fengi
in
chicago_el
Blue Line Shutdown, Information Failure
This morning as I arrived at the Logan Square Blue Line station, I encountered hundreds of passengers streaming out. The line had shut down and everyone was intructed to disembark.
After that, it was chaos.
The speaker system at the Logan Square has been broken for some time, rendering all announcements inaudible.
The CTA station rep was useless. People stood patiently while he shugged smiled, fiddled with his radio and mumbled. Despite the CTA having intercoms, radios, computers and phones, he seemed utterly bewildered. I don't know if he couldn't contact anyone, if no one knew anything.
I asked if the entire line was shut down, he mutter, "Um, guess so." That was it. No active attempt to engage passengers, no telling people unfamiliar with the stop where to go.
Later I found out a "medical emergency" shut down the line between Montrose and California. It would have been extremely helpful if anyone at Logan had known they get back on at the next stop, but there was no way to find this out.
The CTA help line was swamped and, according to someone who got through, had no information except there was a shutdown. The same was true for website alert until around 9AM.
Passengers shouldn't have to rely on calls and websites, it should be available at the station. If there's only going to be one employee per stop, they should have decent communication protocols, including how to instruct a crowd where to go.
I suspect the shutdown procedures are geared to a larger interconnected staff used to improvising with the unexpected and a lack of clear information. Now it's one person with apparently a very limited job description who will only do the minimum.
After that, it was chaos.
The speaker system at the Logan Square has been broken for some time, rendering all announcements inaudible.
The CTA station rep was useless. People stood patiently while he shugged smiled, fiddled with his radio and mumbled. Despite the CTA having intercoms, radios, computers and phones, he seemed utterly bewildered. I don't know if he couldn't contact anyone, if no one knew anything.
I asked if the entire line was shut down, he mutter, "Um, guess so." That was it. No active attempt to engage passengers, no telling people unfamiliar with the stop where to go.
Later I found out a "medical emergency" shut down the line between Montrose and California. It would have been extremely helpful if anyone at Logan had known they get back on at the next stop, but there was no way to find this out.
The CTA help line was swamped and, according to someone who got through, had no information except there was a shutdown. The same was true for website alert until around 9AM.
Passengers shouldn't have to rely on calls and websites, it should be available at the station. If there's only going to be one employee per stop, they should have decent communication protocols, including how to instruct a crowd where to go.
I suspect the shutdown procedures are geared to a larger interconnected staff used to improvising with the unexpected and a lack of clear information. Now it's one person with apparently a very limited job description who will only do the minimum.