Watch the Entire CTA Over 24 Hours

By Whet Moser

A software company used data feeds from public-transit systems around the world to create visualizations of their systems—and all their routes—over a 24 hour period. Chicago, the great grid city, is a lot more comprehensible than its peers. Read more

The Math Behind the CTA Fare Increase

By Whet Moser

Besides Rahm Emanuel's comments about how people can just drive instead of buying more expensive CTA passes, the Chicago Transit Authority really is in a bit of a fix, thanks to increased costs, declining federal subsidies, the disappearance of the stimulus, reduced state subsidies, and perhaps the fiscal cliff. Read more

A Hand-Built Model of the CTA and Less Amazing Real-World Transit News

By Whet Moser

A hand-built electric-train model of the CTA—with homemade model two-flats, laser-cut El railings, and vintage El cars—takes shape; the Peotone airport continues to plod along, even without Jesse Jr.; and will Chicago drivers be ok with BRT? Read more

Why Chicago Is Spending Millions on the Gary Airport

By Whet Moser

Years ago, Mayor Daley offered to shell out about a million and a half bucks a year to the Gary/Chicago International Airport to keep the state from taking control of O'Hare and Midway. Years later, the subsidy still exists. Read more

Play CTA Conductor on 'Railfan,' and Other Train Marginalia

By Whet Moser

There is a game that allows you to play a CTA conductor, fulfilling a dream I barely knew I had (though they chose the Brown Line, which is less than optimal). Plus: the history of Chicago's Belt Railway and a trip through the North Shore in the 1920s. Read more

Why Congestion Pricing Works, and Why People Don't Like It

By Whet Moser

CMAP is pushing for variable congestion pricing for express lanes on Chicago interstates. Turning your commute into arbitrage is rarely popular, but it has to be at least a bit unpopular to work—otherwise, it's hard to keep people off the roads. Read more

CTA President Forrest Claypool Talks Rail Politik

His thoughts on the Red Line shutdown, union negotiations, and his political future Read more

Politics Roundup: CTA Red Line Shutdown, CTU Strike Vote

By Whet Moser

Plus: private prisons and immigration in Crete and beyond; negative equity in the Chicagoland area; the ongoing costs of NATO to the Metra and the CPD; and more Read more

Vintage CTA Photos: A Brief Visual History of Our El Cars

By Whet Moser

From the hodgepodge of el tracks, streetcars, and horse cars of turn of the century Chicago, to the design indecisions of mid-century Chicago, to the sleek, SOM-defined el cars of today: a visual tour through mass transit design. Read more

Why the Kids Aren't Driving These Days

By Whet Moser

Millennials are interested in city living, both in the city and the suburbs—and cities and suburbs are meeting that demand. But social media is also a substitute for meetspace, and the Information Superhighway for the highway. Read more

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