I love Public Transportation: Praise for the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)
Even though the fare raise for the CTA is not good news for us poor college students, the CTA has made me happy with one thing: the Chicago Card is now free when you buy it before March. Check this out if you're in Chicago.
Update: I just called and with registration (giving them your name and address) they will send you a free Chicago Card. And it is mailed to you in two days! You can get a $0 balance, or add money with a credit card.
Also, a surprise: with the fare hike from $1.50 to $1.75 now, the transfers are only 25 cents now instead of 30, and best of all, surcharges for express buses are dropped! Now I may actually be saving money considering I take the 6 Jeffrey Express all the time. Hurray!
Also, while I'm on the subject I'll let all you Hyde Park people in on a little secret. The 28 Stony Island bus is actually an express (speeding up to head north after 47th), which goes down part of Michigan Avenue and ends at Union Station. From the people I've talked to no one seems to realize this, and I didn't even know about it until just this year. There's plenty of easy options to get downtown.
Portland has just added a new feature to track all buses and lightrail trails to get up to the minute schedules that can be accessed by cell phones. Chicago should follow suite.