Cta

Everyone's used to characters on the CTA. Now the CTA is using characters - about 140 of them - to its advantage. The CTA on Thursday celebrated the one-month anniversary of its Twitter and Facebook accounts. Since it launched its social media presence on Nov. 1, the CTA has garnered more than 3,400 Twitter followers and more than 4,700 likes on its Facebook page. "We believe this is a valuable resource for customers," said Brian Steele, the new CTA director of communications and media relations, who regularly updates the agency's social media outlets with a few other CTA employees.

Starting Sunday, CTA riders will be able to transfer for free between the Lake Red Line and Washington Blue Line stations, the CTA announced Wednesday. CTA riders with a farecard currently pay 25 cents, the standard transfer fare, to travel between the stations using the pedway in the lower level of the Block 37 shopping center. The CTA has long talked about making this a free transfer point for riders. The CTA said it is making this change in correlation with the southern Red Line project, during which the CTA will close stations south of Roosevelt Road for five...

Call 'em rail fails. Some Going Public readers have been railing against problems with CTA stations and train service lately. Next stop: Frustration station. No crown for Brown It seems that ever since the platform expansion was completed Brown Line off-peak trains (especially during the day and weekends) are only four cars. I feel that this is a problem because I have to stand every time and the trains are just packed. Especially with less frequent service it is quite inconvenient.

Riders who use the Cermak-Chinatown station just can't catch a break. Five years ago, a semi-trailer truck crashed into the station escalator, killing two people and injuring about two dozen more. Over the next few years, the CTA overhauled the station by building a new stationhouse, installing a new elevator and replacing the stairs and escalator. During this time, the CTA closed entrances and rerouted buses to the station, which formally reopened in spring of 2011. Now the station will close Sunday, this time for five months, as the CTA rebuilds the Red Line track south of...

The CTA today launched its campaign about stroller use on buses, reminding riders that priority seating is intended for the elderly and riders with disabilities. "Open strollers may be parked in this area if these seats are not in use, but must be moved if a customer with a disability or a senior needs the seat," says the placards on CTA buses and trains. Bus operators, who received retraining on the stroller policy, which has been in place for nearly 10 years, will pass out fliers with the policy to riders with strollers when they board the bus. The leaflets are available at rail stations, the CTA...

Six male riders - including a teenager - have been killed on CTA tracks since March, an increase from previous years, according to the transit agency's data. The most recent rail death was last week, when a 27-year-old ex-Marine visiting Chicago was electrocuted after touching the third rail at the South Boulevard stop on the Purple Line. Evanston police said he was on the tracks urinating and accidentally fell on the third rail. Zachary McKee's death was the second CTA rail death in April.

Forget about rush hour. Every day on the CTA, it's crush hour - on men. For more than nine months, the website ctacrush.com has encouraged Chicagoans to submit photos of their CTA crushes. A new photo is uploaded about once a day. Sometimes they're of crushes on the buses, sometimes they're of crushes on the trains. The one thing all these crushes have in common: They are all men. Only one photo of a woman, a blond in a trench coat holding a pen and biting her finger in the back of a CTA bus, has been submitted.

Janet Martin loves to add a dash of honey to your commute. The CTA customer service agent greets many Brown Line riders with a "honey" and asks them about their day. If they need help getting to the platform, she's always there with an extra hand. The riders at the Kedzie stop in Albany Park, where Martin works from 6-9:30 a.m., don't just like her. They adore her. In a post last week on everyblock.com , a Chicago neighborhood discussion board, riders heaped praise on Martin, who has worked at the Chicago, Western and Addison stops in the past few years.

It's Valentine's Day, and you don't have a date? Don't panic yet; it's not too late. Several missed CTA connections are posted on RedEye's site. Some romantic, some funny, many based on sight. Going Public created a poem of some of the best pines. Orange, Blue and the bus lines. Each line is from a different submission. Check 'em out if you want love or if you're just out fishin': I first noticed you when we were walking through the turnstiles/ You had a bright pink phone, dark hair and nice smile.

The Red Line, the backbone of the 'L,' has become more like a ball of nerves. Last week, the CTA touted a 3 percent increase in ridership from 2010 to 2011, but the southern portion of the Red Line saw a dip - perhaps due to slow zones. The case of Red Line slow zones may provide clues to how Red Line and Loop ridership could be affected in the next few months when two construction projects will likely bring similar slowdowns. The CTA will be working on renewing its track in the Loop this spring, and the agency will be improving stations on the northern sections of the Red Line...

