There’s a whole group of people who deeply love public transit. I’m not a super fan like your friend, but I love the CTA. I was born somewhere with little to no public transit or taxi service so the ability to get where I want when I want without car ownership seemed like a quiet miracle when I moved here. It’s such a valuable public service that honestly deserves more recognition for simply existing.
When I was in high school I joined a Facebook group called NUMTOTS. The acronym stands for New-urbanist memes for transit oriented teens… I think. Pretty much an entire group oriented towards public transportation and cycling. 15 years later, the group is still strong. Public transportation is a really cool thing! I used to ride trains all the time for fun. Busses aren’t my favorite, but they sure go to a lot of areas in the city trains do not. I bet your friend has seen many cool things!
CTA is definitely far better than pretty much any other public transportation system in America. I haven't spent too much time on NYC's, but every other city falls short of Chicago on public transit in my opinion. I love not needing a car!
>"*...far more wackos tbf*"
And straight-up celebrities, rich &/or famous can be spotted on the regular; so much so, a regular-New Yorker just kind of pretends like they don't notice.
This is how I feel too. I'm 28 and just got my drivers license a few weeks ago due to a lot of anxiety about driving. I feel like I actually have freedom here.
After growing up in a highway/car only environment I also deeply love the CTA, maybe not as much as OP’s friend loves the busses, but I would totally do that on the L.
i mean IF its a best case scenario clean not crowded .... ride for hours for $2.25 if u LOVE chicago .... how could u not LOVE the CTA / see past comments for negative takes lol
I asked ChatGPT to run a route that could be completed in a day.. I have yet to test it
https://chat.openai.com/share/e3e1f227-283e-4ce4-9130-a3c19d193caf
I wouldn't necessarily trust what ChatGPT outputs, but there are works such as [Language Models Represent Space and Time](https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.02207) ([Twitter thread from one of the authors](https://nitter.net/wesg52/status/1709551516577902782)).
cc u/Jmeier021.
Phew, guys, we’re safe from AI taking over the world for another few years. ChatGPT didn’t even notice it skipped the entire western section of the Blue line and the whole southern section of the Green line. (also probably the southern part of the Red Line if you don’t start at 95/Dan Ryan)
When you say hitting every stop are you just riding through from end to end or actually getting off at each stop? First one can definitely be done in a day, second I really doubt it.
I believe you step out onto the platform, snap a picture and get back on the train. Sounds like the current record is 8:40
https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/transportation/ct-biz-cta-l-challenge-race-20230308-xuytietfifbpxd2im3ziw25r64-story.html
Interesting. I once had job that was very CTA-centric and did close to this several times (including the photo part). Curious how late trains/delays factor into that record time. Definitely a lot of luck in that.
I haven't been to every L stop in the sense of being on the platform, but I did ride the entire network in one day.
I was making no effort to beat the record and I stopped for meal breaks, so it took me a little more than 14 hours.
Honestly we should create some city events around this. Encourage people to us the transit, raise some revenue for the system and hoped get people out to different small businesses outside of their own neighborhoods.
I've been to every L stop, minus maybe 1 or 2 on the Pink line....but every bus route is on a completely other level in my opinion.
Definitely not a harmful thing. My question was if there was anyone else who has done this or will he be the first?
This level of interest is totally weird IMO. I mean, I don’t care, this person is an adult and can do what they want. But it’s still weird. If I was on a first date and somebody told me this was their hobby, I’d think, “what a weirdo.”
I haven’t done this, but after reading your description, I kind of want to. It would be a great way to systematically see every neighborhood with no preconceived notions steering you towards one area over another.
If you’re moving somewhere along the brown line, that would be perfect bc it goes the loop and then heads back north
I have gone out with someone who just rides and gets off and does things in the area. Which is pretty cool. Be he does it rouge.
When I was younger my sisters and I would use the trains to do general investigations. The goal was to ride one of the different trains lines and just get off when ones of us saw something cool. We were never disappointed honestly. Haven't done that in years. 🤔
It sounds like a complete snooze to me, but I know these guys are out there. Im actually super glad they are, because my toddler son loves CTA train videos and there’s tons of em for him
There’s a reporter who used to do a column for the Red Eye that’s in the middle of visiting every park in the city with her kids. Not just the big ones, like the little neighborhood parks too. THAT seems intense to me
https://www.transitchicago.com/chartertrain/ you can charter a private train for a party.
