CTA in 2023: How bad is it?

[Urban Peasant]

Good luck Chicago and the CTA! It's been nearly a decade since I visited Chicago. The El wasn't that bad then, sure a few homeless bums slumped over here and there but what major transit system doesn't have them? I remember the Red Line to be super crowded though it was fully equipped with the then brand new Bombardier 5000 series. I'd worry about the new CRRC 7000 series order though. CRRC is absolutely dragging their feet in producing our subway trains here in Boston so they might just do the same to Chicago and every other major transit agency with existing orders. Hopefully the CTA will receive their entire CRRC order well before the end of the decade. Those Budd 2600 series cars running on the Blue and Orange Lines have stood the test of time but their end has got to come soon.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Bitey

Here's a couple brilliant solutions these mush-heads came up with:

A better solution for crime prevention [in lieu of increased police presence]: something along the lines of the “transit ambassadors” deployed by the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. Run by the transit police, the program trains unarmed outreach workers in *de-escalation and antibias techniques meant to reduce conflicts.

If that weren't precious enough, there's also this:

The CTA’s 2023 budget includes $2 million for nonprofits such as the Night Ministry to connect people sheltering on trains with services. And Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced a $3 million tiny homes pilot to take people off the street. The most effective thing she could do is back the proposed Bring Chicago Home Ordinance, to raise the real estate transfer tax on properties sold for $1 million or more. Those funds would go toward affordable housing and support services. She’s currently blocking the ordinance.

What a fantastic summation of the current political zeitgeist of Chicago.

I know it's slightly past 2023 now, but speaking of this I don't think the L has improved as much as I'd like it to. Still has too many ghost runs, where a train run doesn't occur and go into service like it is supposed to.

Also, I've been pretty disappointed with how Brandon Johnson has been since he began being mayor. I must not be the only one who looked at the pro-Bring Chicago Home website, thought their own website was too vague and had too few details explaining how funds would be spent on homeless issues from an increased real estate transfer tax on buildings over $1 million, so I begrudgingly voted no. To me I have no doubt homelessness is an issue in Chicago, it's just I didn't have faith BCH was going to work. Also a similar measure in Los Angeles that passed there(Measure ULA, only it affects buildings over $5 million, instead of the $1 million threshold BCH would've done if passed) already has caused a decrease in LA real estate transactions(for over $5 million buildings), and I worried the same thing would happen in Chicago if BCH passed: https://archive.ph/6XDAE

It does seem like barring a big comeback in votes from mail in ballots(though I don't think that is going to occur from what I'm seeing, the margin appears to have been big enough for no to be the ultimate outcome on this), that BCH failed to pass for the primary yesterday.

[Bitey]

Originally Posted by SonySegaTendo617

I know it's slightly past 2023 now, but speaking of this I don't think the L has improved as much as I'd like it to. Still has too many ghost runs, where a train run doesn't occur and go into service like it is supposed to.

For my part, the frequency of homeless using the Blue Line as a rolling lounge has decreased sharply. I'm not sure what that's attributable to. It's not seasonal necessarily, because this was also the case in the winter.

Ghost headways is still a major issue though, especially boarding at Rosemont. Whether the next inbound train will be dispatched from O'Hare when the schedule says it will be is a 50/50 proposition at best.

Finally, the idea the Bring Home Chicago revenues would have actually made a dent in the homeless population is laughable on its face; that's far more a problem of political will (call it "malignant compassion" or "pathological empathy" or whatever) than resources. 90% of that money would have been used to fund the offices and salaries of patronage hires, while 8 of the remaining 10% would have simply vanished into thin air.

[SonySegaTendo617]

Originally Posted by Bitey

For my part, the frequency of homeless using the Blue Line as a rolling lounge has decreased sharply. I'm not sure what that's attributable to. It's not seasonal necessarily, because this was also the case in the winter.

Ghost headways is still a major issue though, especially boarding at Rosemont. Whether the next inbound train will be dispatched from O'Hare when the schedule says it will be is a 50/50 proposition at best.

Finally, the idea the Bring Home Chicago revenues would have actually made a dent in the homeless population is laughable on its face; that's far more a problem of political will (call it "malignant compassion" or "pathological empathy" or whatever) than resources. 90% of that money would have been used to fund the offices and salaries of patronage hires, while 8 of the remaining 10% would have simply vanished into thin air.

Yeah, I had that same worry too that BCH wouldn't have helped homeless issues enough. And would've been more like a political patronage program, that wouldn't have really worked if BCH had passed. So considering that, I don't regret voting no on BCH, when I saw it on the ballot in March.

Maybe down the road, I'll try riding the L more often again. I doubt the amount of homeless riding it has decreased that much. Though I never thought much about that(except if homeless were doing something annoying, like trying to smoke/vape, or smoke a pot joint inside a railcar), for all the times I spotted homeless people riding the train. Like if one of them is sleeping on a few seats and not bothering others, that doesn't bother me.

[Kmanshouse]

I rode the Blue line home last week (from Monroe to Division) and got on one of those new fancy schmancy cars. It was NICE. Electronic screen showing the stops, super clean seats and walls, and a camera you can wave at and see yourself. I hope we see more of these. Felt more like Europe.