Illinois' lovefest with the MBTA continues
Writing on Illinois Transportation Issues, Paras Bhayani compares the MBTA very favorably with Chicago's CTA - which makes you wonder what's wrong in the Windy City:
... The board of directors, appointed by the governor and serving coterminous with him, ratifies all planning and budget decisions for the MBTA. The board also chooses the general superintendent - the effective czar of the region's transit system. The effect is that the system is highly-centralized, integrated, and accountable; all blame for MBTA's failings can be laid at the feet of the governor and his superintendent.
I would be the first to admit that talent - and not just institutions - matters a great deal. Massachusetts has benefited recently from a reformist, Huberman-like general superintendent who has made substantial capital improvements to the system. ...
Earlier:
More praise from the prairie.
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wow... the exact last word I
wow... the exact last word I would ever use to describe the MBTA is "accountable".
I was in Chicago for the
I was in Chicago for the first time a couple of weekends ago, and I was shocked - SHOCKED, I tell you - to return to Boston with the opinion that the CTA is worse than the MBTA. Of course, within days of my return the Longfellow Bridge was mobbed with refugees from the T, and the T soundsystem began cranking out the hits...but still, the T's better.
That's really frightening
That's really frightening. Yesterday I couldn't get on the 5:30 train at Porter Square because there were people still waiting from the 5:00 train that never showed up (though the electric sign insisted it was on schedule). I finally got on the 5:50 train when it arrived at 6:10.
Beat Street
This puts the grafitti on the side of my commuter train on the Needham Line this morning in a whole new light. Rather than thinking of it as the errosion of maintenance, I will just smile and think of it as a throw back to Beat Street and the electric boogaloo. Things could be worse. Maybe the glass is half full. Maybe the Red Sox will win the penant after all. Kumbya.
MBTA
Maybe we should all go ride the CTA? It might make us view the T differently. The CTA is saddled with huge infrastructure problems. I've heard that large sections of the L have structural issues and there isn't a budget to fix them. Maybe we should send them Dan.G. That might make everyone happy.
Hair-Raising
The CTA is hair-raising. Using public transportation in Chicago is like entering some piss-stained underworld of sweaty concrete and cheap death. The tunnels are dank, dismal, crowded, and seemingly always under construction. The El is loud, rickety, and terrifying, like a carnival ride in the back end of nowhere. When we were in Chicago last, a man slipped and was killed on it... but I can't find the story because there are too many others.
The train to O'Hare is slower than OJ's Bronco. It's the only thing in the world that could make the Silver Line look good. There were bums pushing shopping carts passing us.
Yeah, if you want to feel good about the T, go to Chicago.
Chicago
On the other hand, when I went to Chicago years ago, my reaction was: "Wow, they have a subway going right to their airport, and they're building a subway that goes right to their OTHER airport. Why can't we have that?"
I'm assuming
you never actually rode that subway. It's a little better in theory than in practice. I'll never do it again, because taking a cab is significantly faster.
a cab is NOT faster during rush hour
The EL in Chicago ROCKS! We have 1 to ORD and 1 to MDW. During rush hour, it costs $1.75 for a one-way trip and will get you the airport MUCH faster than a cab will. You'll be sitting in traffic wishing you jumped on the EL.
Rush Hour
I believe it might be faster during rush hour to take the train. But it's certainly not faster outside of rush hour, especially in the winter. It crawls along, and you can watch all the traffic on the parallel highway passing you.
All told.....
It's faster to hoof it (if you all get the drift) during rush hour!
I did ride it!
Last April, I went to a conference in Chicago and used the public transit.
Aside from the transitbot having issues with locating my hotel and routing me miles out of the way to avoid walking a 1/3 of a mile, the trip was quite easy and uneventful.
What I don't understand is all the stairs you have to navigate with a suitcase - like the T, they don't seem to think people using that facility will have, you know, luggage? (check out the airport station on the blue line - brand new, but not wide enough for two people to pass if they are carrying or rolling anything. Great planning guys!).
Note, however, that it has taken many years of frustrating negotiations and they still haven't integrated the commuter rail system with the light rail and bus systems. If you use both, you need separate passes.