DROOO

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:05:21 -0600

on my way home last night on the blue line, a warning came on saying that the train was waiting for signal clearance, but instead of sitting still, the train kept inching it's way, and then stopping several times jerking people everywhere, and even moved in reverse a couple times. i couldn't help but think about this story.

matilda

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 12:54:08 -0600

"...CTA ridership is up 4 percent over last year, which is part of a national trend of more people using public transportation." Yes, but there is another important part of this trend, noted most recently in a WSJ article in the past week or so: Decades of short-sighted and auto-centric planning, and current funding problems, are forcing many transit agencies--including those serving smaller cities in the USA--to cut back service or, at the least, balk at expansion called for by increasing demand. In short, there seems to be the real danger that we are ill-prepared to exploit this situation of high gas prices and increasing willingness, no matter how grumpy, to ride buses and trains more often.

Chicagoist: Operator Error Blamed in Red Line Derailment, Too

DROOO

matilda