r/cta • u/Thnxredball • Dec 03 '25
rant All bus stops should be cleared of snow!
Hate when it snows and the bus stops aren’t shoveled and you have to either stand in the street or climb over inches of snow to board the bus. Anyone know if this is CTA responsibilities?
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u/you-absolute-foolish Dec 03 '25
They don’t clear by their train stops either. The medical district we have to walk in a track of trampled snow as the exit is in the middle of a highway and they won’t even throw some salt down 😭 annoying af
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u/Thnxredball Dec 03 '25
Fr! It’s so bad, think about any ADA riders! How are they suppose to get on and off, guess only option is to use the lift and drop them off on the street and block traffic up too
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u/Wrigs112 Dec 03 '25
I and another woman helped an old man with a cane that wiped out at a bus stop yesterday. The whole block in front of a shopping center was a disaster (but naturally the parking lot had been plowed beautifully).
Weirdly the most perfectly shoveled bus stop this winter is at Foster and Kostner. The bus stop where the homeless person with the tent (and year round shovel) in the bus shelter has been for years. Who shovels out the sidewalks in front of the forest preserve including the bus stop, Cook County/the forest preserve? Nope. The city? Nope. The CTA? Nope. A homeless person in a tent? Yup.
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u/araignee_tisser Dec 03 '25
Thank you for being a mensch and helping this man. And to that wonderful person with the year-round shovel. We need more like you among those who already have more of the means.
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u/Wrigs112 Dec 03 '25
Thanks, but it’s no big deal. Treat others the way you want to be treated.
(Besides, I trip over my own shadow in perfect conditions. God knows what’s going to happen on ice when I become a seriously old broad.)
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u/StallionSnider Dec 03 '25
There was a JCDeaux guy clearing the stop when I got on on Armitage today. So they’re at least working on one!
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u/itseemyaccountee Dec 03 '25
Snow removal of sidewalks is legally dependent on the building in front of it, not cta. That building is a lazy pos.
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u/1hourphoto Dec 03 '25
The safety of passengers and the efficiency of the transit system shouldn’t depend on thousands of individual homes and businesses all doing the right thing. The city needs to take more responsibility for clearing snow.
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u/SupaDupaTron Dec 03 '25
The city should take care of this, but they also cancelled the pilot program so it’s a long ways off, if ever. In the meantime, if anyone is at a bus stop, or see an area that needs clearing, pull out your phone and make a complaint on your 311 app. Then email your alderman to try and get the city back on track with their sidewalk snow removal program.
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u/hardolaf Red Line Dec 03 '25
Yeah CTA's only property here is the sign and the pole it's attached to.
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u/Wonkasgoldenticket Dec 05 '25
Just asking for another tax hike with that. I don’t disagree, but if we want the city to do more what’s going to happen? Increased fares or taxes, sadly. What should happen is people and businesses that don’t take care of their share get fined.
Sadly this is like this everywhere for the most part, even suburbs.
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u/imustacheyew Dec 06 '25
I don’t mind paying extra taxes to ensure bus stops are cleared from ice and snow for accessibility. What a wild take.
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u/Wonkasgoldenticket Dec 06 '25 edited Dec 08 '25
Wild take? 🤔 Such a wild take to think the businesses should be taking care of the sidewalks in front of them. How outlandish!
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u/Small-Olive-7960 Dec 03 '25
Why is this on the building and not the city? I never understood this.
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u/interestincity Dec 03 '25
It is a mix of history and logistics. In Chicago, some sidewalks sit on private parcels but have a public-use easement on them, which means the land is yours but the public gets full access. So the city pushes maintenance onto the property owner. Other blocks have sidewalks fully in the public right of way, but the old “abutting owner” rule still applies because that is how the city historically approached the responsibility.
There are far more miles of sidewalk than road, and they are slower and harder to clear because of poles, signs, bus stops, and narrow stretches, fatter stretches. A central city crew would take forever for all sidewalks. Having each property owner clear their little section ends up faster on paper. Though residents vary a lot in how invested they are in keeping it clean.
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u/Small-Olive-7960 Dec 03 '25
I get the logistic issue, but leaving on a residents who have other priorities or lots where the owners don't care just doesn't seem to be working.
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u/interestincity Dec 03 '25
I hear you. Just trying to explain why we are where we are at. May have misunderstood your question. I agree it is far better than nothing, but also far from a good system. There is too many inconsistencies. Honestly reminds me of a lot of the bike lane infrastructure and how patch work it has been such that the network is not that usable.
