The Chicago Transit Authority is in yet another budget crisis. This year the nightmare scenario includes eliminating two rail lines and over sixty bus lines, as well as jacking up fares up to $3.25. All this, of course, is just the latest in a steady stream of bad news for the CTA and its riders this year.
We've endured construction delays, a mass shooting on a South Side bus, and so many slow spots on major train lines that it will take years and billions of dollars to repair them all. It's enough to want me to take a cab, except the cab companies are lobbying to hike their fares, too.
Mass transit is the lifeline of a large city; it's one system you don't want to screw around with. It alleviates traffic congestion, helps boost tourism revenue, and, of course, helps zillions of schlubs like me get to and from work. Cities like Portland OR, Toronto, and Washington DC all boast mass transit systems that are better-funded and better-run than Chicago's. Hell, even Los Angeles, known for its car culture more than any other American city, is expanding its mass transit system. Why does the CTA have to crawl to Springfield every year, begging for money? It's idiotic.
It's yet another reason to just give up, hightail it to the suburbs, and just buy a car and get it over with.
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