Posted July 28 at 12:07 p.m.

Greetings "L" and bus buddies. Sorry I've been out of pocket with fresh posts, but I was attending the UNITY convention here in Chicago.  Journalists of all hues gathered at McCormick Place and other venues to discuss diversity in the news media and to learn a few new technology tricks.

But I digress.

While attending several events, including Sen. Barack Obama's CNN interview on Sunday, I couldn't help but notice that No.3-King Drive service along the convention center was on point.  I don't know if it's some vast conspiracy by the CTA to show out for our visiting journalism guests, but it seemed the time between buses was much shorter. 

Over the past five days, I've overheard out-of-towners remarking about the great bus service of the CTA and even expressing some envy at our mass transit system.  Is it just me, or do you sometimes think certain routes are rigged to make tourists think the CTA is ab fab?  I know riders are always telling me they think that CTA Prez Ron Huberman is fixing up the stations that he uses for his commute.

Let's get all X-files and explore this possible conspiracy theory.

You're probably right about the conspiracy. Until the big Brown Line project, look at the stations that got fixed up nice: Chicago (red line), Addison (red line), Sox-35th-IIT, etc. While so many other stations, especially on the red line, are falling apart. The tourist-heavy stations get a lot of TLC while the normal commuter stations rot away. It's all about PR. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they beefed up bus service sometimes when it will make them look good. . . especially for a big group of reporters!

It don't look so good on the bus tracker.

Of course the CTA "jerry-riggs" some of the routes when events of this scale come to Chicago. It's not a secret. I can guarantee that five seconds after the event leaves Chicago, the bus service goes back to its pitiful levels.

Post a comment