I suppose it might stop some people from moving to Florida.

Every time I hear my parents complain about the weather in Chicagoland and wish they were in the South, I wonder why Chicagoland is so bad for seniors. My grandparents always did okay without moving to Florida.

Meh. Casino revenues are dropping, even in Atlantic City and Las Vegas. I'm not against having one, but there is no reason to overpay for the license. The legislature is out of their mind with what they want for it.

If you are furious about the transporation issue here in Illinois and other things check out this webpage.

http://impeachblago.com/index.html

This is exactly right. Public transit should be affordable, not free.

Cities don't need free transit for seniors, or the disabled, and they certainly don't need free transit for everyone. They need quick, clean, efficient trains to bring people from outlying neighborhoods of the city to their downtown jobs, shopping and entertainment. Public transportation is necessary to continue the gentrification and revitalization of Chicago in particular. They should be using any excess revenue to improve the quality of service, rather than make the same bad service cheaper.

So?

One of the things that upsets me about this whole 'seniors ride free' sillyness is that in the end nothing is FREE. Someone always ends up paying for it. Politicians use these tactics though to show compassion and understanding towards people and unfortunately many people follow along. I've already heard several people say what a wonderful idea that this has been proposed.

I then respond 'Fine, do YOU want to pay more in taxes to subsidize this?'

This whole thing is especially ridiculous considering the amount of money that needs to be spent bringing the enitire system up to code so that seniors actually can use the service. Too many broken escalators, the entire Wabash leg of the loop needs to be rehabbed, dark dreary subway stations etc..

I'm not against the principle of seniors riding for free. I'm simply against this proposal at a time when so much more money is needed to modernize the current system.

Too FEW escalators to begin with. When I was in Paris for the first time a few months ago, almost all of their elevated stations have escalators—nice ones too.

But do they have escalators like the one at North and Clybourn? I think not, that thing is fucking sweet, like 10 inches wide! Its skinny enough to force extremely overweight people to use the stairs!

I encountered one that seemed to be about just under 2 feet wide. Thats true about North/Clybourn, fatties beware!

This fatty loves them because skinny asses cannot run past me on them.:D
(but I do stairs now so I don't get that joy any longer).

Anyone happen to catch Chicago Tonight (well, tonight)? Dedicated the entire hour to the impending transit funding vote/crisis. Excellent piece. One of the points that stuck with me was how one of the guys talked about how London is pouring billions into expanding their transit, and how they view it as an investment. And yet we always look at it as a "subsidy".

I think this whole thing goes to show just how precarious Chicago's foothold is on the world stage. The last guy who they interviewed said it best: "Illinois without Chicago is Iowa."

The new thread under this one notes Vancouver transit getting a $14B dollar investment. How frightening in comparison.

Right. Here, transit gets a "bailout" while new roads and interchanges are economic investment.

..........I know the transit funding agreement is paramount, but.........I just have a couple of unrelated transit questions.......what's new with the Grand Ave (Red) station re-hab ? ........what's new with the Super-station ? ....how is the Brown Line progressing ? ....any news there? ...any word on any progress on the Circle Line ? or Red line extension ? ........these issues may have been discussed recently, but I'm too lazy to pour through all the "transit funding crap" to look for it .......... :rolleyes:

Just when I think Blago can't be any dumber:

Blagojevich to skeptical seniors: 'Hold your nose and take a bus for free'

http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/...jevich-to.html

Taft

Basic work for the Grand Avenue rehab has started. Go to CDOT's website to read more.

According to CTA's website, the Brown Line project is 65% done.

No word on Circle Line, Red Line extension, etc.

........thank you !! :tup:

House passes mass-transit bill with free rides for seniors

Link, Chicago Tribune

!!


About damn time.