“We need to work with businesses to grow and create jobs,” said Ald. Walter Burnett Jr. of the West Loop and Near-North Side neighborhoods. “But in order for these businesses to do well, we need more access for both employees and potential customers.”

In a recent victory, and part of the Chicago Housing Authority’s ongoing Reconnecting Neighborhoods Program, the Chicago Transit Authority has approved a new stop on the Green Line at Lake and Morgan streets. However, the $38 million stop won’t be open for another two years, and many still see the need for more.

“The area needs transit, transit brings retail, retail brings people,” said Mandy Burrell Booth, assistant communications director at the Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit organization partnered with the CHA whose key recommendation was to build the new Green Line “L” stop. “Communities thrive at transit stops.”

“Lake Street is the lifeline of the 27th Ward,” said Reggie Stewart, infrastructure specialist for Ald. Burnett’s office. “But right now there is no bus or ‘L’ to easily get to businesses there. And what we do have is too few and far between.”

There are an estimated 30,000 employees and 2,000 businesses spanning the Kinzie Industrial Corridor and the Fulton Market area in the 27th Ward.

However, with only one bus stop between the 800 and 1600 West blocks on Lake Street, and the nearest “L” stop over a mile away, access to these areas remains an issue. Public parking is also not a popular option as it is limited and can cost up to $24 per day.

What community leaders want to see are two more “L” stops, one at Damen and Lake, and one at Western and Lake, said Stewart.

The goal is to increase jobs and sales of businesses already in the area as well as attract new business. But economic development will remain stalled without transit feeding into the industrial corridor where jobs and employers currently are, said Stewart.

“The Kinzie Industrial Corridor is a central area to economic development,” said Steve DeBreppo, director of the Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago, an employee-driven organization that advocates for local business with city and state officials.

DeBreppo said the potential for both businesses and clients to get back and forth to the area could be a huge factor in the community’s economic success.

“We’re close to the Loop,” said DeBreppo of the neighborhood’s ability to attract new business. “Business owners and customers could avoid paying the kind of prices that are just eight to 10 blocks to the east.”

One person who agrees with DeBreppo is Michael Keara, a 40-year-old West Loop resident new to Chicago who is looking to open a new tapas-style restaurant in the area, but is concerned over cost and accessibility.

“I would love to open my business here,” said Keara of the reasonable lease prices, which range from $14 to $20 per square foot in the neighborhood, 80 percent less expensive than those one mile east. “But when I jump on the train at Clark, and when I get off at the next stop at Clybourn, there are no people there, no retail, it concerns me.”

The Industrial Council of Nearwest Chicago and the CTA are currently applying to the federal government for more grants to increase transit stops on the Green Line, but the wait could be a long one.

“It might not happen quick,” said DeBeppo. “But we got one stop in the works, and we’ll keep pushing for more options.”

After clocking out from a long day at a stressful job, the last thing working men and women seeking a little carefree after hour entertainment want to worry about is how they’re going to get home if they’ve had one or two drinks too many. From public transportation, such as, the Chicago Transit Authorities trains and buses, to taxi cabs and the Metra, if you live in the city, you have choices. Not to mention walking.

“Whenever I go out, it’s usually pretty easy to just take a cab,” Sophia Diaz, resident of downtown Chicago said. “You don’t have to worry about having a designated driver, which eliminates the chances of somebody driving drunk.”

While taxis might be one easy way to go from place-to-place, other options of getting around the cities well-known nightlife scene include the “El” train and public buses.

“The El is easiest for me,” Jose Lozano, 22, resident of Logan Square said. “I only go out like twice a year since most of my time is spent working, and there’s a train stop right by my job, so it’s the most convenient whenever I do go out.”

Chicagoans are constantly in a battle of which side of town is better, the North Side or the South Side, while some fear their safety is in jeopardy the farther south they go, others find that the drinks are cheaper, and parking is easier on the North Side.

“I definitely think that the North Side is safer, especially in Wrigleyville,” Diaz said. “Drinks are cheaper, parking is cheaper if you’re driving, but it’s easier to get around if you’re walking.”

“I like the bars in Bucktown,” Nelly Hernandez, 23, resident of Bucktown said. “There is a lot of diversity, and there’s one bar called Stone Lotus, which is right by my apartment so it’s really close.”

One concern of many “riders” of public trasportation is the level of public intoxication in the evening hours.

“I see drunk people on the El everyday,” Donnie Levy, 22, resident of Hyde Park said. “I usually go out only once a month, and when I do go out to the bars or clubs, it’s really irritating to walk onto a train and be surrounded by such erratic behavior. It can also be extremely frustrating when intoxicated people get on the bus right before me and they have no fare money.”

Public transportation is a safe, easy and hassel-free way of getting home safe after a night of fun. Just be sure to know which buses and trains run throughout the night. The CTA Red and Blue Lines both provide 24-hour service. It is important to know your route home before heading out, certain buses do not run all night, and those that do may stop in isolated areas that are not well-lit.

“I’ve had to wait over an hour for a bus to get home before,” Levy said. “The train station I live by doesn’t run 24 hours-a-day, which makes it difficult which is probably why I don’t go out that much. I mean the clubs are great and I’m all for the nightlife scene, getting to and from them is a problem.”

No matter how you get home, public transportation, taxi cab or by walking, be sure to be safe.

But for the owners of four stores who have for years made their living under the tracks, the renovation is not great news. Those four businesses will be forced to close, including Lakeview Foods, the oldest running business to operate at the Wilson station.

Michael Stempien, who inherited Lakeview Foods from his father, is taking the closing of his store — the loss of his livelihood and his family’s legacy — to heart.

The store had been operating for 25 years with a month-to-month lease from the CTA, Stempien said, when he was notified of the renovations in February.

The CTA said in an e-mail that it wanted to upgrade the Wilson station to beautify the neighborhood and better serve customers. The CTA worked with Ald. Helen Schiller (46th) to get $3 million in tax increment financing for the renovation.

Stempien said he pleaded with the CTA to keep his store, but to no avail; he was given 30 days’ notice to move his business. He won’t be able to open a new store due to losses he’s currently taking with his inventory, he said.

“I’m not going to have money to open a new store. We’ve taken a hit on all the inventory we have, because we’re selling it for less than what we bought it for,” said Stempien.

Stempien has begun selling his products at buy-one, get-one -free prices, and fears that he will have to throw away most of his unsold merchandise. And he has been trying to sell his equipment from the store on Craigslist.

“Hoping for the best and expecting the worst. There’s nothing we can do,” he said. “I just got dealt a bad hand. It sucks, but it’s legal.”

Other stores affected by the renovation, according to Stempien, are Popeye’s, The Wilson-Broadway Mall and Americana Submarine & Grill.

The Wilson-Broadway Mall, which also operated on a month-to-month lease, will relocate across the street from the Wilson station.

“We actually found a place across the street. We got lucky,” said My Linh Lee, who works at the Wilson-Broadway mall. Lee said her store also tried to protest the closure and were told they had to move out.

Lee pointed to the outcome of other stores and their sad departures. “It’s unfortunate for everybody else. They’ve been here for so long and they have to move out. Lakeview [Foods] has been there forever, since I was little,” said Lee.

Asif Poonja, owner of the Popeye’s restaurant at Wilson and Broadway, took out a $500,000 loan to renovate his restaurant; now, he says, it’s a wasted effort.

“All of my furniture will be gone. There’s not much I can say without [the CTA] getting mad. There’s no way we can get reimbursed,” said Poonja.

Stempien thought his relationship with the CTA was good enough to avoid closure. “I would think that 25 years of having a business relationship would’ve gotten me more than a 30 days’ notice,” said Stempien.

