Dear CTA

Dear CTA Management Team.

I have been feeling guilty about using my Blago "old people ride free" pass lately. With the state and the CTA having gotten themselves in near bankrupt positions and my luck that we've been fiscally smart, I actually thought about burning it and starting to feed dollars and coins in the fare boxes. Then I thought about my recent experiences on the CTA and decided that you need me, and others like me, to ride your trains and buses. Here are a few observations:

• I do not ride during rush hours. I get up too late for the morning one and am in a hurry to get home for cocktail hour for the evening one.




• I regularly apologize to tourists for the conditions at some of the stations - the smell of the elevator at Clark and Lake, the filth and water at Chicago and Milwaukee, the rude sexist remarks of employees at Rosemont. I actually make excuses like "they're working on it" or "this is not the normal smell" or "they must be new employees".

• I have become the tour director for the 157 bus whose drivers consistently tell people they do not stop at Water Tower. They DO STOP at Water Tower, just at the back entrance - no big deal. They also say they don't stop at the MCA when the canned message clearly says "Chicago and Mies van der Rohe, Museum of Contemporary Art". Who are the tourists to believe - an authorized CTA employee or a nosy passenger who wants them to have a good experience in Chicago?
  
  
  
• Your website - which used to be great- is now directing me to addresses in Round Lake and other parts of the country when all I want to do is plan a trip from Lake Shore Drive to the north side. It is actually hilarious.




• I consistently pick up the crap that people leave on the bus and deposit it in the few and far between containers on the street. Sort of "do unto others...."
  
  
• I have done my fair share of mingling with People with Social Disabilities by riding the 22 and/or 36 buses north from the loop. I could write a book.
  
  
• I have dodged the juiced up pan-handlers at State and Chicago. They never should have put a park there and the businesses nearby should do a better job of policing.
  
  
• I live in fear of the Irving Park and Jeff Park stops on the Blue Line. You are THISCLOSE to falling, or being pushed, off the platform to the tracks.
  
  
• In conclusion, I would like a meeting with the person who designed the buses. I am betting it will be a tall (feet always touch the floor, and arms always reach the pull cord), young (won't fall down even though the straps are dangerous), athletic (flexible enough to move 5 feet forward with nothing to hold on to while the bus is moving) and skinny (size 4 butt fits into seats) male (just because they are clueless) who makes enough money designing buses to never have to ride one.
  
  

I hereby submit my application as CTA monitor-at-large. I will not only continue to use my free pass, but I can help you improve service by giving your team feedback from the public. That is, if you answer my call or respond to my E-Mail. I don't want to be paid, but I think I've earned my free rides.

Sincerely,

A not so guilty- feeling senior rider.