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Since the COVID pandemic hit the streets of Chicago, the CTA’s ( Chicago Transit Authority ) commuting services have been less than satisfactory for many citizens who take the bus and train on a daily basis. After dealing with buses and trains being late, delayed, or never showing up, protesters have risen up to address these problems.
One of the chants created for the protest “No more Ghost” refers to how CTA transportation is scheduled to arrive on apps but does not arrive. According to data analyzed by Commuter take Action, 60-70 percent of trains have promised their arrival daily — some of which broke their commitments.
According to CTA’s monthly ridership in the month of May, 786,559 commuters have taken some sort of CTA transportation on an average weekday, 464,867 taking the bus and 321,692 taking the train. Within the month 21,178,009 commuters have taken CTA transportation with 12,254,082 taking the bus and 8,923,927 taking the train.
“We already have the city with one of the busiest systems in the country. They have no excuse for letting folks linger at train stops,” Cedar Larson, a daily CTA commuter, said to have paid her fare and ended up waiting 30 plus minutes for a train, which lead to leaving the station and calling for an Uber.
Transportation scheduling is not the only problem the organization and citizens deal with, crime is also an issue. Shopliftings, robberies, drug use, and even attempted and actual murder have happened in my train stations, inside train carts, and at bus stops.
Not only are protesters coming out about their commuting problems, but political leaders even see a crack in the system. State representative Kam Buckner made an appearance at the protest after putting out a tweet about being ghosted by a bus the last weekend.
CTA leaders look to fix these problems. When it comes to daily crime situations, the agency brought in security guards and the K-9 unit as a form to make sure that their services are safe. Since the pandemic has been lifted, they also look forward to recruiting more workers to fix the service gaps and delay problems.
However, many citizens don’t think this is enough. Jose Manuel Almazna Jr., a Chicago Jobs with Justice member, states that putting police in stations isn’t what safety looks like, but knowing when your bus or train will arrive on time.
Maddie Kilgannon, a CTA Spokesperson, says that commuters coming out to protest is justified and the company is willing to listen. “CTA welcomes every opportunity to receive feedback from riders and share what we’re doing to enhance our system service…. we recognize this is just a start. There is a lot of work to do”
Written By Daylontie Jasper
Sources:
Block Club Chicago: Protestors Outside CTA Headquarters Ask: ‘Why Are My Trains And Buses So Late?’; by Mack Liederman
Transit Chicago: May 2022 Monthly Ridership Report
Feature Image Courtesy of Jason Wadsworth‘s Flickr Page- Creative Commons License
Inset Image Courtesy of Daniel X. O’Neil‘s Flickr Page – Creative Commons License
