strictures

Multiple artics from 136, 147 & 151 go west on Devon everyday when their afternoon runs end. They all pass under the viaduct at Ravenswood ave. without a problem, even the early 4300s with the fairings on the roof. The only really low viaducts on the UPN are at the side streets near Belmont, such as Melrose & Wellington & no bus of any kind goes there.

Something happened at Howard just before 10:45am today. Huge crowds at Loyola where I boarded. Run 919 expressed past even though PA said it was to stop. Next train was run 820 & I think it’s now stopped at Fullerton due to a mentally ill woman threatening people with violence. I changed to a Brown Line there.

They had to build an additional substation at Farwell & Glenwood in Rogers Park to upgrade power on the Red Line a few years ago. So why haven't they upgrade power on the Blue? Money or the most likely answer for the CTA, abject incompetence!

Obviously the car was wrecked, but just how much damage was done to the locomotive's pilot, coupler & front end?

If there are extra artics, then send a few more to North Park, as they've been running 40 footers on the 151 this week & use them for the afternoon rush on the westbound 155, which is usually jammed.

I saw a CTA New Flyer 40' with the destination sign of "Police Charter", parked on Chestnut next to the Hancock Building. It was run P675. Is that for hauling a lot of cops around or for mass arrests? I assume it was there in case of a Not Guilty verdict in the Van Dyke trial.

I thought the CTA had put locks on all the battery disconnect doors. All the buses I see have them, bu almost all of the buses I see are from NP.

If the CTA had any people with common sense, the 5000s would've been assigned to the Orange & Blue Lines, because with those wretched sideways seats, they were perfect for all the people with luggage!

I'm not surprised that Cottage Grove that lost riders. Where the actual losses are would be interesting. 3 King Dr. has too many buses & 4 Cottage Grove has too few. On top of that, More people are using the 4 to get to the University of Chicago Hospital & clinics than before. But the real problem for both of these routes are they are way too long & get totally screwed up by being on hopelessly overcrowded Michigan from 18th north to Randolph for the 4 & Chicago for the 3. I would break the 4 with it going SB to 63rd & NB to 55th, so both sections cover the University Hospitals.

Why do the engineer's have to reprogram the PTC computer? Shouldn't that process be simple & just hitting one or two keys & then walk to the other end of the train? If the system can't be that simple, then something is wrong with the system!

Exactly what are the causes of the PTC delays when flipping the trains at the end of the line? Isn't this a computerized system & shouldn't it be just a simple software fix?

I lived 700 feet from S&C for over 60 years!

Ridge is not mostly senior housing. There are senior building at Peterson/Ridge/Ravenswood. But north of Devon, it's some single houses & large numbers of 3 story walkups, some of which are huge, such as Casa Bonita near Jarvis, with mostly families in them. In addition, S&C Electric has about 1,000 employees on their Ridge campus & most drive, because it's a long walk into the property from Devon, the closest bus. So most drive, that S&C's private security is allowed to shut down traffic on both Devon & Pratt, to let them out of the parking lots between 3:30PM & 4:00PM. A Ridge bus with a stop at Albion, S&C's main entrance would allow at least 100+ to give up their cars. And I'm guessing that the Cermak Foods store on Ridge [technically it has a Damen address] just might be the only large grocery in Chicago that isn't within one block of a CTA bus route.

That would be fine with me. Occasionally they run a 147 as a 40 foot bus & it gets way overloaded.

1. Ridge Ave. north of Devon isn't a narrow street! 2. Obviously you don't ride the 151 north of Belmont on a regular basis, as I do, & it loads up fast. Lots of people use it specifically to go to Mariano's at Foster/Sheridan.