Upping the Ante

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."