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-   -   CHICAGO: Transit Developments (https://skyscraperpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101657)

Abner Apr 1, 2008 1:49 AM

I think people can be excused for not noticing how many cars are on a train. It makes zero difference how many cars are on your train, as long as you can get on.

OhioGuy Apr 1, 2008 3:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MayorOfChicago (Post 3453641)
I don't know why people don't figure this out.......I never ever went to the middle of the brown line as it was. It was always full of lazy people who just stood right by the top of the stairs.

I've never understood that either. I always go to the front car or the back car when I ride the red or brown lines too. I want good forward seating so that I can just stare out the window while we roll along and typically it's difficult to get the "good" seats in the middle cars of those trains. As you said, too many people are lazy when it comes to moving up/down the platform once they get up the stairs.

Nowhereman1280 Apr 1, 2008 4:15 AM

The front car is the best, there are fewer people, the bums are less likely to go up there due to the proximity to the operator, and its got the smoothest ride since its in the lead. Though if you can get in the back compartment seats on the last car you have a sweet-ass view out the back.

VivaLFuego Apr 1, 2008 4:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280 (Post 3454047)
Though if you can get in the back compartment seats on the last car you have a sweet-ass view out the back.

Amen, brother. It's the closest you can come anymore the rail-fan seat that got taken out in the 90s when they got rid of conductors. Oh the childhood memories of riding out to line terminals so I could get the railfan seat for the trip back... :whatthefuck:

Haworthia Apr 2, 2008 3:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280 (Post 3454047)
The front car is the best, there are fewer people, the bums are less likely to go up there due to the proximity to the operator, and its got the smoothest ride since its in the lead.

My wife saw a guy get his iPod swiped (literally ripped from his hands) while riding in the front car of a Harlem/Lake branch of the Green Line. That was on Monday evening (7pm). I ride in the front car if it's late and I'm by myself, but the operators don't really monitor what is going on. Myself, I've been hit up for money on the first car. Maybe this is just the Green line? But the front car definitely makes for the smoothest ride. Riding in the rear car gives me motion sickness.:yuck:

Nowhereman1280 Apr 2, 2008 6:46 PM

^^^ I actually have yet to see a crime occur whilst in the City of Chicago and I spend a lot of time in somewhat seedy areas like Rogers park.

The first car is also really fun in tunnels because you can look through the front window and see the ups and downs and corners.

Mr Downtown Apr 2, 2008 7:03 PM

And the first car gets served their drinks first . . .

Marcu Apr 2, 2008 9:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280 (Post 3457438)
^^^ I actually have yet to see a crime occur whilst in the City of Chicago and I spend a lot of time in somewhat seedy areas like Rogers park.

The first car is also really fun in tunnels because you can look through the front window and see the ups and downs and corners.

The cops have been cracking down in Rogers Park around Howard the last year or so. I haven't seen that many cops in any Chicago neighborhood ever before.

Abner Apr 2, 2008 9:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280 (Post 3457438)
^^^ I actually have yet to see a crime occur whilst in the City of Chicago and I spend a lot of time in somewhat seedy areas like Rogers park.

Huge difference between Rogers Park and Austin. I don't think I know anyone who rides the Green Line regularly during off-peak hours who HASN'T witnessed a crime on it.

Haworthia Apr 2, 2008 10:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abner (Post 3457889)
Huge difference between Rogers Park and Austin. I don't think I know anyone who rides the Green Line regularly during off-peak hours who HASN'T witnessed a crime on it.

Amen to that. I used to spend a lot of time in Rogers Park and up to recently, I attended church in Austin. Rogers Park is a much better neighborhood at the moment.

I really want the CTA to put cameras on all the Green line trains. All the trains in system, actually. I understand the new cars that the CTA is ordering will have them. This is long overdue. There have been a number crimes that have been happening in broad daylight on the Green Line. I know people who have witnessed purse snatching, pick-pocketing, and a straight-up mugging. All during the day, all within the last six months! :(

Nowhereman1280 Apr 3, 2008 1:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcu (Post 3457873)
The cops have been cracking down in Rogers Park around Howard the last year or so. I haven't seen that many cops in any Chicago neighborhood ever before.

How recently? Because there has been a massive surge in crimes against Loyola Students over the past 6 months particularly West North West of campus. Maybe that's why they are cracking down, Loyola carries a lot of weight with the city government. Example: Mundelein tower caught fire last year and 13 fire trucks, 10 cops, and 3 or 4 ambulances showed up and completely blocked off Sheridan Rd. This was a minor fire, worker threw a cig in a garbage can and started a room on fire. It was huge overreaction as well. When Loyola wants the city to do something, the city does it. I don't know why, it just happens that way.

Also, I know the Green Line Austin Area is much more dangerous the the Rogers Park area, I'm just saying that I'm surprised I haven't even seen a minor crime occur yet. I mean I saw 3 murder scenes while I going to school in Milwaukee and I move to Chicago and I haven't even seen a simple purse snatching.

honte Apr 3, 2008 3:00 AM

A good friend of mine (visiting) had a gold Thai chain literally ripped off of her neck on the Lake Street L. I felt so bad, because this is the only such incident I've ever witnessed here.

