Who do I have to talk to so I can try to get bus stops combined?

[ryanbytes]

Going westbound on Lawrence there's a Cicero Express stop half a block east of Lamon. On Lamon there's a stop for Lawrence buses. If a stop is requested on a Lawrence bus as it goes through the Lawrence and Cicero intersection there's a pretty good chance that the driver will stop at the Cicero Express stop. These stops are nowhere near slow and if you know the traffic in the area fast stops are not so great with all the maniacs blowing through. For me at least it's also a pain to walk that extra half block to Lamon. Any extra distance I can cut out of my walking route is welcome. Who do I call, email, write, or send smoke signals to so I can attempt to get these stops combined?

[trainman8119]

Going westbound on Lawrence there's a Cicero Express stop half a block east of Lamon. On Lamon there's a stop for Lawrence buses. If a stop is requested on a Lawrence bus as it goes through the Lawrence and Cicero intersection there's a pretty good chance that the driver will stop at the Cicero Express stop. These stops are nowhere near slow and if you know the traffic in the area fast stops are not so great with all the maniacs blowing through. For me at least it's also a pain to walk that extra half block to Lamon. Any extra distance I can cut out of my walking route is welcome. Who do I call, email, write, or send smoke signals to so I can attempt to get these stops combined?

I don't think your beef is about getting the stops combined, its about getting

operators to stop where they are suppose to. I am sure that x54 stop is

where it is so that buses turning left off of Cicero clear the intersection

and then have a Cicero/Lawrence stop for eastbound bus connections.

I would suggest you contact customer service and lodge a complaint

about the Route 81 buses not making the stop at Lamon as you request.

[ryanbytes]

I don't think your beef is about getting the stops combined, its about getting

operators to stop where they are suppose to.

I let the operators know every time they make the wrong stop. They're are usually glad that I brought it up but one on one isn't really getting anyone anywhere. I've emailed the CTA months ago and I did it again tonight. We shall see.

[jacksone44]

Going westbound on Lawrence there's a Cicero Express stop half a block east of Lamon. On Lamon there's a stop for Lawrence buses. If a stop is requested on a Lawrence bus as it goes through the Lawrence and Cicero intersection there's a pretty good chance that the driver will stop at the Cicero Express stop. These stops are nowhere near slow and if you know the traffic in the area fast stops are not so great with all the maniacs blowing through. For me at least it's also a pain to walk that extra half block to Lamon. Any extra distance I can cut out of my walking route is welcome. Who do I call, email, write, or send smoke signals to so I can attempt to get these stops combined?

You read my mind. I was just thinking about this today. On Sheridan between Belmont and Diversey, there is a bus stop on every corner (every 500 feet est.) Its beyond annoying.

[T8H5307A]

How about pulling the stop request cord as you are passing the X54 stop, or going up to the front and telling the operator I want Lamon? Moving the X54 stop to Lamon is not feasible, unfortunately where it is now is the only safe place for it to stop after making the left onto Cicero, due to the railroad viaduct right on the corner. Sounds like a typical passenger... complain complain complain! God forbid you have to walk to a stop or have to go up steps to get on a bus! We don't have TAXI on the sides of the bus and stop anywhere thats convenient to you! Just because it's a blue cta bus stop sign doesn't mean you have to stop there if it's not your route. I get this all the time when working the 54 Cicero at Cicero and Flournoy (the stop right on the bridge over the Eisenhower northbound on Cicero) It's for the 57 Laramie only. the 54 stops at Lexington and then Harrison, not at Flournoy. There is always the one clueless person standing there at Flournoy that gets upset when the Cicero bus breezes right by and after that they still have no idea why the bus didn't stop!

[ryanbytes]

How about pulling the stop request cord as you are passing the X54 stop, or going up to the front and telling the operator I want Lamon?

Waiting to pull the cord until after the Cicero Express stop usually means that the bus will not stop at Lamon at all. The operators are focusing on squeezing back into traffic and not whether somebody wants to stop at Lamon. After all, if somebody wanted to stop at Lamon they would pull the cord right after the Cicero and Lawrence stop no? Which leads to what I've previously described.

