Editor’s note: We asked you to submit letters about what’s great about the CTA and what’s frustrating. We published a selection of your letters on Monday. Here are more of your thoughts.
I write to express my deep, glandular passion for the CTA. Yes, the stories of violence on public transit grab headlines, and it should mortify our leaders that so many folks call the CTA home. Overwhelmingly, though, the CTA takes millions of people where they need to go, day and night, safely, at a price even a poor person can afford.
I lived most of my life in suburbs that lacked so much as Metra access. I know what it is to need to drive everywhere. To be stranded if I had car trouble. I remember paying $50 or more to park my car on the rare occasions I ventured into the city. Rare because, wow, parking was expensive if you could find it.
But I love Chicago. Have always loved Chicago. Give me the funky odors and technicolor characters of the CTA over the sterile loneliness and claustrophobia of suburban roadways any day.
I feel free here. The city is mine to explore with the CTA. And I never have to drive the train or park the bus.
— Jennifer Companik, Chicago
Slow zones on the Blue Line
As a veteran of more than 10,000 CTA rides, I’d like to see a real investment in current CTA infrastructure.
While the Red Line is being extended (at an escalating cost measured in billions), the Eisenhower section of the Blue Line has featured slow zones for years and years. I first contacted the CTA about it back in 2022 and was referred to the “slow zone elimination” section of the agency’s website. These extensive slow areas continue to exist on the western portion of the Blue Line to this day, painfully extending everyone’s commute. Slow-moving cars on the Ike, caught in their own tortuous crawl, still often pass our CTA train.
“Rapid transit,” it is not.
— Jerry Ostergaard, Oak Park
Why do buses still bunch up?
What happened to the system that was to direct buses? This system was to automatically recognize when too many buses were going in the same direction on any given bus route. This happens — maybe not routinely nor often, but it sure is frustrating when you see it. The system was to notify the CTA so that the CTA could reverse a bus or two.
This system was something talked about in 2015. Maybe only talked about. I don’t know. Sure is agony to watch back-to-back buses going in the opposite direction of my travels while I monitor the 41411 system only to see that I still have a 15- to 20-minute wait.
In fairness, if there are too many buses going in my direction, I’ll wait for the second bus in hopes of getting a seat.
In double fairness, I’ll sometimes take a chance and wait on a third bus.
— Ron March, Chicago
My reintroduction to CTA
One of the most significant outcomes for me resulting from President Donald Trump’s conflict with Iran, the closing of the Strait of Hormuz and the increase in gas prices has been my reintroduction to the CTA.
When gas prices skyrocketed into the stratosphere, my morning commute to work via my personal vehicle went from $65 a week, all the way up to $80. And fortunately, this price shock was enough for me to begin looking into other transportation options. This search brought me back to an old friend I had abandoned years ago for the luxury of driving: the CTA Red Line.
I discovered that for $100 a month, I could go back and forth to work to work, read a real book again, and fully avoid the jittery increases in fuel costs, sitting in traffic gridlock and vehicle wear and tear, simply by starting my day a little earlier. Furthermore, this pivoting to public transit has also allowed me to save hundreds of dollars a month in fuel payments.
And while there are still the challenges of homelessness, riders with mental illness, and the occasional acts of crime and violence, the CTA is still by far the best economical option for getting to both Midway and O’Hare airports and moving quickly throughout the city and some suburbs, and it still remains a much cheaper option today than a ride-share.
— Ephraim Lee, Chicago
Thankful and frustrated
I’m grateful to have CTA trains to ride one or two days a week, sometimes more, mostly between Skokie and the Loop. Mostly it serves me very well, but sometimes it frustrates me, such as when:
• The northbound Red Line stops near Jarvis “waiting for signaling” just long enough for me to miss a Yellow Line connection.
• That same northbound Red Line comes in on the southbound side, with or without an announcement, so I have to get my bearings, go into the station and cross over, which again can take just long enough for me to miss a Yellow Line connection.
• A train sits at Howard with the “line” sign off, so I can’t tell if it’s Red Line or Purple Line or northbound or southbound (see previous item), and the sign doesn’t come on until “doors closing” for the train to depart, so it’s tough to know whether to board.
• A train disappears ghost-like from the display of incoming times.
• I’ve reported any of these frustrations to the CTA, and I haven’t heard back.
Otherwise, I’ve enjoyed having the “L” for my entire life. Over the decades, I’ve appreciated the addition of air conditioning, clear recorded announcements and the aforementioned displays of incoming train times, as well as how much quieter the subways have become. (See “decades.”) I’ve enjoyed one particular weekday morning “L” operator’s cheerful welcoming stories, though I haven’t heard him lately.
And I’m glad to be able to read, relax, and avoid the headaches and expenses of driving and parking downtown. The fare hasn’t changed for several years, and it feels like a bargain, especially since I now get to use a senior pass.
I can handle a little frustration.
— Bill Page, Morton Grove
Many great CTA workers
The CTA has been a genuine part of my life from high school through the present day. I have very fond memories of how it could be. On one bus ride, I discovered that I didn’t have enough money for the fare, but the driver allowed me to ride, saying that I could pay him next time, which was very gracious.
