Posted May 22 at 8:49 a.m.

Feeling a little rail rage?  If so, you've got something in common with a Green Line rider who seemingly has had it up to here with the emerald-hued route and some of its stations.  He writes:

"So, what's up with the Green line, that runs once after five Orange and four Pinks? Why do the South-side riders have to wait so long for the trains? There are really not that many people going to Midway that the Orange line needs to run every 3 minutes -- it's ridiculous! What a slap in the face to all the Green line riders to have to sit through this humiliation! We are paying customers, too. I leave my office at 5:00 pm on the dot and by the time I sit down on a Green line train, the first one to show up arrives at 5:27pm. Something needs to change. This system needs to be set up more equitably.

Another reason I'm writing is, can't the CTA spend a little money on restroom facilities at the L train stations? I am so sick and tired of getting on the elevator and there is literally no place to stand except in a puddle of pee. Aren't there enough brilliant people working for the CTA that can come up with a solution to this problem? Unfortunately for me, the stairs are not an option, and I don't always feel like getting run down by the cattle drive on the escalators, especially if no one can get past me."

For the puddling 'vators, the CTA is seeking a solution, in the form of rubber flooring that forms a seal to prevent seepage and can also easily be mopped up.  Nobody wants to ride in an outhouse that goes up and down. 

I'll check into the progress of this CTA situation, but in the meantime:  How big a mess is the Green Line, South Siders?  And if so, what is your biggest Green Line gripe?

Posted May 19, 11:52 a.m.

Sometimes, CTA riders do dangerous things. 

Waltzing out into a busy street trying to see if a bus is coming. 

Racing up station steps during a rainstorm.  Can we say slip-and-slide?

Don't even get me started on those who casually cross through "L" cars.  I want you to be safe, so I'm going to start calling out reckless riders.

As Ice Cube once famously rapped, "check yourself, before you wreck yourself."

This advice applies to some conduct at the 95th Street stop, which I've personally witnessed, but a concerned citizen even took a photo of it:

Writes Shea Prater from Roseland Heights: "Pedestrians cross in front of cars exiting 94 at 95th all the time. Lots of near misses."

As the photo shows, you do not want to run across this intersection unless you are at the crosswalk. Cars rush right by there, even though there are clear lines.

What are some other unsafe CTA behaviors we need to put a stop to?

Posted May 16, 11:27 a.m.

As you know, I love a good rider letter.  That's why I had to immediately post this rant I received this morning from a rider named Brandie Renae.  She absolutely went off on the CTA today after some serious mass transit miscommunication.  Check out what she has to say, and let me know if you've ever had a similar experience. Ready, set, vent!

"WHAT.THE.HELL!!??!  I walk all the way up to the Lunt entrance of the Morse stop....scan my card (PAY) at 6:15am ...  go up to the platform and walk to where I normally catch the train, and wait....and watch .... as an *EMPTY* Redline train - zooms by on the OUT-SIDE-TRACK!!... EMPTY .... it was.... EMPTY!!!  I have to be TO WORK at 7:30am (not later than).  I say, out loud "what the HELL?!!?" a gentleman waiting on the other side of the platform answers me.  "The trains aren't stopping here today - we have to ride to Howard and then catch the train downtown"  Funny -- nothing was posted on the website -- there are no signs on the UN-MANNED entrance of the station, there were no "oh yeah by the way -- you need alternate plans" notices posted anywhere -- even in the Red Eye; god forbid it be mentioned on the "commuting" segment of the Morning TV news.........I reply "how do you know?"  "oh, they announced it a little bit ago over the sound system".....  Yet - the entire time it took me to walk from the Lunt entrance to the opposite end of the platform - I heard the "mic cuing" noise - but no announcement. I've gone to the Howard station before -- that station is the largest mishmash of disorganization I have ever encountered in trying to get *anywhere*.  Workers standing in clusters chatting, laughing...doing nothing...I rarely see any actual - REAL work being done by anyone NOT wearing a hard hat. It LITERALLY takes me 45 MINUTES....to get from MORSE....to SOUTH BOULEVARD!!!  Anyway, I quickly do the math, based on personal past experience and realize that, if I want to get to work -- ON TIME -- I have to run back up to Sheridan Road, and catch.....A CAB to downtown (a $25 ride) !! (this, on TOP of ... paying $2 to get INTO the Morse Stop)  Furious, much?  yes.  I can honestly say I am livid. I know this letter is tantamount to screaming in a hurricane....there's already so much ignored 'noise' it's not going to affect anything to make any change; it'll just be added to the other screaming going on.  Lily Tomlin did a character back in the 70's ... it was a spoof of the Phone Company in those days - Large, bloated, ineffective - but; "the only game in town" ... the painfully true comment I remember most? "We're the Phone Company - we don't care ...We don't have to" ..."We're the CTA ... We don't care, We don't have to"....hm...  somehow - it fits."