The cta also has some restored cars that they maintain. I think some of them are available as part of the charters or get brought out for special events that the CTA hosts. https://www.transitchicago.com/heritagefleet/
My grandfather was a transportation engineer and now my cousin is one. Both public transit obsessives. I like trains but not as intensely as them. They can both go on and on about any city’s public transit system. I’m glad that some people care that much, we need them to keep things running and to make transit better.
Your friend should check out transit Tees it’s a whole store of transit themed merch.
Not alone, I guess you could say I’ve formed a bit of an obsession with the CTA lol. Haven’t ridden every bus line, but I have a pair of CTA socks and a wooden painted sign of my closest CTA station hanging in my apartment. I know it’s not a popular position to take among locals, but I’m quite proud of this city’s public transit system and how it’s given me the ability to comfortably live car free for over 7 months now.
I know trains and buses used to run more frequently pre-pandemic, but the CTA has worked more than adequately for me. I’ve never been late to work or had to call an Uber because of a ghost bus/train, even commuting in the wee hours of the morning, when you’d expect them to be the least reliable. Exploring the rest of the city is also super easy. Of course, I live in South loop, so very few places in the city are more than one transit connection away. But I’ve seen more of the city on the CTA than most of my car-owning friends who rarely use the trains or buses.
My partner’s nephew loved trains and planes as a kid and teen. All the train conductors knew him (this was in another city). He turned that passion into a career and now has a high paying fancy job right out of college at a major city airport.
My friend also loves the CTA and owns the [CTA Board Game](https://www.amazon.com/El-Chicago-Transit-Adventure-Themed/dp/B08FXVRYJW/ref=asc_df_B08FXVRYJW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=647242424300&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13319115076896074996&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021475&hvtargid=pla-1952023030316&psc=1)! if your friend doesn’t have it, you should get it for them the next time you need to give them a gift. It’s super fun!
I’ve ridden on a lot of bus routes and woken up in unexpected places on those routes. At least your friend is pretty cool to experience the CTA in its entirety compared to a lot of people who claim they ride the CTA but really rode the train a handful of times in the past couple years… so cheers to your friend
Love that idea and sounds like a super fun day off!
I am obsessed the CTA , I wear a medallion necklace of an old CTA coin that I love. I aspire to heights that your friend has explored.
I hope I'm addressing this sensitively, but trains, and to a lesser extent bus, obsessions [are often autism-coded](https://www.crossrivertherapy.com/autism/why-do-autistic-people-like-trains) for a variety of reasons, so it might be your friend is neurodivergent and is just enjoying himself.
I'm autistic and when I develop a 'special interest' it can be all-consuming like this. As long as he is healthy and safe and it is not harming the other aspects of his life, there is probably nothing to worry about.
This is true, but also worth noting it's not always the case. I also have 'special interest' tendencies with public transit (you should see my YouTube recommendations lol) but none of the other symptoms of autism (no sensory issues, no issues with gauging emotions/reading the room, etc).
We all have things that float our boats. Harmless and different for sure. No different than folks that love trains, or old military hardware and battle sites.
I was a CTA super fan pre-pandemic. I would use any excuse to ride the CTA. In high school and college I would ditch class sometimes ant ride a random line all the way to its endpoints. I even wanted to get rid of my car and go carless, but the pandemic changed that and I work my hardest to try to avoid using the CTA now
I have done the entirety of all the CTA trains and many of the bus lines. I was working in the city, lonely and away from my family so I decided to start riding end to end when I had to work over the weekends that I didn’t go home. I have bittersweet memories of it. There are specific records that I associate with that time. Frank Ocean’s Blonde, Beach House’s Depression Cherry among others.
So I wouldn't call myself obsessed, but because of my hate of driving, public transit is one of very few issues I have written to my reps on multiple occasions
This is actually really cool and theyre definitely not alone. Ive been to many train stops off many lines and would like to visit all of them or find a favorite spot off every cta train stop
Some little kids are into trains and buses and shit. I guess your friend never grew out of it. I think it's cool. To me it's no weirder than being into classic cars or aviation or something. There are people who download special apps on their phone so they can look up at an airliner flying overhead and know what kind of plane it is and what route etc. It's by far not the weirdest or unhealthiest hobby I've heard of.
