“What bus is this?” an attractive woman waiting at a CTA stop on Michigan Avenue last week asked the stranger next to her, who happened to be yours truly.
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Was she–I couldn’t quite place her accent–a visitor from afar who needed help navigating the downtown by bus? Or, I imagined, was she a lonely transit buff (a.k.a. “foamer”) trying out a rather lame pick-up line on a Chicago guy leaning against a Parisian-style bus shelter?
Quicker than you can say “Destination Unknown,” the answer rolled into view. The route sign atop the bus was dark.
On any given day, at least 60 Chicago Transit Authority mystery buses are on the streets. Because of burned-out light bulbs, blown fuses or spare parts that are on order from manufacturers, the marquees atop the buses are as blank as the expression on the faces of commuters trying to figure out where the buses are going.
Sometimes, garbled destination signs display bits and pieces of the route number and name, intelligible perhaps only to a professor of dead languages at the University of Chicago.
Those of us with less than 20/20 vision are forced to wait until the bus screeches to a stop so we can read the paper destination sign taped to the windshield. It may not be the CTA’s biggest problem, but it is annoying and unprofessional in appearance.
CTA officials agree. That’s why repairs to the broken-down signs have been stepped up.
Six months ago, the electronic destination signs on 13 percent of the CTA’s 2,044 buses were out of order or malfunctioning in some way, said CTA spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler. The current rate is 3 percent of the fleet, she said. Hundreds of bus signs have been fixed since late last year, she said.
“Currently, we have work orders for 61 buses that have been identified for repairs to their destination signs,” she said, adding that there could be more buses that haven’t been reported yet.
All except the agency’s oldest buses, which are being replaced as new buses arrive continually, will be fixed, she said.
“The destination signs are really important. We are taking the necessary measures to correct the problem and stay on top of it,” Ziegler said.
Riders have noticed that the CTA’s newest buses, 40-foot Novas and double-long articulated buses, seem especially prone to having destination signs that go on the fritz. Ziegler said “no systemic problems” have been uncovered with those buses, though she was unable to provide data.
Ziegler said bus drivers are required to check the signs as part of their daily bus inspections, but buses will not be kept out of service because of malfunctioning signs.
The CTA is asking riders to report the bus number of buses that have inoperable signs, as well as buses that have hand-written route signs on the windshield instead of the required large-block printed signs. The CTA’s customer hot line is 888-968-7282.
Reagan (I-88) lanes shift
Getting accustomed to calling the East-West Tollway (Interstate Highway 88) the Ronald Reagan Memorial Tollway will be the least worry on Monday as drivers brace for the first phase of major construction between Illinois Highway 59 and Naperville Road. Westbound traffic will shift Monday, with one lane crossing over to the eastbound side of the highway and two lanes on the left shoulder and in the leftmost lane, according to the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority. Eastbound traffic will use the right shoulder and two right-hand lanes. Extra caution is urged in the work zone. Lane widths have been reduced to keep three lanes open.
Transit kiosks to debut
Kiosks providing transit travel information on interactive computer screens will be in place in August for a pilot project at some tourist destinations, according to the Regional Transportation Authority. The electronic kiosks will provide information about hotels, restaurants, museums and other attractions, plus travel directions using the CTA, Metra or Pace. The kiosks will be installed at Navy Pier, the Shedd Aquarium, the Chicago Cultural Center, the Shops at North Bridge, the Palmer House Hilton, Midway Airport, Union Station and Metra’s Randolph Street Station.
Skyway looking better
Readers planning summer getaways to Indiana and points east frequently ask Getting Around whether they would avoid more traffic congestion and construction delays by taking the Dan Ryan Expressway to the Bishop Ford Freeway or the Chicago Skyway. The answer is, it all depends on where the accidents are occurring and other factors. But the Skyway is becoming a more attractive choice now that construction is in the final phases.
Three lanes are open in each direction on the Skyway from the Dan Ryan (Interstate Highway 90-94) to 83rd Street, although there are still some off-peak lane closings and traffic is reduced to one lane in each direction from Commercial Avenue-95th Street to 100th Street. An extra reversible lane is open during peak travel times.
Starting Thursday, two lanes will be open in each direction from 100th to 106th Streets through early September, according to the Chicago Department of Transportation. A new westbound entrance ramp at 105th Street also opens Thursday, replacing the ramp at 106th Street.
In addition to Dan Ryan travel times posted on the online expressway map at www.gcmtravel.com, photos of traffic conditions are provided at several locations. Clicking on the icon of a camera on the map at the Ryan and 63rd Street, for instance, provides views of traffic flow on the expressway and on the Skyway exit ramp. It’s worth checking out the travel times and the snapshot before getting into the car.
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Universal foot-dragging
A much-needed universal transit fare card in the Chicago area inches nearer. The RTA board last week approved yet another contract on the popular fare card concept. This one will lead to a study of how to implement a single fare-collection medium that would be used by riders on the CTA, Metra and Pace, and to gauge the cost a program. The RTA authorized consultant Booz Allen Hamilton, in a contract of up to $700,000, to come up with some answers.
`Hey, wait for us’
Metra riders in the last car of a Union Pacific North Line train last Wednesday night may have felt a trifle abandoned when their rail car uncoupled after the train had left the Ogilvie Transportation Center downtown. It turns out the car’s uncoupling lever got snagged on a piece of equipment, causing the car to detach from the rest of the train, said Metra spokesman Dan Schnolis. The train backed up, and crews reattached the last car.
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Contact Getting Around at [email protected] or c/o the baiduhai, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611. Read recent Getting Around columns at www.chicagotribune.com/go/gettingaround.