After the renovation, the stores will have to re-bid for their former locations.

“When the project is done in over a year, we’re not guaranteed this spot back,” Stempien said.

This rally is being organized by Public Workers Unite! and is endorsed by NoCTAcuts.org, AFSCME Local 2858, Caucus of Rank & File Educators, Jobs with Justice, Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, ANSWER Chicago, Socialist Alternative, and Solidarity.

The march itself will take place on Mon. Jan. 18. It begins at 11 a.m. from CTA Headquarters and continues on to the Thompson Center. CTA Headquarters are located at 567 W. Lake (corner of Lake and Clinton), which is the Clinton stop on Green and Pink Lines.

NoCTAcuts.org explains the need for this protest as follows:

“All over the country, workers continue to face mass unemployment, severe budget cuts to education, the lose of health care, mounting foreclosures and much more. In Chicago, the official unemployment rate is over 10 percent and over 15 percent for African Americans. Funding for badly needed state and local agencies and programs are under a merciless attack at the same time trillions of dollars are being spent on endless war and Wall Street bail outs. Mayor Daley and Governor Quinn have recently handed out billions of dollars to Morgan Stanley“

For more information, contact: NoCTAcuts.org (http://www.noctacuts.org) is an initiative of ANSWER Chicago (http://www.chicagoanswer.net) and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (http://www.pslweb.org). Call us at 773-463-0311 for more information or to get involved!

Check out these related reports from WBEZ Chicago Public Radio: Mayor Daley Says Lawsuit Could Help CTA Funding, Lawsuit Alleges Racial Discrimination in Illinois Transit

The Queen Anne-style property in Lincoln Park, which is adjacent to the Armitage station’s east side, was partially demolished in 2006 as part of the CTA’s Brown Line expansion to make way for a wider platform. The center part of the property – which is also listed on the National Register for Historic Places – was demolished and renovated, said CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney.

The 5,100-square-foot property was originally put on the market in March, and a local restaurant and bar owner, Bobby Burleson, presented the CTA with the highest bid of $850,000, which it accepted in August. However, after plunking down $10,000 in earnest money, Burleson still needed to come up with a 10 percent deposit. Instead, he didn’t execute the contract and forfeited his $10,000, Gaffney said, leading to the CTA board’s Dec. 9th vote to put the property back on the market. Burleson could not be reached for comment.

“We’re just interested in selling the property,” said Gaffney, adding that the money from the sale will go back into the Brown Line.

The expansion work at the historic Armitage station began in 2006, and early construction included partially demolishing the property at 939 W. Armitage, a masonry building with an ornamental, pressed-metal front façade and zinc panels. Because it is a contributing structure in the Armitage-Halsted Landmark District, the building was required to be at least partially preserved, so its west half was demolished and its east half saved.

Jonathan Fine, executive director of Preservation Chicago, said the CTA “kept the essence of the building,” and that it would “make a good anything.”

“There is always a need for modest, perfectly-scaled building in that kind of a district,” Fine said.

The Armitage station re-opened in June 2008, and the building has sat vacant even though the work was completed.

Paul Dawson, project manager for Jones Lang LaSalle, which is marketing the property, said at this point, it will be up to the CTA to decide how long a second bidding process will stay open. Meanwhile, neighborhood businesses say with many stores already closing on the tony Armitage Avenue, a restaurant or café would be a welcome sight.

“There are not a lot of great places to eat in the neighborhood,” said Sibyle Gander, manager of Art Effect, 934 W. Armitage Ave. “Something that opens up to the street would be great.”

Chuck Eastwood, chief of staff for Ald. Vi Daley (43rd), whose ward the property lies in, said he’d like to also see a restaurant, but “active retail” would work, too.

“Anything but a bank,” said Eastwood. “A bona fide restaurant, not a restaurant posing as a bar. I don’t think anybody wants a bar there.”

Jeff Price, president of the RANCH Triangle Association, said assuming that the building will not be torn down, it could be used for a multitude of purposes.

“I’d like to see a successful retail store on the first floor and perhaps some offices or apartments upstairs,” Price said.

“We’re here to bring awareness to the massive cuts and layoffs,” said Keith Hill, a CTA bus driver for 13 years and union representative. “They’re laying people off at the coldest time of the year. The mayor has no compassion; the governor has no compassion.”

On Monday, Dec. 14 layoff notices for 1,067 union and 30 non-union workers were to be sent, telling workers they’ll be out of a job Feb. 7.

“We’re not happy about the fact that we have to cut service,” said CTA Board Chairman Terry Peterson.

The CTA is facing a $300 million deficit, and Peterson said the cuts are necessary to keep it functioning.

Carlos Acevedo, a union representative and CTA mechanic for 15 years, said the cuts would most hurt underserved communities.

“They’re eliminating a lot of the express routes, and of course, it’s affecting the low-income, minority areas mostly; six express routes cut on the South Side and one on the North Side,” Acevedo said.

Acevedo said these services are vital, and funds are available.

“They’re getting $700 million Jan. 1,” said Acevedo. “They’re sitting on $900 million. They need $320 million to avert all of this, so there are solutions.”

The union has made sacrifices, but the CTA won’t compromise, said Avecedo.

“They’re looking for concessions from the unions,” said Acevedo. “The level of service you have now is off the backs of the workers; the workers almost lost their pension due to concessions they gave.”

But CTA spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said the unions haven’t made concessions.

“We’ve been meeting with the unions for the last two months,” said Gaffney. “We would be happy not to do the cuts if unions would agree to concessions that would help us.”

Gaffney points to the sacrifices non-union workers have made during the CTA budget crisis.

“Our non-union employees are taking up to 18 unpaid days, including unpaid holidays; they haven’t gotten raises in four years,” said Gaffney. “The unions got raises this year, and they’re getting raises next year. If the unions would agree to take some steps, we would have the necessary monies.”

Roger Smittle, spokesman for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, said the cuts are not only affecting low-income communities but violating the Americans with Disabilities Act. He said the disabled and seniors wouldn’t have regular daily bus service on the South Side.

Gary Arnold, a spokesman for the disabled group Access Living, said it targeted certain stations that weren’t accessible to help them get in compliance.

“Two years ago, the CTA bus line became officially 100 percent lift-equipped,” said Arnold. “We would like to see more CTA train stations more accessible but see how this won’t be given attention if there are services cuts.”

Michael Pitula, organizer for the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization, said these cuts would negatively impact Latino and African-American communities. His organization has tried to restore the bus route on 31st Street, which has been out of service for the past 13 years.

“Seven out of the 9 express routes CTA is cutting serve the South Side–predominately African-Americans and Latinos,” said Pitula. “The CTA is opening up a can of rooms here in terms of civil rights.”

Jeannetta Bradshaw, spokeswoman for Seniors Taking Action Together, said seniors, especially those with health issues, would be hurt by these cuts.

“Service cuts to us are devastating,” said Bradshaw. “I think in the areas where seniors take public transportation to go the doctor–these areas should be looked at first.”

If additional funding comes through, the CTA has a plan to rescind the layoff efforts and notify the public that service will be restored, said Gaffney.

“Mass transit is the life and blood of the city,” said Acevedo.

Communities around the region are taking part in Chicagoland Car-Free Day with events and special offers, including Break the Gridlock’s One Million Less Cars rally at Daley Plaza at 5:30 p.m. and I-Go Car Sharing’s special discount.

“You will be amazed at the sights and sounds you can experience without a car,” said Rob Sadowsky, executive director at the Active Transportation Alliance. “You will feel re-energized by your new routine while cutting down on carbon.”

