Editor’s note: We asked you to submit letters about what’s great about the CTA and what’s frustrating. Here is a selection of your letters. The remainder will appear on Tuesday.
Transit creates community
I don’t own a car, and I don’t want one. Transit is how I get to work, see friends, attend community events and experience all that I love about Chicago.
When I attended Loyola University Chicago, getting to school from the suburbs often took 2 1/2 hours each day. I’d ride Metra, transfer downtown, then take the Red Line north. It was exhausting, but it taught me how essential transit is for thousands of Chicagoans. Every day, people rely on it to get to school, work or doctor’s appointments or to visit an aging relative across the city. Public transit is a lifeline, and it needs to have consistent funding to reliably get people where they need to go.
What I love most about transit is the sense of community it creates. I’ve run into old co-workers on the bus on the way to dinner and caught up with friends I hadn’t seen in years while waiting for the Brown Line. Transit invites conversation. It reminds us that every day, we are moving through this city together.
That’s part of why I love living in Chicago. So many people move here specifically because Chicago’s transit system allows them to live a more connected life. Surrounded by high-rises, buses and rail lines, you can feel how transit shapes the rhythm of the community.
And while the CTA is not perfect, I believe progress is being made.
For years, riders felt the consequences of a system that was deprioritized: long headways, unreliable service, dirty stations and accessibility gaps. But under acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen, there seems to be a renewed eagerness to listen to riders and aggressively pursue improvements in reliability, safety, cleanliness and modernization. Plans to improve stations across the system and expand 24-hour service on the Orange Line are encouraging examples of the kind of ambition Chicago needs more of.
But we cannot stop there. Chicago should have a world-class transit system. We need more dedicated bus lanes, including on Lake Shore Drive. We need cleaner, fully accessible stations. We need trains and buses that arrive frequently enough that riders do not have to plan their lives anticipating a 20-minute wait.
As one of the largest cities in the country, we should be leading on transit — not settling for second best. What we need now is the political courage to continue prioritizing transit and deliver real results.
— Nick Uniejewski, Chicago
A nightmare at rush hour
I moved to Chicago from California 45 years ago. One exciting thing Chicago is known for is its extensive public transportation system. Over the years, I have found that the transportation to the Loop is fabulous for shopping, classes and concerts, especially in the summertime.
I live on the South Side and depend on the CTA Jackson Park Express No. 6. Returning home in the evening is a nightmare! For every No. 6 bus, there may be two or three buses for other routes. No. 6 buses bunch up or become ghost buses — when a bus listed on the electronic tracker disappears. It can take 45 minutes to an hour to get a bus. When it finally arrives, the bus fills up on State Street, leaving riders at stops beyond State to face crowding or be left stranded. Patience is tried; tempers are frayed.
One year, I partnered with a person from the alderman’s office to present these issues the CTA board. Several board members acted as if this was new information. Others acknowledged the issues and promised solutions. We’re still waiting.
As parking and gas prices soar, this problem needs to be addressed.
— Kathryn Williams, Chicago
Routine nastiness, delays
We have lived in Oak Park for 25 years and use the Green Line for trips to and from the city. We are certainly grateful that the CTA’s Blue and Green lines are available from Oak Park. But we are frustrated with the gradual, continuous decline in our riding experience.
Most of my past 25 years on the CTA have been for trips as a commuter during busy commuter hours in the morning and evening. For the most part, all reliable and good, though occasionally, particularly during trips off-hours when ridership would fall off, the experience could be dicey with the train car almost empty and a rider shouting, swearing, smoking or even being threatening. But at least my wife and I did not think twice about getting on any car or riding any hour up to 10 p.m.
That has changed. Now that we’re retired, most of our trips are during off-peak hours, and the experience is too often very unpleasant either because of nastiness of one kind or another or delays. There is a definite increase in riders who camp out, play loud music, are menacing, smoke, or walk back and forth selling products or asking for handouts and riders who shout, swear and intimidate.
In the past few weeks alone, we’ve witnessed a rider sound asleep with pants pulled down taking up virtually an entire row of seats, a rider walking back and forth muttering while covered in mucus, a rider sleeping on the floor, riders apparently on drugs falling over, loud music and smoking, and cars that smell awful for one reason or another.
This is routine stuff. Yes, routine.
So we typically will board the first car of a train because we hope the presence of the driver of the train will deter bad behavior.
Then there are the constant delays due to ongoing track maintenance, switching problems and inexplicable “momentary” stops between stations that often exceed five minutes.
We are not naive enough to think these problems can be completely solved. But the situation needs to improve. Bad behavior has been normalized. Why don’t security personnel patrol cars in pairs to address bad behavior?
Having a safe and reliable public transportation system is, of course, absolutely essential to maintain ridership and to ensure that Chicago thrives. So please, CTA, let’s focus on making ridership a more consistent, pleasurable experience.
— Steven Gillman, Oak Park
Quick starts, hard stops
I take two buses to my job on Taylor Street four days a week. My biggest frustration is the way the operators literally jerk us around with the sudden hard stops. I don’t dare get up to exit the bus until the bus has come to a complete stop.
I use a cane, and I am grateful for the operators who make sure I am seated before they start moving, but I sometimes feel like I am on a fast ride at an amusement park at each bus stop or red light.
— Maryann Cushing, Chicago
Embarrassed and seething
In considering my own frustrations with riding the CTA, I consistently come back to the incessant lack of basic manners evident on buses and trains. I have traveled around the world and am usually far more impressed with other countries’ transit. Clean and efficient, with respectful riders. Whereas in my great city, I am often squirming with embarrassment or real frustration listening to people talking loudly on their phones. Eating their finger-staining orange snacks. Feet on seats. Young and able-bodied riders avoiding eye contact with seniors or pregnant moms rather than give up their seats. Streaming social media with the volume turned up for all within 20 feet to hear.
