Chicago: City on the Move
The future of public transit in Chicago looks doubtful. Last week, the Illinois House of Representatives shot down a plan to fund Chicago's Regional Transit Authority (which governs the CTA, Metra, and Pace) by shifting state gasoline sales tax money. Lawmakers refused to support it unless a deal is also reached on road, school, and government projects throughout the state. Unfortunately for public transit workers and riders, those kinds of negotiations take time. A lot of time.
As the buses and trains come closer and closer to losing the funding they need, the CTA board has had to take drastic measures. The board has voted to eliminate 81 bus routes, lay off 2400 employees, and raise fares as high as $3.25 (from the current $2.00) if there isn't a funding solution by January 20.
With the future looking so murky, perhaps state legislators would benefit by looking at public transit's past. Chicago: City on the Move provides a fascinating look at the history of the CTA along with over 200,000 pictures from the agency's archives. (The book is the perfect accompaniment to its predecessor, Richard Nickel's Chicago: Photographs of a Lost City.) Check out the view of Randolph Street in 1931 or Chicago's first electrically powered railway in 1893. Chicago certainly would not have been the booming success that it is without its public transit.
The book (available through Prairie Avenue Bookshop) shows how buses and trains help a city to grow, but also how much the vehicles themselves have changed. Can you believe that train cars once had luxurious upholstered seating and glass lampshades? As much as things change though, some things still remain the same. Chicago: City on the Move describes a 1935 film that was used to train CTA employees how to handle difficult riders. Even back then, they had to deal with intoxicated riders and passengers blocking entrances. 'A friendly request is all that is needed to get him to move forward.' I'm sure many current 'eL' riders will get a chuckle out of that.
Maybe if a few of these books found their way to Springfield, lawmakers would be able to see just how important Chicago's public transit system really is.
Photo credit: Moving Beyond Congestion, Prairie Avenue Bookshop
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