RedEye asked for riders’ comments about the CTA’s proposed service cuts and fare increases. Here’s what they had to say on redeyechicago.com’s CTA blog:
You get what you pay for, and $2 doesn’t buy much. I see people complaining about the fares who think nothing of paying $5 for their daily lattes. We must stop expecting taxpayers and drivers to foot the bill for our transportation. Even $3 would be a bargain. If you drive to work the cost of gas, parking, etc. would be at least 5 times this amount. The CTA cannot possibly provide good service at bargain-basement prices. — Shon
Chicago does not have a great mass transit system. As someone who can’t get ANYWHERE here in under an hour and a half, I am frustrated with the system and I take my car instead. That’s where the deficit is. People don’t want to use the CTA because it is ungodly inconvenient. Somehow the CTA has to come up with transit that better resembles New York or Boston. You can get anywhere efficiently there, but here it’s three buses and two trains five miles and an hour out your way and half of your day just gone. Something needs to be done. — Lisa
I’d rather pay $5 if they tear the whole thing down and build a new L. I feel about as safe on the L as I do on a bridge in Minnesota. — krebds
I wouldn’t mind paying $3 if I can be ensured that I will get to where I need to be on time, the bus or train will be clean, and all of the “rules” on the CTA would be enforced. — Pamela
I have no objection to paying $3, I would even be willing to pay $5 if the service were there. I don’t take the train, I take the buses and they are so unreliable and anyone who takes them knows that they are getting worse. How is it that you can wait up to an hour for a 36 Broadway bus and then all of a sudden there are 3 of them? How is it that you can wait up to 20 minutes at rush hour for a 156 but there are five 151’s and half are empty? I’m willing to pay for quality service. The problem is, the CTA wants us to pay but their service has no quality to it at all. — Michelle Rose
$3, no way. $6/day * 50 weeks (let’s say 2 weeks vacation)= 250 days * $6 = $1500 per year compared to $1000 now. (calculation does not include weekends;-) for me, $500 is 1 month rent, so I vote NO — david
