CTA Improvement Project By: Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep

The purpose of his project is to bring CTA (Chicago Transit Authority) up to date with technology in order for riders to be happy, and bring rider ship on CTA up.

One major problem affecting CTA is when buses are delayed interrupting the time schedule causing the buses to be bunched together. Therefore, riders are stuck waiting for another bus for longer periods of time on the same route.

School has just let out and the 79 th St bus is running every 10min. The first 79 th St bus leaves at 3:00pm and arrives at its first few stops on time. When it reaches Cottage Grove, the bus stop is loaded with passengers. Since the 3:00pm bus is being delayed, the 3:10 bus catches the 3:00 bus very quickly. Therefore, two buses which were supposed to be 10 minutes apart, are now less than a minute apart.

GPS systems should be installed on buses and bus stop signs. With the GPS system on the bus, it tells the driver how far the next bus stop is from its present location. Then, the signal from the bus goes to the nearest bus stop which informs waiting passengers the estimated time and distance of the next bus.

At the “L” station students have to wait for attendants to use their reduced fare cards.

Jerry lives in the Chatham community and goes to school in Roseland. He has to get on the “L” and take a bus from the 95 th St. station. In the morning he walks to the “L” and puts in his “Reduced Transit Fare Card” and he has to wait for one of the attendants to let him through the gate. He hears his train coming and he still is waiting for the attendant. The train leaves. Frustrated, he decides to hop the gate. All of a sudden, he feels a hand grab his shirt. Of course it is the attendant, and he is accusing Jerry of hopping the gate without paying. Jerry argues that he has been waiting a while for someone to let him through and he is now late for school because he missed two trains. The attendant tells him to leave the station before he calls the Police.

CPS and CTA should partner up and issue a Student Chicago Card™(aka SmartCard) so students can put money on their card and have their fares deducted as reduced instead of full.