It looks like the CTA could be on its way to introducing a new fare card. First up for the agency will be seeking proposals for studies on the change and then will be implementing the change itself. If all goes as planned, the CTA - who has been joined by Metra and Pace - could implement the new system which would allow riders to pay fare via just a credit card by mid-2012. CTA President Carole Brown told WBBM, "It's quicker boarding, we think that we will be able to increase ridership because it's just an ease of ridership so that they don't have to find the media. It takes us out of the fare-media business which we think will save money." more ›

While the City Council was following up on the General Assembly's plan to "save" the CTA last week, 27th Ward Alderman Walter Burnett was advocating for minority businesses. more ›

Ex-CTA head Frank Kruesi broke his era of silence just in time to disavow any responsibility for the clusterfuck of mismanagement, power jockeying and buck-passing also known as the transit funding crisis, telling the Sun-Times "I made the decisions that I thought were right at the time. I don't think anything is gained by going back and rehashing things." Because learning from the past is for assholes. more ›

Breaking news: No Doomsday! (...until January maybe.) Blago offered $27 million grant to keep the CTA and Pace functioning at their current levels, and even though transit officials had said they wouldn't accept short-term solutions, CBS2 is reporting that Mayor Daley did. More as it happens. Also, what's that story about a little boy crying some animal? Coyote? Dingo? The boy who cried...panther? It's on the tip of our tongue... UPDATE Looks like we... more ›

Wednesday, some of you were upset at the thought of a short-term solution to the CTA's ongoing budget crisis. We were upset at the thought of bus lines being cut, fares being raised and people losing their jobs just because the legislature couldn't give the transit budget deficit one more serious consideration. We said we think it would be a good idea for the CTA to take the $24 million dollars that the governor offered... more ›

more ›

Chicagoist wants you all to go to this story and look at the expression on CTA Board President Carole Brown's face as she rides a bus this February. Classic. The picture accompanies an article detailing Brown's plan to have the CTA's Office of Inspector General do an audit to see if buses and trains are cleaned as often and thoroughly as they should be. At a board meeting Wednesday, Brown was given the party line... more ›

The guy who's accused of killing Tank Johnson's friend/bodyguard is pleading not guilty. This is silly. "The Sun-Times is putting the Tribune on trial. The charge: The Trib has ruined the Cubs." Would the Sun-Times be attacking the Trib so virulently if they weren't a major competitor? We think not. In CTA news: Two more downtown Metra stations will get CTA transit-card vending machines. Also, the CTA said they're going to start flooding the... more ›

"Sunrise-Sears" via bweb04. more ›

For CTA President Frank Kruesi, yesterday was a bad day at the office. more ›

Yesterday, When we wrote about the CTA’s plan for high-speed service out to the airports, we wondered if anyone – like CTA President Krank Kreusi – mentioned it to CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown before it hit the dailies. We naïvely thought that Frank wouldn’t be so careless as to let yet another CTA money-making scheme (see last year’s plan to buy fuel from Venezuela) hit the papers before first telling the person who heads the... more ›

As we headed out of the Chicagoist offices yesterday to meet up with some of our fellow colleagues who had already left the office for the day, we were a little hesitant to jump on the CTA given the morning's snafu (power outage, missing rail, possible suicide?). However, our spirits were strangely lifted by the existential queries on this ever-so-helpful CTA sign. We, too, have asked ourselves these very same questions. If anyone can... more ›

After six months of construction, the CTA Brown Line's Kedzie and Rockwell stations should have reopened this morning at 4:45 AM (if they didn't someone tell us). The CTA is still adding a few finishing touches like signage, more fencing, and ooh, a compass rose. The spiffy new stations feature glass station houses, new platforms, better lighting, and those nifty blue rubber edges that remind you to back up lest you get decapitated by a... more ›

We just read the funniest thing, you gotta hear this. more ›

Photo via margaretlyons. more ›

Try as they might to spin things in a positive manner, it has NOT been a good year public relations-wise for the Chicago Transit Authority. Remember in the spring when they proposed so many "doomsday budget" scenarios that they came across like a spoiled child begging for more allowance money while not doing any more work around the house? Those were good times. Or when CTA Board Chair Carole Brown started her own weblog... more ›

The ongoing battles between the Illinois General Assembly and the CTA have once again hit the papers. After reading this article in the Sun-Times, we’re left with the same sinking feeling we get in our stomach whenever we attend a cockfight: no matter whom we root for, it just feels wrong. more ›

A month ago Chicagoist took a look at the rash of new blogs launched by Illinois politicians. We concluded that while the blogs were interesting, we withheld judgement since successful blogs tend to have regular posts over time. Let's check back to see if things have gotten any better. In our review we looked at three new blogs launched in April, one from new U.S. Senator Barack Obama, CTA Chair Carole Brown and Republican Cook... more ›

Blogs are no longer hip or cool. By virtue of who's using them now, they are common tools of the political trade, and if you don't have a blog, there's probably something wrong with you. Case in point, three new blogs operated by Illinois political personalities, Sen. Barack Obama, CTA Chair Carole Brown, and Cook County Board Member (and Board President candidate) Tony Peraica. Blogs derive their power in two ways, first to disseminate information... more ›

Remember that scene in presidential look-alike classic Dave, when the schmo everyman accountant played by Charles Grodin came into the Oval Office and cleaned up the entire United States government’s budget in, like, 20 minutes? That rocked. more ›

An article in the Sun-Times today reported that CTA President Frank Kruesi and Senate President Emil Jones have reached an agreement to delay major cuts in CTA service. The CTA has its "doomsday" meeting tomorrow and is set to vote on the cuts. If the cuts pass, CTA would eliminate 30 bus routes, lay off 1,250 workers and stop overnight L service. Kruesi and CTA board president Carole Brown have said they would delay the... more ›

CTA "Board members are pissed," about the planned elimination of the Holiday Train, says board member Sue Leonis. So, Chicago Transit Authority Board President Carole Brown directed President Frank Kruesi to get the Holiday Train back on track. Kruesi defended his move saying the train costs about $200,000 to run, and he couldn't spend that money in good conscious when 1,250 CTA employees are set to be laid-off on January 2nd. more ›

We're all about to get fucked someplace really uncomfortable—no, not the back of a Volkswagen; more like the back of the bus. The Illinois General Assembly will close its veto session today without approving additional funds for the CTA. They've postponed action on the CTA budget until the middle of next year at the earliest. Remember how the CTA made two budgets; one if the State coughed up the cash to batch major budget gaps, and another "doomsday" one if they didn't? Well, we're looking at the doomsday one. Awesome. more ›