The strange case of an out-of-service CTA bus picking up passengers
Filed under "this is something you don't see every day."
Recently, after stopping by my mom's place to pick up some things, I head to Clark Street to catch Route 22 back to my apartment. It was around 9:00 PM, which is when the bus, which runs 24/7 but doesn't have the best frequently or consistency, becomes even more of a rare sight.
I see the bus approach... but, as I get closer, I notice the big glowing orange destination sign over the front says "not in service" and I sigh, resigning myself to a 15+ minute wait.
But as it got closer still, I noticed something odd. There were passengers on board. And then, the bus pulls up to the stop. The door opens.
Figuring that maybe the destination sign is wrong (it happens sometimes), I get on board and pull out my Ventra card to swipe my 30-Day pass, but the driver waves me off.
"No pay," he said. "And I'm only going as far as Foster."
"That's fine," I said, which it really was. I didn't need to go that far.
As the bus headed toward my street, the scene repeated itself. The driver stopped to pick up passengers, told them they don't need to pay, told them he was only going as far as Foster.
As anyone who's ever tried to catch Route 92/Foster bus knows, a lot of buses take Foster Avenue to reach the North Park garage. You can see dozens and dozens of buses with "not in service" destination signs pass you before actual Route 92 bus stops by.
The only thing I could think was that the driver was heading to North Park Garage and decided to pick up some passengers along the way... but why? Altruism? Some kind of weird screw-you to the management?
We'll probably never know.
Recently, after stopping by my mom's place to pick up some things, I head to Clark Street to catch Route 22 back to my apartment. It was around 9:00 PM, which is when the bus, which runs 24/7 but doesn't have the best frequently or consistency, becomes even more of a rare sight.
I see the bus approach... but, as I get closer, I notice the big glowing orange destination sign over the front says "not in service" and I sigh, resigning myself to a 15+ minute wait.
But as it got closer still, I noticed something odd. There were passengers on board. And then, the bus pulls up to the stop. The door opens.
Figuring that maybe the destination sign is wrong (it happens sometimes), I get on board and pull out my Ventra card to swipe my 30-Day pass, but the driver waves me off.
"No pay," he said. "And I'm only going as far as Foster."
"That's fine," I said, which it really was. I didn't need to go that far.
As the bus headed toward my street, the scene repeated itself. The driver stopped to pick up passengers, told them they don't need to pay, told them he was only going as far as Foster.
As anyone who's ever tried to catch Route 92/Foster bus knows, a lot of buses take Foster Avenue to reach the North Park garage. You can see dozens and dozens of buses with "not in service" destination signs pass you before actual Route 92 bus stops by.
The only thing I could think was that the driver was heading to North Park Garage and decided to pick up some passengers along the way... but why? Altruism? Some kind of weird screw-you to the management?
We'll probably never know.