Abner Apr 3, 2008 3:19 PM

The Lake Street line is really out of control. There was a big wave of assaults on it a couple summers ago--not even robberies, some group of people just started randomly beating people. It doesn't seem like the police are attempting to do anything about it at all.

Marcu Apr 3, 2008 5:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nowhereman1280 (Post 3458453)
How recently? Because there has been a massive surge in crimes against Loyola Students over the past 6 months particularly West North West of campus. Maybe that's why they are cracking down, Loyola carries a lot of weight with the city government. Example: Mundelein tower caught fire last year and 13 fire trucks, 10 cops, and 3 or 4 ambulances showed up and completely blocked off Sheridan Rd. This was a minor fire, worker threw a cig in a garbage can and started a room on fire. It was huge overreaction as well. When Loyola wants the city to do something, the city does it. I don't know why, it just happens that way.

Also, I know the Green Line Austin Area is much more dangerous the the Rogers Park area, I'm just saying that I'm surprised I haven't even seen a minor crime occur yet. I mean I saw 3 murder scenes while I going to school in Milwaukee and I move to Chicago and I haven't even seen a simple purse snatching.

That sounds troubling. Especially considering the gains that part of Rogers Park (along the Edgewater border) has made over the past several years. Let's hope it's not part of a bigger trend.

I was mostly referring to the part of the hood that's along the Evanston border off the Howard EL, which is quite a ways away from Loyola (I think 4 red line stops) and is for all practical purposes a different neighborhood. Not aware of any surge in crime there beyond the every day drug related activity that goes on. Think it may just be part of the CPD's new "flood a neighborhood and take it from the gangs one block at a time" program modeled after NY.

Abner Apr 4, 2008 4:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcu (Post 3459959)
That sounds troubling. Especially considering the gains that part of Rogers Park (along the Edgewater border) has made over the past several years. Let's hope it's not part of a bigger trend.

Unfortunately, given the countercyclical nature of crime, it is pretty likely that there will indeed be an upward trend. But that would be a topic for another thread.

Haworthia Apr 4, 2008 4:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abner (Post 3461434)
Unfortunately, given the countercyclical nature of crime, it is pretty likely that there will indeed be an upward trend. But that would be a topic for another thread.

As long as we focus on crime on the CTA or around the stations, we're on topic. This is a huge issue that damages transit ridership and urban living. People need to feel safe taking public transit. With the economy going south, I think we'll see crime going up in the near term.

alexjon Apr 4, 2008 4:45 PM

I've heard that when the economy turns south, people tend to become either visibly depressed (and therefore easier to surprise or take advantage of) or emboldened by desperation, and it feeds a cycle of abuse among people, especially in highly social situations like transit riding.

But only having visited Chicago a few times, I am not entirely certain of the mindset of the people there-- does that sound like the common theme in upticks in crime? When there are high-tension moments, like economic downturn or extreme weather, does crime jump there?

Soaring_Higher Apr 4, 2008 5:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alexjon (Post 3462182)
I've heard that when the economy turns south, people tend to become either visibly depressed (and therefore easier to surprise or take advantage of) or emboldened by desperation, and it feeds a cycle of abuse among people, especially in highly social situations like transit riding.

But only having visited Chicago a few times, I am not entirely certain of the mindset of the people there-- does that sound like the common theme in upticks in crime? When there are high-tension moments, like economic downturn or extreme weather, does crime jump there?

yeah, when Bush won the election in '04 half the city went nuts. :yuck: I almost was thrown off a platform on the Brown line!

Also when the stock market was real down a few weeks ago a guy on the train said he was going to beat people up and steal their money simply because gas prices were so high, and his stock portfolio was getting hammered! It was crazy I tell you, crazy...

OK, on a more serious note... I am sure crime does go up when the economy is in the tanker, but I can't say I've ever personally noticed it in my short time on earth thus far.

Actually nicer weather creates more crime, because people are out more, and get themselves into trouble. From what I have heard, crime does go down the colder it becomes, but increases the hotter it gets. Now we are getting off topic!

VivaLFuego Apr 4, 2008 5:26 PM

^Street crime is much more of a problem in the summer months.

Security is a big issue for transit, and one of the biggest reasons that CTA ridership was decimated through the 80s and early 90s. Just as coverage over the past year has focused on how transit is slow/inefficient/incompetent, the nonstop barrage of media coverage in that era was about how crime-infested the system was. And all the actual crime happening on the Green Line, or the various gangfights on south side buses, sure doesn't help now either.

Having a copper (Huberman) running things is, intuitively, a good thing since he'll have experience and understanding of security issues. But like most things in transit, actual enforcement comes down to funding and priorities, which are much more political (Daley, City Council, Springfield) than technical (Huberman) in nature.

Marcu Apr 4, 2008 10:28 PM

^ It's very difficult to actually notice an uptick in crime since the likelyhood of becoming a victim or witnessing a criminal occurence is still very very unlikely. People tend to vastly overestimate very tiny risks (eg being killed in gang crossfire, terrorist attack) and underestimate great risks (heart disease, smoking). So even one news report of a violent crime occuring on the el can significantly lower ridership.


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