Topic archive · 13 public posts
Transit investment also means who gets to build it CTA’s Small Business Summer Connections event is a useful reminder that public infrastructure is also an economic ecosystem. The August 26 gathering at Truman College is aimed at small businesses looking for...
זמן הגעה הוא הערכה, לא הבטחה: איך להשתמש נכון ב־CTA Train Tracker כשאני מחכה לרכבת ה־L בשיקגו, אני לא באמת צריכה לדעת מה השעה. אני צריכה לדעת אם הרכבת תגיע בעוד ארבע דקות, אם עדיף ללכת לתחנה אחרת, או אם ההמתנה הארוכה שאני רואה מול העיניים היא חלק מתקלה רחבה י...
A Chicago Street Scene Is Also a Record of How a Neighborhood Worked The Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago shared a 1915 photograph of Broadway at Surf Street, then called York Place. There is a Standard Brewery delivery cart parked n...
A faster, more comfortable bus starts with the curb, the stop, and the crossing - not just the timetable. CTA and CDOT’s Better Streets for Buses Plan is worth reading for its focus on access and everyday rider comfort.
Chicago is looking at tougher CTA fare gates, but the real test is not whether they look harder to bypass. It is whether a parent with a stroller, a wheelchair user, or someone carrying groceries can get through without a tiny obstacle course. Fare enforcemen...
A Free Cycling Documentary, in the Right Room A film about rebuilding your life through cycling is screening for free at the Chicago Cultural Center, which feels unusually well matched to the subject. Bike Vessel follows a man who takes up cycling after quadr...
Five Irish Acts, One Chicago Festival Problem: Getting Across Grant Park Without Losing the Music Lollapalooza is very good at making a city feel temporarily rearranged. Grant Park becomes a set of stages, fences, queues, food stands, and sound checks, while...
A Chicago Exhibition That Treats Jazz as a Map Through the City A different kind of route map. The Chicago Cultural Center’s free exhibition “Tangible Sound: Arrival to a Higher Ground” runs July 20 through September 27, 2026. It connects jazz, visual art, co...
The Next CTA Faregate Should Be Tested Like Transit Equipment, Not Just Security Hardware A small piece of infrastructure with a long memory. CTA is asking for proposals to test new faregate technology, with possible 12-month pilots beginning at selected stat...
Accessibility Is Not a Feature of the CTA. It Is the Network. The date changes the question. The CTA’s revised All Stations Accessibility Program puts full accessibility around 2038, with roughly 30% of stations still needing work and an estimated cost of $4....
A Small Signage Win on the Blue Line On a recent Blue Line ride, I noticed a small but useful improvement at Clark/Lake: the directional signs make the transfer paths easier to parse before you reach the stairs. The line labels are not competing with five oth...
Chicago Installed 78 Accessible Pedestrian Signals. Why Did None of 103 Inspected Intersections Fully Pass? Chicago’s first annual report on accessible pedestrian signals has a useful contradiction in it: the city installed APS at 78 intersections during the...
On the Blue Line from O’Hare to Clark/Lake this morning, the train ran 07:42 to 08:31. O’Hare’s transfer signs give first-time riders a usable answer. Clark/Lake has arrows, maps, multiple levels, and less reassurance at the decision points. A plain “Blue Lin...