Posted Nov. 3 at 1:15 p.m.

When I say CTA nightmare, I don't mean getting stuck on a stalled bus on the way to a job interview, or even getting trapped on a train that smells like feet. 

I mean and actual, factual bad dream featuring the CTA.  Last night, I had my first ever CTA night scare.   I won't bore you with all the details, but at some point, I ended up angrily leaving a restaurant after a blow-up with a friend and -- sans my car -- opted to take the train home. 

I was walking down a dark street and finally found a South Side station.  I had to go through a body scan in order to board and once I reached the platform Weird.  There were no tracks, but some kind of tube.  Weird.  It looked like Space Mountain. 

The train car was the size of an SUV...not a regular train car by any stretch of the imagination.  The "train" was headed express to Oak Park, which we found out only after the doors were closing.  Youch! I was pressing the blue button to shout at the operator about the crazy route when, thankfully, I woke up.

Has the CTA ever slipped into your subconscious?  Share your dream so we can get all Freudian on it and figure out what it means.

Posted Sept. 16, 2008 at 12:45 p.m.

As you may or may not know, "Going Public" is a big fan of Facebook.  I even have a "Going Public" group, so feel free to join up if you like by clicking on the link on the right of the page.  From time to time, I join other transit groups, which isn't hard with such available circles as "Delayed Waiting for Signals Ahead and Loving It!" and "I Put My Chicago Card in Like a Champ."

Not kidding.  Those groups do exist and are obviously not CTA-sanctioned That's why I was intrigued when I was recently friended by a new player on the Facebook scene: the Brown Line.  It almost looked legit with background info on the Brown, no smart alecky CTA criticisms in the description and a pretty nice picture.

Could it be that the CTA had decided to reach out to its younger riders in a practical and rather amusing way?  Adding to the msytery, the "Brown Line" reach out fast to befriend me, a public transit columnist.  Looked like the work of a savvy PR public transit pro.

So I asked the CTA if they were behind the Brown Line profile and they said no.  The direct comment from CTA spokeswoman Wanda Taylor was that neither the profile nor "any social networking profiles, are projects administered by the CTA."

Too bad.  I was thinking it might be a good mass transit marketing move on their part.  What do you think?  Would you "friend up" with the CTA if they joined Facebook?

Posted Aug. 28 at 11:56 a.m.

Not to keep making hay out of our Metra brothers' and sisters' misfortune, but I cannot help but comment on today's buzz that the agency is now doing away with some of its restrooms on trains.  This has been a point of envy from CTA sibs, who have written to "Going Public" over the years pleading for public restrooms and even suggesting ways to do it (yes, pay-toilets on platforms). 

Well, we can be a little less green with envy now.  But with the end of bar cars and bathrooms vanishing from trains, here's my question:

Is Metra turning into the CTA? 

Posted Aug. 27, 2008 at 12:44 p.m.

It's the end of an era, folks.  Our CTA sibs, Metra riders, have swigged their last from the bar cars.  The cars are on last call in order to allow for more seating space on the increasingly crowded service. 

Here's some vid about this historic development:

As a high-schooler who rode Metra from Beverly to downtown, I used to dislike the liquor cars because (A) I wasn't old enough to imbibe at the time, and (B) Those who did drink up could get rowdier and raunchier than need be. 

But I think the cars, which apparently didn't bring in that much revenue, according to a Trib story were classics.  They were a sign of the times when you could kick back with a cold one during your commute.

Some RedEye staffers were joking about the CTA liquor cars, which technically don't exist, but certainly seem real when you have some off-the-chain riders sipping surreptitiously from brown bags.  So what do you think?  Did you ever take advantage of a Metra bar car?  Would such an offering ever be a good idea on the CTA?  (My take: hell to the naw.)

Posted July 29 at 12:55 p.m.

I'll admit I haven't ridden a bike since I was about 16, and my dad handed me the keys to a Chevy Cavalier formerly known as the Grey Ghost.  Hey, don't judge me.  It's hard to huff it from Beverly to Hyde Park and kick it with your friends on a two-wheeler.

Still, I am concerned for my cyclist buddies, particularly those who bike-and-ride on the CTA. That's why I tackled some of their issues in today's column.  I hope you read it, but to summarize: the stability of bike racks and old bikes being left on station racks make up many bike-riders' beefs.

Do you bike and bus?  Or do you bike and ride from the "L"?  What are your concerns, kudos with the CTA's 8-year-old program to support alternative transportation? 

I may run some blog comments in print in "Hey, CTA!" tomorrow so I hope you weigh in.

Posted July 22 at 8:30 a.m.

It's a sad thing that some Chicagoans never venture past their side of the city. 

