Results tagged “cta”

As a union leader expressed doubt about the recent stroller incident at the Morse Red Line stop, police have now called the mother's account "credible" and say there's no evidence of any shenanigans, though the investigation, including interviews, continues. While the union leader expressed doubt over the lack of damage to the stroller, police say traces of paint on the stroller back up her story. The Tribune report also says the stroller was not turned over to the CTA until some five stops later. Union officials claim the stroller (pictured right) would be more heavily damage from hitting guardrails. Initial tests on the train from the incident show the car's door were functioning meaning they would have stayed open as long as an obstruction was present. The train's operator remains suspended without pay pending the investigation.

We've admittedly been hesitant to cover the story of the alleged "Miracle At Morse" in which a stroller with a baby was reportedly stuck in the doors of the train, dragged along the platform, and then the baby knocked out onto the tracks but wound up miraculously unharmed. The whole thing sounded so improbable and given a similar recent incident in Australia that garnered world-wide attention, we had several questions: Did the operator completely not see the stroller before pulling out? How did the train start moving with doors still wedged open? - and we wondered if the whole thing was real. Turns out we're not the only ones. Amalgamated Transit Union President Robert Kelly is having problems wrapping his head around this, too. With the stroller in question in officials' hands and in relatively good condition, questions are beginning to arise. As reported by CBS 2:

The Brown and Purple Lines are experiencing some serious service interruptions and delays after an incident this afternoon in which a CTA worker was burned by electricity on the tracks. The incident happened near Sedgwick. Shuttle buses are in place between Belmont and all Loop stations according to the CTA. Update: Normal service has resumed as of 3:15 p.m.

• Jury selection began today for Andre Crawford, accused of raping and killing 11 women during the 90's.
• No one was hurt but 12 vehicles were damaged today when a Pace bus driver passed out while driving the bus along it's Oak Park route.
• Block 37, lawsuit, CTA, delay, blah blah blah.

With 2,000 layoffs being included in the CTA's dreaded 2010 budget, leaders for the CTA bus drivers' union are contemplating a strike to fight the proposed cutbacks. Local 241 of the Amalgamated Transit Union is threatening to not only strike to protest the cutbacks and promised raises made in a 2007 deal, but is claiming that the CTA's current budget gap is closer to $500 million, far larger than the CTA claims. Darrell Jefferson, President ATU Local 241, told CBS 2, "Metropolitan Transit Act says, in section 28, that management and exempt people should make up only 3 percent of the total number of employees. We estimate CTA being somewhere like 15 to 18 percent. Laying off people and you're still gonna be heavy in management, I think you're asking for a war more than a layoff."

Know that bill that would have restricted the free senior citizen transit rides to only the truly needy? It's dead in the water. The Illinois State Senate, apparently intimidated by old people calling their offices and shaking their canes at them, refused to even call the bill up for a vote. And without the vote, the bill gets buried. Senator Rickey Hendon (D-Chicago) admitted that the "seniors are the ones who really carried the ball" on getting the measure quashed, and, as Hendon added, he was "pretty sure" that Govenor Pat Quinn would have vetoed the bill if it passed, anyway. A representative for Senate President John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said that it didn't seem that the bill had enough support to pass into law.

• A hearing on whether or not to allow hearsay statements in to the murder trial of Drew Peterson has been set for January 19.
• Speaking of Peterson, a tree and plaque honoring missing fourth wife Stacy was stolen.
• Separating fact from fiction on H1N1.

Today Gov. Quinn called on the CTA and Metra to not raise fares in exchange for state aid. Meanwhile, with just a little over 24 hours left in the fall session, state legislators are considering a bill that would cut back on those free senior rides that Blago forced the CTA to institute. The new bill would set a threshold that only those seniors who earn below a yearly income of $22,218 would qualify for free rides. As the Trib points out, though, Quinn didn't say if he would refuse to sign this new legislation should the CTA and Metra raise fares anyway.

