Posted June 18, at 8:58 a.m.

A justifiably disgusted rider let "Going Public" know about an odious encounter at the Red Line's 69th Street station during a recent Kudos and Comments post. 

I also ran her post, as I do with many of your online comments, in today's "Hey, CTA!"

I also addressed the issue with the CTA because we're not just about observations, but finding actual answers.  Heck, we're into public transit problem-solving, right?

Here's what the CTA told me about the smell along the "L," in response to the poster's statement that the customer assistant did not report the problem. Here's my question and a CTA spokeswoman's answer:

"Going Public" asks: "A rider said that on June 16, there was a terrible smell on the platform at the Red Line's 69th Street stop.  Did the CTA receive a report of this from a customer assistant?"

CTA Answer:  Yes, CTA did receive a report of an odor near the 69th Red Line station platform.  Upon inspection of the areas surrounding the rail station and platform, the source of the odor was identified and the area was cleaned and sanitized.

What else are you curious about?  Let's see if we can get some bus and "L" explanations.

Posted June 12 at 8:34 a.m.

Hey there, public transit peepz. 

As "Going Public" will often do, I want to open up the floor and hear from you. 

Is there anything random about the rails and buses, you'd like to get out there?  Good, bad, indifferent? Give me your kudos and complaints starting....now.

Posted May 13, 5:15 p.m.

Today, I enjoyed a leisurely bus ride with minimal cell phone chatter, a friendly bus operator and no trouble with my Chicago Card. 

But enough about me, what happened during your commute?  Share the good and the bad. CTA employees, feel free to weigh in as well.  Aren't we all just one big dysfunctional family, after all?

Whatever it is, I want to hear about your ride, so post it.  Particularly stirring statements could end up in the paper.  Check out some "ripped from the blog" comments in tomorrow's "Hey, CTA!"

With no further ado, fill 'er up!

Posted May 6, 11:41 a.m.

Top of the morning, public transit peepz.  I hope you made it to work, school or wherever you needed to go without getting CTA super soaked.  Even if you did get drenched, I think I have a commuter story that might make you feel a bit better.

Check out this sweet tale from Enjolee, who e-mailed me at goingpublic@tribune.com about a bus driver who went above and beyond the call of duty:

Not all of cta employees are bad, one day I was riding the 87th St. bus and it was around 12 a.m. and outside it was raining kittens and puppies, I knew the bus wasn't going past Western (I lived on 92nd and Kedzie) anyway, I was talking to the driver and told him i lived on Kedzie and for some reason i didn't bring an umbrella, anyway the bus makes it to Western and I get off and start walking as fast as i can because i had a looooong and wet walk ahead of me, so i start walking and get about a half of a block, when a hear a horn the cta driver turned that bus around and dropped me off the 14 blocks to Kedzie (I still had to walk to 92nd) but that was more than going above and beyond the call of duty. So to that driver thanks it's people like you that give the cta a ray of sunshine amidst all the clouds.

Your turn: Got a positive or positively awful story to share?

Posted April 29, 5:40 p.m.

Sometimes, I get reader letters and calls that don't fall into the neat categories I set forth.  So, now, each day, I'm going to start a general box for CTA kudos or complaints. I want to know what's on your mind.

Some of them, I will forward to the CTA for review or even write a "Going Public" column about if they affect enough riders. 

So come on...Fill 'er up!