Posted May 6, 1:50 p.m.

I mostly receive e-mails, calls and, of course, your delightful postings about the CTA.  But from time to time, I get letters, which we rarely get a chance to run in the paper due to their length. 

A few minutes ago, I checked my mail box and saw a short and sweet note from an individual claiming to be a CTA employee who wanted to weigh in on last week's "Going Public" about spring cleaning, but said "I send this letter anonymously to you because CTA has a problem with people like me who contact the press without their permission." 

The letter-writer said that all the hub-bub about fixing up Wilson is based on it being an embarrassment to President Ron Huberman, and that there are stations much more in need of a fix-up.

I agree there are other stations in need of help.  Argyle, anyone?  In all fairness to the CTA, they told me about Wilson because I asked -- having gotten plenty of rider letters about it, not just from The Hube himself.

At any rate, I'll stay on top of the CTA about what is being fixed and when, but in the interim, what station do you want to see get a mass transit makeover?  Throw in some suggestions for improvements if you'd like...

Personally, I'd like to see Roosevelt get some nice seating on the subway level. 

Posted April 28, 12:00 p.m.

CTA employees are often the target of rider rage, and in some cases, simply because they are on the front line.  Though I get plenty of reports of rude bus operators and customer assistants, I also receive compliments and kudos about excellent employees of the transit world.  It's a shame that in life, even outside the agency, the bad service usually prompts customers to speak out while the good often goes unnoticed.

Because of that, it's only fair that we hear out CTA employees, who often feel uncomfortable talking to me for my column or for stories because they fear punishment or retribution from managers.  Think about it: would you talk about your boss in the paper without expecting an uncomfortable exchange around the water cooler?

That said, I offer those employees a forum here where they can finally ask riders for some answers and share their experiences.  Here is an excerpt from a bus operator offended by what she sees in various rider rants.  She's also got some questions for the riders, so feel free to respond:

"I am A C.T.A employee and when I get The chance to read your column it is almost always negative about us drivers. Not all drivers are the same but we all deal with the same drama, problems and garbage from the passengers. So I think you should give us our chance to vent so that the public will know what we go through since they think our job is so "EASY" all we do is sit there and drive. I have some questions. Why is it that the passengers get on the bus and ask where is the bus going when the sign will read where the bus is going. If u can't read I'm quit sure you can hear. Why do they get on the bus and ask how much is the bus fair? I just picked that same person up 2 days ago and they got on and paid with no problem. Why when we pull up to the stop they will say you are late or why are you late? First of all like we don't know that we are late and if they were the only ones standing at the bus stop and the bus could fly over all the traffic then it will be on time just for them. Why is it that the women have to be [b-words] or the men have punk [b-words] because we don't feel like smiling for 8-10 hours all day everyday.

Or if we give a nod instead of a hello at the end of day it's not that we have "attitudes" as they say but, we have said: Hello, Hi, Good morning, Good afternoon, Good night, I'm fine, I'm OK, Thank you, You to, How are you doing, Be safe, Watch you step, to hundreds of people so don't get mad. Sometimes the passenger will get on the bus and say disrespectful thing to us and we are suppose to accept and not say anything back. I can go on and on forever with stuff that we go through on and off the street. They need to understand give respect to get it. So please give us a chance to lift the weight off our shoulders. Understand we are not all bad people."

Posted April 21, 11:30 a.m

The CTA seems to be looking a bit cleaner every day, under the gum-busting, floor-shining regime of Prez Ron Huberman.

Howevah, some kind contributors to the "Going Public" inbox have called my attention to some dirty dealings going on with respect to litter.

Along the Orange Line, a rider suggest we photograph and post litterers who are making the mandarin-shaded line look like a moving trash can.

"I would like to make a suggestion about people leaving their garbage on the Orange line. Maybe we can start taking cell phone pictues of these culprits so they can be seen on the internet. I can just imagine what their homes look like."

I'll second that.  Unless you are under the age of three, you should know better than to throw your craptastic garbage around.  Another rider suspects CTA workers -- which we would need to confirm to be fair-- are making a Garden O' Garbage along the Red Line.

