Riding the CTA now appears to be a contact sport.  It's been my experience over the past couple of days that due to recent service cuts, one should be issued a helmet, pads, eye black, and a menacing grimace before squeezing boorishly onto an already sardine-esque rush-hour train or bus.

The uniforms, of course, would be color-coded.  White jerseys for the home commuters(Chicago-born-and-raised, seen-it-all-cynics). Green for West Coast Transplants... (we are marked as feeling awkward and apologetic for daring to exist so close to other Sentient Beings)... and Red Shirts for Rookies (Those who always drive, except on exceptionally-nasty snow days, and have a horrified look plastered on their mug, plus a CTA schedule sticking out of their overcoat pocket).

There is also a need, I've found, for the rules of this new commuting game to be enforced by issuing penalties for the following infractions:

Unnecessary Unbalance:

    The bars, the straps, they are there for a reason -- grab one, and make the effort to prevent slamming into your fellow riders at every screeching brake pull.  With cattle cars so full you can read your neighbor's resurrected copy of Catcher In The Rye, take heed of the lead character's name, and Hold 'en for goodness sake!  Penalty:  5 More Minutes Waiting on the Platform.

Stepping Out of Bounds (Emotionally):

    This occurs when you babble on about your job, your childcare situation, the way your teen is padding her college entrance exam with all of these crazy extra-curricular activities like track and glee club...the fact that 4-year-old Kayla is loving her gymnastics, and how Dorothy is nervous about going back to work after 5 years off to create said Kayla... 'I love you honey, I'll be home soon boo bear..." "I can't believe he said that..." and all fragments of cell phone conversation... Essentially, if you are speaking aloud in a crowded space, we can all hear every word, and if we forgot our iPod, we are powerless to stop your drivel from entering our minds.  Penalty: Ten rides on the Western #49 bus, stopping at every block now that the Express is a relic of the "good times."

These are just a couple of examples, culled from my own recent gridiron-like battles with the CTA this week... what would you add to the list?  And what do you do to celebrate finally making it to your stop?  Are we talking pulling out a Sharpie, and signing a fan's canvas laptop bag (Terrell Owens)?  Or are you more of a quiet, class act?  With no dancing, no shuffling, no strutting, and no arm-flapping (Jerry Rice).  Perhaps you mouth a silent 'Thank You' to yourself that you made it through one more day, and that means you're one day closer to spring.

Hop on Metra these days, and you'll hear about impending service cuts taking effect in February.  The announcement, repeated on every train, for every group of riders, is being read for the upteenth time by the train operator, or perhaps one of the other ticket-taker-dudes, and they sound about as excited by the prospect of reciting it as the customers are about hearing it (who could feel good about the prospect shelling out MORE for your daily commute anyhow?).

Catch a CTA train, meanwhile, and you'll be bombarded, stop-after-stop, by an equally repetitive announcement on the loudspeaker, that, "the doors are closing, do not attempt to board the train... the doors are closing..." The Tribune's transportation reporter says that officials explain the need for this new practice this way:

"(The announcments) are part of an effort in the wake of the stroller incident to try something new to catch people's attention and remind them to be safe," a CTA official said.

The 'stroller incident,' of course, is the story of the woman whose baby stroller was dragged in the doors of a train, and fortunately, did not result in any injuries.  Now, I get that it was a freakishly disturbing incident, and worthy of an extra press release or news conference regarding closing doors... but how long must riders endure this extra announcement, stop after stop, day after day?

To the Powers That Be:  We know we could die if we get squeezed out of the automated doors onto the third rail.  We know we're gonna have to pay more because of budget cuts, and union contracts, and retirement funds, etc.  But don't you get it?  Most of us are just trying to get home after a day of Working For The Man/Woman.  We just want to get on the train and tune the world OUT with our iPods, eBooks and iPads.  Frankly, we're feeling beaten down from the iPain-in-the-rear that is the cruel wind, a Wednesday, the weird office coffee, and hallway-upon-hallway of flourescent lighting and key-card-required glass doors.  Have mercy on our already-shrunken souls, and cut back the PA announcements.  The customers you have left would be forever grateful. 

Here's what the CTA put out regarding New Year's Eve transit - have a safe one!

"The Chicago Transit Authority will continue its tradition of offering penny rides on New Year's Eve beginning at 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 31 until 6 a.m. Friday, January 1 (New Year's Day).

Later service hours also will be in effect on several bus and rail routes making CTA a convenient, safe and affordable travel alternative for those out celebrating the New Year. 