The more one doesn’t tune out, the more one can end up seething by the time they depart the offending bus or train. For the most part, CTA personnel act with grace and politeness, although the sour drivers can influence the riders’ experiences as well. People, it’s called respect. Lose the chip on your shoulder to make for a better trip. For all, including yourself. The quality of your trip can set a tone for the next part of your day and can shift the experience of commuting to something of which to be proud in our city.
— Jacqueline Roig, Chicago
Action on nuisance issues
As a senior, I stopped driving a few years ago. Since then, I have relied almost exclusively on the CTA or Metra for my transportation. Fortunately in my neighborhood (East Lakeview), CTA service is varied and frequent. I praise the CTA for the frequency of service (although it’s frustrating when several buses in a row are no-shows). Also, the buses and trains are generally clean and comfortable.
Metra is more difficult, because I have to include additional time for most rides, to travel to Union Station (or Ogilvie) to take a train to the suburbs. Although my choices are more restricted, there is the possibility of travel. Public transportation in Chicago is very good.
My only real complaint, other than no-show buses, is smoking on trains. Frankly, a single smoker will stink up an entire car. Although the CTA is working to stop it, there is no real way for passengers to do anything except complain afterward. Some weeks ago, when my wife and I returned from the theater late one evening, we entered a CTA car that reeked of smoke. A person at the other end of the car was puffing away. At the next station, we changed cars. But it bothered me that there did not seem to be any way to notify authorities to stop the smoker and remove him from the train.
I called the CTA to ask what to do in that situation. The person responded that I could call the motorman on the train. But, as I noted, that might involve personal safety if someone in that car heard and then attacked me or my wife. The CTA person sympathized but was unable to offer any other suggestions.
A week or two later, I took Metra to a northern suburb. In the car was a bright yellow placard notifying passengers of telephone numbers to call in case of danger or violations. The placard included the telephone for Metra security. I immediately thought of my CTA experience. Wouldn’t it be good to catch violators in the act and remove and/or arrest them? The threat of removal and/or arrest would at least make them more careful and might even stop them from smoking on the train. It’s a change worth doing.
I hope CTA personnel will continue to be receptive to praise and criticism of its service, which as noted previously is generally very good.
— Frank L. Schneider, Chicago
Courteous workers, dirty buses
I give kudos to the CTA for its extensive network of buses and trains that allow users to get nearly anywhere in Chicago. And I have found CTA employees uniformly courteous.
On the other hand, the cloth seats in many buses are filthy. Since I wear clean clothes, I have to search for the cleanest seat.
The CTA needs to do more to clean its buses.
— Jim Halas, Norridge
Bus arrival times on signs
A major frustration is the unreliability of bus arrival times on electronic signs on bus shelters. Often, a sign says a bus will arrive in 15 minutes; I get ready to hail a taxi, then the bus arrives in five minutes. Or it says a bus is arriving in five minutes, and that suddenly jumps to 15 minutes.
Arrival times should be based on the bus’s actual location and speed, not its scheduled time. Also, too often, signs announce: “Arrival times temporarily unavailable.”
— Mike Wilensky, Chicago
Route a picture of neglect
I have always found CTA personnel to be courteous and helpful.
The Blue Line from the West Side to the medical district announces neglect. The CTA right-of-way is strewn with trash and litter. Discarded tires, auto parts and abandoned construction debris litter the route. There are piles of accumulated trash stashed underneath the road overpasses, Check out the pile of garbage at the northeast entrance to the Central Street tunnel.
— William Kinnaird, Oak Park
We need ‘strolling’ conductors
For many years, the CTA has provided wonderful elevated train service for countless commuters to and from downtown Chicago, for which I’ve been grateful during my working years. Now that I’m retired, I wish I could still ride the “L” occasionally, but I won’t. Ever since COVID-19, the violent crime rate has escalated on the “L.” I would like to see the CTA reinstate the “strolling” conductors they used for safe transportation many, many years ago; crime then was low. The conductors would continuously walk back and forth through each car from one end of the train to the other throughout the entire ride.
I believe knowing that a transit official (having a direct line to law enforcement) may show up in your train car at any moment would discourage much of the criminal activity now taking place on the train.
— Laurie Winkelman, Chicago
Make sure everyone pays
I’m an avid rider of our region’s transit network. I think the CTA, Metra and Pace are assets that set us apart from so many other American cities. Of course, there’s always room for improvement. We also each have a responsibility to be good stewards of our public assets, transit prime among them. That includes paying your fair share to cover the costs of a system that benefits us all.
I boil every time I ride the bus and see young people mumble something to the driver, then walk past the farebox paying nothing. We’re failing if we can’t impress upon our young people that benefits come with responsibility, including paying your reduced fare to ride the bus.
— Derrick James, Chicago
Run in mind-boggling way
At 8:23 p.m. one evening, I walked to wait for the No. 49 bus on Western Avenue at North Avenue, after watching the last one drive by Western and Hirsch Street at 8:03 six minutes early as I was approaching, hoping to have a better chance at a major intersection.
Here’s what I encountered at this corner: On the digital sign, “Arrival information temporarily unavailable.” And on the metal sign, the location to text 41411 for information — with it scratched out on both sides.
Finally, two buses show up at 8:30 p.m.
How does anyone get to where they’re going on time, if at all? It’s truly mind-boggling that someone is getting paid to run this boondoggle of a transportation system.
— Avis Crasko, Chicago
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