Resources like RTA’s trip planner, www.goroo.com, bike commuting tips and www.PaceRideShare.com will help commuters every step of the way.

“The RTA is pleased to partner with the Active Transportation Alliance on Chicagoland’s inaugural Car-Free Day,” said Steve Schlickman, Executive Director of the RTA. “This is a great opportunity for the transit agencies to collaborate and remind commuters that our region has an all-access transit system that’s easily accessible, saves time and money.”

Organizations and communities can still partner with Chicagoland Car-Free Day. Contact Ethan Spotts at [email protected] or 312.427.3325 x 287 to learn more.

Chicagoland Car-Free Day Sept. 22 coincides with similar events around the world that encourages people to go sans auto for one day.

Find out more about Chicagoland Car-Free Day at www.chicagolandcarfree.org

Contacts for further information are:
Margo O’Hara, Active Transportation Alliance
312.427.3325 x 224
[email protected]

Diane Palmer, Director of Communications, RTA
Office: 312-913-3282
Cell: 312-907-6902
[email protected]

ABOUT METRA
Metra provides more

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than 80 million rides annually on 11 rail lines serving more than 100 communities at 239 rail stations in the six-county metropolitan area. For complete schedule information, customers may contact Metra Passenger Services, 312-322-6777, during business hours, visit www.metrarail.com, or call the RTA Travel Information Center at 836-7000 (city or suburbs).

ABOUT ACTIVE TRANS
The Active Transportation Alliance is a non-profit, member-based advocacy organization that works to make bicycling, walking and public transit so safe, convenient and fun that we will achieve a significant shift from environmentally harmful, sedentary travel to clean, active travel. The organization builds a movement around active transportation, encourages physical activity, increases safety and builds a world-class transportation network. Formerly the Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, the Active Transportation Alliance is North America’s largest transportation advocacy organization, supported by more than 6,000 members, 1,000 volunteers and 35 full-time staff. For more information on the Active Transportation Alliance, visit www.activetrans.org or call 312.427.3325.

ABOUT RTA
The RTA provides financial oversight, funding and regional planning for the three public transit operations in Northeastern Illinois: The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) bus and train, Metra commuter rail and Pace suburban bus and paratransit. For more information, visit www.rtachicago.com and www.MovingBeyondCongestion.org.

ABOUT CTA
The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) operates the nation’s second largest public transportation system providing both bus and rail service. On an average weekday, 1.7 million rides are taken on CTA. The CTA is a regional transit system that serves 40 suburbs, in addition to the City of Chicago, and provides 81 percent of the public transit trips in the six-county Chicago Metropolitan-area region either with direct service or connecting service to Metra and Pace.

ABOUT PACE
Pace, the suburban bus division of the RTA, provides fixed route bus, ADA paratransit, dial-a-ride and ridesharing services throughout northeastern Illinois. Pace has the seventh-largest bus fleet in North America, one of the largest vanpool programs in the United States, and its regional ADA Paratransit service is estimated to be the largest such operation in the world. In 2008, total ridership on Pace service was more than 40.5 million, its second largest total in the agency’s 25 year history.”

Rider and Advocate discuss CTA Equipment and Service Woes from Jennifer T. Lacey on Vimeo.

The board meeting was a first time CTA President Richard L. Rodriguez met with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Advisory Committee since his appointment two months ago. He fielded questions from board members and advocates in the audience about problems documented in a ChicagoTalks investigation published last week.

“There have been a lot of issues over the years where CTA has fallen short of what should be really high standards for making its services accessible,” said Kevin Irvine, ADA advisory chairman.

Over a two-week period, a team of students from Columbia College Chicago found that 41 percent of the CTA’s stations designated as fully accessible were in fact not. And several of those stops remained inaccessible weeks later on subsequent visits. The team also reviewed the roughly 2,000 ADA-related complaints filed against the CTA over the last five years, finding repeated problems with bus lifts, rude CTA employees and guide dogs not being allowed to accompany their disabled owners, among other things.

Irvine said the committee wants to see from CTA’s leadership that accessibility is “critically important” and “shared vision of what accessibility means.”

Rodriguez, a former commissioner of the Chicago Department of Aviation, spoke about his experience with ensuring accessibility at Chicago’s airports and said his commitment to dealing with disability related-issues hasn’t changed, “not one bit.”

Acknowledging the budget woes facing the CTA, Irvine said there are many issues, such as stop announcements by train operators, correctly updated elevator status boards, and equipment repair status, that CTA could resolve at no cost.

“These are small examples that add up to a lot and that really affect people with disabilities when they are out there trying to buy passes, riding on the ‘L’, riding the buses and things like that,” said Irvine. “I think that some of it is common sense, some of it is getting people information.”

Rodriguez said the CTA tracks performance of its 134 elevators and in twice-weekly staff meetings statistics are provided on the status of working and malfunctioning elevators.

But budget and time constraints limit repair time.

Last week, the CTA announced it was dealing with a $155 million shortfall this year, which will delay upgrades to some of the 56 train stations that are not accessible.

“Given the resources, both human resources and material resources that we have,” said Rodriguez, “are we able to fix an elevator in what the public would define as a reasonable period of time at this point? What is a reasonable period of time?”

Rodriguez offered an apology for “any inadequate service,” but it was the behavior of CTA employees that several committee members and people in the audience, pushed the new president to address. They urged him to improve the way employees interact with customers as well as do more training and be more responsive to complaints.

Rodriguez said it is a “management issue” if employees are not notifying the CTA of malfunctions and other issues. But he said he didn’t want to create a “gotcha” environment amongst his employees when asked to implement system that would monitor their performance.

According to an internal monthly performance management report, elevators were in service 98.1 percent of the time from Jan. 1 through March 31, 2009, while 93 ADA-related complaints were filed. Twenty-eight percent were related to elevators, 25 percent involved buses failing to stop for disabled customers and 20 percent had to do with general ADA compliance. Twenty-seven percent were related to other and rude operators.

Henry T. Chandler, Jr., a member of both the CTA board and the Access Living board, said he has “serious trouble” with the mass transit system’s compliance but is hopeful Rodriguez will familiarize himself with the access-related issues and improve the system.

“I think if they look at the process that was in place during the last compliance period (2000 lawsuit), and take some cues from that,” said Chandler. “I think the desire is there on his [Rodriguez] part and CTA’s part, in general.”

Chandler believes ADA-related issues fell “to the wayside” due to past capital funding woes and state political turmoil in recent years.

Irvine said after the meeting that customers need to be able to access internal CTA information about faulty equipments and know the reasons why the breakdowns are occurring. Such transparency would send a better message to both its able and disabled customers.

“And if there’s no explanation for why it’s not working people just assume that CTA doesn’t care, ” said Irvine.

A team of reporters from Columbia College Chicago found multiple equipment breakdowns among 41 percent of stations designated handicap accessible.

“It’s a huge problem for many of the transit riders who depend on transit to be able to live,” said Rep. Julie Hamos (D-Evanston), chairwoman of the Illinois House Mass Transit Committee. “And it’s a further problem for me as a policy maker because if the main line system isn’t working well for people with disabilities, then they would be in a position to have to resort to Paratransit services, which are more costlier.”

CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown said Wednesday that elevators do break down but the CTA tries to address problems “as quickly and as soon as we can.”

Brown said accessibility was a “major goal” of the agency, citing recent Brown Line renovations. However, Brown said a lack of capital funding makes it hard for the CTA to make more stations accessible. Sixty-one percent of the 144 “L” stations are accessible. The CTA says by the end of this year, 93 of its stations – or 65 percent – will be accessible.

“We’re always having to make hard decisions about where we deploy those capital dollars,” said Brown. “If we had money, of course, that would be one of our top priorities.”

