Public transit (buses & trains) & Chicago (intersection of tags)

Ending the car-free magic on Clark Street feels like a step back. When streets prioritize people over cars, everyone wins.

Most times your five-year-old iPhone works just fine as a camera. Today, I stepped off my train, and I looked up, the sunset nearly knocked me over. Whoa! So intense! I grabbed my iPhone from my pocket and snapped a…

Philadelphia is retiring their transit tokens. I urge people to go and buy as many tokens as you can. They will be worth the investment 20 years from now. How? Let’s use Chicago as an example. In 1999 Chicago phased…

I love having several fictional Twitter accounts–the Death Star librarian, an Ewok, a baby Ewok, extreme croquet player, and so on. These fun accounts can work in tandem for some pretty silly responses to tweets. The Chicago Tribune digital editor…

Every artist has their go-to methods when creativity runs dry. Tools like sketchpads. Working in locations like coffee shops. For me one of my methods is to make artwork to place on the front of Tribune Tower. 149 rocks from…

Time is short. People are watching you. Will you have the guts to draw something fun on a foggy window on the bus or train? These questions faced me this morning as with below zero degree temperatures in Chicago. Commuters…

You encounter what appears to be a wall of notes written by a crazy person. 23 sticky notes arranged on a grid by a seat on the train. Many reflective questions that question our perspective of life. Questions of self-awareness…

We love public transit, we hate public transit. Occasionally there are days that challenge us, as the Chicagoist demonstrates with its post, “9 Unfortunate Thoughts We’re All Are Having On The CTA.” While releasing angst about commuting can be therapeutic;…

Standing silently with other commuters at the bus stop. Only when the bus arrives, it’s not a bus, but a giant claw machine! The two dollars you slide into the bus vendor box gains you admittance inside the claw machine.…

What’s your favorite car ever? The Chicago Tribune asked this question on Google Plus. My favorite car ever is the traditional 3200-series CTA train cars. I’m not even joking. There’s plenty of room. Lots of headroom, you can even stand!…

Wow! Chicago. City of the future! Only if Chicago’s subway still looked like that. Well, actually, it does. Maybe they should replace a chunk of State Street with large sheets of glass, so we can get this perpective. You can…

Take a CTA train, have six artist groups each decorate the interior of a car, let passengers ride the train for one night; you have the premise for “Art on Track” which has run one night a year for the…

Let’s admit it. The Pace bus service in Chicago isn’t really all that popular. You always see only one guy riding on the bus, Mr. Pace. Here’s seven suggestions on how Pace can improve their bus service. 1) Pen cups…

The suburban train line system in Chicago recently started a new policy of having a “Quiet Car” on every Metra train. These “Quiet Cars” have signage to indicate that you are on a “Quiet Car” and thus you are to…

My twin brother has not ridden a Chicago public transit train since 1996. Over IM I shared with him 11 things that have changed on the CTA since 1996: spudart: 1) They no longer take tokens 2) There is no…

Dear flickr friends, please name one of the roadblock pillars in this photo by leaving a note on my Quincy train station image. Leaving a note is as easy as 1,2,3: 1) Sign into flickr. 2) Go to the photo.…

What discoveries happen when you throw a paper airplane from an elevated CTA train platform? I had so many fun surprises that they couldn’t fit into one story! The one story ended up making little baby stories. Eight of ’em!…

This morning I exclaim out loud, “Wow, my train station is so nice now! It’s so open and big!” I look around amazed as other commuters pass me by. I think, “Gee, aren’t these people happy that our station is…

Every day I’ll print something colorful, make a paper airplane, and throw it off a Chicago elevated train platform. I wanted something quick to print out, so I went to my photo archives and pulled this colorful HDR shot Chicago…

photo credit: Vera Gavrilovic, “Bumpy ride“ Dropping iPhones, people running to catch the train, stuffing each other to get each to pack onto a train. The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) should take all surveillance camera footage and make a special…

The head of the CTA should experience what all the riders experience. 1. Getting onto a crowded standing-room only train. 2. Having your monthly CTA pass break then while you wait for the CTA to process you a new pass,…

What’s your choice? Walking up a nice set of granite stairs or up an echoing metal staircase? You couldn’t have more a difference between the two new staircases installed in the Grand red line station. For the commuters from the…

Quiet Metra train The platform is completely empty at the 103rd street Metra station at 10:17pm on a Tuesday night. As the train arrives, I’m the only one to board the only open car on the train. While looking for…

Waiting for the bus in the winter can get quite cold in Chicago. Thankfully we now have these bus shelters that help block the wind. In fact, when it gets really cold you can try standing by the illuminated ad…

The Metra train system in Chicago has a new website. It’s pretty nice. They have individual pages for each station with a little bit of info on each station. I wanted to take their idea a bit further and bring…

The “right or wrong” on Fox Chicago news a couple nights ago was: “I agree with the survey saying CTA service has improved” 25% say right 75% say wrong This just in: 75% of Chicagoans are idiots. How in the…

Yesterday I rode six different buses, so I thought it would be fun to shoot one photo for each bus. To church: –49 Western southbound –66 Chicago eastbound To my sister’s: –8 Halsted northbound –22 Clarck northbound To my apartment:…

Here’s a fun little video shot with my $20 Vistaquest VQ1005. Look for more videos to be posted here soon. I’ve been shooting more with this little guy. Riding around Chicago’s loop on a brown line train. I set the…

Many of the Reps in the Illinois House have Metra stations in their district. However, many of these Reps did not vote to pass funding for Metra. $400 billion is needed a year for Metra, CTA and Pace. Here’s a…

Jay Hoffman–a democrat and chairman of the Illinois House transportation committee–did not vote to support Metra, CTA and Pace in the initial vote for SB572. What’s wrong here? A) He’s a democrat and only the very very southern Democrats have…

Everyone’s talking about how it sucks that the Illinois legislature has not passed funding for Chicago’s transit system. 39 bus routes cut, fares increased, 600 employees laid off. The Illlinois House will be getting together again on Friday, November 2,…