An L of a train system
Embargoed for Sunday, Aug. 19 release.
Some commuters bury their noses in newspapers on the elevated train ride into work. Others on the "L" zone out to digital music devices. Chances are, Greg Borzo will be looking out the window.
"I ride the L every day, and I love it," the 53-year-old Northwest Side resident said. "I'm always curious: 'What's going on? Why is that there? What does this little thing mean - this remnant of a station, or this pole or this piece of equipment?'"
His curiosity has led to the publication of a book that Borzo says is the first comprehensive history of Chicago's iconic, occasionally criticized and perpetually cash-strapped train system. The Field Museum science writer spent the past few years sifting through hundreds of vintage photographs from several collections to lavishly illustrate his tome, "The Chicago 'L.'"
The book traces the L from its origins as a steam-powered passenger rail line that transported people to and from the 1893 World's Fair for a nickel a ride. Borzo sorts through the additional routes that entrepreneurs built above the growing urban streetscape -- sometimes with the aid of a little graft and corruption. Soon, all of the lines ran on electricity.
Compared to today's color-coded, centralized network under the Chicago Transit Authority, the competing rail systems of yesteryear seem confusing. By the turn of the century, four separate lines converged in a rail "Loop" in the central business district, and commuters had to pay a transfer fee to access another train off the same platform.
"Yes, it was complex, but it was, at that time, a great way to get around," Borzo said.
Unification of the system came in 1911, under a private merger, but after World War II, the public CTA took over. Today, after a series of dismantlings and expansions, the network has 222 miles of track -- most of them elevated, but with some stretches at street and subway levels. A ride costs $2.
Nowadays, about 165 million passengers use the L each year, compared with the system's 1926 zenith, when there were 229 million customers, Borzo said. Under the CTA, the L operated in the black through fare-box revenues until 1970, when population had shifted to the suburbs, Borzo said. He said the prevalence of automobiles also tipped the scale against the trains.
Which brings us to 2007. In recent years, the financially struggling CTA has asked state legislators for additional operating funds and capital dollars to help keep up the 115-year-old system. CTA directors once again have prepared a "doomsday" strategy of fare hikes and service cuts on bus and train lines if Springfield does not come through with a bailout by September.
A metropolitan sales-tax district helps finance the CTA and its sister transit agencies, the suburban Metra train system and Pace bus network. Legislation pushed by state Rep. Julie Hamos, D-Evanston, would authorize a .25 percent tax hike that would raise $280 million annually for the systems. She said her bill also would give Chicago the power to enact a real-estate transfer tax to pay down CTA pension debt and fund retiree health care.
Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich, however, has promised to veto any sales-tax increases; he has suggested closing business-tax loopholes to aid mass transit. Meanwhile, Hamos said her bill would need to win a three-fifths majority in both the House and Senate to become effective immediately and stave off the CTA doomsday plan.
"It's poised to be the solution for transit for a long time to come," Hamos said. "Will the politics get in the way? I hope not, but I worry about it. The politics in Springfield right now are toxic."
Borzo said it's a shame the L is ignored by policymakers and under-appreciated by riders who complain about occasional delays. He said investing in mass transit today is particularly wise amid global warming, which is believed to be caused in part by auto emissions.
The L is a "treasure, and it would cost unbelievable amounts of money to build it from scratch today," Borzo said. "Other cities would love to have this kind of system, and yet in Chicago we grumble about it and we don't take care of it. It's just amazing."
Mike Ramsey can be reached at (312) 857-2323 or ghns-ramsey@sbcglobal.net.
ON THE WEB: Greg Borzo's book "The Chicago 'L'" is available from Arcadia Publishing; go to www.arcadiapublishing.com for more information.