Please Note: All CTA bus and rail service will operate on a regular weekday schedule on Thursday, December 31 and on a Sunday/Holiday schedule Friday, January 1."

Governor Pat Quinn announced today that you will not pay more to ride the CTA - at least for the next 2 years.  Quinn says the state is prepared to boost the finances of the cash-strapped agency to "ensure that people get to work, people get to school, people can go shopping, go where they need to go."

Quinn also alluded to the fact that this financial band-aid (32-million-dollars over the next two years) may buy him and transit officials time to petition for some Federal monies.

Jim Riley, the RTA Board Chairman said this "adversity brought out the best in everyone" when it came to getting this deal done in Springfield.  Riley said he came together with collegues at Metra and Pace to make progress... admitting those relationships have been stressed nearly to the breaking point in the past.

Riley DID say eventually there will be fare increases, but he said it was just too soon -- less than a year after the last fare increase.  He did suggest that service cuts are un-avoidable. 

Just a reminder as we (too) slowly chug towards this holiday weekend, Metra's bike restriction policy will be in effect, system-wide.  Here's an exerpt from Metra's web site regarding bikes on trains:  "Bicycles are permitted on all weekday trains arriving in Chicago after 9:30 AM and leaving Chicago before 3:00 PM and after 7:00 PM, and on all weekend trains, with the following exceptions:"

• Blues Fest June 12 - 14 (weekend only: June 13 & 14)
• All days during Taste of Chicago June 26 - July 5
• Lollapalooza August 7 - 9
• Air and Water Show August 15 - 16
• Jazz Fest September 4 - 6 (weekend only: September 5 & 6)

Even if you aren't headed to Jazz Fest, it's probably a safe bet that you won't be able to bring a bike on system-wide, due to the anticipation of increased ridership on Sat. and Sun.

Hey there Blue Line riders, it's that time again:  track replacement!  Yay!  That means shuttle buses for you for the next few days... but worth it in the end (I believe) when so-called slow zones are no longer jamming up your CTA commutes.

Here's the deal on this weekend's track work:  starting tonight at 10 p.m., there will be buses running from Western/Milwaukee to Clark/Lake as that section gets an upgrade.  Things will be back to normal by Monday.

Have a smooth weekend.

With hundreds of hipsters looking to converge on Chicago's Union Park this weekend for Pitchfork (the Indie music fest)... it got me thinking about the best way to get to outdoor public events this summer.  Obviously, public transportation is a no-brainer, and for Pitchfork, it's the CTA's Green Line, Ashland stop (at Lake). 

Yet my preferred method of getting around to these people-watching meccas is by bike.  Most of the events provide a free, secure, monitored bike check... awesome to not be worried about someone sawing through your chain lock while you down gourmet sanria and soaking in some sun.

By the way, I have it on VERY good authority (from a friend who is totally dialed in to what is cool and happening in this town) that a must-see music act at Pitchfork is The National.  They are a mellow rock act takin the state on Saturday.  See the whole line-up at www.pitchforkmusicfestival.com 

The Sun-Times ran a follow-up story today on the beefing-up of CTA anti-harassment policies that the Authority will be adopting in response to a community activist group made up of Rogers Park women.  You may recall that several weeks ago, the young women took findings from a survey they conducted about the pervasiveness of sexual harassment and even assault on CTA trains to the Agency, hoping for action.

The response they've gotten is basically a pledge from the CTA to increase the signage and air-play of radio public service announcements for their "If you see something, say something" campaign.  The CTA will also be instructing its conductors to act quickly to diffuse situations that do arise, instead of mere "monitoring" of said situations. 

Hopefully this will help.  The survey by the women found that along with the problem of the lewd looks and comments themselves, it's the under-reporting by the riders that are victims of this that basically perpetuate the problem.  Essentially, so many women assume that it's just part of living in the city to deal with inappropriate comments and even obvious "brush-bys" that we don't think of reporting something that is so pathetically routine.

The Taste, The Fireworks... any event downtown is better in my opinion when you don't pay for parking, and can avoid sitting in traffic.

The CTA is gearing up for the July 3rd and 4th Loop celebrations. Increased personnel, volunteers and signage will be noticable around the Loop.

Additional train and bus service will operate on both days for routes serving Grant Park and Navy Pier.

If you want a map and directions with boarding information you can visit the CTA's Web site at www.transitchicago.com. Customers can find specific route information from the website or they can call 1-888-YOUR-CTA from any local area code.

The CTA hopefully made some money this past weekend.  I, along with thousands of fellow baseball fans, hopped on the red line for Saturday's punching match between the Sox and Cubs.  It is truly the most economical way to travel across the city -- and you can't beat the gentle razzing fans give eachother on the way to the game.