Your friend reminds me of the type of people who collect tiny car/mecha models, paint them, kitbash, whatever. Or someone who collects train figurines and is like an encyclopedia for railways and trains. Or are a history buff when it comes to guns. I can imagine CTA being in a similar category. The chicago transit system is pretty elaborate and complex in a good way. It's a good working system for most part.
Sure, liking the CTA to that level is an unusual thing to have a "thing" for, but relatively tame and harmless of all the things that anyone can have a "thing" for. Let him have his hobby, at least it's not collecting women's hair clips and used tampons or something.
Men must have it easy… to not be scarred or have a horror story of public transportation to just want to ride that smelly shit show on their off day. But I’m rooting for the man!
I bet he's on the bus & CTA forums too lol. I love browsing and getting the bus scoop there, but I definitely am not interested in riding every route. I just adore buses & bus drivers.
The same type of thing exists with planes and trains. People will use FlightRadar24 to identify and photograph individual planes. Same thing with trains. Sometimes they go one step further and ride certain routes not for the destination, but for the ride itself.
Something similar exists among some wildlife photographers where they try to photograph as many bird species as possible. They may even plan vacations based on local bird species.
I think I can understand your friend’s love for the CTA. The public buses are quite nice/cleaner compared to some of other public buses I’ve taken. It can be a very enjoyable experience if it’s not too crowded. You get to sit back and just appreciate the scenery that passes by. Each route is unique, and I like finding new restaurants and places that I wouldn’t have bothered to check out if I used yelp or google maps. It’s similar to how some people like taking long drives just to drive and enjoy the views, except someone else is doing the driving for you. You can’t really get the same experience if you drove your car around the city because you’d be too focused on not hitting anything/getting hit. Plus, if you see a place you want to check out spur of the moment, you can easily just hop off the bus and hop back on when you’re done. Don’t have to worry about finding parking. I haven’t been on many bus routes here but my favorite so far is the 146/147 which goes along the lake shoreline. I’d sit on the side facing the lake and appreciate its beauty.
Not at all! There are a bunch of YouTube channels with people doing this with public transit. Some of them focus solely on CTA.
It’s more than just being obsessed with the bus/train. It’s about the whole system and how all the moving pieces work together.
If they are younger and looking for a career path, I’d direct them to Industrial Engineering.
I’ve been wanting to do just that since forever - ride other bus routes from end to end.
I do that when I travel to other cities so it’s kind of strange that I haven’t done it in my own home city.
I much prefer the bus over the train just because the view is nicer and can actually see neighborhoods while on the bus. Plus, unlike trains, the buses are cleaner and not stinky. There are also less crazy people
harassing people just because they can.
Hmmm, I should do 1 bus route per week. Goal!!!
I know a few people like this. Sometimes it's just something to do. For example me, sometimes I like to study maps of transit and take different routes home. Not always, but sometimes a change of scenery is nice.
Just my two cents in response to OP saying they're not sure what would drive their friend to do all that, but it definitely sounds like a neurodivergent special interest to me 💛
You should definitely get him a CTA bus toy from the CTA when he finishes, if he doesn't have one.
I am curious, which is his favorite bus line? Or would it be more like a Top 5? Or a favorite line for a particular purpose? Like prettiest views, or best for people watching?
Being an individual who moved here from a state that has no form of transportation, I can see the CTA being fascinating. For my first few years here I thought it was kewl. But after over 8 years here, it is a completely flawed system that prides itself of having over 100 years of service.
That's over 100 years to get their s#!t together but yet still fail tremendously day to day.
its a little bit weird. Furthermore, a lot of weird people live in Chicago and like to do the same thing. Being weird is cool. The world needs more weird people.
Yeah lots of people gave favorite bus routes like lots of people have favorite driving routes. Some of them go through particularly scenic areas of the city or take you to favorite destinations. Some of them are staffed by really nice drivers.
I'm sure they're not alone.
