Tag: CTA

Please move to the rear

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Via this Tumblr, I found Aaron Kraus’s posters from the Courteous Transit Authority, a play on the CTA acronym, to encourage bus riders to move to the back. Well, not encourage so much as making moving to the rear of a bus sound like an adventure. Kraus, a visual designer for Roundarch, published the first poster (above) in December 2010. He created a new version (below) while updating his design portfolio.

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I emailed Kraus to ask why he created these images. He’s been riding Chicago Transit Authority buses since moving to Chicago in 2006, and the 66/Chicago bus for two years. He explains:

They were created because I was tired of riding the bus with people who never seemed to walk to the back of the bus. I wish they had a more compelling origin story but that’s it. All in all, the 66 Chicago bus is a huge source of inspiration for me.

Thank you, Aaron, for trying to make transit a little more whimsical but also more efficient. Visit Kraus’s website. Oh, there’s one more poster in the collection, but it’s not family friendly (probably still safe for work, though).

What keeps an El car from falling off the tracks on tight curves?

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1977 derailment at Wabash and Lake – photo by Mark Llanuza

[This piece also ran in Time Out Chicago magazine.]

Q: Since I’ve switched from the straight-shot Red Line to the winding Brown Line, where you often feel like you’re about to ride right off the rails (and right into a nearby condo building), I’ve been wondering: At what speed would El trains hitting sharp curves come off the tracks?

A: A CTA train’s extremely low center of gravity and speed limits allow it to safely navigate the El’s many curves, according to spokeswoman Catherine Hosinski. As a train goes around a bend, like the tight S-curve on the Brown and Purple Lines just north of the Merchandise Mart, the car may seem to sway at an impossible angle, but most of the weight is still directed straight down, Hosinski says. This overcomes centrifugal force and keeps the wheels on the rails. “Also, a train’s speed through each curve is limited by the automated train control system,” she says. “This system enforces a maximum train speed that’s much lower than the speed that could cause a train to leave the rails.”

Continue reading What keeps an El car from falling off the tracks on tight curves?

Grid Shots: Viaducts

According to the new Grid Shots schedule, today’s topic is “viaducts”.

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The first photo shows someone cycling on Jackson Boulevard just east of Canal Street. Did you know it’s a viaduct? It spans the Metra and Amtrak tracks below. Photo by Allan Marshall.  Continue reading Grid Shots: Viaducts

Outside the Loop Radio interviews Danny Resner & “Urban Flow” author

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Outside the Loop Radio recently interviewed my CTA ‘L’ riding record-setting partner-in-crime Danny Resner about the nuts and bolts of our trip. Listen to the interview here (press the play button at the bottom of the post; Danny is featured in the last third of the segment), or download the MP3 directly.

The broadcast also includes a short interview with former record holder Adham Fisher of Leicester, England. Earlier in the segment there’s an interview with Jeff Kidder, the author of Urban Flow: Bike Messengers and the City, who was quoted in Alex Weaver’s recentguest post on Grid Chicago about Chicago couriers.

Resner and Greenfield reclaim the CTA riding crown from the British champ

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[This piece also appears in Time Out Chicago magazine.]

Adham Fisher seems like a stand-up guy. But the title of fastest Chicago ‘L’ rider being held by a Brit? Bloody mad.

Last March, the native of Leicester, England, came to town and set a new record, racing around all 143 CTA train stations in 9 hours, 36 minutes, 33 seconds. Earlier this winter, Danny Resner, a recent college grad and Grid Chicago reader, asked me to join forces with him to bring the title home. We would follow the same rules Fisher used: you have to stop at every station by train but you don’t have to step on the platform, and taking buses or running between stations is allowed.

Continue reading Resner and Greenfield reclaim the CTA riding crown from the British champ

House transportation bill: What’s at stake for Chicago

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A broken down 4400-series bus on Clark Street in 2007. Steven remembers that these buses seemed to break down more often than other models, and their retrofitted wheelchair lifts were slow and difficult to use. Imagine if they couldn’t be replaced when they needed to be. Photo by Sabrina Downard. 

Ed. note: This is a post by guest contributor Brian Morrissey, of Commuter Age – or is that Commute Rage? – a blog covering the economic and social issues of transportation. It was originally written for Taking the Lane, a blog about “bicycling, economics, feminism, and other cultural commentary” by Elly Blue. -SV

First, the latest on the surface transportation bill from the House of Representatives we’ve been discussing so frequently in the past two weeks (known as HR7):

  • Speaker John Boehner doesn’t have the votes, delays until after President’s Day (Politico)
  • What the House transportation bill means for the Bay Area (SF Streetsblog)
  • Obama takes a stand, threatens veto (DC Streetsblog)
  • Reps. Lipinski and Dold joined CTA and Metra officials to call on the GOP to fix HR7 (WGN-TV)
  • Wed., Feb. 29, is the first ever Riders for Better Transit Day of Action (see end of post)

Continue reading House transportation bill: What’s at stake for Chicago