I'd have to agree with your sentiments about walking up stairs or to a stop. I do say God forbid it. When the surgeons dug into my spine we all said God forbid anything bad happen. God must have been taking a day off and I've been dealing with the results. So when I have to do something that I don't need to because somebody isn't doing what they're supposed to do I don't enjoy it in the least.

[jajuan]

How about pulling the stop request cord as you are passing the X54 stop, or going up to the front and telling the operator I want Lamon? Moving the X54 stop to Lamon is not feasible, unfortunately where it is now is the only safe place for it to stop after making the left onto Cicero, due to the railroad viaduct right on the corner. Sounds like a typical passenger... complain complain complain! God forbid you have to walk to a stop or have to go up steps to get on a bus! We don't have TAXI on the sides of the bus and stop anywhere thats convenient to you! Just because it's a blue cta bus stop sign doesn't mean you have to stop there if it's not your route. I get this all the time when working the 54 Cicero at Cicero and Flournoy (the stop right on the bridge over the Eisenhower northbound on Cicero) It's for the 57 Laramie only. the 54 stops at Lexington and then Harrison, not at Flournoy. There is always the one clueless person standing there at Flournoy that gets upset when the Cicero bus breezes right by and after that they still have no idea why the bus didn't stop!

All you had to say was the X54 stop is where it is because that's the only safe spot feasibly and left it at that. Going into that little diatribe about customers complaining too much makes you sound to be a jerk especially considering Ryan's issue with the stop isn't in walking the half block because it's too far in and of itself. The inconvenience comes from trying to make that connection and not miss the bus from the other route because of the half block between the stops for those routes. How about trying to stop and consider it's a time issue for some people in terms of getting where they need to be as efficiently and timely as possible and not the person is being lazy because of a walk. His situation sounds similar to the issue I have with there being no convenient conncetion from the 82 to the Green Line. The issue isn't the two block walk in itself because two blocks isn't a big distance. The issue is losing 10 minutes or more that I may not always have from always missing a train because of the walk. Sure a train can be missed if the bus connected directly to a station, but not as much as when you have a two block walk from the bus to the station. If I have a one hour or more commute somewhere, I don't want to add more time to an already long commute. Sometimes that's the issue in not wanting to walk too far between connection and not being lazy as you so rudely try to imply with that unnecessary diatribe that wasn't asked for or needed here.

[T8H5307A]

That's Mr Jerk to you thank you! Sometimes things are done for a reason Just like approaching an intersection and there is a passenger on board wanting to catch the bus on the cross street and you are stopped at a red light on the near side of the intersection and it is a far side stop. I don't open the door and they miss the connection. Sure I could let them off and make their connection on the wrong side, but the time they step off the bus and hurt themselves, I will be charged with an accident because I did not follow Rule B4.9.2 "Operators must stop for passengers only at authorized locations" So if me doing my job correctly and following rules/regulations and Standard Operating Procedures makes me a jerk, then I am one big jerk!

As for you being inconvenienced having to walk to the Green Line station from the 82 bus, why don't you write to CTA and request that the 82 be rerouted to serve the Green Line? It could run over to the Kedzie station and inconvenience all the 82 riders that are riding through not catching the Green Line, but I forgot it's all about you! Maybe they will radio the Green Line operator and hold the train for you too! Wow, then life would really be great!

Sorry I vented a little about people walking in the previous post. I forgot we're not allowed to do that on this forum. Maybe when I have 3000 posts it will be allowed, some unwritten rule!

[ryanbytes]

Rule B4.9.2 "Operators must stop for passengers only at authorized locations"

Do you have photographic proof of this?

[T8H5307A]

Do you have photographic proof of this?

Actually I do, since you asked!

[ryanbytes]

Actually I do, but I am unable to post it for some reason at the present time. I will try later on.

