instead of the CTA. And it is a little late now. Didn't you guys have to ratify the contract? The reality is that your union was almost certainly correct to agree to these modest benefit reductions. There just isn't enough money to pay for the previous benefits, which from what I understand were extraordinarally high compared with just about every comparable job in the country. Things change. In life, sometimes there is less money to do things than previously thought (although this is something that was easilly predictable). You need to deal with that.
I do agree that Blagojevich giving free rides to seniors is extraordinarally stupid.
I think it's time to give the Governor a way out.
His idea about senior fares is an interesting one, and he picked a wonderful way to get it LOTS of attention, and it is almost certainly one that will get lots of condieration in coming months.
Senior transit riders owe him a debt of political gratitude for this.
However, it is simply too late to give his idea the full attention it needs, so with a tremendous round of applause, we send that particular idea back to the committee room for reconsideration.
All that is needed is a funding source, since, as the CTA has admitted it has none as of now, and would require fare increases in 2009.
The CTA doesn't need another unfunded mandate. It does need interesting ideas, and no doubt the governor and legislature can come up with a way to fund their interesting idea in the spring session or soon thereafter.
As a loyal 37 ward resident and long term voter I was sickened upon learning recently passed mass transit legislation abolished my paid CTA retiree health insurance. Ron Huberman and a small group of union leaders stole employee's future financial and health welfare. If I see this Huberman in person I'll spite at his feet before I shake his hand. This man is no good!
Mayor Daley has been reelected many times thanks to voters in 37th ward. Next election I will be seeking another person to replace Mayor Daley. Someone who understands that CTA employees depended on promised retiree health insurance to tide them through illness and old age.
Carole, what is going on with the Bryn Mawr rehab which was supposed to be finished by the end of December?
Currently they only have a small section of the roof replaced, and there are currently no heaters at all on the platform, as that section's roof has not yet been replaced yet, and the heaters are gone.
It sounds to me like a lot of these anonymous people are the same guy complaining about his pension and retiree benefits. This bill actually fixes the CTA pension problem so i am sorry to say that I SUPPORT Rickey Hendon's bill that is finally passed.
Now on to the governor. To make a move like this about giving seniors free rides at the last possible minute is ridiculous. The CTA crisis has been ongoing for months with the governer's only suggestion for a bailout being to close "corporate loopholes" (whatever that meant). Now when a bill is finally passed he goes out and proclaims free rides for seniors. He is using this as a POLITICAL TRICK. No one can actually come up to the governer and realistcally say that senior citizens do not deserve a free ride. Of course we would love to give our seniors this benefit, but not during a funding CRISIS! This senior's ride free idea is completely out of place and the governer is the one at blame. Sign the bill or get out of town!
"No one can actually come up to the governer and realistcally say that senior citizens do not deserve a free ride. Of course we would love to give our seniors this benefit..."
I disagree. Not only can people realistically say that all seniors do not deserve a free ride, but many people have, including several seniors. Eric Zorn wrote a good column where he pointed out that those 65 and older are actually less likely to live in poverty than other age groups. Everyone else, without a doubt, will eventually pay for this in higher fares or less extensive service. And that is before you take into account the extra equipment and personel that the CTA and Metra will need in order to accomadate the increase in passengers. It doesn't matter whether there is a funding crisis or not. Everyone else pays for this unneccessary and illogical benefit. If people really believe that it is sound policy for those under 65 to pay higher fares so that those 65 and older can ride for nothing, then fine, we can have that debate. Someone who believes that can introduce legislation to do so. But I think it is unbelievably unfortunate that many people act as if a fare hike is not neccessary to offset this. When this proposal was first reported, there were virtually no comments on any blog (including Eric Zorn's which had around 50 posts when I looked) that pointed out the obvious fact that everyone else will have to pay for this. I don't really care that much about personally doing so. I am more concerned about the fact that the economy depends on efficiant and reasonably priced public transportation and it is extreamly unfortunate when the price ends up being higher for reasons that make no sense. I don't care how small the increase would be. Blagojevich's argument is that this is needed because seniors will end up in hardship paying an extra 25 cents per every $100 they spend. Therefore, this is solved by all seniors in Illinois gettting free public transportation. The logic of this is bizarre. Not only do the numbers not add up for obvious reasons but the overwhelming majority of senior citizans in the state do not take public transportation regularly. If you use Blagojevich's logic then you must believe that the seniors who live in areas where public transportation is not feasible would need to be helped as well. But his silly proposal doesn't actually help them. When a proposal is suggested based on such bizarre logic as this it needs to be rejeceted. The reason we have a legislative process is so things get discussed and it gets decided whether legislation actually serves a good purpose. This does not only not serve a good purpose, it serves no purpose at all except to provide a futile attempt to recover a horrific politician's tarnished record. I think everybody should be contacting their representives and telling them to reject the change. There is no need to worry about the sales tax bill being in danger. It has clearly been determined that there is strong support for it and Blogojevich would need to be around 50 times more insane than he already is to risk a 78 bus routes being elimanating in the middle of the winter. And I think it is unfortunate that these politicians seem to be concerned about the possibility of alienating seniors if they are against this. No senior is going to vote against somebody bacause they did not support all people subsidizing everyone in a certain age group, regardless of income level, for no particular reason. The people who say such things as "Of course we would love to give our seniors this benefit" (like the poster above me) tend to be younger people who are attempting to be respectful towards the older generation. I don't think that the older generation really thinks that anyone would be disrespectful if they point out the obvious fact that allowing them to ride at the current discounted fare instead of free is better policy.
