CTA wish list:

As we get a new CTA president in 2009 here are somethings on my wish list

Odometer for my CTA card
As Indiana Jones says, "it's not the years its the mileage." Wouldn't it be fun if we could have a CTA card that documents how many miles you've traveled? What about a free ride or gold card for your millionth mile traveled on CTA? I think some of us CTA users deserve a medal sometimes for the bus and train rides. Car insurance companies always want to know how many miles your car has, and bikes have mileage counters, why not be able to document the same on the CTA?

CTA conductor communicator
Many mornings I think I am running late when I get a great CTA conductor who always gets me to work ontime. I'd love to be able to thank him via the CTA website. Also it would be great to document when CTA bus drivers run red lights.

More to come soon!

A well-attended community meeting this evening at Ann Sather demonstrated overwhelming support for the return of David Lee Csicsko's cheerful aesthetic to the Belmont station. The CTA Arts in Transit program solicited community feedback at the meeting on the selection of public art for the station, presenting proposals from six artists. The CTA said the chosen work would be installed this summer. Neighbors had plenty of time at the end of the meeting to provide feedback on the artwork. As people around the room took their turns voicing their opinions, it seemed the one work everybody loved, receiving the vast majority of comments (only one negative), was the proposal by David Lee Csicsko, who's "Belmont 2000" recently decorated the Belmont station before construction forced its removal.

Jarvis Station in Rogers Park needs a lot of work.

Many Rogers Park communters refuse to utilize this station due to it's crumbling and horrible stench.

If you use the Belmont Red/Brown line stop, don't miss your opportunity to participate in the selection of public art for the newly rebuilt station. The next public meeting for the Belmont station art will be Jan. 27, 6 p.m. at Ann Sather, 909 W. Belmont. The next Fullerton station art meeting will be Jan. 29.

More info.: CTA Arts in Transit

As part of the Brown Line capacity expansion project, the CTA is installing new art in all of the updated Brown Line stations -- a requirement of their federal funding. I attended a community meeting back in July about the selection of art for the Belmont station, and I was really impressed with the presentation about art at other stations around the city. I would never expect that I would like most of the art considering it's meant to cater to such a broad audience, but I was surprised that more than a handful of the pieces really fit my taste. This weekend I had the opportunity to take a little field trip to check out two of my favorite Brown Line pieces, at the newly reopened Irving Park stop and the Francisco stop.