CTA announced Wednesday it is facing a $155 million shortfall this year despite showing a recent growth in its number of riders.

CTA president Richard Rodriguez said the agency could not rule out future fare increase or service cuts, adding the agency is looking “aggressively” to see where they can “reduce and tighten belts.”

Brown and Rodriguez said CTA would not be able to purchase new buses and make improvements to CTA infrastructure because of the shortfall.

“We have garages that are basically in a condition that our employees should not be working in,” said Rodriguez. “Not to say they are not safe but for goodness they’re over a 100 years old…and those are types of investments we have to forgo to continue plugging our operating budget.”

This reduction could include delay bus purchases and rail station upgrades that would make more stops accessible to the estimated 600,000 disabled Chicagoans.

After weeks of declining to comment on ChicagoTalks’ findings, the CTA responded Thursday to written questions.

“With a system as expansive as CTA’s, there are thousands of pieces of equipment that need to be maintained,” wrote Shelia Gregory, general manager of public affairs.

Gregory said the system’s 132 elevators were in service “more than 96 percent of the time,” and she noted the Americans with Disabilities Act does not require repairs be made in a specific time frame.

“Unfortunately, some of the mechanical repairs take longer to resolve than others,” Gregory said in a written statement. “The CTA makes a reasonable effort to ensure elevators are working properly at each of the accessible stations.”

Of the three elevators found to be out of service in the ChicagoTalks investigation, Gregory said the CTA is not responsible for the Midway/ Skybridge on the Orange Line. She noted that it took seven days to for the Harlem station to be repaired and two days for the Montrose stop to be fixed. The CTA did not provide details about how long it took for broken automatic doors at several other stations to be repaired. But Gregory wrote that broken turnstiles aren’t a problem because a disabled customer could simply ask a CTA employee for help.

As for discourteous employees, Gregory wrote: “Rudeness demonstrated by a bus or a rail operator, or a customer assistant toward any customer is not acceptable. Disciplinary action is taken when appropriate for employees who are rude to customers, but CTA must be notified. Riders need to e-mail or call CTA immediately. The more information that a customer can provide, the easier it is to identify the individual and take the proper action.”

The CTA did not say whether any employees were disciplined in the instances of rude behavior detailed in the investigation.

Rep. Hamos said the CTA should realize that disable riders are a “significant portion of its ridership” and has an obligation to them.

“The fact that you did this survey is a public service to them,” said Hamos. “I think at the minimum they ought have been more responsive to you and thanked you for alerting them to some problems they were having.”

Steve Bramlett hasn’t always been disabled, but 10 years in a wheelchair have forced him to adapt to challenges most CTA riders never think about. Shortly after his 1997 graduation from Bowen High School on Chicago’s South Side, Bramlett was robbed at gunpoint and shot several times, leaving him paralyzed from the waist down.

Since then, Bramlett has had to navigate Chicago’s public transit system in a different way, learning firsthand just how accessible it really is.

A team of reporters from Columbia College Chicago visited all 144 CTA train stations over eight weeks to determine how well the CTA is living up to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The reporters found that 41 percent of the stations designated fully accessible were not.

Elevators on three separate stops on the Blue, Brown and Orange Lines were out of order, 11 stations had broken automatic doors and 20 stations were not equipped with automatic doors at all. Six stations on the Pink Line had automatic doors that were out of order in late February, and upon repeat visits in March and early April, those doors were still not working.

The results don’t surprise Bramlett. As he made his way through the concourse connecting the Jackson Blue and Red Lines earlier this spring, he explained the issues he faces on his daily commute from his home at 79th Street and Cottage Grove to his telemarketing job in Park Ridge.

The call button on the Jackson Blue Line platform wasn’t working this Tuesday in late March, and the sign that all handicap-accessible stations are supposed to display at the entrance to notify riders of elevators being out of order and other equipment failures was missing.

Bramlett had been told when he boarded at the Jefferson Blue Line stop 30 minutes earlier that the elevator at his final stop, the 79th Street Red Line station, wasn’t working. He would have to wait until he got there to find out if it was still out of service. Because of the uncertainty and the added hassle of finding an alternate route when equipment fails, Bramlett has found other ways to get around.

“The elevators are out of order all the time,” said Bramlett. “That’s when I start getting creative, takin’ the escalators and stuff. I’ve had to actually carry my [wheel]chair up the stairs.”

Fortunately for Bramlett, he can get around with braces if he needs to, but taking the stairs is difficult, especially with a wheelchair. If he’s lucky, an attendant or willing customer will help carry his chair up or down the stairs. If not, he’s on his own.

Even if the station has a working escalator, it might not be wide enough for both Bramlett and his chair, which folds up, and often, he said, the chair has to go up separately. It’s either that or get to another station with a working elevator, putting him farther away from his destination. If Bramlett happens to be on his scooter instead of his wheelchair, the problem is compounded because the scooter is too bulky to move without a lift.

“The equipment is constantly malfunctioning,” he said.

The CTA declined to discuss the problems found at more than 30 handicap-accessible stations. But the one employee who did agree to answer questions – the CTA’s ADA compliance officer, Christine Montgomery – said she wasn’t aware that 16 of the stations designated handicap-accessible had no automatic doors, a feature advocates for the disabled say is needed for a station to be fully accessible.

Kevin Irvine, chairman of the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee, said there are two ways to define “accessible” – what’s required under the ADA and his higher standard of what he believes is truly accessible. For instance, he notes that having automatic doors at accessible stations isn’t mandated, but without them, the stations don’t fit his definition.

According to reports by an independent monitor responsible from 2002 to 2007 with making sure the CTA complied with the ADA, riders regularly complained about elevators being out of order and the system failing to make passengers aware of the problem. The quarterly reports, filed by local attorney Shelley Sandow and required as part of a class-action lawsuit filed by Access Living and Equip for Equality, also included complaints that CTA attendants failed to respond to customer service calls and didn’t post signs instructing disabled riders on how to exit stations when elevators were out of order.

Three years after Sandow began monitoring the CTA, complaints were still rolling in.  According to one unidentified customer in June 2005, “the elevators/escalators are not in service most of the time… the escalators at 79th/Ryan location are out of order 95 percent of the time.”

A review of the roughly 2,000 complaints filed against the CTA from Jan. 1, 2004, through Feb. 28, 2009, found repeated instances of elevators, doors, turnstiles and customer service attendant buttons not working, sometimes for weeks at a time. Sandow said the ADA requires that problems such as these be fixed expeditiously.

After exiting the Red Line train at 79th Street, Bramlett discovered the elevator was working after all. It had either been fixed during his commute or never was broken to begin with.

If he had altered his trip in anticipation of not being able to leave the 79th Street station on his own, he could have added another 30 minutes onto his commute. He looked relieved as the lift carried him up to street level, where he would catch one final bus on his way home.

As Bramlett waited outside the station in the soft rain, he said he isn’t satisfied with the CTA’s lack of accessibility, but he’s learned to cope. Automatic doors are not mandated by the ADA, so he struggles to push them open on his own or asks for assistance when other riders are nearby. When elevators break down he takes the escalator or stairs.

Bramlett says he has no choice but to deal with the problems he encounters on a daily basis because few options are open to him, especially now in the economic downturn. “I’m disabled and a minority,” he said, “but I’ve got a job and it pays well.”

The fact that the CTA has added elevators and other measures to increase accessibility to 61 percent of its stations since the signing of the ADA in 1990 has helped, said Bramlett.

But Bramlett and other disabled commuters say with the frequent equipment breakdowns and other problems, they can’t count on the CTA and question whether the agency is following the spirit of the nearly 20-year-old federal disability law.