To anonymous 1/13/2008 7:40 PM:
You spelled "spite" wrong. It is spit.
And Ron Huberman is doing a good job.
Anon 1:31
I think u are missing my point. I do NOT agree with free rides for seniors. What i was trying to do in my earlier post was point out that in a perfect world seniors and probably teens would ride the bus for free. My point was that this situation is obviously improbable and completely out of context for the current situation the CTA is facing. Sure it would work if the CTA had a couple 100 million dollars to spare, but now is not the time. As I said before this whole situation is a political ploy so that Blagojevich looks like a hero to save the seniors when in fact he is halting the entire mass transit system and making doomsday a real possibility.
I know you don't agree with giving free rides for seniors at this time, in these circumstances. But you still made the point that it would ideally be a good thing to have. In fact, you said "Of course we would love to give our seniors this benefit". My point was that most people would not and that it would be bad policy. You say "in a perfect world seniors and probably teens would ride the bus for free." I disagree. I think seniors and teens probably have the most disposable income of all age groups. Teenagers often have parents supporting them with unlimited money. Many seniors have a strong amount of retirement income. Of course, it is not true with everybody but if somebody were going to make policy based on a blanket impression of an age group's financial state they would be wrong to assume that these age groups are at the bottom of the latter. Everyone else will have to pay for the free fares that are given to them, either through higher fares or taxes or less extensive service, whether it is a perfect world or not. Personally, I don't think they should even get the current discounted fare.
Carol, two issues: Where is the platform announcer? Did you guys terminate his job. We were waiting for 20 minutes on the Red line north @ Thorndale and no track announcement came over the PA. This is the second time in a week, so I told a fellow rider I think they terminated the man. At the least get somebody else in there to let us know if a train is running late.
Second issue: you know and we all know with this doomsday that some of those bus lines needs to be cut. There is too much duplication. For example the 144 and 148 are the same as the 135 and 136. What's wrong with people walking a couple of more blocks to catch a bus?
Look also at the duplicate 121, 122, 123, 124 lines. They all service Streeterville and the Loop. Why? Combine those routes into one.
There is still waste that need cutting. Just my2c.
They ought to override the amendatory veto, or else pass the amended bill and then pass separate legislation abolishing the seniors-ride-free program before it starts.
I think it would be great to provide reduced-cost or even free public transit to low-income people.
But how does being old, per se, make you less able to pay the full fare?
There isn't a recall procedure in the Illinois constitution, but the Governor should certainly be impeached for failure to do his job competently and in good faith.
Blagoecvich must feel so good about himself. Especially when he asked a group of seniors to raise their hands if they would like to be able to ride the bus for free. Of course they all are going to raise their hands. No one is going to deny a free bus. Too bad this trick is see-through and makes him look like an idiot. Seniors should not ride free. If they ride free than everyone else is going to also want the same privelege.
My boyfriend works for CTA. He's upset that Ron Huberman and Union Leaders eliminated his promised single retiree 100% paid health insurance premium. For years CTA promised this benefit that's now being discontinued when State Transit Bill establishes a CTA retiree health insurance trust. Problem is that other big companies that established similar trusts had accounts drained dry. Now CTA employees will pay additional .25% sales tax, and higher monthly payroll deductions: 3% pension plus 3% retiree health care trust. Salaried employees have not seen pay raises in three years. This year CTA implimented Positive Pay changing pay dates so salary workers lost 10-pay days or two weeks pay. Ron Huberman seems intent on screwing CTA salary workers.
For years CTA recruited unemployed skilled labor who wanted long term financial security. Taking away benefits or not paying salary workers raises runs contrary to Performance Management system. Now many workers feel Ron's becoming a petty dictator who micromanages CTA. What does Carol Brown think?
Colleen
Ask your boyfriend this: Would you rather lose your job completely without a funding solution? Or would you rather take a small paycut and live with the some job security knowing you will not be fired?
The answer is obvious to me.
