Absolutely insane how a company that's historically been so hell-bent on protecting their IP would go for this, but I guess anything is fair game if they can extract profits and screw over creative people in the process.

CTA's slow zone map for November: A whopping 742ft of slow zone was removed from the Congress branch without any new sections added! That just leaves 82% of it still restricted to 35mph or less... The lack of urgency around fixing the Blue Line is so frustrating.

"Calibri is woke" was not on my bingo card.

It's incredible to watch the difference between Montreal's REM -- which has been heralded as the transit of the future -- vs the slowness of Toronto's new Line 6. Automated light metros stay winning over surface "light rail".

Exactly. The Blue Line is isolated which makes it a prime candidate for automation. Freeing up those operators to be shifted to other routes would improve frequencies and reliability on the whole network.

One counterintuitive truth I learned when I first moved out of Florida: sometimes the coldest days are actually when it's sunny, while overcast days tend to be warmer ("warm" as in 30°F instead of 15). The winter sun is a false promise, luring you into getting blasted by Arctic winds.

Happy tracks-on-fire season to all those who celebrate!

I know it's far down the priority list, but at some point can we figure out some sound absorption in the Blue Line tunnels? The section between Grand and Division is unbearable.

This project is good, even if it feels a bit silly to spend this much time and money building a new electric rail line if they're not going to run it at least every hour. I definitely recommend checking out Keith's YouTube channel for more great videos!

If Ontario really cares about "fighting delays", then let's queue up every image of a Toronto Streetcar getting stuck in traffic because an idiot driver is blocking the tracks. Oh, what's that? You don't see anyone outside of a car as human? Got it.

On today's episode of "Pace Hates Its Passengers": My husband is trying to take the 714 from Wheaton to Naperville, but there is a detour around parts of downtown Wheaton, so he missed his bus. I only found out about the detour on Pace's website, but there is nothing posted on the bus stop signs.

Date night to see Wicked Part 2!

You know, just for once I'd like to go a whole day without adding another example to the list of "things which would get a President removed from office if they were done by literally anyone other than Trump."

It's kinda goofy that we use diesel locomotives for the BNSF Metra, particularly east of Downers Grove, when some of the stops are closer together than CTA stations. Also goofy how many stops are peak-only and get completely skipped on weekends.

Uh oh, it's that time of year when seeing snow on the ground makes me want to play Skyrim again.

Universal is missing out on a huge marketing opportunity to promote Wicked: For Good at the shared Green/Pink Line stations. 💚🩷

We also have these weird things called "Townships" which subdivide the county services and add an extra layer of chaos. We could honestly consolidate all the municipalities into the townships and it would be a lot cleaner.

With Illinois passing the transit revenue & reform bill, and now NYC electing Mamdani as the next mayor, it's nice to be reminded that good things are still possible.

I get embarrassed if I accidentally leave the sound on and my phone makes any sort of noise in public. I can't imagine willingly blasting music through a bluetooth speaker while on board a train... and yet people do it! Headphones are a marvelous invention, folks!

It's Halloween, but today feels like waking up on Christmas.

If the state passes a transit bill tomorrow, I will be disappointed that they waited until the literal last minute (again), but at least I'll be able to breathe a sigh of relief. But if the transit funding doesn't go through at all, I am going to crash out.

Oh no, my company's CEO is talking about how we should find ways to embrace AI. She's framing it as "automating tedious tasks" and assures it will not take away any jobs, but idk man... 💀

"Pigeon mitigation efforts" is the funniest thing I've read all week.

City vs. suburbs is less about arbitrary municipal boundaries, and more about whether you want to live in a diverse community of neighbors vs. your own comfy bubble where nothing ever changes.

My husband sent a long message in his conservative family's group chat explaining how ICE is terrible and that our rights as a gay couple are under attack. 👀🍿

Woke up from a dream where I got on a Metra train going the wrong direction. I was trying to get downtown, but somehow ended up on an express going way out into the suburbs before I realized my mistake. I was so flustered that I started crying. What an embarrassing rookie move.

From today until at least January, my office will be closed for construction, so no commuting for a while. I'm grateful to have a job where I can work 100% remotely. That being said, lol to the AWS outage preventing me from using one of the applications I need. The Internet is great.

One of the many great things about Chicago: miles of public parks along the lake shore.

Spending my morning reading about how Philly built the Center City Commuter Connection in the 70s/80s, and thinking that Chicago deserves something similar... #BuildTheTunnel

Obvious kudos for making another station accessible! But I also can't help but feel depressed that we're probably not gonna see a rebuild of the rest of the Forest Park Branch anytime soon. 81% of the track is under slow zones and it seems like there's no plan to fix it.

My favorite type of drivers are the people who chose to bring their car into downtown Chicago and then have the nerve to get impatient/mad at the crowds of pedestrians crossing the street at every intersection.

Pace, I am begging you: please stop swapping drivers on the 307 a block south of the Green Line.

Sometimes you just need to take a day off and visit your happy place (the pier in Evanston).

Amidst everything bad happening, I'm glad I listened to Taylor Swift's new album and heard the lyric "I can make deals with the devil because my dick's bigger."

ICE is directly responsible for creating "warzone" conditions in Chicago that Republicans seem so concerned about.

I had to watch a training video at work about "Using Generative AI Responsibly" in which they said: "AI doesn't always know what's true. If it can't find an answer, it often makes one up." Hey maybe that's a sign that we shouldn't be relying on it...?

I opened YouTube and the first thing it recommended was a new CTA "Ride the Rails" video where you can watch the view from the train driver's front window. So far they've uploaded 2025 versions of the Red and Purple Lines (complete with the rebuilt north side stations). Happy birthday CTA!

I find it incredibly funny that my 66-unit building in the suburb of Forest Park would apparently be considered "too dense" for a property next to a train station within the City of Chicago.

Morning golden hour ☀️🚆

👀

The general negative attitude toward "Disney Adults" has always been weird to me, because why can't we just let people be nerdy over whatever they want? Some folks are really into sports teams, or video games, or trains. But if your obsession happens to be a theme park... 1/

Consistent arrivals every hour should be the bare minimum for regional rail. Frequency is freedom, and I'm glad Metra realizes that people want to take the train on weekends too. (BNSF train pictured, but happy new schedule day for the UP North as well!)

If we're not allowed to speak ill of the dead, imagine the shit storm that will ensue when It Happens.

So no conjuration magic in The Elder Scrolls 6?

Double vaxxed for flu + covid. Fuck you, RFK Jr.

So I'm gonna use my powers of charm to convince a friend to come over? 😏

First trip aboard a sleeper car: complete. I highly recommend the California Zephyr to anyone who is interested! It's a great way to see some of America's beauty, from deserts, to forests, to rocky mountains, and farmland prairies.

BNSF is giving me a warm welcome back to Chicago by running my Amtrak train behind a Metra that is stopping at every local station. 🫠