WBEZ | Metra

Metra installing defibrillators on all its trains

Thu, 27 Dec 2012 13:25:00 -0600

The Chicago-area's commuter rail agency is installing hundreds of portable, easy-to-use defibrillators on all of its trains.

Metra is only the second major metropolitan transit agency in the country to make the machines available for use in the event a passenger suffers a cardiac arrest.

In 2009, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority commuter trains became the first in the U.S. to be equipped with automated external defibrillators.

Defibrillators are required on airliners and in public places such as sports stadiums. But cost and lack of training have prevented a greater proliferation.

A $536,000 grant from the Regional Transportation Authority is helping to pay for Metra's defibrillators.

Metra Chairman Brad O'Halloran says he hopes staff will never have to use the machines but that it's important to make them available if needed.

Metra board approves price hike

Fri, 16 Nov 2012 12:34:00 -0600

The Metra board voted to raise the price of its ten-ride tickets today.

The board voted 8-2 in favor of the fare hike. The price of ten-ride tickets will jump about eleven percent starting in February.

"The price of a ten-ride ticket actually is the price of nine full fares," said Metra spokesperson Meg Reile. "Today the board voted to change that so that the ticket is actually the cost of 10 full fares."

Depending on the distance of the ride, the 10-ride tickets will cost between $2.75 and $9.25 more.

Rates for monthly passes and single ride tickets will stay the same.

“In the meantime, (10-ride) tickets purchased between today and January 31...will only be valid until February 28,” Reile said. “That was also a measure today passed by the board to prevent stockpiling.”

Metra officials said they expect to make more than $8.3 million from the price hike in 2013. The money will be used for capital improvements.

The news comes after a major fare hike for all Metra customers earlier this year -- where some travelers saw prices rise by more than 30 percent.

October 30, 1972: Chicago's great train wreck

Tue, 30 Oct 2012 05:00:00 -0500

Each workday, Chicago’s commuter railroads transport over 200,000 people, safely and without incident. This is one day it didn’t happen that way.

The story takes place on the line now known as the Metra Electric. At approximately 7:25 a.m., northbound Illinois Central train #416 overshot the 27th Street station. The train was made up of four new, double-deck, lightweight cars. The engineer stopped the train and began backing up.

Three minutes behind, train #720 was moving down the tracks at 40 mph. This was an express, with six older, single-level cars of heavy steel. When the first train passed the station, it had tripped a block signal, indicating that the track was clear. Coming through the morning fog, the engineer of #720 saw the leading train too late.

The front car of #720 slammed into the rear of #416, and smashed straight through, before grinding to a halt on the tracks. People screamed. Those who could scrambled for exits doors. But in the two telescoped cars, the passengers were caught in a tangled, mangled mess.

By coincidence, the accident occurred less than a hundred yards from Michael Reese Hospital, and within a few blocks of Mercy Hospital. Medical personnel from both facilities rushed to the scene. Alerted by extra alarms, the first wave of 240 firemen arrived. They began rescuing trapped people from the wreckage – and removing the bodies of the dead.

By early afternoon, rescue operations were completed. An “outdoor hospital” had been set up on the station platform, to evaluate injuries and set priorities for treatment. Dozens of ambulances and police squadrols – and two helicopters – were used to transport the victims to seven hospitals.

Since the Illinois Central was an electric railroad, there had been no fire – which may have been the only positive thing about the accident. Trains #416 and #720 had carried a combined total of about 1,000 passengers. Of that number, about 350 were injured. The final death toll was 45. Mayor Richard J. Daley, who lived nearby and was an early visitor to the scene, ordered the city’s flags to be flown at half-mast.

The 1972 accident was the deadliest train wreck in the city’s history. As a result of the tragedy, the rears of all Chicago commuter cars are now painted in high-visibility orange.

Metra says NATO summit cost them $800,000

Thu, 07 Jun 2012 09:27:00 -0500

Metra says the NATO summit held in Chicago last month cost the commuter rail agency $800,000.

The Chicago Tribune reports that some Metra board members say they're surprised the costs weren't higher.

Metra says the money includes $400,000 in lost passenger revenue for customers who stayed away and money for extra security expenses, including bomb-sniffing dogs and hiring outside security firms.

Metra Chief Financial Officer Thomas Farmer is expected to present the NATO costs at Friday's meeting of the Metra Board.

Metra Board member Jack Schaffer says his agency serves "a great city, and occasionally we have to pay the bill."

According to Metra, the total tab for the NATO summit was about $1 million but the agency expects the federal government to reimburse it about $200,000.

