When Public Transportation Doesn't Work for the Public

(While I write primarily about my own public transportation provider, I am sure this applies to other cities as well).

Having grown up in the city of Chicago the better part of my life, I know as well as any other Chicagoan, that relying on buses and trains to get you to work is as reliable as hitting the lottery. And it gets worse if you move to the suburbs, especially where the majority of the riders are in the ethnic minority.

I live in the south suburban area of Chicago and have had to go back to pt (public transportation) to travel to and from work while my vehicle awaits repairs.

When I drove to work, I could leave home at 7:15 am and arrive at about 7:45 am. A full fifteen minutes before I was to start. Now I have to leave home at 6:40 am to catch the 6:50 am eastbound bus (my place of employment is southwest of my home); then transfer to a westbound bus to stop B, and finally transfer again onto my final bus that drops me off two blocks east of job; arriving at 7:40 am.

It doesn't sound all that much (and it really isn't) but I feel it should not take twice as long to get to the same place from the same starting point and you're supposed be providing service that is to beat driving!

And if I have to endure this, imagine what some deal with when their commute is even longer.

And heaven forbid you miss your connecting bus (which does happen because one bus is late arriving at assigned placed and connecting bus doesn't wait for riders to cross busy intersections (I've seen it happen), thereby rendering its victims - the rider, helpless, and most importantly, LATE for work.

They will be late because many times the next scheduled bus/train is not due for anywhere from 45 minutes to and hour.

I don't know about you, but I find this all to be a bit ridiculous.

I point out the south suburban area because it is filled with minorities and void of employment opportunities. The people here want to work but jobs are scarce, so they're forced to work in areas where bus service is limited if not restricted.
The same cannot be said of our northern neighbors. They have more than adequate transportation available to their riders complete with schedules that meet the needs of the people, not the needs of the industry.

We pay more in fares and are getting less in service.

If I understand it; we can buy a transfer and get two additional rides within a two-hour time frame, but cannot ride in reverse direction if using local fare...I think I need a degree or something to figure this out. When I was a child riding the CTA (in Chicago); you bought a transfer, rode the bus in any and all directions as many times as you felt like it in a 1-hour time frame. Unless it was Sunday. Then we had the SuperTransfer that we could use for 24-hours with NO restrictions and only paid one dollar for it.

They took that away and now it can cost almost $8.00 to get around on any given day/time.

This to me is as ludicrous as I have ever heard.

This is supposed to be "public transportation". The alternative to driving your vehicle, allowing you to spend more time and money with friends and family. How can you do this when the majority of both are going to public transportation's coffers?

There has got be a "better way to fly" (local pt's jingle)...what a joke!

(Don't mention taxi's...no two charge the same fare and it costs too much either way you go!)

The best CTA was the rock band Chicago (CTA was their original name)...they were always on time, and never broke you. "Does anybody really know what time it is?...)