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Joe
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Dennis wrote: <quoted text>
I work for the CTA. I see(or should I say don't see?) plenty of other workers doing this too.
We have a lot of unnecesary positions like the quality assurance guys for the buses. No one knows what they are supposed to do or where they are. They show up every now and then and then disappear. No one questions it either. We could save a lot of money by getting rid of these type of positions. The problem goes way beyond "Tony". You're ignoring the issue: identify "Tony" or stop making this unsupported charge. If you work for the CTA and don't report somerthing like this in a meaningful way, you are just as bad as any Tony. Again, if you are so certain that "Tony" is cheating the CTA and the taxpayers, let's have his whole name so we can press the CTA to investigate and take any needed action. Blow the whistle in a way that counts, don't just keep throwing out the same unsupported charge.
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John
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Hal wrote: You obviously don't take the CTA -- it SUCKS!! We need much more than announcements, how about some action?<quoted text> No Hal, I do ride the CTA to work and for many other trips. I've been riding public transport since 1967 and not just on one line like many of the whiners on this forum. Yes, things detriorated and we still don't have a system worthy of a World Class city but if you would pay more attention you might notice that there have been many improvements made all over the system. Things aren't perfect and they probably never will be but try to notice some of the positive things that have been done.
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HoldOn
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There seems to be some improvement, or at least better PR at the CTA.
I must say, it seems my evening commute is not as long as it used to be, but ever since they switched to the 8-car train my ride has become more dangerous. I don't think all the operators take into account the additional length of the two cars when they are maneuvering the curves between the Loop and Sedgwick. There are alot of turns in that area of the line, and I've been in the last car a few times and have really had to hold on for my life.
On one occasion last week, I thought the driver just mismeasured the first couple of turns, but then on the next turn, as we were passing another train (Southbound), we physically hit the train. It was pretty scary. I wrote CTA to complain, and I wonder if they even took note. Has anyone else experienced this? I would like to get home as fast as the next passenger, but safety is more important, is it not?
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Thomas
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what was the grade below mediocre? acceptable?
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American First
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Hire more workers for the CTA Transit Service; then, continue to enforce the no eat, no smoking on buses and trains. I mean, the busses and trains have ROACHES on them because of uncaring, insane people we have in this world. Stop the bus, put their butts off, call the police have them arrested; that's, better than sitting on a filthy bus or train with roaches. And no open alcohol container.
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Concern Citizen
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Joe wrote: <quoted text>
Give it up; no one believes you about "Tony" since you repeatedly refuse to give his last name so his alleged malingering can be checked and punished if true. YOU are the problem so far since you won't report it in a meaningful way and give the CTA a chance to do something abhout it. If it's true, there should be no fear to put his last name right here on this message board. If it's not true, you should stop claiming it. I think he's "Tony."
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Danny Al Fayed
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whats funny about the bus route i take in the AM is that there are too many buses running at once and they are running against the flow of traffic. If they really wanted to eliminate bus bunching, they should consider putting less buses on some of the routes and make more routes express routes during the morning and evening rush hours. Frankly on main roads I'm surprised that they have local and express routes. It seems tome the CTA is running mediocre because of poor planning in several areas and in a way I admire Huberman for taking on this quagmire. The delays that we are seeing on the Brown and Red Lines are temporary at best but the planning needs overall should be focused on how to run the system more efficiently. If that means cutting under performing routes , so be it but look for way to provide overall BETTER Service.
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Truth be told
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Like the vast majority of problems here in Chicago, the CTA's basic issue is that the unions hamstring them with unreasonably high wage and pensions. This means that the majority of their budget is eaten up by personnel costs, leaving Chicago's riders to deal with antiquated stations and equipment, not to mention poor service as these union workers couldn't give a rat's ass about doing their job.
This whole city is run by unions, which is why it is being run into the ground. Higher taxes for their higher wages and less productivity - a recipe for disaster.
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Pete
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In summary, the CTA is saying they are doing OK but could do better with more money. What else is new?
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Uptown Gal
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Uptown Gal has been living down the street from the Wilson El. A new coat of paint and repair of a leaking ceiling does not constitute a Wilson El station rennovation any more than a bandaid constitutes an appendectomy.
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Charlene
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Joe wrote: <quoted text>
Give it up; no one believes you about "Tony" since you repeatedly refuse to give his last name so his alleged malingering can be checked and punished if true. YOU are the problem so far since you won't report it in a meaningful way and give the CTA a chance to do something abhout it. If it's true, there should be no fear to put his last name right here on this message board. If it's not true, you should stop claiming it. Why would this guy make this up. I believe him. I see lot's of CTA workers loafing downtown everyday. I bet your name is Tony and you work for the CTA!!
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Jed
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Charlene wrote: <quoted text>
Why would this guy make this up. I believe him. I see Lot's of CTA workers loafing downtown everyday.
I bet your name is Tony and you work for the CTA!! Charlene did you just arrive on a spaceship from Mars? I worked--and my family worked -- for both the city and the state and very few people did much for a living other than count the days until their retirement. Do you ride the CTA and see all of the loafers doing nothing? Do you read the papers about our pols heading off to federal prison for corruption? Why do you need names?
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Tony
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This is Tony of the CTA. So what if I just show up for a few hours and go home. Everyone else does it. Some guys don't show up at all and get paid.
I only got 8 years to full retirement benefits so I ain't gonna strain myself for more than a couple of hours a day. Besides, I got stuff to do at home.
