LNO leaders Cynthia Harris and Melvin Brown  (with bullhorns) lead

the chants at the home of CTA President Frank Kruesi in early March.

By Maurice Redd
Lawndale Neighborhood Organization

For the past six years there have been no trains running on the west side of Chicago in and around Lawndale overnight and on weekends. In fact, it is the only area in Chicago with a train line that doesn’t run on weekends.

In most cities living close to a train can be a major convenience, but for communities along the Douglas Branch of the Blue Line, it is a major frustration.

“I am 70 years old and I don’t drive,” said LaGoldie Jacobs a Lawndale Neighborhood Organization (LNO) leader. “I have a bad heart and diabetes, and I am worried about having a medical emergency on the weekend. I live less than half a block from the Blue Line, but I can’t take it to the doctor’s because it doesn’t run on the weekend. I’m a tax paying resident of the city of Chicago, but it seems to me like the Mayor and the Chicago Transit Authority don’t care if I live or die.”

The Douglas Branch of the Blue Line goes by three major hospitals, downtown, and to O’Hare airport. It also goes through predominately low-income and minority communities. Many residents in the area don’t have cars and depend on public transportation.

The reasons cited by the CTA for not having service on the weekends is low ridership, and a major renovation project that has been going on for the past three years. Many people thought there was nothing that could be done, especially if the CTA was going to renovate the line.
LNO, the Jewish Council on Urban Affairs and the National Training and Information Center, conducted a survey about ridership on the Blue Line. The survey compared the Douglas Branch to other train lines around the city and found that the ridership was similar.

For example, the Purple Line, which primarily serves the far north and suburban communities, actually has fewer riders per day during the week than the Blue Line and yet has weekend service. The CTA was making plans to renovate another train, the Brown Line, but there were no plans to cut service.

The only difference between those communities and Lawndale is that the areas around the Purple and Brown Lines have significantly higher incomes and far less minorities.

LNO also surveyed over 600 residents from three communities affected by the lack of service to document the need for service on the weekends.

LNO leaders decided to hold a public meeting about the lack of service and invited residents of nearby communities affected by the lack of services.

The residents and LNO leaders who attended the meeting decided to form a coalition called the Blue Line Transit Task Force.
The next step was to hold a press conference in front of the Mayor’s office to publicly invite CTA President Frank Kruesi and CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown to a meeting. The Task Force also released the information found in the study at the press conference.
Unfortunately, Kruesi and Brown did not return phone calls from the Task Force inviting them to the meeting.

The Task Force held the meeting anyway to discuss next steps and despite bad weather, 350 residents attended.

“The fact that the CTA didn’t show up, says they don’t care about our communities,” said Melvin Brown, LNO leader. “Since Frank isn’t here at our meeting, I say we should take the meeting to his house!”
The residents who attended the meeting took buses to Kruesi’s house with television cameras in tow and held the rest of the meeting on Kruesi’s front lawn.

They were joined by some of Kruesi’s neighbors. Unfortunately, Kruesi wouldn’t come outside, but the message was clear. The Task Force would not just stand by any longer and be disrespected. After organizing leaders and supporters to call Kruesi’s office, a meeting has been arranged. Stay tuned…

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