An open letter to the CTA

To whom it may concern:

I would guess that during a crisis, especially one like the one you encountered with this morning's derailment, things get rather hectic at all levels of your organization. This is completely understandable, even expected, and I am certain that you have quality people at every level who are trained to be able to handle the situation capably and efficiently. I understand that your spokesperson had announced the problem to the media, and that most news programs made it their top story this morning.

What I don't understand is why there is never any communication with the rider. While it is quite laudable that you alerted the media, not everyone riding the train watches the morning news, or listens to the radio. What they do have in common is that they all get on the train at a station. Why is there no station-level information for the riders? While it is true that there are more than 30 stations located north of Belmont, where the first word of a problem was revealed to the riders, there is at least one attendant at those stations, who could have informed the riding public of the problem. It is shameful that even though

I boarded the train more than two hours after this morning's derailment, oblivious to the fact that it was going to take me three times as long to get to work because a train derailed, essentially shutting down three train lines. I wasn't alone, either- most of the people I was on the train with expressed similar distaste with the situation. Informing us ahead of time at the most common source of information would be the best course of action. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, after all.

Sincerely,

[Logan's Dave]