In complaint after complaint – disabled and able-bodied customers alike – lament the accessibility problems. One customer complained to the CTA in July 2008, “When citizens are barred from services in these ways it is blatant discrimination that recalls to my mind the lawful separation of people of different races.”

Another rider filed a complaint in June 2004 after seeing a disabled mother and her wheelchair-bound child having trouble on a bus but getting no assistance from the driver.

“I find no reason for this kind of service,” the unidentified customer wrote in an e-mail. “I hope your staff will help this driver receive the proper training for the aid of the disabled of Chicago. If not, I sure hope the American Disability Act will help you with funding to provide the proper training. My CTA is one that would show disabled persons they are not second-class citizens.”

Bramlett would like that, too.

Elizabeth Czupta and Kaitlyn McAvoy contributed to this report.

Contact Zach Wilmes at [email protected].

Check out the rest of the CTA investigation:

Broken CTA Facilities, Slow Repairs Create Problems for Disabled Customers by Elizabeth Czupta

Complaints Against CTA Keep Climbing by Danielle Desjardins and Kaitlyn McAvoy

Injury and Equipment Breakdowns Continue to Trouble Some Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

Disabled Riders Experience Years of Inconsistency in CTA Service by Danielle Desjardins

Advisory Group Works to Improve Access for Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

ChicagoTalks Video: CTA Improves But Some Disabled Still Complain by Elizabeth Czupta

INVESTIGATION: Disabled And Downtown On The CTA by Eli Kaberon

INVESTIGATION: The Inaccessible CTA by Kaitlyn McAvoy

“The CTA has to continue working on these issues to make the whole system user friendly,” said Jim Watkins, co-chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority’s ADA Advisory Board and a frequent CTA customer. “Are they? Yes, they are… slowly, and it’s by lawsuits quite often.”

Over a two-week period in late February, a team of reporters from Columbia College Chicago documented broken doors, turnstiles and elevators at 16 stations; another 20 lacked automatic doors that disabled advocates say make an entrance fully accessible. In all, 41 percent of the stations that are supposed to be 100 percent accessible were not.

And at several stations, broken doors remained unfixed weeks later when the team returned for second and third visits. Although the Americans with Disabilities Act doesn’t require automatic doors, the chairman of the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee says a train stop isn’t fully accessible without them because they allow people in wheelchairs to enter and leave a station without assistance.

The CTA declined to comment on the findings or answer other questions about the accessibility of the nation’s second-largest mass transit system.

Problems discovered beginning in mid-February continued for weeks at a number of stations:

• The Ashland and Polk stops on the Pink Line; the Jefferson Park, Harlem and Rosemont stops on the Blue Line; the Addison, Granville and Loyola stops on the Red Line; the Cicero, 35th, Ashland, Indiana and 51st on the Green Line and all seven stops on the Orange Line did not have automatic doors, forcing customers using wheelchairs or not strong enough to open doors to rely on others to get in and out of the 20 stations.

• The automatic doors at six Pink Line stops – Damen, California, Central Park, Pulaski, Kostner and 54th/Cermak – didn’t work in late February, nor were they working two weeks later in March and again in early April.

• On the Red Line, the automatic doors at three stops – Garfield, 79th and 87th – were out of order along with the Rockwell and Diversey stops on the Brown Line. When those stops were checked six weeks later, the doors worked.

• Besides broken doors, elevators at Montrose on the Brown Line, Harlem on the Blue Line and the Midway/Skybridge on the Orange Line weren’t working in February and two weeks later in March, but they were fixed by the third visit in early April. The handicap gate/turnstiles at the Blue Line’s O’Hare station and the Red Line’s 35th/Sox stop weren’t working either, though they were fixed by the third visit in April.

Some of the problems found in late February appeared to have started weeks, if not months before.

At the July 28, 2008, meeting of the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee, Watkins reported the Damen and California stops on the Pink Line had only one gap filler – which is needed to get wheelchair riders on and off the train – and that someone had apparently stolen the push button on the automatic door leading into the Damen entrance.

Watkins said he had reported these issues for the past year with no response from the CTA, according to minutes from that meeting.

In March 2008, an unidentified customer filed a complaint with the CTA about the handicapped door that connects the James R. Thompson Center to the Blue Line at the Clark & Lake stop – the busiest of the 144 “L” stations – didn’t work.

The customer complained that the door has not worked for more than a month and he had earlier sent an e-mail and tried to call the CTA, getting no response. “I think those doors should be fixed. How difficult is it to get some experts that fix doors?”

Kevin Irvine, chairman of the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee and senior advocate for Equip for Equality, said the problems documented at 36 of the 88 handicap-accessible stations are unacceptable.

Irvine said there are two definitions of “accessible”- what is “ADA accessible,” or required under federal law, and what is acceptable by his standards.

Watkins, who relies on a motorized wheelchair, knows firsthand the problems disabled customers routinely face on the CTA. He said he frequently has problems with broken automatic doors and too often encounters disinterested employees who are supposed to help disabled riders.

That’s what appeared to happen in September 2005. A customer called to complain about being stuck in an elevator at the Green Line’s 63^rd stop with five other people for 45 minutes to an hour. The unidentified customer said  employees failed to ask if anyone was OK or call for help. The group finally got out of the elevator after a customer passing by heard their cries for help and notified police.

Watkins says it’s imperative that advocacy groups push for the CTA to improve its accessibility, especially as the disabled population – now estimated to number about 600,000 people locally – grows.

“People have to stay involved. If the pressure isn’t kept up, things go back to where they were,” he said. “And if there are problems you need to report them.”

Kaitlyn McAvoy contributed to this report.

Contact Elizabeth Czupta at [email protected].

Check out the rest of the CTA investigation:

Investigation Finds Handicapped Accessibility Issues Plague CTA by Zach Wilmes

Complaints Against CTA Keep Climbing by Danielle Desjardins and Kaitlyn McAvoy

Injury and Equipment Breakdowns Continue to Trouble Some Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

Disabled Riders Experience Years of Inconsistency in CTA Service by Danielle Desjardins

Advisory Group Works to Improve Access for Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

ChicagoTalks Video: CTA Improves But Some Disabled Still Complain by Elizabeth Czupta

INVESTIGATION: Disabled And Downtown On The CTA by Eli Kaberon

INVESTIGATION: The Inaccessible CTA by Kaitlyn McAvoy

]]> /2009/05/12/broken-cta-facilities-slow-repairs-create-problems-for-disabled-customers/feed/ 0 /2009/05/12/complaints-against-cta-keep-climbing/#utm_source=feed&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=feed /2009/05/12/complaints-against-cta-keep-climbing/#comments Tue, 12 May 2009 19:31:00 +0000 Danielle Desjardins and Kaitlyn McAvoy /?p=2212 May 12, 2009 – One morning in November 2004, a CTA bus stopped at Catalpa and Broadway in Uptown for a woman and her daughter, who was using a motorized wheelchair because she had torn a ligament in her foot.

As the daughter wheeled up to the bus lift, she got stuck and couldn’t move her scooter.

“The operator kept saying f-ing this and f-ing that,” the unidentified rider stated in a complaint filed with the CTA.

This was one of 508 ADA-related complaints reported by the CTA that year.

When the woman tried to explain it was her daughter’s first time using the wheelchair, the unidentified driver replied, “She shouldn’t be on the f-ing bus if she doesn’t know how to use the scooter.” The woman, who was crying as she reported the incident to the Chicago Transit Authority, said she didn’t understand how the driver could be so rude to her and her daughter.

