Vol. 40: Can't Take Anymore

since the late 1850s, the Chicago Transit Authority has provided those in the Chicagoland area with fast, reliable service. however, in recent years, the true asshole has certainly come out. with constant construction, slow zones, and service cuts, the CTA is fast becoming notorious for bad service. now, as we approach yet another series of mass cuts and route eliminations, I began to wonder, where exactly all the money the RTA receives goes. so, as always, ill give you some facts.

Bus ridership averages 1.4 million riders every weekday, while trains average about 3/4 of a million each weekday. these stats do not include weekends, holidays, and summer increases.

the 150+ routes travel 2,517 route miles,and a total of 221,350 miles per day.

after the mass layoffs of 2008, and the 11 employees fired for cell phone use and the 4 blamed for the Green Line derailment a few weeks ago, the CTA still employs nearly 11,000 employees (i couldnt find anything that says whether these are just operators and servicemen or if it includes board members).

none of the railcars being used were built after the 1960s, although several new models of buses are introduced every few years or so. in addition, there are nearly 2,000 buses in use.

these are the stats. now lets take a look at the cuts

9 express buses (X3, X4, X9, X20, X49,53AL, X54, X55, X80) willbe completely eliminated (anyone notice where these buses run? hmm)

the bus routes that ramain will all have reduced services. some will either start later and/or end earlier, have less frequent service during the day, or all of the above.

in addition,all of the train routes will have reduced service with slightly longer wait times.

now heres the math

with the weekday average bus ridership alone, nearly 3 million dollars is made DAILY
with the weekday average train ridership alone, $1,687,500 is made DAILY
so just counting weekdays, the CTA makes roughly $1,218,750,000 annually.
additionally, Mayor Daley signed a bill in 2008 giving the CTA $227 million for repairs and services

now of course these statistics dont come from the transfer savings, however, the savings wouldnt really effect the CTA's bottom line. actually. there shouldnt be too much that messes with the CTA's bottomline. there is entirely too much money being made for themto be in a deficit, which, in 2008 was $58.1 million. all of the rail cars run on electricity, and the buses that do get used fill up MAYBE twice per day (depending on the route), and if the bus is one of the new hybrid models, its even less than that. even if 10% of the employees made 100k per year, that still wouldnt justify how the CTA has been orchestrating its plans.

Chicagoans are dependent on the buses and trains and the CTA knows that. think about all of the elderly people, the high school children, single parents, and your average joe who ride the CTA everyday. even the suburbanites who commute to work. when they get off the metra (who isnt making service cuts (no surprise there)) they still may have to jump on the bus or train. now i do admit, with the schizophrenic tendencies of gas prices, and the ridiculous cost to park downtown, taking public transportation is the cheaper way to go. however, anyone who spends as much time out and about as i do knows that in Chicago, Time is indeed money. these service cuts are going to be bad across the board.

more layoffs are inevitable (i foresee 2,000 minimum), which isn't good for the economy. people who do use public transit are going to have less time to do get things done throughout the day. and you know what the saddest thing about it is? the service cuts were used as an alternative for a fare hike, however, sources say that a fare hike will still come by the end of the year.

why should we stand for this? even those who have cars, have needed to take the CTA at some point. why should they be allowed to do what they please, while the riders continue to suffer the consequences? what would they do if, just for a day, no one took the buses or trains? they would get the message after the riders gave them something they really had to worry about. we should take a page out of the book of Birmingham. maybe it's time Chicagoans took a stand, not because of racial division, but because of an organization thathas continuously walked all over the people. We've settled for the worst, and even though we complain amoungst ourselves, we dont come together to put our foot down and say "no. this is not ok"

and until that day comes, CTA will call the shots.

Till next time.