According to ChicagoNow.com, nine CTA bus routes will be eliminated, 119 routes will have longer waits between buses and 41 bus routes will have shorter hours come Feb. 7. If that wasn’t bad enough, all of the “L” trains, except the inconspicuous yellow line, will run less frequently too. The service cuts will reportedly save the CTA $95.6 million. Only 20 bus routes are being saved from cuts in the city. One thousand CTA bus workers will not be as lucky.
I understand the fact that the CTA is going through financial constraints, but it just seems that the CTA should have had a larger discussion with the public before deciding which bus routes to cut. Perhaps they should have taken a closer look at which buses matter to the most people and which are vital to smooth transportation in Chicago.
It seems that they hastily picked the buses that will receive the ax. The X54 Cicero is one of the buses being cut, but it is probably one of the most important buses to people as it provides a connection to an empty desert of public transportation down Cicero Avenue.
Chicago takes pride in its strong public transportation system. When I travel to other cities, such as New York or San Francisco, I often find myself missing the CTA. Granted, the CTA may not be perfect, but it still got the job done.
I didn’t mind the awkward smells or the often littered floors. I was just looking to get where I needed to be in the quickest way possible. Who cares about luxuries? However, now it seems that the CTA can’t even get the job done. More delays and grumbled passengers await the CTA on Feb. 7. It's doubtful the CTA will receive love on Valentine’s Day this year.
Another question remains. Would things have turned out differently had Chicago gotten the Olympic bid for 2016? Would the city have ensured that Chicago remained top notch to retain its public appeal? If not, well, why did we even think we could have pulled off the Olympics? We can’t even save our buses.
Lynda Lopez, Prosser
