It comes as no surprise that the Red Line slowdown has riders seeing red. In Tuesday’s “Going Public” column, Kyra Kyles wrote about riders’ frustrations with the delays on both the North and South Sides of the CTA’s most popular “L” line, and many of you e-mailed back with an “amen.” But this space isn’t all about negativity, which is why this week we’ve chosen to spotlight two feel-good CTA letters too.
Thank your drivers
I have no complaints today about the CTA. I’d like to commend and thank two of its employees for a job well done.
I take the No. 54 Cermak Blue Line and the No. 94 California buses at least four mornings out of the week and have had the pleasure of meeting two of the nicest, most professional operators I have ever known.
I don’t know the bus or train operators’ numbers, but they know who they are, and they should be given a medal or something. It’s amazing to me how they can be so nice considering the routes they have.
Anyway, I’d like to send my blessings to them and their families and let them how appreciated they are.
Keep up the good work!
C. Smith, 56, Lakeview
It’s all good
I’ve been a rider of the CTA my whole life. I was born and raised here, and remember visiting the grand opening of the O’Hare terminal. Nearly every day since 1990, I’ve taken the CTA trains and buses to get to where I need to go.
Given how often I ride, and how brilliantly helpful the CTA has been in my life, I can’t complain. In fact, I get upset when I hear all these just-moved-to-Chicago-and-I-hate-the-CTA people spewing about how “awful” it is. They should have taken a bus in the late ’80s. They’d be REAL quiet right now.
Let me tell you, the CTA is now bigger, better and faster than it’s ever been. All these haters, all these naysayers, I dare them to put their own lives under the microscope. Nobody is perfect, and neither is any public transit system. But millions of people still get to where they need to go every day. I’d say that’s a successful system.
Peter Mavrik, 29, Lakeview
Crawl space
OK, so your article explained the slowdowns around the Belmont and Fullerton stations and on the South Side, but how about the rest of the Red Line north of Addison?
The Red Line slows to a stop between many stations or slows to a crawl for no apparent reason, sometimes even stopping in the station before being pulled all the way in. I just got back from Montreal, and their trains pulled into the stations fast, were fast between stations and were clean. Ah, only a dream here in Chicago.
–Bryan Ceja, 29, Lakeview
Slow ride
As a rider of the Red Line, don’t get me started! I happen to catch the train (sometimes) after 11 p.m., and let me tell ya, bring a Snickers ’cause you’re not going anywhere for a while. They’ve been working on the tracks [forever], which means they switch two tracks to one, and trying to get to 87th can be an adventure that can take an hour or sometimes more.
Gerald Battle, 43, Chatham
Can’t take it
I’ve got road rage with the Red Line!
It’s been horrendous since mid-May. After being late for work and getting home, I have added 10 minutes to my commute time, which is now 55 minutes door to door. I live south of Montrose and work in the Loop!
I am thankful that the school kids are out so that I can take the bus in the morning, but there is nothing I can do about the afternoon, when Lake Shore Drive is jammed and buses are slow.
If it’s like this in the fall, I will seriously consider starting to drive to work. And I don’t think I’m the only one–there are lots of empty seats on the “L” these days.
The choices are not good. Put up with this craziness for two more years or move. The suburbs and Metra are looking inviting.
Scott T. Buser, 29, Buena Park
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Have something to say about public transportation in Chicago? Send your ideas and opinions to kkyles@tribune.com.
