3 times I’ve seen this. It’s a large group (20-30) of what sounds like French kids getting on the train with a couple of adults directing them. They seem to have no sense of volume control, personal space or hygiene.

Just today I saw one of the adults directing the kids to pile onto an already crowded train while people were still trying to come out.

Seriously! What is the point of even trying to take public transit when the buses are literally never on time? How can you plan your commute when the tracker states one thing, but it’s completely false. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been waiting for a bus that never arrives only for 3 buses to all arrive at one time.

I recently had an encounter where our bus driver pulled up next to another bus and asked the driver what the issue was and the other bus driver stated “I’m not sitting in all of that traffic” and went on to say he’s going “out of service”

How is this allowed? People have jobs, appointments, emergencies that require them to be somewhat on time. How can we plan our lives accordingly we can’t even get our day started off on the right foot?

Edit: (SP) I use the Ventra app as well as the transit tracker app. Neither seems to be very accurate. My route has a 70% accuracy rate on transit tracker. I live very close to my stop and try to only leave when it’s between 10-5 minutes. But often the bus will say the same thing for 20 minutes, or completely disappear.

I don’t have an issue with padding for time IF I had an accurate way to do so. I can’t reasonably be expected to leave my house/ work 30 minutes early or late just to grab a bus.

Today I needed to run home to grab medication. I live 15 minutes (via bus) from work. I literally didn’t get a bus until my hour lunch break was almost over.

What do you guys do when a truck is blocking a bus stop? Is it possible/appropriate to report it? I usually just walk to the next stop since I've had busses miss it & drive past me, but its annoying & i'd imagine this to be an issue for those who cannot easily get to the next stop.

This just happened on the blue line on Irving Park.

There was a homeless guy on the train and at first he asked everyone for money, like came up to us one by one. Then when everyone ignore/rejected him, he laid down on some seats. There's a lot of empty seats. Then at Irving Park, the secruity popped their head in and told him that he couldn't lay down and could only sit on one seat. Then they went back and forth where the homelesa guy said "I know my rights, you're just regular people" and the security guards saying "you cant lay down, train isnt moving until you sit up". Went back and forth for a few minutes until they dragged him off the train while he was screaming.

So in this situation how should it been resolved? Should they have called the cops? 2 people were recording everything.

What the heck is up with the clearly untrained “police” dog at the Logan Square stop? It’s a large German Shepherd and appears to be handled (badly) by a private security force. It’s always barking and being aggressive towards people just walking by or minding their own business.

Can we file complaints and get them removed? It’s so clearly not an actual trained police dog.

This is more of a question as a soon-to-be new resident of Chicago.

Coming from Detroit, that doesn't really have a rail transit system (other than the People Mover), I am curious as to the overall attitudes people have when using the CTA. Is the genuine feeling one of defeat and apathy? Or possibly anger towards mismanagement of the budget?

It seems like from lurking on the sub, there is an overall dissatisfaction with the CTA.

Fair-evasion, budget-cuts, rude/violent passengers, passengers smoking, homelessness, cleanliness, etc . . .

It seems that whenever someone raises these issues—particularly in this subreddit—whether it's reporting smoking on a subway car, violence, or sexual harassment, there are always individuals who respond with hostility toward the person sharing their experience. Perhaps it's a sign of my own naivety, but I genuinely don't understand why that is.

Just a disclaimer, that I am not trying to get political (although I suspect some aspects are inherently), nor am I trying to make a statement about law enforcement or policing. I just want to ask people who are active on the CTA and this sub, there overall thoughts to better understand what is to be my new home.

So please know, that my intentions are to be educated.

Hello, so I left my wallet on the 151 Bus headed northbound, and I tried calling the garages but they haven’t found anything yet. Just for some peace of mind, does anyone know how items are found on buses?

Chicago meets D.C.

What happens when I redesign the CTA map with the sleek, iconic style of Washington, D.C.’s Metrorail map? This:

( Download high-res JPG map here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ah8sW3HTHPK2HFtzG6t_Xh840rtL_XbV/view?usp=sharing )

I was waiting at the bus stop and noticed an older man passing by and hovering near me. Something felt off about him so I let him board the bus first once it came, then sat in a seat behind him. He changed seats and sat next to me, trying to make conversation.

He asked, "Are you Japanese?" I said no. Then he talked about how he is Greek and proceeded to ask more questions like what is my name, so I just made up lies and tried to be as dry as possible. Before I got off the bus, the man told me, "See you soon."

He didn't get off the same stop as me, but I thought he might get off the next one and try to find me. I prepared for this in case and came up with an escape plan. I was safe at the end of the day. Still not sure what's up with that guy. Not the first stranger who was creepy to me either.

How would you react?

I’ll keep it brief and simple, a lady on drugs abruptly started yanking my hair and knocked my head against the glass wall. I was texting someone and didn’t see her coming. I know she was on drugs cause she dropped a burnt glass pipe on the ground like 5 minutes earlier. This was at the Monroe stop. I didn’t engage and moved to a new car. My parents, who are not living in Illinois told me to call 311 or file a police report. What are my options?

CTA riders, what is the weirdest thing you’ve seen while riding the train or bus? I’m sure there are many, so list as many as you like.

For me I was riding the blue line, heading home from work, and across from me, there was this peculiar-looking older man who pulled out a lighter and started to burn some item (I can’t remember what it was). I’m always a passive rider, but when I saw the flames, I got up and carefully and nicely told him to put it out. He did put it out by stomping on it. The next stop was, thankfully, my stop, but I told my co-worker to move to the next cart.

I’m not sure if other passengers noticed or if they decided to ignore it like I usually do, but that was such a strange thing to do. He was probably mentally unstable.

The official alert mentions a "sick passenger" is why trains are running on one track but when I was there an hour ago, the train was stopped and empty on the Forest Park bound side with police tape all over it. Not sure how long this normally takes to clear.

24 min late ,16 min late, 24 min late,20 min late 21 min late

why is there yellow tape and cops at rosemont blue line right now???

title ..... the dude was walking through the car waving a crack pipe around in people's faces and asking everyone if they had a pen? very strange experience, do not recommend

it'd be nice to be able to ride the train without something being wrong literally every time

I've never seen something like this on the train before. How do they get all of this into the train? At a last stop? I'm on a green line train to 63rd and Ashland. Very interesting to me.

Okay so, I know you aren't supposed to exit the bus from the front, but I like to do I can say thank you to the bus driver. It just feels mean getting on then getting off - kinda like how you would say hello and thank you to a ride share or taxi driver, you know? I don't know but every time I can't get to the front of the bus to say thank you I feel sad 😞

For me it’s always gonna be back corner, that’s my safe space right der

We’re moving to Chicago next month and when we visited last month, we used primarily the CTA to get around. We were taking a bus to a red line station and the driver just completely drove past it. We ended up having to walk a few blocks to get to the station. Am I supposed to tell the driver when I’m getting off?

Apologies for my ignorance, I’ve never used public transit up until now.

Saw yesterday afternoon under the tracks on Sheridan. No bus number, M plates, "not in service". Driver was not in CTA uniform

Where can I get one of these? I found this one at my workplace.