I usually try to stay on topic (i.e., food and entertaining), but I just had to share this CTA horror story. Let me preface this by saying that I like living in the city, and one of the things I like most about it is that I don't have to own a car (I've never had good luck with cars--they've caused me more grief than you can imagine). I appreciate public transportation and use it all the time, but what happened yesterday evening was just unprecedented.
After work, I walked over to the bus stop and caught a northbound #28 express bus. The driver warned me that he was not, in fact, going to run the express route, because his right front tire was losing pressure. Instead, he was only going as far as 47th street. That was fine with me, because I always get off the bus at 47th anyway, so I boarded the disabled bus. At each stop along the way, the driver had to explain over and over to all the confused tourists that the bus was disabled and was not going downtown. When we arrived at 51st street, the driver saw a CTA supervisor, and stopped the bus so he could discuss the situation with him. They decided to wait for the next #28 bus and let the passengers get on that one instead. So after about 5 minutes, another bus came along, we all clambered aboard, and the disabled bus headed off for the CTA garage. This was the good part of my commute. It got much worse.
As we arrived at 47th street, I could see that a #47 bus was about to come across the intersection and pull into the terminal. Usually, I walk from this point to my house, because it's good exercise and I enjoy getting a close look at all the construction going on in the neighborhood. But last night I was tired and just wanted to get dinner on the table and then relax, so I was glad to see that bus. However, when the driver pulled into the terminal, she told us that she wasn't scheduled to leave again for 10 minutes and that there was another bus right behind her that actually was supposed to leave the terminal ahead of her. Sure enough, about 30 seconds later, we could see that second bus at the intersection. But the bus just sat there--through 3 more red lights. So the driver of the first bus told us we could get on and that she would go ahead and leave, because the second driver was obviously trying to wait us out. As soon as we got on board the first bus, the second one pulled out of the intersection and into the terminal. She pulled up beside the first bus, and when the first driver asked her what time she was leaving and if the passengers could get on her bus instead, the second driver yelled "Fuck you!" and tore out of the terminal like a bat out of hell. We were all stunned. I've never seen a CTA bus driver do something so completely unprofessional.
The driver of the bus gave us the phone number of the CTA garage (unlike the CTA's 800 number, you can actually speak to a live person if you call the garage) and urged as many of us as possible to call and report the crazy driver to a manager. You can bet I did! I can appreciate that driving a bus is a thankless job and I know that the CTA drivers haven't had a raise in almost 4 years. But if you hate the job that much, find something else, instead of taking it out on the hapless passengers.
After work, I walked over to the bus stop and caught a northbound #28 express bus. The driver warned me that he was not, in fact, going to run the express route, because his right front tire was losing pressure. Instead, he was only going as far as 47th street. That was fine with me, because I always get off the bus at 47th anyway, so I boarded the disabled bus. At each stop along the way, the driver had to explain over and over to all the confused tourists that the bus was disabled and was not going downtown. When we arrived at 51st street, the driver saw a CTA supervisor, and stopped the bus so he could discuss the situation with him. They decided to wait for the next #28 bus and let the passengers get on that one instead. So after about 5 minutes, another bus came along, we all clambered aboard, and the disabled bus headed off for the CTA garage. This was the good part of my commute. It got much worse.
As we arrived at 47th street, I could see that a #47 bus was about to come across the intersection and pull into the terminal. Usually, I walk from this point to my house, because it's good exercise and I enjoy getting a close look at all the construction going on in the neighborhood. But last night I was tired and just wanted to get dinner on the table and then relax, so I was glad to see that bus. However, when the driver pulled into the terminal, she told us that she wasn't scheduled to leave again for 10 minutes and that there was another bus right behind her that actually was supposed to leave the terminal ahead of her. Sure enough, about 30 seconds later, we could see that second bus at the intersection. But the bus just sat there--through 3 more red lights. So the driver of the first bus told us we could get on and that she would go ahead and leave, because the second driver was obviously trying to wait us out. As soon as we got on board the first bus, the second one pulled out of the intersection and into the terminal. She pulled up beside the first bus, and when the first driver asked her what time she was leaving and if the passengers could get on her bus instead, the second driver yelled "Fuck you!" and tore out of the terminal like a bat out of hell. We were all stunned. I've never seen a CTA bus driver do something so completely unprofessional.
The driver of the bus gave us the phone number of the CTA garage (unlike the CTA's 800 number, you can actually speak to a live person if you call the garage) and urged as many of us as possible to call and report the crazy driver to a manager. You can bet I did! I can appreciate that driving a bus is a thankless job and I know that the CTA drivers haven't had a raise in almost 4 years. But if you hate the job that much, find something else, instead of taking it out on the hapless passengers.
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