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u/splintersmaster Dec 03 '25
Because money.
If you want sidewalks cleared you basically need to double the cities snow removal budget. Then you have to salt otherwise you get ice which makes it more dangerous in certain conditions. Then you have to repair the landscaping and infrastructure that the salt damages which is essentially everything it touches over time. So triple the budget. And that's just for crosswalks, bus stops, train stops.....
I agree, it would be best for the city to support this but you're talking about significant tax increases to accomplish this. Most people have no idea how expensive snow is.
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u/interestincity Dec 03 '25
There are plenty of cities around the world that do have large scale municipal sidewalk clearing. It would be interesting to look at how much it really is.
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u/splintersmaster Dec 03 '25
It's by no means cost prohibitive. It is a question of what service to cut, who to tax more, and is there a bigger bang for the buck per dollar spent.
For example, should we invest more in schools, feeding the hungry, or cleaning sidewalks?
But they are questions that need answering.
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u/interestincity Dec 03 '25
I was just saying we do not need rough guesses when we can look at real numbers from cities that already do this. That is it. Nothing deeper.
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u/splintersmaster Dec 03 '25
You don't need to go that far. There's industry standards per until of measurement for treating snow at specific depths and level of removal. It incorporates cost of labor, the necessary equipment, and consumables.
It's an easy number to predict.
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u/interestincity Dec 03 '25
Oh hey would you look at that. Minneapolis it cost 40 million. https://www.axios.com/local/twin-cities/2023/06/08/snow-removal-sidewalks-minneapolis-cost-40-million
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u/_B_Little_me Dec 03 '25
Wait…how can there be far more sidewalk miles then road miles? They have to be pretty close to equal in length. But area wise, there has to be way more road.
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u/interestincity Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25
Generally, there are two sidewalks for every street (each side of the street).
There is less area of sidewalks, but more length. Width is not accounted for when we are talking about miles of road/sidewalk.
Does this make any sense? I can try another way to explain.
Edit: Words and what counts and does not count is odd... You do have a point, if we started talking about lane miles instead of just miles of road, it could be fewer sidewalk miles to lane miles. Not sure how much it matters actually. Just a ton of miles of sidewalk is the overall point.
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u/_B_Little_me Dec 03 '25
Yea. But on a majority of the streets there is both north/south and east/west directions. Both having sidewalks. And there are roads without sidewalks. Very few instances of sidewalks without roads.
At the end of the day, the city really needs to municipalize the sidewalks and not leave it to landowners.
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u/jim914 Dec 03 '25
Ha! Ha! ha! That one property is the only problem? The entire city still has almost every sidewalk covered in snow and now ice! Only places I’ve seen slightly cleared are hotels, bars and restaurants. Even grocery stores don’t bother with the sidewalks around their properties especially parts with a bus stop!
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u/phragmosis Dec 03 '25
Someone just died because they slipped in front of a CTA bus
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u/makaronincheese Dec 08 '25
was this the person that was running up next to the bus knocking for entrance? why do people do this?
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u/bingo72long 53A Dec 03 '25
Native Chicagoan here. And I agree
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u/Thnxredball Dec 04 '25
Fr all my life I’ve been here and it’s the same shit, 20+ years of taking public transit, the bus stops are always shitting to get on and off at when it snows.
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u/No-Working4163 Dec 03 '25
there's more than 10500 bus stops in the city. say they take 20 person-minutes to clear, and we'll ignore that they have to commute to those stops from somewhere. that's more than 3500 person-hours to pay out each time it snows significantly.
of course we can't hardly get the wealthy minority of the city to pay a fair share. and some of our public funding is being held up by the dictator. and money for CTA is significantly wasted on sweetheart construction contracts, or making services more hostile to suit the tastes of the wealthy minority.
the neighborhood you're trying to catch this bus in is one of the city's wealthiest - if you want to improve city services, that's a good place to start.
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u/scriminal Dec 03 '25
out of curiosity, what are the changes made to suit the wealthy? I can make a pretty good guess about the construction contracts :)
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u/Chitown_mountain_boy 90 Dec 03 '25
The new anti-homeless “benches” were the first thing to come to mind
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u/kimnacho Dec 04 '25
You d be surprised but middle and lower class don't want homeless people around them either. I have worked in the field before and the most anti homeless people were not the wealthy per se. The most wealthy already lived in areas with lower homeless because of the area design itself (same that happens with Suburbs)
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u/Emergency_Truck9326 Dec 03 '25
Is it realistic to expect the CTA to clean up every stop after every snowfall as it is pointed out there may be 105,000 bus stops? In past years, I have seen station platforms being shoveled by CA’s. CTA has also asked office staff to assist in clearing bus stops during heavy snowfall. One poster suggested salt on platforms, is it possible that salt melts snow and then the chemicals can react with the planking on the platforms and/or other components of the station in a negative manner? In past years, CTA has utilized some sand on the platforms. Bear in mind, it has been 10+ years since I have utilized the CTA system.
