ON the BI-LEVEL Commuter Newsletter, November 2009
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ON THE BI-LEVEL Commuter Newsletter, November 2009 Budget Public Hearing Schedule Metrareleases$613mbudget Wednesday, Nov. 4 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Despitetougheconomictimes ticketsandmonthlypassesonline DuPage County andbasesalestaxreceiptsthathave One-way fares withcreditanddebitcards. Clarendon Hills erodedtoa10-yearlow,theMetra Between downtown and Toencourageriderstobuytick- Village Board Room BoardofDirectorshasunveileda the zone indicated: etsatstationsandovertheInternet, 1 N. Prospect Avenue $613millionoperatingbudgetthat Metrawouldincreasethepenalty Clarendon Hills callsfornochangesincommuter Zone 2009 2010 foron-boardpurchasesto$5from McHenry County railservicein2010andincludes A $2.15 $2.25 $2.Thatpenaltyisnotassessedon Woodstock City Hall somerevisionstoitsfarestructure. B $2.35 $2.50 riderswhoboardatstationswhere City Council Chambers Metraisgratefultoourelected agentsarenotonduty. 121 W. Calhoun St. of cialsinSpring eld, rstfor C $3.35 $3.50 One-wayfareswouldincrease Woodstock addressingitsoperatingneedsby D $3.80 $4.00 about6percent,anaverageofabout Suburban Cook (North) increasingtheregionaltransporta- E $4.30 $4.50 30centsaticket.Inordertosim- Arlington Heights tionsalestaxlastyearandthen F $4.75 $5.00 plifyon-boardfarecollection,the Village Hall foraddressingitscapitalneedsby G $5.15 $5.50 increaseshavebeenroundedtothe Village Board Room approvingapublicworksbond nearestquarter.(Pleaseseethefare 33 S Arlington Heights Rd. programearlierthisyear.Thoseef- H $5.65 $6.00 chart.)Weekendfareswouldin- Arlington Heights fortsaregreatlyassistingMetrain I $6.10 $6.50 creaseto$7from$5.Thiswouldbe Suburban Cook (South) balancingitsbudgetandinvesting J $6.60 $7.00 the rstincreasesincetheweekend Homewood Village Hall initsinfrastructure. K $7.05 $7.50 fareprogramstartedin1991. Village Board Room Thenewfarestructureincludes M $8.05 $8.50 Metrahasadoptedavariety 2020 Chestnut Road adjustmentsinone-wayfaresand ofcost-containmentmeasures Homewood the rstchangeinthecostofweek- thatwillsaveabout$4million Thursday, Nov. 5 endpassessincetheprogrambegan passengers,”saidMetraChairman inadministrativecostsnextyear, 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. in1991. But the impact of the new CaroleR.Doris. includingleavingabout150posi- City of Chicago fare structure on regular Metra Metra’snewfarestructure, tionsun lled,freezingmanagement Metra riders will be limited, since most whichwouldstartFeb.1,2010,is salariesandaskingnon-unionem- 547 W. Jackson Blvd. use 10-ride tickets and monthly intendedtoencouragecustomers ployeestopaymorefortheirhealth 13th Floor Board Room touse10-rideticketsandmonthly Chicago passes and those fares won’t insurance. change. passes,whichalreadyofferadis- Publichearingsonthepro- Lake County “Anyfareadjustmentisdif cult, countovertheone-wayfares.Those posedbudgetandpresentationsto Grayslake Village Hall particularlyintoday’seconomy, multiple-rideoptionsareeasierthan theboardsofthesixcountiesin Village Board Room butwebelievewearetakinga evertopurchase,becauseMetra Metra’sserviceareawillbeheld 10 South Seymour responsible,targetedapproach recentlylaunchedanewwebsite overthenextfewweeks.(Seethe Grayslake thatissensitivetotheneedsofour thatallowsriderstobuy10-ride schedulesonthispage.) Kane County CountyBoardPresentations Geneva City Hall City Council Chamber McHenry County Board Lake County Board Will County Board 22 S. First Street Tuesday, Nov. 3 , 9 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 19, 9:30 a.m. Geneva County Board Room County Board Room County Board Room 667 Ware 18 N. County Street 302 N. Chicago Street Will County Woodstock Waukegan Joliet Joliet City Hall West Wing Cook County Board DuPage County Board Kane County Board Conference Room Wednesday, Nov. 4, 10 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 8, 9:45 a.m. 150 W. Jefferson Street County Board Room County Board Room County Board Room Joliet 118 N. Clark Street, 5th Floor 421 N. County Farm Road 719 Batavia Avenue, Building A Chicago Wheaton Geneva WWW.METRARAIL.COM 2 ON THE BI-LEVEL SOUNDING BOARD Got a question? We’ve got an answer Bears service to paint sections of LaSalle It has been impossible to enter of rush hour. We will continue Street Station. Will this involve the tunnel and Metra passengers to follow up with Amtrak regard- Does the Metra Electric line a change in color scheme? have no choice but to fi ght and ing the situation. still run the Bears extra trains Kyle push their way through or stand before and after the games? If in the hallway entrance until it Why the honking? so, where is the information to We’re painting the steel, clears and by then the 5:18 has get times for the trains running I recently moved near the which is now