Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Runnin' Out of Fools
Kyra Kyles has now delivered the same column two weeks in a row. Today and last Tuesday, she filled her "Going Public" column with a litany of rider complaints about the CTA's Chicago Cards and replies from a CTA spokeswoman.
Are riders and the CTA's press office her only sources? They can only take a story so far.
So the cards don't always work, sometimes break, and are a pain in the ass to replace (my own card, I must say, is working like a Christmas present from Jesus). We didn't need to hear that twice to get it.
How about some other angles: Who has the contract to make the cards and card readers, what else does that contractor make, what can we learn about it from its history and products? Does the CTA ultimately make or lose money over the Chicago Card's problems? Have other metro transit systems offered better ways to pay?
The column does well to emphasize the practical problems people deal with as they're boarding. It should also monitor the officials who create these problems. But the metro columnist--a dying breed--is supposed to be sneaky and resourceful and tell us things we don't know. The CTA's press office is pretty controlling and not all that useful, but reporters can attend public board and committee meetings, access public documents on the CTA's Web site and through Freedom of Information Act requests, cultivate sources among CTA officials and those who deal with them (an aldermanic aide, for example, helped me once helped me get more details on info), track state transit legislation and consult independent research.
Are riders and the CTA's press office her only sources? They can only take a story so far.
So the cards don't always work, sometimes break, and are a pain in the ass to replace (my own card, I must say, is working like a Christmas present from Jesus). We didn't need to hear that twice to get it.
How about some other angles: Who has the contract to make the cards and card readers, what else does that contractor make, what can we learn about it from its history and products? Does the CTA ultimately make or lose money over the Chicago Card's problems? Have other metro transit systems offered better ways to pay?
The column does well to emphasize the practical problems people deal with as they're boarding. It should also monitor the officials who create these problems. But the metro columnist--a dying breed--is supposed to be sneaky and resourceful and tell us things we don't know. The CTA's press office is pretty controlling and not all that useful, but reporters can attend public board and committee meetings, access public documents on the CTA's Web site and through Freedom of Information Act requests, cultivate sources among CTA officials and those who deal with them (an aldermanic aide, for example, helped me once helped me get more details on info), track state transit legislation and consult independent research.
