On Dec. 28 the CTA implemented “bus service changes” or, more precisely, a reduction in service. This is not the first or last time this will happen.
It is amazing that our city government can use its creativity to come up with money to beautify Chicago with flowers, planters, trees, street lamps and pretty boulevard signs in Lincoln Park, but it can’t find ways to maintain, much less increase, the services of our transit system. Where are our priorities? Certainly the cosmetic changes made in the last few years are attractive and make this city more pleasing, especially to tourists, but what about the daily needs of the residents?
One thing that makes this major city so livable is the accessibility of its transit system. The mayor has expressed the opinion that more people own cars and are driving. That may be, but one could make the argument that the reduction of CTA service has contributed to this.
If people are using the CTA less, why is the No. 151 Sheridan bus often so crowded that people are packed like sardines? One recent Saturday evening at Water Tower Place, I noticed several free special holiday trolleys for visitors to the city, yet some people were waiting 30 minutes for the 151 bus to take them to their North Side destinations. If service is like this on North Side buses, what is it like in the less affluent areas of the city?
Perhaps some of the money brought in by increased tourism could be earmarked for the CTA. We don’t need a reduction in CTA services. We need to maintain and strive to improve what we have.
