I hope you all remain safe on CTA

Surveillance images of robbery

I realize this story is outside of the scope of this blog, but this is certainly worth sharing. I ride the L everyday to get to work or whatever, and this is certainly sobering. These guys knew at what point to make their move and did it boldly.

This incident occurred on the CTA Orange Line and the perpetrators probably knew many of the passengers were arriving into Chicago knowing very little about the city and CTA. They also struck just as the train was on the longest part of the route without a station to stop at. No one either attempted to escape to another car through the emergency doors - something you're not supposed to do anyway - and no one hit the button to talk to the train motorman.

On the flip side the perpetrators remained on one car until the train stopped at Roosevelt. It's still an unfortunate incident and police are now looking for them.

BTW, reading this Tribune article we hear the head of CTA's rail workers union still wants to see conductors returned to trains. Conductor jobs had been cut since 1997 and even then the CTA union cited potential situations such as this to say eliminating those jobs was a bad idea.

Still at least we have ways of contacting CTA personnel if something criminal or dangerous is occurring on board the train and plans could be made to involve the police. In addition CTA cited that there are cameras on board most CTA rail vehicles, buses, and L stations.

All the same whether or not there are extra eyes on the train with police, CTA personnel, or surveillance cameras here's hoping you remain alert at all times.