Commuters await NATO summit effect news

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:41:11 -0500

Passengers that use Chicago's Metra commuter trains will know by the end of the month whether security during the NATO summit will affect service.

Metra spokesman Michael Gillis said Wednesday the U.S. Secret Service will announce finalized security plans at the end of April. Included in those plans will be whether rail lines that run under McCormick Place will be shut down during the summit, which will be held at the convention center May 20 and 21.

The security measures could have an effect on the South Shore and Metra Electric lines, as well as Amtrak and the Canadian National Railway.

The final day of the summit falls on a Monday, when there would be about 18,000 commuters alone on 172 Metra Electric trains using tracks under McCormick Place.

Third Lake Forest High School student dies in Metra accident

Mon, 26 Mar 2012 15:14:00 -0500

A Lake Forest High School student was struck and killed by a Metra train last weekend, the third student from the north-suburban school to be killed by a Metra train since January.

Lake Forest Deputy Police Chief Glenn Burmeister said Monday that all three student deaths were intentional. The three cases have very little in common, though all of them were male and attended the same high school. The male discovered Sunday was 18 years old, and a senior in high school.

Lake Forest High School Principal Jay Hoffmann released a statement to parents about the incident, writing "It is with indescribable sorrow that I am writing once again to inform you of the loss of one of our students." The student, he said, was "talented and bright" and "will be missed." Hoffman encouraged students to talk to outside organizations for support, as the high school is currently on spring break.

The two other boys were hit by Metra trains in January and March. Both were 15 years old.

Data from the Lake County Health department show there were 67 suicides in 2010, a 10 percent increase from 2009. The department established a suicide prevention task force in January.

Deputy Chief Burmeister, a member of the task force, said meetings are held monthly to look at the larger aspect of suicides in the community and how to deal with and help prevent them.

$7.3 million OKed for downtown ‘bus rapid transit’

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:56:00 -0600

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration has decided to channel more than $7.3 million in tax increment financing toward a “bus rapid transit” line downtown, according to transportation and economic-development officials.

The money will combine with an announced $24.6 million from the Federal Transit Administration to speed up trips between Union Station, the Ogilvie Transportation Center, several Chicago Transit Authority lines, Streeterville and Navy Pier.

“About 50 percent of the commuters who come to work every day in Chicago’s central business district arrive by bus or train,” said Peter Skosey, vice president of the Metropolitan Planning Council, a nonprofit group working on the project. “If they’re getting off at those Metra stations in the West Loop, it’s quite a hike over to North Michigan Avenue or even just to State Street. So this really facilitates the use of transit for downtown Chicago.”

Bus rapid transit, known as BRT, delivers many benefits of rail at a fraction of the cost. The most advanced BRT systems have sprung up in Bogotá, Colombia; Guangzhou, China; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Ahmedabad, India.

BRT remains largely unknown in the United States. Modest systems are running in Cleveland, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas and Eugene, Oregon.

In 2008, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration said it was moving on a BRT pilot project. But the city bungled an application for $153 million in federal funding for it.

Emanuel’s mayoral transition plan last year promised a “full bus rapid transit pilot” within three years. The pilot, according to the plan, will include “dedicated bus lanes, signal preemption, prepaid boarding or on-board fare verification, multiple entry and exits points on the buses, limited stops, and street-level boarding.”

The Chicago Department of Transportation is keeping lips tight about its design of the downtown line, known as both the “East-West Transit Corridor” and “Central Loop BRT.” It’s not clear the design will include many of the timesavers listed in Emanuel’s plan. A CDOT plan announced in 2010 would remove cars from some traffic lanes, rig key stoplights to favor the buses, improve sidewalks, install bicycle lanes and build specially branded bus stops equipped with GPS-powered “next bus” arrival signs.

The CTA, meanwhile, has a separate $1.6 million federal grant to plan BRT options along a 21-mile stretch of Western Avenue. Another $11 million from the feds is funding bus improvements this year along the South Side’s Jeffrey Boulevard. That line, though billed as BRT, will lack many features for speeding up trips.

Congressmen form united front against transportation bill

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 23:17:00 -0600

Illinois Congressmen from both parties joined with Chicago transit officials Monday to criticize a House transportation funding bill that would cut hundreds of millions of dollars from roadway and mass transit projects in the state.

Rep. Bob Dold, R-Ill., and Rep. Dan Lipinski, D-Ill., said the House Republican-backed American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act of 2012, which narrowly passed the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, would cut $650 million in funding for Illinois roadways.