"Just south of the Wilson stop on the Red Line, there is a section of track level with a roof-top garden.  All winter I watched as that garden became a garbage can for CTA employees working in the area.  It was depressing to see a dead garden covered in empty water and soda bottles as I rode past every day.  But one day, when the weather took a turn for the better, I rode past the garden and someone had cleared away all of the empty bottles and trash. I figured that since the garden was obviously being tended to and maintained, people would have the courtesy to leave it alone and it could grow to be something nice to look at."  It's a week later, and either someone is growing plastic bottles in the garden, or it's being used as a trash can again.  This kind of behavior says a lot about the city, it's employees, and it's standards. On a professional level CTA employees understand what it's like to clean up after someone else's mess, but they show no courtesy to others in the same situation.  Apparently they lack the patience to hold onto something until they come to a real trash can. Whether or not that is the case, however, there seems to be an obvious corrolation to the amount of trash on the ground and the number of trash cans near-by. Trash cans are a small but well worth-while investment for the city, but after having the privilege of attending a city council meeting I've realized that something that simple will never get done.

It's funny, I have noticed that the laws of litter -- which would earn you the stinkeye on the street -- don't seem to apply on the CTA.  What's the worst litter box on the system?  Let's identify it and try to get it cleaned up.

Posted March 20 - 5:32 p.m

Okay, it's time for the Reader Letter of the Day. And today's comes from a non-fan of the No.65-Grand, the route where I experienced a loudmouth rider just the other day.

But poor Kyle, who hails from Uptown, went all Popeye on public transit.

I finish work at 8am and take the 65 EB Grand bus to the Red Line (Grand/State). Every morning between 1-3 #33 Magnificent Mile Express buses pass with (usually) fewer than 10 people on them. Never once have I seen a #33 bus with every seat filled. So I wait and I wait, and finally when a #65 bus comes it is so full that I either have to stand in the doorway (and get off at every subsequent stop to let people out), can't safely get on (and have to wait for the next bus), or the bus doesn't even stop because they are at capacity.

In short, why do so many (relatively) empty #33 buses pass when those buses would very obviously be better utilized as #65 buses?

Thank you for listening, Kyle Turner-Uptown

You bet, I'm listening, Kyle. Riders, what bus route makes you want to eat your spinach and go all sailor-style on the CTA?

Posted March 13 - 3:48 p.m

Drum roll, please. It's time for the "Going Public" letter of the day. This letter, translated from some angry-looking ALL-CAPS, apparently comes from a CTA employee fed up with the griping and grousing of riders. As I've met a number of nice bus and rail operators, not to mention customer assistants, I get why they may feel picked on because of the bad apples. We all know there are jerks in our own lines of work.

Here's an excerpt of what this employee has to say. Brace yourself, more sensitive CTA patrons, though what she says is no worse than what riders write about transit workers:

"Enough already about CTA. The public kills me. I watch people everyday get on the bus, don't speak, and have attitudes with the driver just because. Have you ever sat back and thought 'What about the driver?' We have a big problem with the CTA too. We are getting the same treatment that the customers are getting. We have not had a raise. We have the sorry union. W eneed to explore CTA on how they treat their employees, the money CTA cries about goes to who really truly knows? But it is not the workers that is out there dealing with our safety, traffic, crazy people, the shootings on the bus. We are people too. When things happen like fares going up or the bus is late or anything that the driver has no control over, I do understand."

Some of our workers are not all people-friendly, but we do have some good people that [are] doing what every other human is doing: that's trying to make a living and trying to make it safe to their family as well....I do see sometimes what the customers feel like traveling in public transportation [is] nothing easy. But before you judge as a whole, think about where you work and are you satisfied with your company, and what you do while at work...We are underpaid and haven't had a contract in over 5 years. We are working on old contracts, but the company keeps getting new buses, rail cars, and cameras...

So riders what's up? What do you have to say? Please keep it clean.

Posted March 11 - 12:01 p.m

Today's letter of the day is from a Bronzeville rider fed up with goofed up Green Line service.  Kenya Franklin's e-mail embodies the saying that a picture is worth a thousand words, but her points about public transit priorities are pretty damn good, too.  Check it out:

"The first thing the CTA needs to focus on is their service, the buses are fine [and] no one expects luxury from public transportation, but we do expect it to be punctual. I ride the Green Line, I get on at the King Drive stop which is only the second stop of the morning. It has been consistently 10 to 15 minutes late for over a month. Myself and the other riders have complained constantly with no results. I have sent emails and I have made several calls and the trains are still being late. I don’t understand why they were so desperate for funds they want to spend them on superficial things like better-looking buses. More people ride the trains and bused than ever before due to higher gas prices, it would be nice if we knew we could get to work on time for our money."

And here's the photo Kenya attached to punctuate the punctuality problem:

Niiiice, Kenya.

Think you can hang? Send an e-mail to goingpublic@tribune.com and tell me about the good, the bad, the ugly, or just get poetic about public transit. You just might be the (drums, please) "reader letter of the day."