And so it begins. Apple, the supermegaultra computer/tech company, is looking into a deal with the CTA that could bring the cash-strapped transit agency some much needed money while opening up an advertising smorgasbord. The Sun-Times reports that the CTA has confirmed they're in talks with Apple for something that would amount to "station domination." Essentially, Apple would pay for refurbishments to a train station in exchange for "first dibs" on any and all advertising that would go up at the station. Not surprisingly, the station being discussed is North/Clybourn on the Red Line; construction is already underway on a new Apple store nearby. (Apple decided on that location for its new store after its much-publicized split with the Block 37 project.) One thing the deal, which could give the CTA up to $4 million in funding for the refurbishments, will not do is hand over station naming rights.

Facing a deep budget gap of its own, the CTA is making moves to earn a little cash. One way it's doing so is by re-upping a deal with soft drink maker Coca-Cola. The deal, which will net the CTA around $1.4 million over the next five years, means Coke is the exclusive provider of all drink vending machines at CTA stops. According to a press release by the CTA:

• The Reader's resident investigative badasses, Mick Dumke and Ben Joravsky, do it again, explaining to us the city's shadow budget.
• The CTA wheels and deals on parking lots and vending machines to garner a little cash to close their budget hole.
• The sale of the Old Main Post Office is back on again.

With bus services slashed under the CTA's new budget proposal, CTA bus drivers made up a large chunk of around 2,000 CTA employees who received layoff notices in the mail. The jobs will be laid out over the next two months as the transit authority prepares for a budget shortfall of nearly $300 million. [Sun-Times]

While we wait to see if the CTA will indeed make good on its threat to raise fares and cut services in an attempt to close a budget gap numbering in the hundreds of millions of dollars, at least one high-ranking government official is ready to do his part. With the RTA already supporting such a measure, Gov. Pat Quinn is also giving some thought to repealing the free CTA rides for senior programs infamously instituted by then-governor Rod Blagojevich. Speaking to WGN Radio today, Quinn supported the idea of reviewing program and possibly altering it to offer free rides to veterans, active military, and seniors whose income falls below a certain threshold. Said Quinn:

With the CTA facing a budget gap in the hundreds of millions of dollars and another potential CTA fare hike looming, everyone involved is looking for ways to save some cash. The Regional Transportation Authority has now suggested tweaking the free rides for seniors program implemented by then-governor Rod Blagojevich. Instead of giving free rides to all seniors, the RTA has suggested providing free rides to low-income seniors who make below a suggested threshold of $22,000 a year. The RTA cited a study by the University of Illinois in Chicago which estimated the CTA lost between $38 million and $112 million from the new program. According to the RTA, setting the new limit would account for a boost of around $37 million for the CTA.

As regular as the first frost of the season, so, too, does the oncoming winter also bring another tradition of recent years: a proposed fare hike from the CTA. Say what you will, at least it's not another Doomsday Prophecy. The CTA is still trying to close that pesky budget gap that may go as high as $300 million and they've outlined a new list of proposed fare hikes in a plan that was printed as an ad in today's Chicago Tribune. In addition to the fare hikes, the CTA is also proposing for a cut in service, mainly in the form of cutting back hours and nixing a few express bus routes.

CTA officials are investigating whether an unidentified bus driver followed procedure or ignored a person in distress after a passenger was attacked with a chemical two week ago, the Tribune reports.

The CTA continued its jostling yesterday by electing a new chairman of the board. Former CHA chief Terry Peterson will fill the spot vacated a month ago by Carole Brown.

In his first local press conference since Chicago lost its bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics, Mayor Richard Daley declared that he would pay no political price for the loss, "none whatsoever." “You wrote my obituary, didn’t you? Some of you have, I guess,” the mayor told the press. “I don’t know why you already put me in the grave,” he said. “I know you’re all planning on it, don’t worry,” he said, after asking that we at least run a nice picture of him.

During his City Council confirmation hearing, Terry Peterson, headed towards being chairman of the CTA board, said fare hikes could still be coming as the agency struggles to close a $300 million budget gap. Peterson said, "When Springfield helped out in '08, no one could have predicted where we are today. No one could have predicted the type of economic downturn. We've got to sit down with the state. We've got to go to the federal government. We're looking internally to see what management can do. [And] labor is one of our partners. They're part of this. We've got to sit down and talk with everybody." Peterson has formally served as head of the CHA, a campaign manager for Mayor Daley, and also as aldermen of the 17th ward. The City Council Transportation Committee unanimously approved the appointment, made last week by Mayor Daley.