If possible I'm sure most of us would love to see pictures of other sections. It would give us valuable knowledge in such an interesting area.

[cta 5555]

Thats right i must be a big jerk to. Just because we follow cta sops and u guys dont like it because u have to walk a block or two! There more to driving a bus then going up and down the street. U have rules at your job dont u? And if u brake them whats going to happing?

[jajuan]

That's Mr Jerk to you thank you! Sometimes things are done for a reason Just like approaching an intersection and there is a passenger on board wanting to catch the bus on the cross street and you are stopped at a red light on the near side of the intersection and it is a far side stop. I don't open the door and they miss the connection. Sure I could let them off and make their connection on the wrong side, but the time they step off the bus and hurt themselves, I will be charged with an accident because I did not follow Rule B4.9.2 "Operators must stop for passengers only at authorized locations" So if me doing my job correctly and following rules/regulations and Standard Operating Procedures makes me a jerk, then I am one big jerk!

As for you being inconvenienced having to walk to the Green Line station from the 82 bus, why don't you write to CTA and request that the 82 be rerouted to serve the Green Line? It could run over to the Kedzie station and inconvenience all the 82 riders that are riding through not catching the Green Line, but I forgot it's all about you! Maybe they will radio the Green Line operator and hold the train for you too! Wow, then life would really be great!

Sorry I vented a little about people walking in the previous post. I forgot we're not allowed to do that on this forum. Maybe when I have 3000 posts it will be allowed, some unwritten rule!

I already stated at the very beginning of my post that I understand that there are rules you have to follow and that there are reasons why some stops are where they are and that's fine. What I had issue with is the vent and rant trying to put all passengers in the category of wanting the world to revolve around them when that is not the case. Are there problem passengers? Yes. But don't take it out on every passenger when our main concern is getting to where we need to be in a timely manner. Had you presented your point as you are following the rules as set out for your job classification, I wouldn't have taken issue with your post. Instead you went on this rant and rave that all customers don't understand that you're just following the rules and they want everything to revolve around them. Now as for the Green Line example I gave, I do believe I pointed out that when it comes to having a commute that's between 1 and 2 hours long I don't want to add any more time than I need to it if I can help it, otherwise the walk is no problem for me. Also yes I did contact CTA Customer Service about how a connection could be made between it and the 82 without disrupting too many customers at least twice. I first contacted them back in the 1990's shortly after the Green Line. I again contacted the a few years ago when even more riders beside myself began bringing up the point of why the connection between the two was broken. I made the suggestion of considering trying to make a connection through the Central Park station, but nothing really came of it. And since you want to be a smart aleck about it, another reason that I brought up the example is because there is a really large number of school kids and senior citizens in my part of the West Side who use the CTA for whom that two block walk isn't the safest one to take during the fall and winter with the shorter days and they're traveling between home and school or work. You can vent all you want. You can do that until you're blue in the face, but at the same time I'd appreciate it if you and one or two others of your coworkers on this forum didn't take what may be a valid transit concern for some of us passengers as an opportunity to go on the attack with the whole 'all passengers are so impossible with their requests routine.' Remember this one thing when you want to make that generalization, if not for our tax dollars, especially with how the state revamped the tax sources for funding, and the money we directly give the CTA for fares, you wouldn't get a paycheck. And again, in case you wish to misunderstand, I'm not saying that justifies some passengers themselves being jerks, which some can be, but it also doesn't justify some operators wanting to take their frustrations from some and projecting it on everyone else.

[trainman8119]

I think everyone needs to chill out a little. I made a comment relating to this

in another post regarding all 76 buses going through the Logan Square terminal.

As I stated there, that adds at least 5-7 minutes (or longer) to the route...for

what? If you go into the terminal, you walk 2 blocks underground to the spot.

If you exit and use the Spaulding entrance (which this was built for), you walk

1/2 block outside and 2 blocks underground to the spot....not much difference.

Yet to appease a few, the majority gets an extra 10 minutes to ride. Although

there are reasons for things in a passenger's eye, sometimes it is not beneficial

to a whole...and usually, for some reason, the minority rules (ie bikes, for example).

