In his letter “CTA pass idea” (Voice, Dec. 4), Brian O’Broin suggests that if only a variety of incentives were used to attract commuters to the CTA trains, more people would feel tempted to leave their cars at home and ride the “L.”
That could be true if one of the incentives was assurance of personal safety for the riders. I can remember when the “L” was the only mode of transport considered by me and most people I know to travel to the Loop or even as far south as the Museum of Science and Industry. Sadly, when I board the trains now I do it with a great deal of trepidation and a very uncomfortable feeling of insecurity.
For those of us who need to commute south of the Loop every day and return late at night, as riders of CTA trains we can expect to encounter situations such as people who board the train in a loud and intimidating state of drunkenness, violent riders in a suspiciously altered state of behavior who force us to move to the next car, bodies lying on station platforms surrounded by policemen, or people in handcuffs being carried away by police officers. And just the other day, there was a shooting at the State and Grand CTA station.
As long as one has to consider the possibility of risking one’s own life by riding the CTA trains, I cannot see how incentives would encourage more people to ride the “L.”
