I’m a proud and militant South Sider and a product of the Chicago Public Schools. I grew up at the top of Roseland when it was a vibrant retail center and proud middle-class community. The deterioration I have witnessed over the last 40 years just makes me sick. For decades I have lived walking distance from the Metra Electric District line. I used it when I could, but the trains ran too seldom and left me with another fare to pay wherever I got off. Many of my neighbors don’t even know where the Metra Electric goes. I am not against the Red Line Extension. I hope it gets built; we deserve it. But in this challenging time, much of the service it would provide could be put in place at perhaps one tenth of the cost and one sixth of the time by transferring the Metra Electric (ME) to the CTA system.
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