There's nothing worse than meeting a South Sider unfamilliar with the diverse ethnic restaurants -- such as the Ethiopian Diamond -- on the North Side's Broadway Street strip or meeting a North Sider who has never sampled South Side delicacies, such as Rainbow Cone or Top Notch beefburger.  And those are just in the culinary categories.

But good news for those looking for a crosstown encounter and a little education.  On Aug. 14, rail aficionados Tony Coppoletta and Graham Garfield will discuss the history of the South Side "L."  Doors open at 6 p.m. and the event starts at 6:30 p.m.  This is more a retrospective, not an activist event, so go if you want to get your learn on.  I've talked to Tony several times and he is definitely a CTA scholar.  See the full flyer here:  Download history.doc  Mark your calendars.

Posted July 15 at 8:30 a.m.

Are you CTA stylin'?  If you want to rep for the rails and routes, take a spin through today's "Going Public" and learn all about designers creating CTA-focused fashions.  Here are some links to the sites where the products are being (or about to be) sold:

thatsmystop.com-Check out the two bros (pictured) who run the site, Nick and Justin Miles as they rock a couple of their items.

leaders1354.com- keep your eyes peeled for CTA sneakers that will come out in a limited edition -- only 150 pairs total.  Very cool with system maps on the soles.

"Going Public" prefers these products to what the CTA sells on its site, including a very gaudy "Don't Be Jack" hat.  I know they are more for nostalgic purposes, but I wish Project Runway's Tim Gunn would call CTA Prez Ron Huberman and tell him "make it work" when it comes to transit fashion.

Posted June 27, 2008 at 8:24 a.m.

The CTA can be a saviour for bicycling riders.  They can enjoy the beauty of this Chicago summer (now that it finally showed up) on their bikes and, if they get weary, climb aboard the bus or trains -- during certain hours, in the latter case. 

Sweet deal, huh?

Not always, according to two-wheelers who have written to "Going Public" recently with two different camps of complaints  The first issue focuses on the bike racks situated on the fronts of buses, particularly those connected to Comcast ads. 

Quoth a cyclist about the arrangement which he initially found impressive:

"When you lower the bike rack, to actually use it for something other than advertising, those Comcast signs block one of the two  red braces for your front tire from moving. This means your bike has nothing to hold it in place.  Of the two spots available for bicycles on the front of each bus, only one of them is usable. To revue, 50 % of the bicycle carrying capacity has been eliminated because some inovative ad executive found  a new revenue stream. Genuises."

The final complaint, which a rider actually illustrated for me with the photo below, is not about the CTA, but about the lazy CTA cyclists who don't remove their bikes from station racks. This photo, the rider told me, came from the Noyes Street stop and describes, at least the one on the right, as "quite weathered." 

What are your beefs -- cyclists or non-cyclists-- about bikes on the CTA?

Posted June 20, at 12:32 p.m.

Cramped cars full of angry riders.  Standing room only for long stretches of rail. 

Sounds like a page ripped from the CTA public transit playbook, but this time it's the Metra riders getting steamed over space constraints.  A Tribune article today details how rising gas prices are pushing more people onto the Metra, no doubt what the rail system would want.  But the agency definitely needs to plan for the squeeze.

I know what CTA riders are saying.  "Pardon me while I play the world's smallest violin."  Yes, I think Metra riders have it better with a reputation for cleaner cars, brisker commutes and the Holy Grail: functioning schedules.  I used to patronize the system myself, when I grew up in Beverly on the South Side, and more often than not, it was an absolute pleasure to ride. In fact, anytime my relatives from other cities come into town, they actually want to ride the Metra downtown.   No such statement is true for the CTA, though.

But reading articles like today's "Riders feel pinch" wakes you up to the fact that you have to keep your eye on the ball as a transit agency or you can squander even decades of good will.  So what do you think CTA-ers?  Any sympathy for your Metra brothers and sisters?

Posted May 20, 11:26 a.m.

Oh, our poor public transit peers in New York.  One out of every six elevators and escalators in the subway system was on the blink for more than a month last year, according to transit agency’s data reported on by the New York Times.

When you click on the link, check out the look of sorrow on the repairman's mug, and compare that with the faces of fury and confusion of riders around him.

The CTA for its part, has been working on keeping its elevators and escalators up and running, proudly posting the results in the performance metrics area of transitchicago.com.  Most recent stats show that in March, elevators were working  99.1% and escalators at 97.5% of the time.

Indeed, I don't get as many e-mails about malfunctioning 'vators and escalators along the CTA as I have in years past. 

But have you spotted one at your station lately? 

Or do you agree with the statement that we aren't suffering like our subway brothers and sisters in the Big Apple.