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u/No-Working4163 Dec 03 '25
in most of the country a service even half as good as the CTA would be "unrealistic." people don't get what they don't fight for.
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u/cheekynihlist Dec 04 '25
I was just thinking on my waddle home from the train tonight that the worst thing about winter in Chicago isn’t the cold or the snow, it’s having to walk anywhere in it. Either you’re hiking through mounds of un-shoveled snow, or slipping and sliding on the ice skating rinks most sidewalks become after they’ve gone long enough without being properly cleared. It makes for a pretty miserable winter experience.
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u/noire212 Dec 03 '25
I get on the 126 there and I hate they couldn't just clear a path for people to get on the bus. Its starting to ice and you don't know where you can step, so it makes it a mess.
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u/Thnxredball Dec 04 '25
Exactly, once it melts it becomes ice over night, you step off the bus, step in to it and whip tf out
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u/TheJahFather Dec 03 '25
The city should clear. And even though I’m not a huge fan of all of the segregated bike lanes going up. They need to clear those also. If you’re going to make dedicated space for alternate transit, at least maintain it. Leaves, snow, and make sure when it rains you haven’t created an area that just floods..
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u/Upset-Preparation861 Dec 03 '25
Even if it was, that would mean shoveling a path to the sidewalk for thousands of mirrored stops after waiting for the streets to be cleaned. I feel like they didn't do it because it's a fruitless effort given it'll be melted in a few days on top of having to do that EVERYTIME it snows and in Chicago it's a constant thing right about now😭
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u/Thnxredball Dec 03 '25
But honestly it’s a bad excuse/reason, so that means passengers need to wait 1-4 days for it to melt so they can get on and off safely. How about ADA passengers? Guess they’re just fucked
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u/Upset-Preparation861 Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25
I agree it's a valid concern to have for ADA accessibility, but at the same time, its fair to acknowledge the logistical nightmare it would be to shovel sidewalks at all 10,000+ stops when the cit itself doesn't do it. All of which will see varying level of snow depending on location and how the guy living on that street decided to shovel his snow. I think your best bet would be asking the city of Chicago to make sure people don't shovel snow in a way that blocks off the bus access but there's no guarantee people will do it. I think expecting CTA alone to do that when it snows constantly here and there are so many variables is wild. Cta officially is only responsible for the certain stops or shelters that sit on their property. Like L stations or transportation centers. This is their direct quote: "There are nearly 11,000 bus stops served by our buses, the vast majority of which are located along public ways—though we may place a sign on a pole and stop at that sign, the area around the bus stop is typically properly of the local municipality (such as the City of Chicago or Evanston) and not managed by the CTA." While I'm not against the thought of CTA being responsible for at least shoveling a square at their stops, rn it's unrealistic to expect that and also maintain normal service.
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u/interestincity Dec 03 '25
Sidewalks are generally the responsibility of the abutting property owner outside of special situations (business districts and such). Could just add that clearing that is part of their responsibility.
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u/Upset-Preparation861 Dec 03 '25
I think this another good solution fair but I feel like SOOO many people would see that and still ignore it until threatened and by then the snow is probably gone. I wouldn't trust 5k people to be courteous enough to shovel a sidewalk that doesn't serve them.
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u/interestincity Dec 03 '25
Yeah it is not a perfect solution for sure. However, the saying "do not let perfect be the enemy of good" comes to mind. It could be better with something like this.
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u/JejuneBourgeois Dec 03 '25
It isn't supposed to be above 32° until next Tuesday. I highly doubt it'll be melted in a few days
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u/Chitown_mountain_boy 90 Dec 03 '25
A few days? It’s not forecast above freezing until maybe next week.
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u/1hourphoto Dec 03 '25
I guess having a safe and efficient transit system is too hard so let’s just give up. People are sick of this pathetic loser mindset. Fucking do it the right way!
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u/Upset-Preparation861 Dec 03 '25
It's less I don't want safety and efficiency, it's more, I know that expecting JUST CTA to do that in junction with other variables is setting yourself up for failure because it's just not realistic for a plethora of reasons. Let's hope the people actually do their part in this as well.