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DBX
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Pilsen Dave wrote: I can't believe the mess Huberman inherited from Kruesi. It's amazing that he's managed to accomplish so much in this short time frame. WTF was Kruesi doing all this time? Evaluating different shades of yellow for his stupid coat, I believe. Basically, by replacing Kruesi with Huberman, the Mayor replaced an old buddy of his who knew nothing about management or transit, with a protege who knows a little bit about transit and a whole ton about management -- and is willing to learn about the transit part too. As for the Brown line project, it does not surprise me it has been going ahead of schedule; they're moving very, very quickly on the steelwork, and not one thing seems to have gone wrong. There's a construction oddity that I would love to know more about, however. Unlike at Fullerton, at Belmont they did not take all the space they gained with the demolition of the building to the east. As it is they have to cut into the existing southbound platform because the central structure that will hold the whole new platform up is about six feet to the west of where it is at Fullerton. It seems to me an unnecessary complication of the project given that they ended up with plenty of space at both locations, but there must have been some reason for that difference in layout between the two stations. By the way, does anyone know how they're going to find the space for an ADA-compliant, wide enough northbound platform at Wellington? Is Masonic going to demolish their parking ramp or what?
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DBX
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Pete wrote: In summary, the CTA is saying they are doing OK but could do better with more money. What else is new? Let's see what else is new. 1) Efficiency -- a 20 percent reduction in headcount since Huberman took over. 2) Declining revenue base -- Even with the recent increase, the transit sales tax still yields a lot less in real terms than it did when introduced in 1983 because of Illinois' refusal to tax services and failure to tax mail order (we do more services, more mail order and less local purchasing of goods than we did then) 3) Management best practices -- As far as I can tell, serious change management and performance measurement for the first time at CTA under Huberman, yielding all kinds of efficiencies. 4) Spending money on capital rather than make-work -- Headcount reduction accompanied by another shift -- instead of the old CTA system of hiring more and more people and pleading for money, all that payroll reduction is going into an emergency capital program to fix all the broken stuff. 5) High gas prices mean we need better transit -- Gas prices at $4.50 going on $8 mean we need a Paris-standard transit system sooner rather than later -- in other words, something by which you can commute and run errands by transit in the burbs as well as the city, and something by which you can get around the city much faster than you can with things as they are now. Often the transit agencies around here do a terrible job of communicating. Point 5 is what the RTA's "moving beyond congestion" thing was about, only they did a horrible job of explaining it. They way they put it, it looked like a laundry list of pork barrel projects instead of a vision for a more convenient way of living. What it boiled down to was making sure you can travel by transit point-to-point almost anywhere, as well as the burb-to-Loop we already have, and making sure most of the metro area is near fast and frequent service, not just those lucky enough to be near the current 'el or one of the better Metra lines.
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Sean
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DBX wrote: By the way, does anyone know how they're going to find the space for an ADA-compliant, wide enough northbound platform at Wellington? Is Masonic going to demolish their parking ramp or what? They may not build an ADA-compliant platform at Wellington. With ADA-compliant stations 2 blocks north and 2 blocks south, they don't need to.
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Celeste
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DBX wrote: <quoted text>
Let's see what else is new.
1) Efficiency -- a 20 percent reduction in headcount since Huberman took over.
2) Declining revenue base -- Even with the recent increase, the transit sales tax still yields a lot less in real terms than it did when introduced in 1983 because of Illinois' refusal to tax services and failure to tax mail order (we do more services, more mail order and less local purchasing of goods than we did then)
3) Management best practices -- As far as I can tell, serious change management and performance measurement for the first time at CTA under Huberman, yielding all kinds of efficiencies.
4) Spending money on capital rather than make-work -- Headcount reduction accompanied by another shift -- instead of the old CTA system of hiring more and more people and pleading for money, all that payroll reduction is going into an emergency capital program to fix all the broken stuff.
5) High gas prices mean we need better transit -- Gas prices at $4.50 going on $8 mean we need a Paris-standard transit system sooner rather than later -- in other words, something by which you can commute and run errands by transit in the burbs as well as the city, and something by which you can get around the city much faster than you can with things as they are now.
Often the transit agencies around here do a terrible job of communicating. Point 5 is what the RTA's "moving beyond congestion" thing was about, only they did a horrible job of explaining it. They way they put it, it looked like a laundry list of pork barrel projects instead of a vision for a more convenient way of living. What it boiled down to was making sure you can travel by transit point-to-point almost anywhere, as well as the burb-to-Loop we already have, and making sure most of the metro area is near fast and frequent service, not just those lucky enough to be near the current 'el or one of the better Metra lines. Hey DBX, What are you, Huberman's personal butt licker? The CTA is in worse shape than ever. Where do you get these statistics? There's been no 20 percent reduction in head count. There's still just as many loafers and ghost payrollers aout there as ever. Fast and frequent service? That's just an outright lie. Performance measurement? How can you measure performance of employees if you can't even find them? Quit telling lies like this.
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Jed
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Celeste wrote: <quoted text>
Hey DBX,
What are you, Huberman's personal butt licker?
The CTA is in worse shape than ever. Where do you get these statistics? There's been no 20 percent reduction in head count. There's still just as many loafers and ghost payrollers aout there as ever.
Fast and frequent service?
That's just an outright lie.
Performance measurement?
How can you measure performance of employees if you can't even find them?
Quit telling lies like this. Amen amen.
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Carla
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Celeste wrote: <quoted text>
Hey DBX,
What are you, Huberman's personal butt licker?
The CTA is in worse shape than ever. Where do you get these statistics? There's been no 20 percent reduction in head count. There's still just as many loafers and ghost payrollers aout there as ever.
Fast and frequent service?
That's just an outright lie.
Performance measurement?
How can you measure performance of employees if you can't even find them?
Quit telling lies like this. I agree 100 percent.
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