This week, Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley made his most uninformed, misguided decision in recent memory by deciding to pull Chicago Transit Authority President Ron Huberman out of the post and install him as the CEO of Chicago Public Schools.
Throughout the CTA’s Brown Line reconstruction project, it’s been no secret that the agency planned to reduce north side service on the Red, Brown, and Purple lines from four tracks to three during construction at the Belmont and Fullerton stations this spring. However, even for the CTA, the ineptitude of today’s announcement and lack of planned service alternatives is, frankly, stunning.
Although thousands of Brown Line riders are Latinos who speak little English, the CTA’s Brown Line Capacity Expansion Project website includes no Spanish content whatsoever–even though the agency’s own Inspector General warned that many Latino residents along the route were unaware of the impending project and station closures.
This month, the CTA finally released a new Night Owl Service brochure, detailing Chicago’s overnight L and bus services. Trouble is, the brochure is nowhere to be found on the agency’s website. And where was it for the past three years, anyhow?