In June 2007, another CTA customer complained that a driver yelled at her and drove so fast she fell. The unidentified customer‘s troubles began when she boarded the bus at Belmont and Kedzie in Avondale, using a cane and wheeling a suitcase. The driver wouldn’t lower the steps, then yelled as the rider struggled to pay the rest of the fare.

“I explained that I was looking for the quarter. The driver then told me, ‘I am not waiting here all night, I am going,’ and he began driving the bus, as I lost my balance and my luggage and I went flying. This driver needs training on how to deal and work with people and even further sensitivity training! The driver clearly saw that I was handicapped and still took off without me being seated,” the customer said in an e-mail.

“Had it not been for other passengers on the bus [who] assisted me and helped me I would have been injured further and then we would be discussing a lawsuit! This driver’s lack of concern for my well being and accommodation for the handicapped is also clearly in violation of the Americans [with] Disabilities Act… God forbid he is ever in my circumstance and need help.”

It’s unclear what if anything happened to the CTA employees involved in either of these complaints or the roughly 2,000 others filed from Jan. 1, 2004, through Feb. 28, 2009, as the transit system repeatedly declined to answer questions over the phone or meet in person with reporters.

But in a written statement, Terry Levin, the CTA’s Freedom of Information officer, noted the system “delivered more than 2.5 billion bus and train rides during your study period,” adding the CTA takes all complaints “very seriously.”

The CTA began keeping track of ADA-related complaints as part of a 2001 settlement of a lawsuit filed by a local disability group, Access Living, and nine disabled plaintiffs. The CTA would not say what if any study it does of the complaints, nor would it make the complaints available electronically, which would make it easier for outsiders to analyze the public agency’s performance in serving disabled customers.

Kevin Irvine, chairman of the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee, said the transit system should be looking for a pattern of problems then fixing them. The CTA provides the advisory committee, comprised of advocates and other volunteers, with monthly summaries of the ADA-related complaints.

“We want to make sure they’re looking for patterns of problems,” said Irvine. “If they get 20 complaints on a particular issue, they are aware that this is just more than an isolated problem and will require more than an isolated solution.”

For instance, in 2007, there were seven complaints of customers having trouble using the CTA because they had guide dogs. An unidentified customer called in November 2007 to report that drivers on two buses had refused to allow him to board with his service animal. The caller said he would contact the police and he also stated the operators had violated federal law. Before ending his complaint call, the man said he “doesn’t like to be humiliated in front of other people.”

Four additional complaints were filed in 2008, including one about an incident in which a bus driver failed to stop for a man in a wheelchair and his service dog. When the unidentified customer caught up with the bus at a later stop, he asked why she didn’t stop for him and was told, “You have a dog.” The customer tried to explain that it was a service dog and would sit on his wheelchair once on the bus.

The operator responded, “I don’t have to listen to your shit and I don’t have to pick you up if I don’t want to,” according to the September 2008 complaint. The driver then drove away, leaving the man and other customers by the side of the road.

Some riders question whether the CTA properly tracks and follows up on complaints.

Sheila Thomas-Akhtar, a plaintiff in the 2000 lawsuit and a wheelchair user, takes the 156 LaSalle bus on weekdays to get to her job downtown as a paralegal in disability and civil rights law.

Over a six-month period last year, Thomas-Akhtar said she complained to the CTA at least seven times about broken bus equipment and rude drivers. Yet she rarely hears back and has to keep following up. On one occasion, she said, the CTA lost the record of her complaint entirely. That’s why she usually makes sure to get a complaint number each time she reports a problem.

Other riders are just as frustrated.

Mary Delgado, another plaintiff in the lawsuit, said she frequently complains about broken bus lifts. And like Thomas-Akhtar, she’s often unsatisfied with the CTA’s response. When reporting a problem last year, the CTA employee taking her call asked Delgado if she wanted to classify her issue as a complaint or a compliment – after being told what the problem was.

“No wonder I never got anywhere,” said Delgado.

Thomas-Akhtar said it’s important for customers to report problems because if enough complaints get filed with the CTA, the transit system is more likely to respond.

“It puts [the CTA] on notice that they’re not doing a good job,” she said.

To file a complaint, call CTA’s customer assistant hotline, 1-888-YOUR-CTA. If specifically reporting misconduct of a CTA employee, call the CTA’s Office of Inspector General, 1-777-CTA-TIME.

Elizabeth Czupta contributed to this report.

Contact Danielle Desjardins at danielle[email protected] or Kaitlyn McAvoy at [email protected].

Check out the rest of the CTA investigation:

Investigation Finds Handicapped Accessibility Issues Plague CTA by Zach Wilmes

Broken CTA Facilities, Slow Repairs Create Problems for Disabled Customers by Elizabeth Czupta

Injury and Equipment Breakdowns Continue to Trouble Some Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

Disabled Riders Experience Years of Inconsistency in CTA Service by Danielle Desjardins

Advisory Group Works to Improve Access for Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

ChicagoTalks Video: CTA Improves But Some Disabled Still Complain by Elizabeth Czupta

INVESTIGATION: Disabled And Downtown On The CTA by Eli Kaberon

INVESTIGATION: The Inaccessible CTA by Kaitlyn McAvoy

The then-69-year-old woman says a passenger suggested she call an ambulance, but she refused because she felt fine and had to get to a job interview. Willis says she regrets not seeking medical treatment immediately because when she got home that day she felt tremendous pain in her head and jaw.

Willis called an ambulance that night and was taken to John H. Stroger Hospital, where medical reports show doctors treated her for back pain, a severely bruised thigh and swollen jaw. After staying overnight at the hospital, Willis says she was bed-ridden for the next three weeks.

Willis filed a claim Nov. 12, 2007, detailing her version of the accident. The Chicago Transit Authority denied Willis’ claim six months later in a letter stating, “We have made a careful investigation and on review of our file have concluded that we are not liable.”

After repeated requests, the CTA declined to comment on Willis’s accident, though  Vernon Williams, general manager of the CTA Claims Department, in an e-mail provided a timeline of its correspondence with Willis, citing a lack of proper paperwork as the reason for the denial of her claim.

Willis says she is upset with the way the CTA handled her claim.

“The bus driver never even submitted an incident report because these people don’t even really care. I was left underneath the bus,” says Willis, who’s used the bus only a handful of times since.

“I’m back to my old ways, riding the streets. Since I have taken the CTA, I know what I am in for, and I don’t know if I want to go that route again,” said Willis.

Willis’ accident is one example of the challenges people with disabilities face when using the CTA. Some advocacy groups say the transit system has become more accessible in the wake of a 2000 lawsuit, while others, like Willis, say the CTA does not do nearly enough to accommodate the disabled.

Janice Stachwick, a civil rights and transit advocate for the local disabilities group Access Living, needs the bus ramp lowered to board the bus. Stachwick says there have been several times when CTA bus drivers refused to lower the lift because they claimed it was broken or told her she didn’t need it.

“They don’t get to decide if I have a disability,” says Stachwick, who uses a cane to walk.

A review of the roughly 2,000 complaints filed with the CTA from Jan. 1, 2004, through Feb. 28, 2009, turned up dozens of similar complaints each of those years, including instances of disabled customers waiting for four, five and six buses at a time – sometimes in the bitter cold and blowing snow – before a lift or ramp would be lowered.

In fall 2000, Access Living sued the CTA for violating the federal Americans with Disabilities Act . The lawsuit, filed jointly with Equip for Equality and nine disabled plaintiffs, listed several complaints against the CTA, including failing to inspect and maintain bus lifts, and bus drivers failing or refusing to lower bus lifts for disabled passengers.

