Three Purdue researchers theorized that transit systems across the country could learn a lot from negative tweets and set out to chart the levels of positive and negative tweets about CTA. more ›

For Chicago's many ex-Michiganders, your future Thankgiving pilgrimages will be slightly shorter. more ›

If approved, the plan would be implemented in a couple of years and could serve as a model for a universal fare card for CTA, Metra and Pace. more ›

Folks using the Stevenson Expressway to travel to and from the city take note: Pace's pilot program where buses will ride on the shoulder of the expressway begins today. more ›

The new security cameras will round out the promised 1,500 extra security cameras at various train stations around the city. more ›

The Tribune reports today Metra has decided to slow their roll on a fare hike after hearing complaints about it from, well, damn near everyone. more ›

We don't envy CTA President Forrest Claypool, who is going to have to make some tough decisions when he presents his first draft for next year's budget. more ›

With the restrictions in place on this program, it could be as fleeting as summer in Chicago. more ›

Here's an ambitious plan to connect much of the north and northwest suburbs to make it easier to travel by bicycle. more ›

Last week we linked to reports on the $3 million and counting Metra spent on investigating the finances of former chairman Phil Pagano. today Crain's Greg Hinz takes a look at the territorial pissings happening as various Metra board members and their sponsors try to position themselves to succeed outgoing chairwoman Carole Doris. It's a doozy of a read that makes one wonder how Metra's board manages to take the time to make sure trains are on the tracks and running, they're so busy protecting their turf and blocking each other. more ›

Former Metra Chief Phil Pagano committed suicide a year ago May 7. We'll admit we found Pagano's story like peeling back layers of an onion, and the revelation that Pagano took $475,000 in vacation pay was just the beginning. Later it was discovered that Pagano's financials weren't square because he was supporting multiple homes. Then there was the fight for his pension, which his widow eventually won. more ›

Among soaring gas prices and looming environmental concerns, a growing number of Chicagoans are walking, biking, and/or taking mass transit to lessen the carbon footprint, reduce spending, and improve health. When maintaining a vehicle costs an estimated $8,000 per year, car owners are considering using mass transit coupled with car-sharing programs like I-GO for weekend getaways or shopping trips. There are an abundance of healthy options to get around town, but the alternatives are not always safe and accessible. more ›

The trains are running again on the Brown, purple and Red Lines after this morning's Brown Line derailment at Belmont that caused two-thirds of the North Side to have another excuse besides staying out late after last night's Cubs game to be late to work. Except that CTA is stepping back from its earlier assessment that what happened was a derailment. more ›

I managed to make my way downtown and back yesterday while most of the city collectively huddled under their quilt. If you've ever been in the Loop on a major holiday like Christmas Day you know how eerie and silent it can be down there when there's a near-total absence of humanity. That's what it was like yesterday, and the scene on trains and buses (at least from my anecdotal experience) was similarly vacant, and I have to add, pretty smoothly run. I did have to trudge over to Western to shuffle onto a Brown line, but when I got on there, it was fairly smooth sailing all the way to the Loop and back even as the storm refused to slow. more ›

Public transit users be advised: the Orange Line has been temporarily suspended between Western and Halsted due to equipment problems. more ›

Have any of you had a chance to ride in the new "L" cars? We've had a couple of opportunities to do so and, by God, if we weren't spoiled by the experience. It isn't first class travel, but compared to the current train cars, the new cars are an extravagance. The seats are laid out in a common sense manner to accommodate more passengers, are well-lighted and clean. more ›

The Gordian Knot that is Illinois' budget deficit continues to grow to the point where not even bold moves can solves it. The latest addition to the woes is the $289.3 million in delinquent finding from Springfield to the Regional Transportation Authority for this year. That's in addition to $124 million the state owes RTA for next year. more ›

We've all done something stupid like this. Some kids down in Champaign-Urbana built a snowman in the middle of a road, hoping (successfully) to disrupt traffic. A bus driver made the point moot, plowing through the makeshift Frosty while on his route. more ›

CTA is having problems with the Red and Blue Lines today. The Blue Line is reported to be operating on one track between Cumberland and Harlem, and from Belmont to California, due to problems with the third rail. CTA is running shuttle buses between the Jefferson Park and Rosemont stations to alleviate the situation. more ›

The Tribune's John Kilkevitch reports that public transportation riders with smart phones or other high-tech gadgetry make for happier commuters. more ›

Flush with pride from the beautiful renovation of the North/Clybourn Red Line Station, thanks in part to a $3.9 million deal with Apple that includes future naming rights, CTA President Richard Rodriguez announced yesterday that the Authority will soon look for other sponsors to buy naming rights for anything CTA owns that has some value and can provide exposure to a sponsor. more ›

The widow of former Metra Chief Phil Pagano, who committed suicide in May walking in front of a train as the Metra board of directors were set to fire him for embezzling $475,000 in unearned pay, was awarded an $80,000-a-year pension as a survivor benefit. more ›

CTA officials are continuing their investigation into why an articulated bus crashed into several trees near McCormick Place Saturday night. The #6 Jackson Park Express ran off LAke Shore Drive and into the the trees around 6 p.m. with about 70 passengers inside. more ›

Chicago will receive a $36 million grant for two CTA bus projects designed to improve transportation within the Loop and to the South Side. The grants were awarded as part of two competitive grant programs through the U.S. Dept. of Transportation totaling $293 million. "The process was very competitive. The FTA received 65 applications totaling more than $1 billion, all vying for a $130 million pot of money," Paul Griffo, Federal Transit Administration spokesperson, told Zach Behrens of our sister site LAist, referring to the first type of grant, Urban Circular. The FTA also received 281 applications totaling over $2 billion for the second type of grant, Bus and Bus Livability. more ›

Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin joined seven other senators yesterday to introduce a bill, the Public Transportation Preservation Act of 2010, that would provide $2 billion in emergency funding to transit agencies nationwide to reverse fare increases and service cuts. more ›

So far this year, while you've been fulfilling - or breaking - your New Year's resolutions and waiting for spring, you've also (hopefully) been working to pay off your transportation costs for the year. According to the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, it has taken the average Chicagoland resident until today, 70 days from the beginning of the new year, to make enough money to cover transit for the year. more ›

Union leaders and the Rev. Jesse Jackson claimed last week that the CTA cuts impact poor and minority communities on the South Side more harshly than communities on the North Side. The CTA, of course, responded that bus and rail lines travel through many different neighborhoods on their routes. Also, officials said they made decisions about the service cuts in accordance with federal anti-discrimination guidelines. These specifically make sure public transit serves poor and minority communities equally, at the risk of losing federal funding. more ›

The Chicago Transit Authority's "Doomsday" schedule was implemented yesterday, but today is supposedly the day where riders will feel the cuts in service. I'm of the opinion CTA wasn't doing a bang-up job maintaining its bus routes and schedules when they had a full service schedule — a friend Saturday called CTA the "Chicago Tardiness Authority" — but I have to say that my trip from Bridgeport to my day job in Evanston was none the worse for wear. Now ask me again after the return trip home. more ›

As Hizzonner continues his whirlwind tour of Beijing, the Trib* took us along for his little train-ride the other day. As it turns out, if you spend $7.7 billion on a transit system, it A) looks nice, B) operates well, and C) would be lovely to have in case an Olympic games somehow ends up in our neck of the woods. Oh, and if we want one, we're gonna have to pony up. Who knew. more ›

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