unpainted. The pulled out! LaSalle Street Station and for before the game? color will be a familiar one A.M.E. Lynne the most part I have gotten used to Chicago area residents – it to the regular Metra trains run- will be “Bolt Brown,” the same We’re sorry for the prob- Yep, it’s still running. The ning by my apartment. How- shade of brown that Chicago lems you’re been having. Let us ever, every weekend since I’ve Metra Electric has added a bridges are painted. explain what’s going on: “Bears Extra” train for all been here, the trains have been Amtrak owns and operates honking on their way out of the Sunday noon games, as well as Loading problems Union Station and we lease it the Sunday 3:15 p.m. and Sunday station. The 5:18 p.m. SouthWest from them. That Amtrak train is 7:20 p.m. kickoffs. Regular daily Melissa Service out of Union Station has scheduled to arrive at 4:41 p.m. train service will serve the Mon- been hell to board. An Amtrak and SWS No. 827 is scheduled day, Dec. 28 game. For more There has been temporary train arrives around 5 p.m. on to depart at 5:18 p.m. When the info click on “Service Updates” track construction going on on the track next to the SWS train Amtrak train is on time, it does at www.metrarail.com. weekends. In accordance with and hundreds of passengers are not interfere with the Metra Federal Railroad Administra- still unloading from the Am- train. But when it’s late, it’s too tion rules, the trains must sound LaSalle St. painting trak when the Metra passengers diffi cult for Amtrak to rearrange their horns to protect workers I’ve read that Metra has plans begin arriving to board the 5:18. track assignments in the middle near the rails. On the Bi-Level METRAPASSENGERS Published by Metra’s Media Relations Department. Send letters, questions or feedback to On the Bi-Level, Metra, 547 W. Jackson, Chicago IL, 60661- Providingthesafest,mostsecuretravel 5717. Or e-mail [email protected]. We can’t guarantee all letters will be printed or answered. Please keep let- environmentisMetra’shighestpriority. ters to less than 200 words and include your fi rst name, hometown and what line you ride. (Names are not required but strongly encouraged.) We reserve PassengerscanhelpkeepMetrasafeandsecure the right to edit letter for length and grammar. byreportingunattendedpackagesandsuspicious Board of Directors activity. Neverassumesomeoneelsewillmake Carole R. Doris thecall. Chairman DuPage County Larry Huggins Edward W. Paesel SEE Vice Chairman Director IF YOU SOMETHING, Chicago Suburban Cook County SAY SOMETHING Jack Schaffer Jack E. Partelow Treasurer Director MetraPassengersCall McHenry County Will County MetraPolice312-322-2800 Arlene Mulder Willis E. Pennington Jr. Secretary Director Suburban Cook County Cook County UnionPaci cPassengersCall UPPolice888-877-7267 Jim Dodge Caryl J. Van Overmeiren Director Director Suburban Cook County Kane County BurlingtonNorthernPassengersCall James C. LaBelle William A. Widmer III BNPolice800-832-5452 Director Director Lake County Suburban Cook County Philip A. Pagano Executive Director WWW.METRARAIL.COM NOVEMBER 2009 3 SOUND OFF “...the snarky, snotty observations by Metra’s customers about fellow commuters ... offer some of the best free entertainment around.” - SouthtownStar, March 13, 2009 Spitting image did not offer to move. For those of you who are After riding various Metra capable of standing or trying lines for the past 28 years, I to fi nd another seat, this is an thought I had seen it all. I’ve opportunity to help someone had my share of nail clippers, who is not as physically able to seat hogs, knees in my back, get around as you. Think of your rude cellphone users, nail polish, wives, sisters and mothers when strong cologne, nose pickers and they were pregnant. Would you many more. Last week on the have wanted them wandering Rock Island line I saw some- around a moving train, climb- thing new – a well-dressed man ing up stairs on that moving sat in the upper-row seats and train and sitting uncomfortably proceeded to get out a brown sideways? paper bag and his bag of chew. Kate He wadded up a bunch, loaded it into his mouth and proceeded We suspect this is a case of riders being oblivious, not inten- for the rest of the ride to spit into We can hearyounow– andwedon’twantto his brown paper bag, reload with tionally rude. In any case, it’s more chew and spit some more. AnideaoccurredtomeafterIcouldn’thelpoverhearinga a good reminder to everyone to Yuck! phoneconversationontheSouthWestservicetoday.Howabouta watch out for fellow passengers L.S. columndevotedtofunny,outrageous,odd,andweirdconversations who might need a seat. Rock Island overheardonthetrain.Here’swhatIheardtoday(edited): “GuesswhatIhadforlunchtoday.Yeah,Ihadsomecheese Backpack backers You’re right, that is a new fries.Iwasn’tfeelingthatwelltodaysoIthoughtthatwouldbea To the “longtime