"There is too much duplication. For example the 144 and 148 are the same as the 135 and 136. What's wrong with people walking a couple of more blocks to catch a bus?
Look also at the duplicate 121, 122, 123, 124 lines. They all service Streeterville and the Loop. Why? Combine those routes into one."
Anon 204:
What an astonshingly stupid comment. Why don't you look at the darn system map? If you think those routes are duplicative than you are a complete idiot. They are "duplicative" if your idea for public transit is to get people to a destination at some point without any regard for speed and efficiancy. If the routes you mention were "combined" it would cause the ride to more than double for most riders (Have you ever riden any vehicle on North Michican Avenue during rush hour? Obviously not if you think taking Lake Shore Drive instead makes no difference). Of course, even if you have the view that public transportation in Chicago should not attempt to be efficiant, there still is the problem (at least on the Lake Shore Drive routes you listed) of not being able to fit everybody on the bus since all of those routes are close to capacity. And if you don't care about speed then I must ask why you care about being delayed 20 minutes at Thorndale.
And I believe all the routes you mentioned would be elimanated with the doomsday scenerio, so I know you are not just suggesting they be combined if the cuts have to be made. You are suggesting that they should be cut anyway. That is a ridiculas suggestion.
Anon 12:58 - Wow... People are all entitled to their own opinion, doesn't mean they should be insulted if their ideas don't match yours.
Watching the Illinois House transit funding debate just now, I heard a (rare) interesting point about free fares actually saving a transit agency money to the extent that they encourage paratransit-eligible riders to use fixed route service, instead.
This makes a great deal of sense to me. Paratransit rides are fantastically expensive. In light of that, I would think it would be worthwhile for the RTA as a whole to make fixed route service available free to anyone eligible for paratransit service.
Of course, the way things are set up now, all of this benefit would accrue to PACE, since CTA and Metra don't pay for paratransit. In an ideal world, the program should be centrally coordinated through the RTA so that the agencies providing the free fixed route rides also get a share of the paratransit savings.
This is completely off topic, but when did the Orange Line begin running 8-car trains? I started seeing this last week. It sucks when you've seen 4 crowded Brown Lines pass at Clark/Lake, but you keep seeing empty 8-car Orange Lines pull up. Yes, I know there's nothing they can do about the Brown Line right now.
Anon 900:
I don't insult people if their ideas don't match mine. If that is the impression you got from my post, I'm sorry to hear it and I suggest you look at it again. What I do do is speak pretty candidly to people who complain about something that they know nothing about in a very angry and demanding way. That is the one thing that drives me truly crazy in life, people not bothering to do basic research as to what they are talking about before they start yelling and acting like a know-it-all. Coming to this board and complaining that routes are "duplicated" when some of them serve the main purpose of taking people who work in the loop to the certain north side neighborhoods vie Lake Shore Drive and the others to take people who work on North Michigan Avenue to the same areas of the north side (and also to transport people from the loop to North Michigan Avenue) is not an example of this person's "ideas not matching up to mine". It is an example of his ideas not being thought out but still complaining anyway. That is, quite frankly, a major reason why this transit funding issue has been so difficult. People form strong opinions without thinking them through or doing basic researching about whether they are correct. So yes, I will respond in a strong manner to people who do this. And I get the impression that the poster is one of the same people who constantly complain about the slow zones on the red line (and I don't have a problem with complaining about that, but you can't do that and then suggest many riders commutes should more than double).
Now that the transit bill has finally passed today, can someone please update the Brown line construction schedule. It's still showing the two-week schedule from Christmas. Thanks.
There. You got your freaking money. Now get to work running the system, holding people accountable, and serving your customers for a change.
A free ride to senior is a misnomer because transit bill raised sales tax while significantly reducing CTA workers benefits. My parents who live in western Illinois accept discounts yet do not feel entitled to free services. Mom pointed out that seniors are already offered discounts and assistance. State of Illinois has been paying invoices, schools, and insurance companies late. As a retired teacher she is concerned governor took money out of teacher retirement funds to pay for general state spending. Who believes relatives of politicians will not loot CTA’s pension and retiree health trust? Soon CTA employees will have additional payroll deductions: 3% pension and 3% health trust. Last time I received a raise from CTA was three years ago. Since then Ron Huberman has hired many new City Hall hires and patronage workers.
Carole and Ron:
Can you spare a few coins to install security cameras in the south exit only stairwell at the Addison Redline stop to hopefully prevent people from urinating in the stairwell? It smells like a sewer!!!
Carole; petty complaint I know, but can you ask bus drivers along Michigan Avenue NOT to let passengers off at places where the rear doors are blocked (particularly at Illinois and Wrigley Building stops where there is a wall around the stairs to lower Michigan and no sidewalk other then a - maybe - 8 inch curb) creating a dangerous condition for everyone, especially in snowy or wet weather. Somebody could potentially slip and fall under a bus...
