Doomsday for Chicago public transit......for real this time

[marmar]

from the Sun-Times:



Riders to feel steep CTA cuts Monday
Union to weigh 'menu' of cuts already nixed

February 8, 2010
BY MARY WISNIEWSKI The Ride


CTA riders for years have been warned of service cut "doomsdays," only to see them averted at the last minute through new government funding or some other rescue.

But it's the worst economic period since the Great Depression. And this time, doomsday came.

Starting Sunday, the CTA cut 18 percent of bus service, 9 percent of rail service. It eliminated 9 express bus routes and cut service hours on 41 other routes. The CTA is also cutting 1,057 jobs and closing the 102-year-old Archer Garage.

The cuts were needed to make up a $95 million budget deficit, which the agency blames on low sales tax and property transfer tax revenues.

Riders will start feeling the full impact of the cuts today. Expect buses and trains to be fuller and waits to be longer -- with intervals between buses expanded by as much as 15 minutes on top of current wait times late in the evening. Rush-hour waits will grow by about one to two minutes on the L and two to five minutes on buses.

"It's going to affect me big time," said Brian McNiven, 32, of Lincoln Square, a bartender who takes the CTA to and from jobs like weddings. He worries that since several bus routes will stop making late-night runs, he won't be able to take the CTA home anymore.

"I'd have to get a car," said McNiven. "I'd like to not have one. It's a hassle -- you can't park anywhere. This is going to be bad for the economy." .........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.suntimes.com/news/transportation/2034943,CST-NWS-ride08.article

[BeFree]

1. Car pool?

Hitch a ride?

Move closer to work?

Thank the Bushco/Republican economy for this.
Bankers? Yes. Poor folks who need a ride? Not just NO, Hell NO!

[vadawg]

2. are the lines they are cancelling in the red or black, i guess if they are money pits it makes sense

if you have to make cuts...

[marmar]

3. As a frequent visitor to Chicago, I can tell you buses and trains are always packed.

Even the perpetually crowded routes are seeing reductions.

[vadawg]

4. just wondering does packed mean making money though,

and if not would the riders be willing to pay more to keep the routes..

[marmar]

5. But the purpose of public transit isn't to "make money".....

..... every other country seems to understand this. It's an essential service, particularly in a city like Chicago.

[vadawg]

7. no the purpose is not to become a black hole that sucks money away

my question is much of a money pit do you let it become before you cut it off, and if they raise fares could that stave of the reductions...

[Gidney N Cloyd]

8. There's only one essential service in Chicago...

[uncle ray]

10. how much money did you make the department today?

[Hassin Bin Sober]

11. LOL. A kettle calling the black-hole black.

I have a Chicago cop friend who bitches about lazy welfare cheats and then brags about drinking on the job, sleeping under bridges in his car and abusing his sick day policies.

[vadawg]

13. lol and i know a homeless guy who is a convicted sex offender, dosent mean every homeless guy is

does it, seems you like to draw the broad brush...

[vadawg]

12. quite a lot actually, they did cost estimate thingymajigs and found that we were the most revenue

neutral part of the county, we take in a lot of state and fed money for housing their guys, and the seizures and stuff brings a lot of income as well, so i would say pound for pound i did well today, not that its anything to do with the chicago buses...

[ChicagoSuz219]

6. Hardly doomsday...

...they're cutting a few express buses & will add 3-5 min. between buses.

[Mari333]

9. we have WARS to pay for...how dare you concern yourself with public transportation

i dont need a sarcasm tag, do i?

[bigmonkey]

14. I'm a Chicagoan, and use the CTA all the time.

What puzzles me, unless I put my political cap on, is that this "doomsday" came much quicker than the other recent ones. In the other cases, the CTA put ads in the buses and via the announcement loudspeakers that the cuts were coming and that you should contact your reps to promote funding, etc. This time, no such campaign. And who is getting the media play as the culprit this time? Well, surprise, it's the unions!

[vadawg]

15. thanks for that, question for you would you pay more in fares to keep services

or would you prefer to pay higher fares if it meant keeping specific services that you use...

[bigmonkey]

16. I'd be ok with paying higher fares, but I would guess a lot of other people can't afford to.

Since the fire, Chicago has been designed around the transit system. What would be called "downtown" in any other city is called "The Loop" here (has been for approximately 100 years) because that's where the hub-and-spoke transit system makes a literal loop in the tracks. The trains go downtown, make a loop around a number of city blocks, and go back out again. Some of the major stores were built where they are to connect with the transit.

All of which is a background to the observation that getting regular people around is what transit in Chicago has always been all about. You could even say more directly "getting workers to the workplace". So, it's anomalous that the unions are getting the rap for this pretty quick service cut. There was little attempt to solicit the public's assistance in getting more funds for transit.

I take the CTA out of choice. I live within walking distance of my work. I could own a car, but choose not to. Lots of people depend, really depend, on the CTA to get back and forth from work, and a lot of them must have a much tighter budget than I do.