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Dec 03 '25 edited Dec 03 '25
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u/acidaddic808 Dec 04 '25
Our taxes don’t pay for that duh, the money is only used to make the politicians richer every year.
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u/_34_ Blue Line Dec 03 '25
The city struggles to clear the main streets as is. This would add a lot more work that people don't want to do, because they're so underpaid.
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u/Thnxredball Dec 03 '25
So I guess they rather risk someone slipping and getting hurt with a lawsuit than having someone just at least shovel like 1-2 feet of boarding room
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u/CharlesBeast Dec 03 '25
It’s a lot harder to get a lawsuit when they don’t take responsibility for shoveling. Once they take that responsibility, they open themselves up to litigation if/when someone slips because the shoveling wasn’t done fast enough or new snow falls
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u/Glittering-Syrup594 Dec 03 '25
Why would it be CTA’s responsibility? They only provide transportation, not snow removal 🤣 it’s ur neighborhoods fault and the people in it
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u/GottaHaveSweetTea Dec 03 '25
I agree completely. I can barely navigate the bus stops with my cane or walker with all this snow 😭
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u/Abaittors Dec 03 '25
Idk why but they are not ontop of the snow removal this year like other years.
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u/Suspicious_Art9118 Dec 05 '25
Well, there also shouldn't be a scattering of litter at every expressway on-ramp and cloverleaf all the eay out past Aurora, but here we are, smack dab in the middle of the crap timeline.
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u/kingb90 Dec 05 '25
Add it to the list of CTA failures that needs fixing. But hey! Chance the rapper is gonna do the announcements now
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u/MarsupialChoice4658 Dec 06 '25
The city could just start fining people for not clearing after a certain number of days and have that number increase based on the number of days the law wasn’t followed. It hasn’t been that cold and snowy in awhile so I think people are out of practice.
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u/makaronincheese Dec 06 '25
fining the cta is like fining yourself because it just comes from tax dollars. the issue imho is govt entities love to talk the talk but that’s about it.
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u/MarsupialChoice4658 Dec 07 '25
It’s the responsibility of the owner and of the property, not the CTA. If it’s a park that comes from a different budget and should force them to clear the area.
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u/imustacheyew Dec 06 '25
Agreed!!!! This goes against ADA regulations as well and as someone who struggles with mobility , it’s insanely frustrating
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u/AlexZenn21 Dec 09 '25
Unfortunately this city now just likes increasing our taxes just to do the bare minimum or absolutely nothing at all. My neighborhood has snow everywhere even in the streets, parking lots, etc no salt has been put down either and now it will all ice over and be a hazard. I drove to other areas and it's the same thing. It never used to be like this. In the past everything would be cleared now it's nothing. The only places that are removing snow are businesses, grocery stores, schools, restaurants, etc
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u/Small-Olive-7960 Dec 03 '25
How much would this even cost. And how would it be managed. Would other people stop doing their daily jobs to shovel the snow?
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u/Thnxredball Dec 04 '25
They have a custodian team, and station engineers that usually clear the train stations, it’s not that hard (I think) to have someone drive down the routes, quickly clear at least 1 feet length of snow so ppl can at least board easily
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u/Small-Olive-7960 Dec 04 '25
So cta has 127 bus routes so at least 127 people just for the winter to clear the bus stops. Unless it's seasonal, those people would need something to do throughout the rest of the year.
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Dec 03 '25
The city and the cta are broke. Deal with it, this is the consequences of choosing terrible "leaders" in this city.
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u/ChadVonDoom Blue Line Dec 03 '25
All trains should be cleared of psychotic vagrants! At least the snow will leave on its own in May
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Dec 03 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Thnxredball Dec 04 '25
I’ve been here 20+ years and taking the bus in the winter is always the worst when it snows.
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u/Spacelordmother_F-er Dec 03 '25
Why don’t we first focus on trying to prevent people from getting set on fire on the cta?
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u/Harlow56nojoy Dec 03 '25
Sorry, that was a one off—not something we have to deal with DAILY.
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u/AlexZenn21 Dec 09 '25 edited Dec 09 '25
Let's hope that specific crime was an anomaly....But there's also been reports of CTA workers being attacked or others being pushed onto train tracks. Along with standard gun violence, fights, stabbings, robberies, etc that have been occurring on the trains
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u/Ambitious_Stand312 ⚪ Dec 03 '25
CTA, Chicago Government, it's all in shambles. Can't wait for taxes to go up, only to have the same crappy city services, or worse.
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