As for this instance....81 buses should not be using the short stop, which is there

for x54 buses to make their turn safely and have a reasonable connection to

81 buses at Cicero. In this case, scheduling should be adjusted so that the x54

could use Lamon and ensure the connection to the eastbound 81's. In the meantime,

take the bus, run and operator number and make a complaint until the situation

improves. In time it will. After all, there is always the Trib and the Sun-Times

who, I am sure, would love to print your letter detailing the inability for a bus

to make a proper stop at a corner.

As for the rule book, T8H, maybe you could get hold of some of your buddies

at 103 and have them read that rule B4.8.1 regarding railroad crossings. Operators

on the 95E just love to cross the tracks at 93rd South Chicago at 20 MPH or more.

Not even a "California Stop". Some do stop...properly, but more often than not, they

fly over. (and yes, I have contacted CTA a couple of times with specifics and it slowed

for awhile, but the boys are back at it again !!!!)

[ryanbytes]

In the meantime,

take the bus, run and operator number and make a complaint until the situation

improves. In time it will. After all, there is always the Trib and the Sun-Times

who, I am sure, would love to print your letter detailing the inability for a bus

to make a proper stop at a corner.

I'd like to exhaust the options I have with the CTA before I move outward. Individual complaints have not worked. The reply I discovered in my spam folder a little while ago to my stop relocation email says that I need to file complaints. I'm back to square one. If there are any other options I might try for my situation that are offered in all seriousness I'd like to hear them please.

[cta_44499_FG]

Maybe you need to cool down a little. Why is it that every time someone (not a dumb question either) asks you Chicago drivers a question, you yell at them about it? What, passengers can't ask questions anymore without being screamed at? I find it real odd that drivers from other garages are much more nicer when asked questions.

I also find it real odd that everyone here is now asking each other "Do you have photographic proof of this?". Maybe everyone doesn't have a camera. Ever think of that?

I think this has gotten out of hand. First of all, who is screaming at WHO? It is a FORUM!!! We are not having a shouting match, and there is no verbal communication. It is simply typed text. I do not think that TH8 or cta5555 are trying to say anything negative or crude about passengers. However, lets all be realistic....there is a big enough population of passengers whom think that the world revolves around them, and are generally naive to why things are the way they are. Being an operator, the public tends to take most the frustration out on us...though we cannot control the unpredicted factors of traffic, weather...and other things. Little things like where stops are, and even a little explanation to why we can/cannot make a "courtesy stop" (more appropriately called) can aggitate someone, and give them this false impression that we are out to screw them. Laugh if you want, but there are people out there riding our system who think this way. Because it is not to THEIR bidding and you don't do what THEY say....you get mistreated for doing your job. Not pointing fingers at ANYONE on board here...just stating the reality of what we as operators put up with on a daily basis.

Sometimes a missed connection or an inconvienence is the sacrifice of safety, thats just the way it is. The only time a connection is truely "timed" is night-owl service...where the service headway is greater. However, again, safety first...and in a day like todays weather....keeping to schedule or being able to let off at a service stop or whatever the case may be close to impossible. Better to get there late, alive and safe then in a body bag.

As for the comment about the operators at 103rd...I cannot speak for them. If there is a 103rd street operator on board here...perhaps they can take the pole on this one. Rest assured it will catch up to them in their own time. Don't get me wrong, trains can be a pain to a CTA bus operator for the simple fact they cause intermittent delays to schedule and quite frankly *bleep* up a street, however...refer to the last sentence of the last paragraph for refference!

I think the "photographic proof" statement has become a running joke on here...nothing more than that. No reason to get on the the defensive front buslover88.

Also if I'm not mistaken...the last stop for the X54 before Jefferson Park is Cicero/Lawrence far-side northbound where the current stop is. Therefore...I don't believe the bus would be stopping at Lamon, Lavergne..etc at all for that matter.

