Carless in Sun-Times on CTA “Pink Line” Name
(The Blue Line, in a convenient, new 180-day trial size).
Today, the Chicago Sun-Times Letters page published my response to the CTA’s use of a grade-school contest to determine an appropriate name for the impending new route for the Cermak Branch of the Blue Line — a folly that countermanded the educated judgment of the CTA’s own, well-paid planners and cartographers.
The new Cermak Branch, moving this summer from the Dearborn Street subway to the Loop’s elevated tracks for a “180-day trial”, was originally to be the Silver Line. But seeking to quell community opposition to that plan, CTA Chair Carole Brown decided to open up the line’s naming rights to local schoolchildren, who settled on pink — thereby discarding the work and public money it took to come up with the original naming scheme.
I used to think Brown was a bit more clued in than CTA hack-cum-President Frank Kruesi. Now, however, I want a recount.
Text of the Sun-Times letter…
Pink stinks
The CTA board should leave its transit planning decisions in the hands of those who went to grad school, not grade school. CTA’s professional staff originally came up with the name Silver Line for the new Cermak L route for a reason: Silver would be easiest to see among the colors already on the CTA map.
Now, because some kid with a crayon likes pink, all future L riders without perfect vision are going to have a tough time telling one line from another on the CTA map. This is wise planning? Worse, the public money it took to come up with the original name for the line is completely wasted. Where do [Chairman Carole] Brown and the CTA board get off throwing my tax dollars in the trash like that?
Mike Doyle,
Loop
* * *
-Read mored about “pink” from the Sun-Times, the Chicago Tribune, and Chicago-L.org.
-Read more about Chicago transportation planning follies in my Getting Around archive.
-Read my December 2005 letter in the Sun-Times on downtown residents’ right to quiet.
As of November 2011, my subscriber feed has changed! To get the new feed, go here or click the orange logo in the right sidebar. Thanks for being a regular reader!
Other posts you might like from Chicago Carless:
Recently, I suggested a way for the CTA to improve the way it tells riders about weekend service diversions on its website. And to my surprise, the agency agreed with me.
Yesterday, the Sun-Times published my response to a December 6th Commentary piece on the debate over the right of downtown Chicago residents to demand noise controls on street musicians. They said downtowners should wear earplugs. I said, are you kidding me?
Chicagoist tells downtown residents to deal with illegal drummers as the price of living downtown. Um, excuse me?
actually, CTA’s chief cartographer prefers pink to silver. Silver is impossible to print onto maps, whereas pink (a bold shade he describes as “T-Mobile pink”) shows nicely.
CTA Introduces “Bemont Avenue” on 3,000 Wrong Maps
(Photo: “Bemont” Avenue? No transfer at Fullerton? New transit info line answered by “Nick”? According to the CTA’s latest ‘L’ maps, you betcha. Credit: Chicago Tribune.) Sometimes I feel a bit guilty about the bad props I give the…