Jeff Woelker : Chicago SEO, SEM, and Online Marketing Consultant

Well, you drove me to it CTA. I went out this weekend in preparation for 3 track hell and bought myself a Fuji Absolute for my new ride to work. It’s my first road bike and I think it’s pretty sweet and from the reviews I’ve read, it’s a pretty good value and easily customizable for when I want to graduate to a “big boy bike”. Much love to my friends over at Performance Bike at Halsted and Diversey. Where some other bike shops laughed at my beat to hell mountain bike when I brought it in two years ago, you guys were eager to give me a hand. In return, you have a new customer.

And as for you CTA and your so called “plan” for the 3 track nightmare which you have brought on the north side, I will say that I am anything but pleased. For the past 20 years, Daley I and II (Corruption Boogaloo*) have worked to bring the northside and the city in general back from the cities of the 70’s and 80’s, but I think this project may undo a large portion of this. Currently, the CTA is underfunded and overused. How will the funding perform if many people like me start taking their bike, taking the Metra, walking to work, begin driving again, or start working from home more often? What happens to revenue and capital funding at that point? I hope that someone at the CTA thought about this prior to saying “Sure, let’s inconvenience many of our customers. We can just tell them to leave for work early and come home late. No big deal.” If I leave for work early, but arrive at the same time as I normally would and I leave work late and arrive home later than I normally would, I could probably stomach that for about 2 or 3 months. 3 years is a bit much to ask of anyone. I imagine that many businesses will also see a decline in revenue as a result of the CTA’s decision, and if these businesses close, residents in that neighborhood will also begin to evaluate their choice of neighborhood. The implications of a radical disruption in CTA transit are much larger than inconveniencing people on the northside.

Either way, I’m ready for whatever happens.

Chicago Bicycle Federation
Chicago Bike Map

*Corruption Boogaloo provided by my good friend Shylo