Now...with that said, let the invisible shouting matches end. Boys, play nice! :P

[sht6131]

I'd like to exhaust the options I have with the CTA before I move outward. Individual complaints have not worked. The reply I discovered in my spam folder a little while ago to my stop relocation email says that I need to file complaints. I'm back to square one. If there are any other options I might try for my situation that are offered in all seriousness I'd like to hear them please.

I am not familiar with that intersection at this time. I have relocated many bus stop signs during my time at CTA. During the 60`s, the department I was in, had control of the work bus that did the sign installs.

All relocation requests had to be in writing and was forwarded to us for field investigation. If my decision was on the fence, I requested help from the superintendent of the garage involved for input from a drivers standpoint. Sometimes it took 3 of us which included a rep. from the bureau of street traffic.

Judging from all the input on this relocation it does not seem like a simple decision even though it seems like the thing to do from a common sense standpoint.

I do not know there present procedures regarding this issue but I would send a registered letter and track it from there.

[ryanbytes]

I am not familiar with that intersection at this time. I have relocated many bus stop signs during my time at CTA. During the 60`s, the department I was in, had control of the work bus that did the sign installs.

All relocation requests had to be in writing and was forwarded to us for field investigation. If my decision was on the fence, I requested help from the superintendent of the garage involved for input from a drivers standpoint. Sometimes it took 3 of us which included a rep. from the bureau of street traffic.

Judging from all the input on this relocation it does not seem like a simple decision even though it seems like the thing to do from a common sense standpoint.

I do not know there present procedures regarding this issue but I would send a registered letter and track it from there.

Thanks, I'll give that a try.

[trainman8119]

Little things like where stops are, and even a little explanation to why we can/cannot make a "courtesy stop" (more appropriately called) can aggitate someone, and give them this false impression that we are out to screw them. Laugh if you want, but there are people out there riding our system who think this way. Because it is not to THEIR bidding and you don't do what THEY say....you get mistreated for doing your job.

Well stated and right on !!!!!!

[T8H5307A]

As for the rule book, T8H, maybe you could get hold of some of your buddies

at 103 and have them read that rule B4.8.1 regarding railroad crossings. Operators

on the 95E just love to cross the tracks at 93rd South Chicago at 20 MPH or more.

Not even a "California Stop". Some do stop...properly, but more often than not, they

fly over. (and yes, I have contacted CTA a couple of times with specifics and it slowed

for awhile, but the boys are back at it again !!!!)

Yes, i noticed a lot of that too, even with some of my fellow operators. I remember riding the 30 South Chicago (back when 103rd had the MAN's (the other better 4000's)) and we would cross that Conrail track on Ave O between 118th and Hegewisch (which is not a bike path) at 40mph, not even slow down! The bus would hit the crossing and I will go flying up out off the back seat. It was one hell of a ride, but not safe!

[T8H5307A]

You don't call "Sounds like a typical passenger... complain complain complain!

Maybe I should take a moment to reflect on the wise words that one of my line instructors told me back in training:

"Just think of the passengers as cattle. Go down the road and ignore them because they always have a beef about something and you'll be alright!"

[T8H5307A]

Well stated and right on !!!!!!

Thanks for your support Trainman... can certainly tell you deal with the public like us, unlike some on here

[MVTArider]

Not even a "California Stop". Some do stop...properly, but more often than not, they

fly over....

Having ridden over railroad tracks locally with all variety of stops from: stop, open doors, look both ways and go, to: the light is turning yellow, floor it! What is a "California Stop"?

[PACE 834]

Having ridden over railroad tracks locally with all variety of stops from: stop, open doors, look both ways and go, to: the light is turning yellow, floor it! What is a "California Stop"?

A "California Stop"is also known as a rolling stop.You really don't do much more than just slow down a little and then keep right on going.

[MVTArider]

A "California Stop"is also known as a rolling stop.You really don't do much more than just slow down a little and then keep right on going.

I was thinking it was something along those lines, thanks Happens here as well.