Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on November 5, 2015 at 7:43pm

"I took the center of the lane because a car was parked in the bike lane ahead. He yelled at me, saying I'm not allowed in the road, only in the bike lane on the right. He forced me into oncoming traffic. "

Que to the bike lanes don't make us safer guy.

Yeah Brian, there are a more & more psycho CTA drivers out there then ever before. Report it to the CTA and then start believing in U.F.O.'s, Santa Claus and the Cubs winning the world series. Good luck with that.

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Permalink Reply by Jeremy on November 6, 2015 at 8:25am

Yes, I don't think the city or any of the agencies really care about receiving resident input.  If they did, they would be actively seeking it.

I have used the CTA's fill-in-the-blank form for complaints and complements.  I fill in date, time, route number, & bus number, and have received back messages that they won't follow through because I didn't put in the stop where I boarded the bus.  That doesn't seem like necessary information that would prevent contacting the driver.

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Permalink Reply by Brian on November 6, 2015 at 8:34am

I sent both an email note to their feedback address and filled out the online form. Got a personal response to both first thing this morning from the same person... assuring me the information would be shared with the manager of that driver. So...at least I got that. 

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Permalink Reply by Skip Montanaro 0mi on November 6, 2015 at 12:17am

I recall reading somewhere that bike lanes aren't to keep bikes in, but to keep others out. I hope you got his bus number. With the bus number and time, they should be able to identify the driver. CTA does respond to input from their website. I've written a couple times about bus drivers running red lights.

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Permalink Reply by Brian on November 6, 2015 at 1:18am

Well...for whatever it's worth...or not...I wrote about the experience to the CTA, with the bus number and a photo of the driver I snapped further up the road. 

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Permalink Reply by Brian on November 10, 2015 at 1:14am

I received two phone calls about my complaint about the dangerous bus driver. One from the customer relations people saying they would most definitely forward it to his manager. And one call from his manager telling me they called him in over the matter. So...it does at least sound as if they took the matter seriously. 

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Permalink Reply by Steve G on November 10, 2015 at 3:04am

Good one. I have had similar experience reporting CTA bus drivers. This is one thing cyclists can do that does make a difference to driver behavior. Also, other drivers will hear about the complaint and understand that cyclists have cell phones and email, and know how to use them ;).

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on November 10, 2015 at 6:11am

That's encouraging. There has been occasions when I've seen dangerous driving by a CTA driver and was fortunate enough to spot a supervisor a little further along on the route. I stopped to talk with the supervisor and they did talk to the driver. 

FYI - if you spot someone in a CTA van stopped at a corner (or someone in a CTA uniform standing on a corner) with a clipboard, that's usually a supervisor. At a major station, the supervisor is often in a little booth.

On one of those occasions, the bus was getting close to Howard station so I talked to the supervisor there. I waited around to watch and that bus driver DID get an earful.

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