Chicago Transit Authority

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Wed 11 Jun 2008

Chicago Commuters Find “Sanity Saver”

Posted by TJ under Chicago Transit Authority
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Windy City commuters swear by earplugs, according to the Chicago Sun Times blog “The Ride.”

Writes Mary Wisniewski:

After doing research for today’s story on L noise, I got spooked about riding in the subway without ear protection. It’s very noisy down there, and hearing is my favorite of the five senses. So I tried the advice of experts and wore foam ear plugs on my commute to work. It felt….definitely weird. I felt like I had a bad head cold. But here was the unexpected result — when I got to my stop and took the earplugs out, I felt calm. Peaceful. It proved the proposition that noise not only can cause hearing loss, but stress.  

The subsequent readers’ comments about loud cell-phone conversations, cursing and announcements regarding “suspicious behavior” is quite amusing. Seems New York does not have the monopoly on the holy trinity of annoying commuter behavior.

 

Mon 26 Mar 2007

I Thought My Commute Sucked Vol. IV

Posted by TJ under Chicago Transit Authority, El Train
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The NY Times has a story about the increasing misery of riding the El train in Chicago. The trains and tracks are old, and there’s no money to replace them. The president of the Chicago Transit Authority (didn’t they sing that “25 or 6 to 4″ song?) admitted they’re on “borrowed time”, and one commuter said his commute time has stretched from 35 minutes to a freakin’ hour-ten, thanks to the trains needing to crawl along decrepit tracks.  

As if Chicago’s blustery temps and annual agita at Wrigley weren’t enough.