Public transit (buses & trains) posts

Clark street’s car-free success cut short by envy March 28, 2024
Ending the car-free magic on Clark Street feels like a step back. When streets prioritize people over cars, everyone wins.
Pac-man in subway drain tile and Easter eggs July 26, 2021
Designing hidden surprises in everyday patterns.
Photographing with a five-year-old iPhone October 25, 2019
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…
Transit tokens as investment January 9, 2018
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…
From transit fare increases to Ewok poop November 22, 2017
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…
Celestial nebulas come to planet Earth October 7, 2015
The textures of the nebulas play very nicely with the urban textures. The rust texture on a garbage can looks just like a nebula cloud. What is so large in outer space is mimic’ed on something so small as a…
The day I wrapped a tree branch with the galaxy April 9, 2015
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…
How to photograph a window drawing on the bus or train January 5, 2015
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…
The cracked screen project October 8, 2014
Someone on the train is using a phone with a cracked screen. I ask the person to pull up a photo on flickr or instagram. Then I take a photo of the person’s cracked screen showing the photo. People using…
23 questions on a train ride September 4, 2014
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…
12 things I love about Chicago’s CTA public transit August 4, 2014
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;…
The day I crawled into a giant claw machine that was a bus July 28, 2014
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 a public artist learned from cute motivational sticky notes on the train July 15, 2014
Boredpanda.com reports: October Jones (real name Joe Butcher), the prolific writer and illustrator… is at it again with a fun series of sticky notes featuring a grimly determined cat named Peppy posing next to motivational messages. He draws them and…
My favorite car is the CTA train July 26, 2013
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!…
The smartest transit device: connected car or… June 26, 2013
Connected cars talking to each other through tail lights? Engadget reports: Smarter headlights could guide you out of a rainstorm, but intelligent tail lights could enable communication between vehicles. At least, that’s the idea behind a collaborative Connected Vehicle Safety…
Vintage postcard of cutaway view of Chicago CTA subway April 12, 2013
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…
Art on Track 2012 review September 26, 2012
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…
Ideas on how to improve the Pace bus service November 15, 2011
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…
A library and art gallery on every Metra train’s ‘Quiet Car’ July 15, 2011
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…
11 things that have changed on the CTA since 1996 July 14, 2011
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…
Name a roadblock pillar at the Quincy CTA station June 14, 2011
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.…
8 surprises from throwing a paper airplane off a train platform May 31, 2011
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!…
The Grand construction is over, or so I thought May 26, 2011
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…
The patient paper airplane: Part 1 of 2 May 17, 2011
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…
IDEA: CTA blooper video May 9, 2011
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…
Does the head of the CTA, Forrest Claypool, ride the CTA every day? April 21, 2011
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,…
The last time you were on a bus October 28, 2010
Me to my brother @unlikelymoose, “You need to ride a bus. You don’t even have to drive the bus. You just get on and sit.” Spudart readers, when was the last time you were on a bus?
The Grand and not-so-Grand new staircases for the CTA red line station April 30, 2010
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…
An iPhone leads 20 people off a stuck Metra train in Chicago February 23, 2010
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…
How to stay warm in CTA bus shelters December 30, 2009
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…
Suggestions to Metra: blog links and conductor hats October 15, 2009
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…