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CTA to Eject Rush-Hour Riders?

Homeless advocates believe CTA’s ‘no continuous riding’ signs are aimed directly at homeless riders, who take to the ‘L’ in droves during frigid Chicago winters in order find overnight warmth. However, today a CTA spokesperson labeled all rush-hour riders who take ‘L’ trains back to terminals in order to find seats for their morning trips downtown are violating the rule. Seriously?

Chicago Coalition for the Homeless to Monitor CTA!

Yesterday, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless announced on its blog that the organization will ‘track any efforts to crack down on homeless people riding the CTA.’ The statement highlighted and was in direct response to my recent opinion pieces here and on Huffington Post Chicago decrying recently installed Chicago Transit Authority signage barring ‘continuous riding’ that the agency appears intent on applying only to homeless riders.

CTA Homeless Harassment Update

No, the Chicago Transit Authority has not yet budged from its thinly veiled discriminatory policy of throwing homeless people out of the ‘L’ system at terminals. Over the weekend in these pages and on my Huffington Post Chicago byline I posted a series of questions about the policy that I had submitted to CTA’s media relations department along with the seriously spin-meistered answers that I received back. Yesterday, those posts unexpectedly made waves locally and nationally.

CTA’s Holiday Homeless Harassment

During the past few weeks of waning daylight, waxing chill, and growing holiday spirit, the Chicago Transit Authority has been busy installing new signage at rail terminals on the CTA ‘L’. The message on the signs is clear, and a bit ominous: they demand an additional fare from any rider who wants to depart the terminal in the opposite direction from which they arrived. Are the signs aimed at the homeless?