they said they will, they did say it is only in beta
raskolnikov773
May 24, 2007 5:06pm
they need to have some sort of alert on the web for the trains as well. the blue line is so unpredictable. half the time you get on to hear BEEP BEEP BEEP, "sorry for the delay, please plan extra time for your commute" or whatever. well it's hard to plan ahead when you don't know there's going to be a delay until you get on the train.
Somebody needs to do something... I'm seriously considering trying to get a petition together to cut all state funding to the CTA unless they get their act together. A world class city doesn't deserve a third world transit system.
If the state funding is cut for the CTA, they'll just raise fares. What with the gas prices right now, there are thousands of folks who wouldn't be able to make it to work because they can't afford $7/day for the el.
They need a complete reorganization, from the ground up. On the blue line, you go along and all the stations are dingy and smell bad. You get to the Jackson station and it's all well-lit, with nice signs up and the tiles that make the letter J. At the next station it's trash again.
The fare hike that was on the front page of Friday's paper is most likely going to happen. The CTA doesn't mess around...unless it comes to cleaning, being on time, or ensuring our safety.
I just found this, where we learn that they were going to cut all L lines except for blue and red. I call shennanigans - there's no way they're cutting the orange line to Midway.
The CTA definitely needs a reorganization. That is true. But shutting down CTA tracks would be a financial disaster for the city. I think if the state can't cough up some cash to keep the city going, then Cook County should bow out and leave the state.
As for the bus tracker, I wish they would do the same for CTA and Metra trains. It would be cool if their were displays showing how far away the next train was. I know that's expensive, but it would be very cool.
The article finestkind linked to has since expired, but it lives on in this copy in the Internet Archives. It loads very slowly, but what charming reading it makes:
"One plan involved closing the CTA's $97.5 million budget gap almost solely by raising fares. Under that plan, riders would pay $7 to ride buses and trains during peak hours.
Another option -- if the CTA didn't divert any capital dollars to its operating budget -- would have been to increase fares to as much as $5.50 during peak hours, while eliminating 107 bus routes and all CTA L lines except Red and Blue."
Step aboard a CTA bus during offpeak hours and see one of the reasons why the CTA is losing money: empty seats. How difficult can it be to understand that if one provides poor, unreliable service at high prices, that the fewer prospective customers will be interested in one's services? Increasing the price doesn't always increase profit.
zurrealmonk
DrSeussFreak
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