CTA riders now will be able to track their trains through various stops, search for train stations near them and see trains move on an interactive map using their phones or Web browser as part of new train tracker features the CTA plans to introduce Wednesday. The new tools include: > > Follow this train: Riders can use their phone or browser to click on an approaching train to find out how long it should take them to reach their destination instead of just being able to see when their trains are going to pick them up. > > Stops near me: Riders with GPS devices can now search for...

The White Sox are offering a $10 off deal for CTA riders a day after the CTA shuts down the southern portion of the Red Line, including the Sox-35th station. Sox fans can use the "SOXCTA" code to purchase tickets online through Ticketmaster for the Boston Red Sox series May 20-22. The Sox will knock $10 off lower box, outfield reserve and bleacher seats, Sox spokesman Marty Maloney said. The CTA will close the Red Line between Cermak-Chinatown and 95th Street May 19 to Oct. 19 for track overhaul.

Here comes the pain - but not the train. It's finally arrived, CTA riders. The CTA on Sunday will shut down the Red Line between Cermak-Chinatown and 95th Street for five months to overhaul the track. The agency is offering various alternatives from free shuttle buses to rerouted Red Line trains on Green Line tracks. Avoid the Red-ache. Going Public has your last-minute checklist for surviving the Dread Line. > > Take a test run. Now is the time to practice your commute if you can. Don't get caught Monday without an idea of how to...

The CTA this week touted success with last year's plan to decrowd buses and trains by adding service, but a RedEye analysis shows mixed results and a decrease in ridership in some routes. Of the 48 bus routes that received additional service, 19 of the routes saw an increase in ridership during the time the service was added, typically rush hour. Eighteen of the routes saw a ridership decrease while five routes had flat ridership, the CTA said. The other six routes saw the times of their schedule change but didn't...

The CTA on Thursday will begin a seven-month project to ease slow zones along the Purple Line north of Howard Street. At 9 p.m. Thursday, CTA will begin the work that includes replacing 6,000 rail ties and eliminating nearly 1.3 miles of track-related slow zones. The $2 million construction project will take place between 9 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. during the week, and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. During night work, Purple Line trains in both directions will run on a single track.

The CTA board is poised to approve an agreement Wednesday with the University of Chicago that would allow the CTA to continue to operate four campus bus routes for five years. The buses that would continue to run are the Nos. 170-U. of Chicago/Midway, 171 U. of Chicago/Hyde Park, 172 U. of Chicago/Kenwood, and 192 U. of Chicago Hospitals Express. The buses are primarily used by University of Chicago students. There will be no changes to the routes, CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said.

The CTA tweeted around 3:43 p.m. May 29 that the Brown, Purple, and Red Line trains are experiencing delays due to fire department activity near Fullerton. The building, Roy's Home Furnishings, 2455 North Sheffield Ave., was "totally involved," with heavy smoke and fire damage, according to the Chicago Fire Department . As a result, southbound Red, Brown and Purple line trains are being turned back north at Belmont, and northbound trains are being turned back south at Armitage, a CTA spokeswoman told the Chicago Tribune . Bus shuttles are being set up and the No. 11/Lincoln bus...

The CTA logged 2.4 percent more rides last year compared with 2011 and recorded its best ridership year since 1990, the agency said Monday. Most of the increase was on the rail side, which saw a 4.2 percent jump over 2011. Bus ridership saw a 1.1 percent rise, CTA data shows. The CTA recorded 545 million rides in 2012, up from 532 million in 2011. The 2012 number was the highest annual total for the CTA in 22 years, agency spokeswoman Tammy Chase said. “Customers chose affordable, reliable public transit over high gas prices during a slow economic recovery, and recognized and appreciated the...

A reader emailed Going Public last week with a unique complaint: There was too much CTA service. The reader said his 30-minute Wacker bus commute more than doubled as the CTA ran shuttle buses to replace Brown Line service to and from the Loop, which was suspended until Monday morning while the Chicago Department of Transportation overhauled the Wells Street Bridge. There were too many shuttle buses, which clogged traffic and delayed other bus service, the reader complained. Many of the shuttle buses he spotted carried only a few riders, he said.

The CTA on Friday issued an invitation for bids for a contractor to overhaul the Wilson Red Line station in a $203 million project expected to start in the fall. Work is expected to last until 2016 at the Wilson stop, a three-time winner of Going Public's annual Crust Station contest to dishonor the CTA's most disgusting station. The Red Line station will become a transfer point for the Purple Line. Work will include rebuilding the stationhouse, building two auxiliary entrances and restoring the 1923 terra cotta facade.