In the 2001 settlement, the CTA agreed, among other things, to keep a database of all ADA-related complaints and implement “Corrective Action Guidelines” to discipline employees who refuse to lower bus lifts. The CTA declined to discuss whether any employees have been disciplined as a result of violating these guidelines.

Some disabled riders say they have few problems using the transit system since the lawsuit was settled nearly eight years ago. Tim Sullivan, a disability advocate who also serves on the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee, says the CTA is doing a decent job of accommodating people with disabilities.

Sullivan, who has muscular dystrophy and has used a wheelchair since his early teens, has worked 25 years for Chicago ADAPT, a disability rights group.

He uses the CTA almost every day, boarding the Brown Line Train at the Armitage station two to three times a week sometimes up to three times a day.

Sullivan says he does not mind when an automatic door is broken – a problem found at 11 stations designated by the CTA as handicapped accessible when a team of Columbia College Chicago students visited all 144 of the CTA’s train stations earlier this year.

“I don’t nitpick at the little stuff …but what pisses me off more is an elevator not working for two weeks. I would rather have a broken door than an elevator. A door I can have someone open for me, but no one can carry me up the stairs in a wheelchair,” said Sullivan.

Sullivan says now there are usually one or two elevators out of service daily when before the lawsuit there would be 10 or more. The ADA does not require a specific timeframe for elevator repairs, but the settlement agreement instructs the CTA to make reasonable efforts to ensure they are working properly. The CTA declined to discuss its record of repairing equipment or whether it’s still following the terms of the agreement.

“I have had my problems with the CTA and I am not their defender, but I can always give the CTA the benefit of the doubt,” he says.

Laura Miller, the managing attorney for the local disabilities group Equip for Equality who worked for Access Living at the time of the lawsuit, says complaints have declined.

During the two years prior to the lawsuit, she says Equip for Equality and Access Living had received over 350 accessibility-related complaints. Despite the lawsuit, the number of CTA complaints is rising. There were 402 ADA-related complaints in 2008, and that number could be even higher by the end of 2009, with 70 complaints already recorded in the first two months of the year.

“People filed a lot of complaints and nothing changed. That’s when we decided to sue,” said Miller.

Miller says there wasn’t an effective place for people with disabilities to complain, but now the lawsuit requires the CTA to have a centralized system to compile and organize complaints. The CTA declined to comment on its procedure for organizing and maintaining such a database.

Both Stachwick and Miller say these days, their advocacy groups rarely receive complaints about the CTA, but that doesn’t mean all is fine.

“I don’t think the fact that we don’t get any complaints is because there are no problems,” Miller said. “People just complain directly to the CTA now. I guess we’d only hear about it if they didn’t get a response.”

Despite improvements made by the CTA, Willis says people like Sullivan “need to check again and this time pay attention.  They would see not everyone feels the same way as them.”

Willis says she still feels pain in her back and thigh and hasn’t given up her fight with the CTA.

“I just want someone to acknowledge that the accident happened.  You know, I have to live with this,” said Willis. “I now have more compassion for what others go through, and it’s important to me to fight for what I believe in.”

Danielle Desjardins and Kaitlyn McAvoy contributed to this report.

Contact Kirsten Steinbeck at [email protected].

Check out the rest of the CTA investigation:

Investigation Finds Handicapped Accessibility Issues Plague CTA by Zach Wilmes

Broken CTA Facilities, Slow Repairs Create Problems for Disabled Customers by Elizabeth Czupta

Complaints Against CTA Keep Climbing by Danielle Desjardins and Kaitlyn McAvoy

Disabled Riders Experience Years of Inconsistency in CTA Service by Danielle Desjardins

Advisory Group Works to Improve Access for Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

ChicagoTalks Video: CTA Improves But Some Disabled Still Complain by Elizabeth Czupta

INVESTIGATION: Disabled And Downtown On The CTA by Eli Kaberon

INVESTIGATION: The Inaccessible CTA by Kaitlyn McAvoy

Since the 1990 passage of the ADA, fixed-route public transit systems like the CTA have taken steps to become accessible, including installing elevators in train stations and providing lifts or ramps on buses. A lawsuit filed in 2000 by Access Living, Equip for Equality and nine disabled individuals required the CTA to take additional steps.

Yet three years after a court-ordered monitor stopped producing quarterly reports, interviews with riders and complaints filed with the Chicago Transit Authority show the system still has trouble providing consistent service to its disabled customers.

Rachel Siler, 23, said she frequently encounters impolite bus drivers, many of whom tell her the lift that allows her wheelchair to be wheeled onto a bus is broken. She’s found the CTA’s trains equally difficult to use. The elevators at train stations are frequently out of service, Siler said, and often incorrectly listed on the CTA’s Elevator Status Hotline (888-YOUR-CTA or 888-968-7282); the whiteboards in each station that are supposed to list elevator outages system-wide also are often wrong, she and other disabled customers say.

Larry Biondi, one of the plaintiffs in the Access Living case and a member of the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee, says the whiteboards, which were required as part of the settlement, often cause him problems. Born with cerebral palsy, the 46-year-old has used a wheelchair since childhood and requires an elevator to ride the “L.”

Biondi makes regular trips on the Blue Line from his office at Progress Center for Independent Living in Forest Park to the busiest train station – Clark & Lake – to get to meetings for the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee. Biondi said there have been multiple times when he checked the whiteboard posted at Forest Park to make sure Clark & Lake wasn’t on the list only to arrive in the Loop to find the elevator broken, forcing him to miss his meeting.

Siler, who works at Access Living, said she doesn’t understand why the problems she encounters keep happening.

“There has to be a more powerful elevator,” Siler said. “How can it go out so many times?”

CTA customers have filed complaints many times over the last five years reporting broken elevators, some out of service for weeks at a time. An unidentified customer who uses a wheelchair called the CTA in March 2004 to report the elevator at the Blue Line’s Rosemont station wasn’t working. A CTA employee helped the unidentified man up the station’s stairs while several passengers carried his wheelchair.

Three months later, a customer who was commuting to his job with a disabled co-worker filed a complaint about the elevator at Clark & Lake being out of service for the third time in two weeks. Frustrated by yet another elevator malfunction, the pair – one in a wheelchair – made their way to the Clinton station, only to discover the elevator was not accessible because of torn-up cement.

“We were forced to walk nearly a mile before taking the Metra back to Oak Park. It is ridiculous that the elevators at the busiest stop in Chicago are out of order so often,” the able-bodied customer said in his complaint.

The CTA declined to answer questions about the problems Siler, Biondi and others experience or provide details on how often elevators don’t work, making it impossible for many disabled customers to use the system. It’s also unclear if the lawsuit’s requirement that no fewer than three elevator-repair technicians and one helper be deployed whenever necessary is still in place.

In addition, the 2001 settlement required the CTA to rehabilitate every elevator at least 10 years old and to install automatic elevator activators, which prevent breakdowns due to severe weather. The settlement also mandated that the CTA strengthen its disciplinary procedures for employees who don’t properly assist disabled riders and maintain an electronic database of ADA-related complaints. And for five years, an independent monitor, attorney Shelley Sandow, reported each quarter on the CTA’s progress on making the system more accessible.

Sandow’s reports show the CTA did make improvements dictated by the settlement. But the types of problems described by the plaintiffs in the lawsuit – rude CTA employees and consistently malfunctioning equipment – continue to plague disabled customers.

A complaint filed in March 2008 by a customer traveling with her mother who uses a motorized scooter shows how one bad experience can sour riders. The two were waiting at a stop near the Field Museum when a CTA driver asked them if they wanted to get on the bus. The unidentified customer said the driver sarcastically asked if they realized it was a crowded bus, but the customer says there were empty seats and the aisles were not full.

