Posted by Leonor Vivanco - 1:57 p.m., Monday, Feb. 18

As much as riders, including myself, complain about the CTA, I must give them props for trying to improve it.

Last week, Mayor Daley announced a $227 million project to give us commuters a better ride.

Here are the top three parts of the plan I am most excited about:

*Eliminating slow zones. Those zones not only add time to my commute, but also frustrate me because it seems to take forever to get to my destination. Please, hurry on this one.

*Overhauling outdated buses and trains.  I can't stand being on a bus that breaks down and having to squeeze onto the next bus on my route.

*Being able to use credit or debit cards on the fare vending machines. Finally, the CTA is catching on. This will help me avoid last week's situation of missing my train because I didn't have enough money on my card or cash in my wallet. Being able to use my debit card would've also saved me a walk to the nearest ATM.

Mayor Daley said the goal is "improving the customer experience." And I think this plan does that.

Tell us what you think. Is there anything else you'd like to see done to improve the CTA?

How about finding a way to provide secure-but-available public restrooms, at least at the "major" stops like downtown and Kedzie/Milwaukee? Anyone who has had to deal with the available "alternatives" (like making a quick fast-food purchase nearby for the privilege of "using") should consider this a no-brainer.

I'm pretty psyched about the new trains, but how long will this take? I am so over the "equipment failures" that have caused major delays on my morning commute on the southbound red line. I swear, from last Wednesday through today, there was a delay due to faulty trains each day! I'd bet my next paycheck that another will occur tomorrow morning... Please rush these new trains! I'm lucky my company understands the situation, but I'll be luckier to be able to get to work on time once this month!

How about posting the times of the next train on electronic signs like most other other Mass Transit systems? It cannot be prohibitively expensive and is very handy. Online is good too like they are experimenting with buses.

Also, why are ads so outdated on the trains? That makes be believe the CTA isn't making as much profit off of them as they could?

More places to buy the one day pass and the other passes like from vending machines at train stations that can also take credit or debit cards.

More easily available transfers when we are just riding the bus. Right now the only place you can get a transfer card is at a train station.

And also the city is losing a lot of benefit from visitors from out of town by not having the one day three day and seven day bus passes easily visible and availabe to them.

How about a new ad campaign promoting to vistors how they can get around the city AND the neighborhoods by taking the train and the bus with easy to use single or multi day passes. Available at train stations and at vending machines throughout the Loop and North Michigan Avenue or at your hotel front desk.

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