...At Least He Made the Trains Run on Time

No, no, this is not a post in defense of dictators. But it is a mean ol' gripe towards the CTA.

Today it took me 2 hours to get to work. No, really, no exaggeration. I am dependent on public transportation because I do not own a car, nor do I want one or could even afford one if I did. The trains have been unbearably slow lately, meaning the last six months. When we first moved to our current place, it took me about 30 minutes to get to work. The distance is about 5 miles, which in the city might as well be 20 miles. Over the last year or so, the length of time has gotten longer and longer. For the last month, it's been about an hour. In the last two weeks, the trains have been so erratic that I have been opting some days to take a cab at $25 a ride just so that I can guarantee when I'll get to work.

The trains have been plagued with problems. The opening of the so-called Pink Line has made things worse by increasing traffic on tracks that are already overused. Meanwhile, the CTA has been trying to renovate so many stations and tracks at once that the trains can't move as quickly through bottleneck areas like the stretch between Belmont and Fullerton. On top of this, there have been more power outages at stations, fires and track damage. And then there is just the sad events like the one that happened today: accidents or worse, people purposely doing harm to themselves by jumping in front of trains.

I honestly don't know what to do. Normally I could switch to a different train line, but all of them are doing poorly. I am considering taking a bus, but I fear that everyone else tired of the trains will be switching to the bus lines and put strain on those as well. Plus, no one can guarantee what traffic is going to be like on Lake Shore Drive on any given day.

If I have to leave the house two hours early just to make it to work on time, I am going to be one angry little person.