Another time while I was riding the bus, a storm was moving in, and even though the sky turned green and opened up into a severe hailstorm, the driver never lost his composure, kept the bus steady and got us all to where we needed to be.
It is always pleasant to sit and take in the scenery going by. Recently, I took the “L” to ride down to the Lyric Opera House. The CTA representative was so helpful when the ticket machine didn’t issue me a card upon paying, buzzing me into the waiting area and also checking on which stop was closest to the Lyric.
Through the years, I have met and experienced people who didn’t merely do a job but truly brought the best of themselves to it. The CTA has a lot of great people working for it; the agency has provided a true service to Chicago and the suburbs.
— Mandy May, Skokie
Trasg at bus stops, on buses
Everyone who uses buses and trains in the city and suburbs expects a certain amount of wait time. That said, can the CTA do a better job in seeing that the shelters and stops are clean and free of debris while we wait?
I live in a very nice, relatively safe suburb, but still, I am appalled at the bottles, cans, newspapers, plastic containers, cigarette butts, wads of gum and half-eaten food left behind at some of my bus stops. Critters like mice, squirrels, birds and ants are keen on entering the shelters while humans wait on the sidewalk to avoid getting filth on the bottoms of their shoes. Sitting down on the bench next to bottles and cans is only for the brave and for the elderly person too frail to stand for a long time.
Yes, there are metal barrels right there for people to put their trash. But of course, it’s so much easier for the always-unseen barbarian just to throw junk on the sidewalk or underneath the bench.
The only answer, then, is a no-nonsense public transit sanitation service that keeps our buses, bus stops and train stations clean and appealing in both city and suburbs. This service should be regular and ongoing, not hit-and-miss. Riders should be able to call and report a situation that needs attention, and the problem should be dealt with in a timely manner.
Chicago public transportation can and must be reflective of a world-renowned city.
— Kathleen Melia, Niles
Enforce rules on violators
What frustrates me the most about the CTA is that it refuses to enforce its own rules for passengers, especially violations by “continuous riders”: sleeping, laying across multiple seats, and riding back and forth on “L” trains on a single fare. Effective enforcement has to include removing these violators from the system, not just from the train they’re on at the end of the line. People who do not exit the train at the end of the line with everybody else should be put on the other side of the fare turnstiles.
The CTA can show compassion for people it thinks are homeless by arranging for a seamless transfer of them to social service agencies and organizations at the ends of “L” lines where these violators are ejected.
The CTA’s refusal to enforce its own rules effectively proves it puts violators above passengers who ride by the rules.
— Jean SmilingCoyote, Chicago
CTA technology at work
I love that the CTA has put technology to work on the transit system. On buses, it is fantastic to see the stops displayed, bus arrival times and train departure times. Any route changes are noted. That makes using the CTA much easier to use.
Now, it would be great to use tech to reduce bus bunching.
— Lee Berenbaum, Chicago
Reinforce code of conduct
I’m sure I have nothing new to add here, but I take the Blue Line O’Hare branch downtown four days a week. Most of those eight trips (unless I’m in the very front car) will have either people who are homeless sprawled out over several seats, preventing commuters from sitting down (most common in the morning); the stench of cigarette or pot smoke lingering in the air, if not some actively smoking (most common in the afternoon); garbage, usually food wrappers strewn on the floor; and/or a ranting person, sometimes saying they’re going to hurt someone. Oh, and let’s not forget the music aficionados who decide everyone should hear what they are listening to.
Occasionally, a police officer will enter the car, check that the sprawled-out people aren’t dead and move on. I have seen them let the ranters remain onboard to continue frightening the rest of the passengers. You can’t switch to another car at the next station, because they walk back and forth between cars while the train is moving, and you’re back at square one. Still, the trains do usually show up around the time you expect them to, and it is faster and cheaper than driving every day.
I realize that the police officers who work and will be working this detail rightfully want to focus on the violent criminals, but when you have nobody enforcing an even minimum code of conduct, it makes for a thing we commuters have to endure every day and not a thing that the city should feel proud to offer residents and visitors.
— Cheryl Arvio, Chicago
A better CTA, a better city
First, what I’m grateful for. The CTA helps me and my fellow Chicagoans and Illinoisans move around our great city. It’s powered by the dedicated work of everyone from operators and drivers all the way up to an acting (who should be permanent!) president. They deserve more appreciation than we give them.
What frustrates me is when the CTA isn’t there. Trains or buses that never arrive and disappear from the schedule. Routes that could exist and leave me wondering if I should drive or just stay home. Fellow riders who opt for other means of transportation because they fear who else might be on that train.
Truly what frustrates me about the CTA is that we could all have so much more! A better CTA, a better city even, is there for us if we want it.
— Michael Indrelunas, Chicago
Inconsistent wait times
I am often frustrated by the CTA’s inconsistent wait times and frequency. The Blue Line near me sometimes comes every five to seven minutes, which makes it easy to simply walk to the station without needing to check a schedule. It is dissuading to show up and see the next train is 15-plus minutes away on the second busiest route on the system.
I am grateful, however, that the train does run 24/7, so I can easily get downtown or to the airport on some late nights or early mornings.
— Daniel Gentile, Chicago
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