How Much Is Your Ride Worth?

By Margaret Lyons in News on Nov 22, 2004 6:18PM

A study released today found that the CTA serves rich people better and more frequently than it serves poor people. File under: no one is surprised. See also: schools, TIFs, libraries, roads, waste management, police presence, government in general.

The Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, a watchdog group that operates the Campaign for Better Transit, is curious: "Is your CTA train ride worth the fare?" they wonder. Based on rider responses to questions, and an analysis of on-time performance and reliability, CBT determined a value for each ride.

The CBT found that "the CTA rail systems provides regular and on-time service 91 percent of the time." That's just one of the many lovely and fascinating tidbits contained in the 40-page report (give me the .pdf!). While 91 percent is certainly really good, according to the study quality of service varies greatly line-to-line. So how much is each ride worth?

Brown Line: $1.47
Red Line: $1.23
Orange Line: $1.21
Blue Line: $1.05
Yellow Line: 76 cents
Purple Line: 72 cents
Green Line: 23 cents

The CBT also reported on station amenities, including posted system maps, working pay phones, garbage cans and heating lamps on platforms, and found that even though the Red Line serves the most riders, it has the cruddiest stations. No kidding.

If you've got some time to kill, read through the whole report. It's pretty interesting.