Posted May 1, 5:03 p.m.

Ready for rhyme time on the bus?

You'd better be, if you're a Pace rider.  Today marked their first day of poetry on public transit via the TV screens aboard their buses, according to a Trib report. 

While I support literature in every format, I beg the CTA not to get any ideas from this particular concept. 

First of all, I like to read poetry, not listen to it, and to have it verbally visited upon me while I'm stuck on a vehicle...unacceptable. 

Art, after all, is a matter of individual taste.  I can think of other ways to enjoy the arts on public transit in a less in-your-face manner, such as the sculptures in some stations and poems that occupy some ad space.I even like to check out subway singing every now and again. 

How about you?  Or do you want a little rhyme with your ride?

The whole concept of TV screens on buses is foul, but, if we must be subjected to them, I'd far rather have poetry than ads or annoying newscasters or sports or anything else I can think of. Frankly, I think TVs in public places (at least those with a captive audience) should be banned. I stopped buying gas at Shell stations because they now have TVs integrated into the pumps, and when you start pumping gas, the TV turns on! It's horrid.

"GOING PUBLIC" SAYS: Good point. If you must be subjected, poetry isn't the worst. Also, I cannot stand those gas station TVs or the annoying ads at the grocery checkout sites. Turn it off, I say. If I want to watch TV, I'll go home. Thanks for weighing in.

I look forward to the silent poetry... since a good majority of the buses (at least in Evanston) seem to have broken audio - which is a GOOD thing.

jlp: Amen! I, too, shy away from businesses that don't seem to realize that a television blaring at me is a deterrent, rather than a feature I desire. If I'm waiting to see a doctor, or to get my car fixed, I'd like the opportunity to actually sit and think, or read. TVs are so disruptive.

As for the poetry feature on Pace buses: Well, riders probably won't be able to hear the poems over the sound of people talking loudly on their cell phones anyway.

The Transit TV as it's called on Pace is noble in purpose but the implementation is laughable. It is apparently controlled by a computer local to the bus (and not remotely as I would have guessed) because the monitors on the Pace 747 regularly reset when the bus hits a large bump. Then you get to stare at the glorious Windows blue screen of death for a while before the machine reboots and (slowly) brings the media player back online.

Heck, we already get "poetry" on the Red Line by way of loud iPods or cell phones in speaker mode playing that audio garbage known as Rap and Hip Hop. Oh yes, such a joy to hear rhymes filled with "N" words and "B" words, all said to a monotonous beat.

I already despise the TV screens on PACE buses. Now they're adding poetry? Barf!

How about something seasonal to help pass the time ? Like a repeating scene of a sunny tropical beach while it is 5 below zero in the dead of winter. That is about the only thing that would make riding the bus to work tolerable during the next Chicago winter.

How about TV screens in bus shelters and at train stations and platforms? Combined with GPS tracking, they could put video cameras on the front of busses and trains. And with the TV, you could track, as well as watch the progress of the next bus or train coming to your stop or station.

Heck, they could make a interactive game out of it using touch screens. For the bus video, you could go all GTA on the people and cars on the street by shooting at them by touching the image on the screen. Bonus points for shooting strollers, iPod users, and slow walking geezers. As for the trains, in the subway you could shoot at computer generated rats. And on the 'L', you can blast away at computer generated pigeons flying by in old school Nintendo Duck Hunt sytle.

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