They said it puts at risk another $450 million for public transportation funding, because it makes mass transit programs compete for a 20 percent share of the motor fuel tax and other user fees from the highway trust fund that have been guaranteed for 30 years.

Dold said going against his own party is the right thing to do.

"Now there's no question that we need to tighten our belt, but I still think there are opportunities to tighten our belt and fund our priorities, of which transportation has to be one," said Dold.

"They're investments that we have to make. It would be very short-sighted not to make these investments today," said Lipinski.

Both lawmakers said the $260 billion transportation funding bill is expected to come up in the House for a vote this week.

Lipinski said the bill in its current form doesn't have the votes to pass the House and would be dead on arrival in the Senate.

An alternative transportation bill is being considered in the Senate.

Calls for cleaner air in Union Station

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 21:11:00 -0600

Illinois U.S. Senator Dick Durbin is calling for better air quality in Chicago's Union Station. In 2010 the Chicago Tribune found high levels of diesel soot and air pollution on platforms and in train cars at Union Station.

Joel Africk with the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago said it's a serious problem.

"The diesel exhaust we're talking about contains 40 chemicals that have been proven to cause cancer. Diesel exhaust pollution causes asthma attacks, it causes heart attacks," Africk said.

Federal agencies along with Metra and Amtrak did their own study and instituted some changes in response. One result was Metra installing filters to each train car which it says reduces pollution inside cars by 75 percent on average.

But Durbin said the ventilation system in an adjacent building isn't working and is causing exhaust to back up in the station. Durbin sent a letter to the owners of the old Post Office on Monday asking them to fix their system. Amtrak filed a complaint in court last week asking the same.

At the press conference Monday, the company that owns the old Post Office delivered a written statement that said they're sending three of their extractor fans in for repairs this week.

When news of this new statement reached Durbin, he said, "I'm glad to see that they're here - welcome. And I didn't have to serve a subpoena to bring them."

The following video shows exhaust in the area of Union Station that sits directly below the Post Office building. You can see the exhaust by looking just below the lights on the ceiling.

5 Machete Questions with comedian Hans Holsen

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:37:00 -0500

Chicago comedy aficionados know there are few funnier performers around than Hans Holsen. An ensemble member of musical improv troupe Baby Wants Candy, a Barrel of Monkeys performer and teacher, an alum of Amsterdam's Boom Chicago, and a veteran of just about every comedy stage in town, Holsen lugs a trunk with plenty of stickers. Last time he played the Machete, he took on molecular gastronomy savant Grant Achatz. Tomorrow he tackles public transit.

1. What's stuck in your craw this week, and how will you be approaching it in the Machete?

This story in the Trib: Metra plans to scale back proposed fare hike for Chicago riders.

So Metra planned up to 69% fare increases, then everyone complained. Who does Metra think she is - Rahm? (Probably not. Also, does Metra have a gender? I hope so.) In the Machete I'm going to play a beleaguered higher-up at Metra trying to explain a fare hike everyone can live with.

2. If you could do anything else on this Saturday afternoon besides perform against your will in The Paper Machete, it would be...

Having a pint of ale at Owen & Engine with my wife. I just read about the English-style pub in a week-old copy of NewCity. Man, that paper has lost some weight, hasn't it? In comparison, it makes the Reader look like, I don't know, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie! Am I right? (Timely, and much appreciated, zing!)

3. In your entire schooling, what was the subject you in which you performed most poorly? Have you been required to demonstrate knowledge of that subject since?

Driver's Ed. Yes.

4. a) Name your favorite Kardashian or Haagen Dasz flavor, and give at least one sentence of explanation. b) Name your least favorite Kardashian or Haagen Dasz flavor, and give at least one sentence of explanation.

a.) My favorite Kardashian? I didn't know you could have a favorite Kardashian. I say Kotter. Kotter's my favorite, cause I made him up. He's the long-lost brother of the famous sisters, and he's such a gourd. He builds model miniature electric lawnmowers. He uses twisty straws. He's in constant contact with a fax-pal in Belarus.

b.) Least favorite Haagen Dasz flavor? Racist Sorbet.

5. As a member of the Chicago performance-art community, what lucrative career do you now wish you'd chosen to pursue instead?

Professional bocce player.

The Paper Machete is a weekly live magazine at the Horseshoe in North Center. It's always at 3 pm, it's always on Saturday, and it's always free. Listen to the most recent The Paper Machete Radio Magazine here, or download it from iTunes here.