Heroes in traffic
I was blown away to read on their
official website that close to a million people ride every single day with the
CTA buses alone. Even though most of us would chose without a blink the
convenience of a personal car, this kind of public transportation can be a
great way to learn a thing or two about the American culture.
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It’s nice to hop on the bus and be
greeted by a usually chocolate skin driver, who graciously steers the
wheel as if he would drive a tiny Japanese kei car, not a 30.000 pounds wheeled
mastodon, almost the size of my living room. I am sure it’s not their job to
entertain me, but I can’t help smiling when I tap my Ventra card to the
reader and see a blue uniform out of the corner of my eye.
The revolving door of dangers a CTA
driver faces every single time a new passenger walks in makes me appreciated
them even more. Like that time when a bus operator confiscated a gun and put an
end to what could have become a tragedy. Thanks to guys like him and more than
23-thousand surveillance cameras, violent crime has
fallen more than 30 percent in the first six months of this year compared to
last year, according to a CTA recently study. "No matter where you go on
the CTA system, there are 23,000 eyes on you", CTA President Forrest
Claypool announced in July.
This is not to say bad things don’t happen anymore on Chicago buses, but it’s quite comforting for riders to know
that they are not completely helpless. Especially for those like RedEye
journalist, Tracy Swartz, who spend more than two and a half years riding all 139 CTA bus routes from start to finish. This unusual
marathon has completely changed the way she views not only the public
transportation, but the city itself.
Whatever
route you choose, I hope you have a smooth ride!
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