Recent Headlines

Santa's no helper when it comes to selling your home (ChicagoTribune.com) - This seems a we-bit premature, but sorry, it's true...maybe try St. Joseph.

Slowest season for sellers can be a great time to buy (Chicago Tribune.com) - Remember it's only a buyers market if you're actually buying.

Chicago in the Year 2010 (Chicagoist.com) - It's only four years, but new projects including Trump International, Lakeshore East, and the long anticipated Fordham Spire will be making their impacts on the city skyline.

Headache on the Red Line (SunTimes.com) - As always another eventful day on the CTA, but seriously this is ridiculous. The planets needs to stop doing whatever it is that they're doing.

Chicago, L.A. appear to be frontrunners for Olympics (ChicagoTribune.com) - Too bad for San Francisco, good for Chicago. And if Chicago does get the Olympics, weeks of traffic hell like we've never seen before.

Bus drivers are human too!

Living in a city like Chicago, there are hundreds of thousands of us that rely on public transportation at one point or another during the time that we live here. In spite of its shortcomings, we really have a great system in the city, especially compared with other big cities. In what feels like a previous lifetime, I lived on the bus or the el going back and forth to work day in day out. There were plenty of days that I wanted to strangle a fellow passenger or the bus driver. It happens to the best of us, especially in the crush of rush hour. And I've been out there waiting and waiting for that bus to arrive and then 3 come at the same time. Was I late more then once to work, yes, but often times I knew I was leaving too late to actually make it on time anyway. There were many days were I actually felt bad for the drivers. There was one day on my trusty 156 LaSalle, that the bus made a sudden stop to avoid a car that had gone through a very red light. A sight and hearing impaired woman seated on the bus hit her wrist on the seat in front of her and was quite upset. Several passengers tried to calm her and explain what had happened. Upon exiting the bus a couple stops later, she confronted the driver who offered to get her medical assistance repeatedly. She refused. The bus driver later asked us to fill out a report as witnesses to the incident and to his response for fear that she would report him. I was surprised to see that all but one or two people on the bus voluntarily filled out the form for him. I can't imagine driving a bus day in, day out and while I know there are some terrible bus drivers out there, they're human too. They stress out just like you do and might even hate their job sometimes just like you do. They can't make traffic move faster, they can't control the number of people waiting for the bus, nor can they control the CTA management. Try saying good morning to them every once in a while, you might be pleasantly surprised.

And since as passengers we always get to gripe, here's the bus driver's perspective courtesy of the Red Eye.

Bus vs. them
How to be a better rider

The future of express trains to O'Hare and Midway

The CTA's vision for 20-25 minute express service from the Loop to either O'Hare or Midway airports has at least temporarily been placed on the back burner. It's a great idea, a whole lot quicker and cheaper then taking a cab. Capital seems to be the big obstacle, approximately $1.5 billion. Ouch. So instead it has been proposed that a $10 a ride "express" service could take it's place. The big difference is that the ride would last the normal 40-45 or 30 minutes respectively, and would managed by a private company. A copy of a report obtained by Crain's Chicago Business, projects by 2010 an estimated 1.7 million riders would take advantage of these dedicated trains with special luggage space. And won't that be a god send, to actually have some room to place the luggage out the the way. Chicago isn't the first city to try this. Singapore and other major cities have successful express link trains. If it takes a public/private partnership to get service improvements, like this then I say go for it. The issue is expected to come before the CTA board for approval as early as it's November meeting. Stay tuned for more information.

The CTA's Proposed Circle Line

You may or may not have heard about the proposed CTA Circle line. For those of you who aren't familiar with the project, it's objective is to link all of the CTA's and Metra's lines, from 39th to Fullerton and Lake Michigan to Western. The routes still under consideration include an Ashland corridor and an Ashland/Ogden Corridor, so if you live on Ashland this would be of particular interest to you. The CTA is going to be presenting their Screen 2 Alternative Analysis study at three different venues this week. The study examines all possible transit options and ultimately determine a locally preferred alternative.

Tuesday, Sept. 26th - Bucktown/Wicker Park Library 6-8pm
1701 N Milwaukee, 2nd Flr Community Room
Weds, Sept. 27th - National Teachers Academy 6-8pm
55 W Cermak - Lunch Room/Auditorium
Thursday, Sept 28th - First Baptist Church 6-8pm
1613 W Washington - Community Room

It seems like it could potentially be a great new alternative for the CTA and opens up some areas that have little to no el access. For more detailed information on the project check out the CTA's website.