The CTA has firmed up construction information regarding the long-awaited West Loop CTA stop that's going in at Lake & Morgan as part of the Green and Pink lines. The total cost for the station is between $35 and $40 million with at least $8 million coming from federal funding and the rest from TIFs. The CTA is aiming to begin construction on the new stop later this year with the station opening in 2011. The new station will be located between the Ashland and Clinton stops which are separated by more than a mile. We're curious to see if Oprah will ride the train to her Harpo, Inc. studios.

McDonald's will be giving away 5,000 free pre-paid transit cards and 5,000 coupons for a free Angus Third Pounder burger during morning rush tomorrow. The promotion is part of its “Try Free, Ride Free” campaign, mainly to promote the Angus Third Pounders — if you remove the "g" from "Angus" and the "h" from "Third" you'll have an idea of what we think of the burgers — but a free ride to work is alright, as well. 'Course, if you eat enough of these burgers, you won't be able to fit into your seat on the train and have shortness of breath running to catch your bus, but the latter is exercise. So that's good.

• The FBI has charged four area men in a child-pornography case; the men apparently did themselves no favors by referring to their groups as "Boy Lovers."
• U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush will introduce the "Bereaved Consumers Protection Act," federal legislation on cemetery regulations, inspired by the Burr Oak scandal.
• The CTA is the recipient of a new $1.5 million grant to help buy cleaner buses.

If it's not horse-punchers or amped up firefighters, it's something else. A 39-year-old woman was arrested after turning the Belmont Red Line platform into her personal Thunderdome. What happened? She said something nasty to two men who weren't too pleased and when they showed their displeasure, she bopped them both. But the Sun-Times describes the incident so much more... clinically.

To our friends celebrating Rosh Hashanah, L'shana tova!

A Chicago Police officer is in hot water for allegedly attacking a CTA bus driver over the weekend after an incident of "bike rage." According to a report, the officer - who was off-duty - was riding his bike in the Loop when he was cut off by a No.62 bus. The officer became angered by this and apparently boarded the bus near the intersection of State and Monroe and attacked the bus driver. The driver was treated at Northwestern Memorial Hospital while two police officers who happened to be on-board the bus arrested the off-duty officer for the attack. A spokesperson for the Independent Police Review Authority told WBBM 780 simply, “Its under investigation." [WBBM 780]

The weekend is upon us which means it's time to get ready for the disruption of Blue Line service from the Loop to the Division stop, right? Not so fast! According to the CTA Tattler, work on that part of the Blue Line is done. The work now shifts to the Loop and South/West as the CTA continues to replace tracks to eliminate slow zones. The CTA claims that the work on this segment of the Blue Line should be completed by the end of the year and shuttle buses will connect passengers between the Clark & Lake and UIC/Halsted stop, which means no Blue Line in the Loop on weekends, starting tonight at 10:00 p.m.

The CTA's board approved a plan today that will bring security cameras to all 144 of its train stations; 45 stations already have cameras in place. The contract, with Teleste Corp. of Georgetown, Texas, will cost $4.3 million to put the new high-resolution equipment in place. First up will be the Green Line, which will have cameras in place by the end of the year. Officials hope to have all stations covered by the end of May 2010. [CBN]

On Wednesday, Metra will roll out a new website offering riders the convenience of buying tickets online by credit card. Revolutionary, given that for more than 150 years you could only buy a Metra ticket with cash or check. The "Ticket-by-Internet" feature will allow a rider to order up to two monthly tickets and three 10-ride tickets per transaction which Metra sends to you by mail. Regular commuters can go to the website and create a "My Metra" account to manage billing information, create a custom view of train schedules, and set up personalized e-mail alerts for service updates. You won't be able to buy tickets with a credit card at stations yet, but Metra says we can expect that in March 2010.

Eleven people were hospitalized, one in critical condition, after a CTA bus struck a light pole early this morning. The accident happened at 2500 S. Ashland Ave. Of the other victims, eight were in fair condition and two were last reported in good condition. [Tribune]

Starting yesterday, the CTA has changed a few bus routes with new permanent or experimental routes. You can check out all the details here. Also, the reroutes down Michigan Ave. for Oprah's Super Happy Fun Time continue through Wednesday morning. If you're commute is going to be affected, be sure to check out the reroutes here.