CTA – Page 17 – Grid Chicago

The state of transit trackers in Chicago

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A CTA passenger waits for a train in the snow at Belmont Brown Line station. Photo by Mike Priorie.

Knowing when your bus or train is about to come can help you make better decisions. “Do I have enough time to get coffee from the shop across the street?” “Can I pack my own lunch today?” “If I miss this bus because I can’t find my good shoes, how long will it be to the next one”? I’m sure we’ve all asked ourselves these questions*. The Chicago Transit Authority’s transit tracking services can help with the answers. Continue reading The state of transit trackers in Chicago

Comparing three Android transit tracker apps

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Transit Tracks makes it very easy to find stops near you, and doesn’t place restrictions on how many appear in the map.

I reviewed only the free versions. Updated October 19, 2011, to add a third transit tracker app.

	Chicago Transit Tracker Lite	Transit Tracks	TreKing 4 Free
Pros	Locates nearest bus stop Shows system alerts from CTA Shows current temperature Shows time of last update	Locates ALL nearby bus stops using your GPS Has a more logical method to manually select bus stops and train stations Allows you to group favorite stops/stations Has better aesthetics – easier to read favorites listing User swipes the screen to show the opposite direction bus or train System map shows the familiar Google Maps and allows user to select nearby bus stops and train stations When no more service, reports “No running buses”	Pro version offers Metra schedules and Pace bus predictions (I didn’t test this) Very logical method to select your bus stop or train station (this is called a “trek”) Lets you save a custom name for a specific stop or station (but gives predefined name) Allows you to group saved stops/stations Quick Treks feature locates nearby stops and stations Pro version has a trip planner (“Trek Planner”) Move, rename, or delete groups by holding your finger on the group (very easy) It appears you can set alerts in the pay version that tell you when to get off the bus/train, or when the bus/train is about to arrive In the pay version you can add time to the prediction so you’re less likely to miss a bus/train if it’s early
Cons	Only displays a single nearby bus stop in free version using your GPS Shows ads in free version Favorites listing appears in a confusing way Shows ALL system alerts, and not ones relevant to my favorite routes System map loads a CTA website When no more service, reports “No arrival times” To add a favorite stop manually, text search function works in unexpected way To add a favorite stop manually, the choices are confusing. There are 4 choices for Addison-Blue, one for each possible terminus (Forest Park, Jefferson Park, O’Hare, UIC)	Does not retrieve system alerts from CTA Does not show temperature Does not show time of last update Shows ads	When you first select CTA Trains as the system you want to track, a huge list of confusing caveats shows up. I don’t think they’re all true. Method to select your trip route takes a lot of time Selecting a “To Stop”, which is optional, doesn’t change anything Shows ads Quick Trek feature in free version limited to 1/8th mile (one block) There isn’t a function you do without the app showing a popup to tell you about the pay version Map nearly useless in free version: it will only show bus stop with ID 1 Map nearly useless in free version: it will only show bus route with route 1, Indiana/Hyde Park Map in free version doesn’t show bus location in real-time “Trek Planner” in free version only shows trip from your location to Sears Tower or Navy Pier – your choice!

On grouping: One group could be for the stops/stations you use to get to work and the other group could be for the return trip.

My recommendation: Transit Tracks. It’s very hard to review TreKing 4 Free because it seems most features are only available in the pay version.

Bridgeport Pasty proves there is such a thing as a “green” food truck

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Patsy the Pastymobile stands out among her gas-guzzling colleagues (most photos courtesy of Bridgeport Pasty)

Although they are beloved by foodies, mobile food trucks are generally not the most environmentally-friendly business model in the world. Most food trucks are big vehicles that use plenty of gas just getting from place to place. They usually have noisy, smelly generators on them to keep the food hot. And a lot of the time the staffers have to run the truck and the generator while they’re selling the food, just to keep their power going. And if they’re cooking on trucks (currently illegal in Chicago but likely to become legal soon) it requires even more power. So conventional trucks are probably less “green” than a brick-and-mortar restaurant.

When Bridgeport Pasty owners Carrie Clark and her husband Jay Sebastian wanted to do things differently when they decided to roll out a vehicle to sell pasties (“pass-tees,” not to be confused with the “pace-tees” worn by burlesque performers), large, savory pies that are the national dish of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. On a recent bike tour in the U.P. I developed quite a taste for these hearty pastries, consuming three of these nearly football-sized pies in one 24-hour period. Continue reading Bridgeport Pasty proves there is such a thing as a “green” food truck

Grid Shots: Shopping without a car

A large portion of Chicagoans not only take the bus, train, walk, or bike to work, but they also take these sustainable transportation modes to go shopping, for groceries and everything else.

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Two people attempt to cross Western Avenue, with one of them pushing his purchases in a shopping cart. Photo by Joshua Koonce. Continue reading Grid Shots: Shopping without a car

Grid Bits: UP-North construction to restart, taxi drivers and street safety, new CTA Loop station

John and I are still gathering information for our Open Streets article, which will be co-written and published Tuesday. Also on Tuesday is another public meeting about the Bloomingdale Trail, where the designers and consultants will showcase the results of this past weekend’s open house and charrettes (I went on Saturday). I will publish an article about the Tuesday presentation on Thursday, October 6. There are five stories in this edition of Grid Bits.

Streets

(1) Taxi drivers

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Click on the photo to read the photographer’s caption. I found this by searching on Flickr for “stupid taxi chicago” in order to find people’s opinions. Photo by Nick Normal.

The Chicago Tribune reported on September 23, 2011, that many of the tickets Chicago police give to taxi drivers are dismissed in court. When a taxi driver receives commits three moving violations in one year, they risk having their chauffeur’s license not renewed. Continue reading Grid Bits: UP-North construction to restart, taxi drivers and street safety, new CTA Loop station

Grid Shots: The view from CTA bridges

Bridges at Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) train stations over the tracks are becoming extinct. When the Belmont Brown/Red/Purple line station was rebuilt for the Brown Line Capacity Expansion project, the bridge at the south end was removed.

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I took this photo in 2006 from the Belmont footbridge, not long before it was closed to passengers and then demolished.

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Adams and Wabash, Brown/Pink/Green/Orange/Purple lines. Photo by Clark Maxwell.

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Madison and Wabash, Brown/Pink/Green/Orange/Purple lines. Photo by Clark Maxwell.

View four more photos taken from CTA footbridges.