On the way back?  Let's just say the Northsiders were licking their wounds... but Sox fans didn't rub it in... too much.  As for the volume of fans taking public transport -- the trains were packed... we're talking "love your neighbor" packed.  Cub fans?  There's always that make up game in September....

My husband and I in the bleachers at The Cell, before things got rowdy:

Today, while filling in for the vacationing Val Warner over at our sister station, WGN, a big traffic-related story had us scrambling all morning long to stay on top of the situation.

It all started at 4:50am in the WGN studio, when the 5 o'clock hour producer  (each hour has it's own producer from 5-9) and I talked about how we would cover news of a car that had spun off the Central off-ramp from the I-290, and was wedged under an inbound Blue Line train from Forest Park.

Starting off, we had no video, and SkyCam 9 (the helicopter) was still heading to the scene.  The traffic producer, who creates the graphics, made a map of the incident.  I ad-libbed what information Pat Curry, WGN's assignment editor had gathered from Illinois State Police and the CTA.  Then, producers scheduled a CTA spokesperson for a phone interview at around 5:15.  Anchor Robin Baumgarten did the interview, and I took notes.   

We learned that the car that was hit by the train flipped onto the tracks off the ramp embankment because it was involved in a side-swipe crash with some other cars.  We also found out that there were minor injuries reported on the CTA train, and that the driver of the car escaped before the train collided with his Dodge.

By 5:30, we had video coming in from the crash scene... and I wrote a quick script so everything would sound smooth.  Producers instant-messaged me updates from the CTA on their shuttle bus service for passengers.  SkyCam 9 was on the scene by 6, and LIVE pictures helped clarify things immensely.  For example, the information coming in from one source reported 2 lanes of the IKE were blocked, but from SkyCam you could see that it was really just one lane, and the shoulder.  The chopper shot also clarified the back-up.

Reporter Marcella Raymond was originally scheduled on another story, but she and her crew were moved to the scene of the crash -- and we did a "Team-report" type-of-thing... she covered the nuts-and-bolts of the ax, and tossed it to me for an update on the Blue Line and Expressway delays.  It makes a difference to have someone "on the ground" -- because she was able to find out that the driver admitted to police he was drinking.  CTA officials would never give out that info. usually.

By 7 a.m., things were calming down.  It had been a fast 2 hours.  Between the instant messages, updates in my ear from the booth, and updates from my producer... time flew.  (Plus, I was still trying to stay on top of the other morning drive times).

I was so glad we were consistently out in front of this story, because anyone watching would have been able to change their route today, or allow extra time for the drive, and not experience that mind-numbing experience of being powerless, and just sitting in traffic ; )    

This blog entry is a spin-off of my patented "Road Rant" series... let's call it a Rail Rant.  This one is something I'm sure all Metra and CTA riders can identify with:  The loud cell-phone-talker on the train.

This is not only annoying, and a blatant kiss-off to the signs that say "No Cell Phones" posted on said train cars... but this habit is invassive, pervassive, and nearly impossible to ignore.  Despite Vulcan mind-tricks, blackberry internet service, and the RedEye... your brain automatically focuses in on these one-sided conversations.

T.C., an engineer I work with here at CLTV was complaining about this just today.  He said he's even heard a guy on the train, talking to his wife, saying, 'Honey, I'm so sorry... I'm still at the office, working late tonight..."  Jeez.  Now the people around you are forced to confront your philandering ways... ick!  That's a violation of my private thoughts.

What have you overheard on the train?  Have you ever said anything to any of these loud-talkers?

For CTA Blue line riders this weekend, you may want to allow some extra time to get to your destination. 

The CTA is replacing track on a portion of this line to prevent slow zones and, officials say, improve rail service in general along this line.  The CTA says a 7-mile stretch of the track still has deteriorated wooden half ties -- which will be replaced with concrete half ties.

In order for the work to get done, shuttle buses will replace rail service between Western and Clark/Lake.  The normal train service will run between O'Hare and Western, and between Clark/Lake and Forest Park.   During the portion served by a bus, stops WILL be made.

The timeline for this work is: Friday, May 08, 2009 - 10:00 PM to Monday, May 11, 2009 - 4:00 AM.

You may recall last year's big slow-zone reduction project from Rosemont to O'Hare.  On a recent trip to the airport, I would say this portion of the Blue Line is HUGELY improved.  This new project from Western to Clark/Lake is one of those "shovel ready" projects benefiting from the recent federal stimulus funds.