CTA Chairwoman Wisely Refuses To Let CTA Pimp Your Ride

By Scott Smith in News on Oct 5, 2006 3:47PM

Yesterday, When we wrote about the CTA’s plan for high-speed service out to the airports, we wondered if anyone – like CTA President Krank Kreusi – mentioned it to CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown before it hit the dailies. We naïvely thought that Frank wouldn’t be so careless as to let yet another CTA money-making scheme (see last year’s plan to buy fuel from Venezuela) hit the papers before first telling the person who heads the board who oversees the work he does.

Isn’t our naïveté refreshing?

The Sun-Times reports that Brown believes the plan to be a non-starter unless it “brought significant new operating dollars, capital funding or other efficiencies to the CTA.” As we told you yesterday, the initial rollout of this plan would do none of the above and would only provide riders with more room for their selves and bags on specially-equipped train cars. The CTA intended to measure the need for express train service by seeing how many people use the new cars, even though they wouldn’t actually be express trains. This is a bit like McDonald’s measuring the interest in a new barbecue chicken sandwich by seeing how many people buy a new chicken salad.

Of course, we’re a little jealous that Sun-Times transportation reporter Monifa Thomas is on Brown’s speed dial since she got the goods on Brown’s feelings before it appeared “in an upcoming post on her blog…”

We’ve often disagreed with the way CTA conducts business, but it’s good to know someone over there makes business decisions that actually make business sense. Way to be the enforcer, Ms. Brown.

This seems as good a time as any to start our Frank Kruesi Dead Pool. In the comments below, write the date you think Kruesi will be fired (or – more likely – laterally transferred to some other city job). The person who gets closest to the actual date will win one of our new long-sleeved Chicagoist t-shirts, available for purchase right here. To be eligible to win, be sure to leave your e-mail address in the appropriate field (we promise not to spam you).