Seasoned CTA riders know that the Blue Line will be under construction for the rest of time, and that the Brown Line-Red Line tangle is not going anywhere soon, so let’s get tracking! In London’s Tube, monitors at every station list the wait time till the next train, which comes in real handy in suppressing homicidal urges when your train pulls in packed way too tight for even Twiggy. Here in Chicago, if we’re going to have to wait fifteen minutes, just tell us. And we’re not asking for anything too far-fetched; the bus tracking the CTA fully implemented this year has already revolutionized travel on that leg of the transit system. In fact, we want train tracking even without the fare increase!
Audience choice: Cleaner trains, buses and stations
Best audience comments: “Enforcing the “no eating” rule”; “More drivers that go off the script and tell people random things like “Go get ’em, Tiger!” on the way in to work in the morning”; “Santa Trains. Every Train. Every Day.”; “Signs that tell you which train is coming when you’re paying your fare and can’t tell whether or not to run for the arriving train. Better yet, signs outside the El stop that tell you how many minutes till each train so you can decide whether to go straight in or have a cigarette.”
