July 16, 2008
CTA To Try Seat-Free Cars During Rush Hour
The CTA will use new, seat-free cars during rush hour on the Brown Line starting this fall. The preliminary plan is to have two (out of eight) cars be seatless, so don't fret, lazies.
From the Trib:
Stripping out all the seats from some train cars is not the CTA's preference in terms of customer service, [CTA President Ron] Huberman said. But with ridership increasing each month—in large part because of soaring gasoline prices and a new requirement to provide free rides to senior citizens—the transit agency is unable to afford more service.
Cuddle party! [Trib, photo of a crowded Red Line train bySupafly]
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Yay, more senior citizens are taking the train, let's take out the seats.
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They should take the seats out of the blue line! wtf#
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That's interesting, this was supposed to happen to the Blue Line, I thought, because they were going to strip the 2200-series cars, which are the oldest, and are assigned only to Blue and Pink.
If it's the Brown Line, they definitely need to make the seatless cars the middle ones, as that's where everyone gathers because most el stations have center-platform entry/exit.
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Don't stand, don't stand, don't stand so close to me....
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Who thinks this stuff up! Mr. Huberman, we don't need seat-less L cars! It already takes me a ridiculously long time to get home on the Brown Line....and now you want me to fight for even fewer seats or STAND the whole way home? Forget it!
I'd bet that "overcrowding" wouldn't be an issue if the trains actually ran on time and on schedule. "Overcrowding" seems to occur when there is a long interval between trains. Maybe the CTA should try fixing that?
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Are People Pushers next??
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axwMxUBL_ws
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I'm all in favor of this, especially if it happened on the Blue line PROVIDED they install overhead handles.
The seat configurations take up so much space and I'm really looking forward to the seats parallel to the long axis of the train.
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I'm all for cramming in extra people, but are they going to install handrails? Usually when standing anywhere but right next to the door you have to hold onto the seats to avoid being bounced around the car and into fellow riders.
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What a mess...costs the same as New York city to ride a train and there will be no seats...ridership is up and they are broke...none of this adds up.
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I'm guessing most people will continue to crowd the doorways.
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let's see. ... why is this a bad idea?
people who crowd the doorways
people who don't know how to hold on properly
people who want to lean on shit to read their book/newspaper and not stand next to someone, making more room
gropers and pervs
people who have disabilities/lots of stuff/don't feel well (rife with potential for fainting and "medical emergencies," thus causing ever more delays)
all the sudden herks and jerks and slamming on the brakes of bad/inexperienced drivers causing lots of the aforementioned to fall, fly around, etc.
all the long ass delays with no ability to get off the train
i could go on.
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Did you not read the post?
"Only TWO cars"
If you're disabled or elderly, you're not going to get on the clearly marked seatless cars, you're going to go to a car that has seats. If you're able-bodied, then you can afford to stand up for the whole ride, if it means it can get you home quicker.
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Someone call the Whaaaaaaaaaaaambulance!
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sorry Matty, what better line than the brown line to get rid of the seats. Heck most of the Daley supporters take that line any way. Suckers!
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okay. you addressed *one* of my points.
but for fun, let's say i think to myself, "aww hell, i guess i'll get on here at chicago ... i can make it to southport. it's only six stops." i can say from many personal experiences that those six stops have often taken well over an hour, and that my "i'm feeling fine fresh out of work feeling" can turn to "i'm feeling really not good and need to sit down" for a variety of reasons over the span of an hour.
sometimes, having someone get off at a stop and having the ability to snag his/her seat is really a godsend. but, let's roll with it. why the hell not. the CTA always has great ideas.
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While smussy greatly exaggerates the time it takes to get between Chicago and Southport (it's more like 15-20 minutes), I think I half-agree.
I wonder if the CTA couldn't leave a handful of seats in each car so that disabled/elderly folks could sit in any car, and also for those who suddenly feel ill or some such thing. I'm currently on crutches, and it would suck if wherever I happened to be standing on the platform turned out to be in front of the standing-only car.
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Good God, I didn't realize chicagoist posters were such sissies.
People! Standing! OMG!!!!!
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Ask yourself this, What would you choose?:
A) Ride on a car where you know you'll never have a chance to sit.
B) Ride on a car where you have a chance to sit down.
Given those two options, everyone will choose option A. For people to ride on seatless trains, they'll need to make the entire train seatless, because people will always choose the cars that have seats--just for the chance of sitting down.
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Maybe I'll bring my own folding chair.
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Maybe the city will lose some collective weight if we stood for more than 30 minutes a day.
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Actually Sparky maybe you should sale folding chairs! And charge an additional fee to clear out a spots with a cattle prod for those who want to sit in comfort.
Oh and after packing more people into the renovated cattle cars,( including fat people) I wonder what happends when one of those cars hits a corner. Its gonna tip right off the tracks into the street!
Glade I'm on the Blue Line!
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NUTS TO BUTTS BABY!
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coollead: i appreciate your optimism, but if these cars will truly be "clearly marked," then i'm a monkey's uncle. i can just see the doors opening up, the first passel of people getting on...and then turning back into the fray because they didn't know this was a standing-room-only car. hilarity will not ensue.
i understand what they're trying to do, but standing for 45 minutes on the brown line just plain sucks.
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and that trip is 15-20 minutes ... if things are going well. the hour trip i'm talking about is when things go awry, which during rush hour is about as likely as finding someone drunk outside sluggers on any given night.