“His attitude conveyed the perceived inconvenience we were causing him,” the customer wrote in an e-mail to the CTA. “Once he gave in to allow us onto the bus, I went to arrange the seats. He soon realized that the ramp would not automatically lower itself. Instead of lifting it with the handle as all other bus drivers had done for us before, he looked at me, told me the ramp wouldn’t work and expected me to get off the bus. We convinced him to help us lower the ramp manually, however, his condescending attitude had already hurt my mother.

“All in all, it was a saddening experience. I hope that no other disabled individual has to deal with him in the future. And I only pray my mother can enjoy the rest of her visit without being humiliated again for her disability.”

Because the CTA would not answer questions for this story, it’s not known what if any disciplinary action was taken against the driver.

Bruce McElerath, the board chairman of the Philadelphia-based Disabilities Rights Advocacy Group, said the problems riders with disabilities face on the CTA happen elsewhere, too. Rude employees and poor communication are issues nationwide, and several cities have had problems informing their riders of troubles on their tracks, he said. McElerath says this may be one of several flaws dating back to the ADA’s creation almost 20 years ago.

“One problem is nobody enforced the ADA, and it got placed under the Justice Department, who then would be overwhelmed with complaints and started throwing out cases because they didn’t have time,” McElerath said.

“A big issue now is that the ADA laws gave measurements for all bus doors and station entrances that fit manual wheelchairs, because that is what most people rode in the early 90’s when the ADA was passed. Since then, though, doctors have researched and technology has progressed, and we’ve learned that motorized wheelchairs and scooters are better for people. Problem is, these objects are much bigger and don’t fit through the doors.”

The CTA’s accessibility has improved since Congress passed the ADA. According to The Chicago Tribune, in August 1990 only 12 of the 143 train stations then in operation were labeled as handicap accessible; in August of 2001, 61 of 144 stations were. And now, the CTA says 88 stations – or about 61 percent – are accessible along with all 153 bus routes.

“Like all transit systems, they are far from perfect,” said Kevin Irvine, chairman of the CTA’s ADA Advisory Committee and senior transportation advocate for Equip for Equality, which also was a party to the 2001 lawsuit. “There is always room for improvement, but I think they are doing much better then they have historically.”

Laura Miller, managing attorney for Equip for Equality and one of the lawyers who helped Access Living with its case, continues to work with the CTA on spending $500,000 set aside for improving accessibility. So far, money has been spent on training videos for CTA employees and instructional videos for riders with disabilities detailing the best way to navigate the CTA. Other funds will be used to install centrally programmable LED/Audio systems for each of the 144 train stations.

Miller said she could not comment on whether the CTA is still complying with the requirements of the settlement, but she notes the LED/Audio system, which would bring instant updates on elevator malfunctions or train arrivals to each station, could address some of the issues Siler, Biondi and other disabled customers have had.

Siler continues to hope the CTA will become more accessible, though waiting for it to get better requires patience, she said.

“When are we ever going to be able to stop fighting with the CTA for our rights? It’s not going to get any better if we’re quiet and give up. It’s our freedom.”

Eli Kaberon contributed to this report.

Contact Danielle Desjardins at [email protected].

Check out the rest of the CTA investigation:

Investigation Finds Handicapped Accessibility Issues Plague CTA by Zach Wilmes

Broken CTA Facilities, Slow Repairs Create Problems for Disabled Customers by Elizabeth Czupta

Complaints Against CTA Keep Climbing by Danielle Desjardins and Kaitlyn McAvoy

Injury and Equipment Breakdowns Continue to Trouble Some Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

Advisory Group Works to Improve Access for Disabled CTA Riders by Kirsten Steinbeck

ChicagoTalks Video: CTA Improves But Some Disabled Still Complain by Elizabeth Czupta

INVESTIGATION: Disabled And Downtown On The CTA by Eli Kaberon

INVESTIGATION: The Inaccessible CTA by Kaitlyn McAvoy

Story by: Lisa Wardle

April 27, 2009 – With Olympics buzz going around Hyde Park, an old proposal to improve public transportation involving a new South Side CTA route that would run on existing Metra tracks has resurfaced. And it looks more likely to happen than ever before, according to backers of the plan and Ald. Toni Preckwinkle (4^th).

However, supporters of the proposed Gold Line were upset when funding for the proposal was not added to the March 26 deal made between the Chicago 2016 Olympic bid committee and the Coalition for an Equitable Olympics (CEO), a group working to promote long-term benefits for South Side neighborhoods.

“It’s difficult to get an improvement funded if there’s no agency promoting it,” said James Withrow, a University of Chicago professor and one of the promoters of the Gold Line plan. “[Bid committee] 2016 could have promoted this but they’re pretty much useless dealing with the communities around the sites.”

Though omission from the bid committee deal has proven to be a setback, Withrow said he feels the Gold Line plan will succeed.

The Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), the agency crucial to carrying out the plan, did not respond to repeated interview requests for this story.

For more than six years this idea has been on some residents’ minds. In 2003, Mike Payne, a typewriter repairman, hatched a plan for a new el route, which he called the Gray Line. He proposed the route run on Metra tracks from downtown Chicago through Hyde Park and other South Side neighborhoods, and end in the Blue Island neighborhood, roughly 130th Street and Damen Avenue. The proposed Gold Line is very similar, though the Gray Line would have been longer by about 40 blocks.

“I independently came up with a similar idea,” said Withrow. “But I took [Payne’s] proposal and pared away what I thought wouldn’t be as useful.”

Withrow said the RTA would need to back the plan to establish the Gold Line. The RTA oversees the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), which serves the city, as well as Metra and Pace, which both serve suburban areas.

“Metra is not sufficiently motivated to do this on its own,” said Withrow. “It’s a suburban agency. They’re not motivated to increase service here. On the other hand, CTA can’t just step in and say they want Metra’s tracks.”

The proposed Gold Line would benefit tourists during the Olympics if Chicago gets them, and would be an asset to the neighborhood long after the Games end, says the group Southsiders Organized for Unity and Liberation (SOUL). The South Side is currently not easily accessible from other areas in the city, which makes residents of southern Chicago neighborhoods less likely to leave their immediate vicinity.

“One student of mine wants to be a chef,” said Sydney Ahearn, a teacher at J. N. Thorpe Elementary. “I would love to take her on a trip to the culinary institute downtown, but I can’t. As it stands now, the South Side is not easily accessible, at least not safely.”

Shannon Kirwin, a University of Chicago graduate in support of the proposal, said that students at the university don’t leave Hyde Park often because transportation is such a hassle.

“To get anywhere, U of C students have two options: the number six or number 28 buses, which stop running around midnight, and the combination of the number 55 bus and the Red Line, which takes forever,” Kirwin said. “It goes without saying that improved transportation to the South Side would make a big difference to the quality of student life.”

Anyone can propose ideas to improve city public transportation, but proposals with greater support are more likely to gain the necessary momentum to reach the transit companies.

SOUL member Jake Werner said the first step in getting the Gold Line is to secure funding for a feasibility study. He and a group of supporters plan to take a bus from Hyde Park to Springfield on April 22 in order to lobby state legislators for this funding.

In addition to neighborhood residents, supporters of the proposal include State Sen. Kwame Raoul; State Reps. Barbara Flynn Currie and Will Burns; and aldermen Preckwinkle (4th), Leslie Hairston (5th), Sandi Jackson (7th), Michelle Harris (8th) and Willie Cochran (20th).

“It’s a group of people working together instead of just a few,” said Preckwinkle. “SOUL, CEO, the University of Chicago and residents are all helping.”