To Anonymous 12:58PM 1/17: you were insulting to my comment. The 144 and 148 are recent bus lines added to accommodate the north side yuppies, young people who can walk a couple of extra blocks and take the 135 or the 136.
As for the 120bus lines, they run empty. All the times I see them, they have 1, 2, maybe 5 people on them. At the least the CTA should put those little biddy shuttle busses on that route instead of the big gas guzzlers. Talk about saving money -- take those little biddy busses and replace the big guzzlers.
"To Anonymous 12:58PM 1/17: you were insulting to my comment. The 144 and 148 are recent bus lines added to accommodate the north side yuppies, young people who can walk a couple of extra blocks and take the 135 or the 136."
Unbelievable. You still have not looked at the system map to see if you have your facts straight. You don't. The 144 and 148 both serve North Michigan Avenue. The 135 and 136 travel on Lake Shore Drive directly to the loop. A person using the 135 and 136 to get to the loop would get there around 15 minutes quicker. All of these busses are very busy. Each of the North Michigan Avenue busses are always at or near capacity during rush hour. You mention that the 144 and 148 were added recently. So what? They could have added more busses to existing lines, added new lines (which actually is less expensive since these two routes are shorter than the two they complinent, which is the 145 and 146 contrary to your suggestion that somehow they are equivelant to the 135 and 136), or just not have enough busses for the amount of people who travel. You are suggesting either the first or third choice. Why would it make sense not to use less money with routes that are more convenient? If you think they should have just added more busses to existing routes you would have to believe that the CTA should spend more money for less convienant service. So your position is either that or you just don't want enough busses to serve the huge demand of passengers during rush hour.
"As for the 120bus lines, they run empty. All the times I see them, they have 1, 2, maybe 5 people on them."
Where are you observing these busses? That sure as hell has not been my observation. You do understand that sometimes there might not be very many people at the very beginning or very end of a route because most of the people are boarding in the middle? It is pretty shallow-minded to conclude that this is the usual amount of people who use the route.
Recently my employer the Chicago Transit Authority negotiated changes regarding CTA retiree paid medical insurance that were incorporated into Illinois State Bill 656 certified by Governor. Many employees myself included had been promised 100% paid, 100/80 PPO single medical insurance premium upon retirement. We based on retirement planning on these promises only to learn that retiree medical insurance plans can be changed dramtically. Middle aged workers for CTA or any other mass transit system should receive promised benefits. Changes made to fund CTA pensions were necessary because of poor financial decisions made years ago. Now newer CTA employers like myself may pay a heavy financial price in higher payroll deductions, and retirees will receive costly 90/70 PPO healthcare.
Universal health coverage of all American Citizens seems to be one solution. I personally feel more confident about America's economy if I knew that routine medical care or treatment for serious illness was covered.
One benefit I have enjoyed at CTA is free use of local public transporation. Seniors will certainly enjoy having freedom to take public transit in Illinois.
Carole,
Thanks for providing this blog for us to communicate with you.
I'd like to offer an idea(if your planners haven't already thought of it) for providing more AM capacity on the Red, Brown, Purple Track 1 Single-track, aka "Southbound" Three-tracking at Belmont and Fullerton starting at the beginning of April:
All Brown line stations from Kimball to Southport that are open as of April '08 will be able to berth 8 car sets, and most stations from Belmont south will be able to berth 8 car sets.
What if during AM rush ONLY, every other Brown line set runs with 8 cars, followed by a 6 car set? Before and at Belmont, an announcement on the 8 car sets would indicate express service from Belmont to Fullerton. Every other Brown line set would skip Wellington, while the remaining Brown line sets(6 cars) and all Purple line sets(6 cars) would still make that stop, giving that station frequent service.
Of course, something like this would only work if there is only 1 (or 2) station(s) that are currently open and cannot berth 8 car sets.
And this temporary "AM crush/every other Brown line 6 car/8 car sets" would only be used until the corresponding stations are open for 8 car service. For instance, Diversey opening/Wellington closing later this year and Chicago platform extension come to mind. (not sure about the Armitage platform extension)
The idea is that this will help during the worst hours of southbound AM service through Belmont and Fullerton on a single track. After the "height" of AM weekday rush, 6 car sets making all stops would be used thoughout the rest of day. The PM rush will not "need" 8 car sets due to northbound dual tracks being completed AND the current practice of keeping an extra 6 car Brown Line set(s) in the South Loop pulling into Adams/Wabash at the "height" of the PM rush.
Of course, this requires a lot more car movement and coordination in the Kimball yard/station in the AM to keep trains running frequently, but it is possible.
Please look this over, and see if this is an option for increasing "capacity", as AM service "frequency" gets reduced this April.
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