I remember the days when there was silence on the bus to work. Bliss! You could sit there and stare out the window (when they cleaned them) and just daydream on the way to work. Then they decided to put in a voice announcement system. Not a bad idea, good for those tourists so they know (approximately) where they are, and for those who can still daydream so they can be reminded to get off.
Little did we know. They then added little reminder messages to the loop. "Don't lean against the door." "Don't eat, drink or play your radio loudly." "Don't reveal your whole life story to the bus while talking on your cell phone." And so on. Then more major announcements. "We're fixing the brown line up, so expect delays." Last week, it was all about how they will have to cut back service and increase fares on January 20 if they don't get more money. Today, they upped the ante. You're just sitting there, thinking "Ach, this announcement again." And then, they slipped in, "If additional funding is not secured, this bus route will be eliminated."
The CTA have their own propaganda machine. And they're using it. To no effect. So I'm supposed to call Springfield and tell them how important mass transit is to me? Somehow my call will make them fix it? I just love how one part of goverment wants me to do their dirty work so another part of government will give them what they want. What's needed here is (gasp!) competition.
The CTA sucks because they're the only game in town and there are no threats to them. So they can squander money then ask for more. Of course, we all realised that and so we cut back deliberately on how much we gave them to force them to shape up. BUT THEY HAVE NO INCENTIVE TO SHAPE UP! So the government will keep arguing with itself, and we'll all get the shaft. So break up the monopoly! Let others compete to transport me to where I want to go! If we want the problem solved, that's what we should ask for, not for the money pit to get more money poured down it. (Briggs will be so proud...)
Oh, and to the CTA, perhaps your next message should include "If additional funding is not secured, your current bus driver will be fired."
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4 comments:
Ah yes competition. But there already is competition. You could bike, walk, drive or take a cab.
And anyone could compete with the CTA now. I don't think there is any law prohibiting anyone from running a public bus line. I know some buisness are already doing just that. Chances are if the CTA dies, no on will be stepping in to fill that void. And when it comes to anywhere other than the north [read: white] side, why make any effort at all?
We have already made almost 100 years of policy decision designed to favor the car and nearly 50 years of policy decisions to destroy mass transit (or allow its destruction by car companies and their ilk). Not that the CTA isn't part of the problem, but I have to believe it is part of the solution. Maybe a different CTA, maybe it should go out of business for a while. But it is going to have to come back.
I read an article the other day that said something about without the big dig, a daily commute in Boston was projected to be about 10hours by the year 2015 or something. That is what our love of roads has given us.
I don't have strong feelings about saving the CTA, but I don't have the impression that any private company is interested in really saving mass transit. And when it comes to roads - I hope one day we stop funding them.
What's needed is some oversight with teeth - how you accomplish that...I've no clue - just some ideas.
Oversite with teeth? You don't do your job you get fired. That should work.
With private mass transit, government will (probably) set the fares low, and impose safety and other standards that will raise costs. They therefore can't make money, and so of course they're not interested. Once again, regulation kills innovation. But, of course, this is what you meant by 50 years of policy decisions to destroy mass transit.
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