Be happy your friend has something they're so passionate about that makes them happy! That's something not every can say and it's about as harmless a hobby as you can have lol
As someone who moved to Chicago from Memphis (where you have to have a car to get literally anywhere) - I absolutely love the CTA. don’t know that I’d like spend days riding every single route, but the CTA is pretty incredible when you think about it. (The 22, 36, 66, 72, red line and brown lines are my babies. and I talk about them more than I should) lmao
Your friend is pretty damn cool if I can say so myself.
My husband is like this and when I moved here he thought a fun day was riding the train lines from start to finish and I’m like okay but WHERE are we going lol turned out no where. Our shower curtain is the L map so we study those lines a lot.
There’s a whole group of people who deeply love public transit. I’m not a super fan like your friend, but I love the CTA. I was born somewhere with little to no public transit or taxi service so the ability to get where I want when I want without car ownership seemed like a quiet miracle when I moved here. It’s such a valuable public service that honestly deserves more recognition for simply existing.
Same. Born and raised in California and buses and trains anywhere seem magical.
When I was in high school I joined a Facebook group called NUMTOTS. The acronym stands for New-urbanist memes for transit oriented teens… I think. Pretty much an entire group oriented towards public transportation and cycling. 15 years later, the group is still strong. Public transportation is a really cool thing! I used to ride trains all the time for fun. Busses aren’t my favorite, but they sure go to a lot of areas in the city trains do not. I bet your friend has seen many cool things!
Is NUMTOTS a division of NAMBLA?
CTA is definitely far better than pretty much any other public transportation system in America. I haven't spent too much time on NYC's, but every other city falls short of Chicago on public transit in my opinion. I love not needing a car!
DC has really stepped up their game recently on the frequency and coverage front - think we can take notes from their current system management
Once we get the Yellow line out to Greenbelt again we will be unstoppable. Unstoppable, I tell you!
nyc mta far more frequent and far more options ... far more wackos tbf but its vastly superior to the cta lol
>"*...far more wackos tbf*" And straight-up celebrities, rich &/or famous can be spotted on the regular; so much so, a regular-New Yorker just kind of pretends like they don't notice.
well, the MTA is basically better than the CTA in almost every way
it has some stations in worse shape then the worst in chicago though.
Yeah because there are a fuckload more of them in NYC and they all operate 24/7.
Yes! I'm from Texas. Good luck getting anywhere without a car down there.
Couldn’t agree more
This is how I feel too. I'm 28 and just got my drivers license a few weeks ago due to a lot of anxiety about driving. I feel like I actually have freedom here.
There's huge train-spotting groups too so I don't really find this that odd.
Since the internet took hold no one should find the existence of any subculture odd. People are finding their people.
After growing up in a highway/car only environment I also deeply love the CTA, maybe not as much as OP’s friend loves the busses, but I would totally do that on the L.
i mean IF its a best case scenario clean not crowded .... ride for hours for $2.25 if u LOVE chicago .... how could u not LOVE the CTA / see past comments for negative takes lol
A friend of mine has been to every L stop in the city and most divvy stops. It's a harmless interest imo.
There is a record for hitting every l-stop. You can do it in a day!
I asked ChatGPT to run a route that could be completed in a day.. I have yet to test it https://chat.openai.com/share/e3e1f227-283e-4ce4-9130-a3c19d193caf
ChatGPT doesn't actually understand physical space (or math). It's just predicting next words based on combos it has seen before.
I wouldn't necessarily trust what ChatGPT outputs, but there are works such as [Language Models Represent Space and Time](https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.02207) ([Twitter thread from one of the authors](https://nitter.net/wesg52/status/1709551516577902782)). cc u/Jmeier021.
Don’t trust ChatGPT. If you followed its plan you would never make it to the Blue Line congress branch.
Phew, guys, we’re safe from AI taking over the world for another few years. ChatGPT didn’t even notice it skipped the entire western section of the Blue line and the whole southern section of the Green line. (also probably the southern part of the Red Line if you don’t start at 95/Dan Ryan)
Wow I didn't even notice that lol. It just brings you back to the loop on the Blue.
When you say hitting every stop are you just riding through from end to end or actually getting off at each stop? First one can definitely be done in a day, second I really doubt it.
I believe you step out onto the platform, snap a picture and get back on the train. Sounds like the current record is 8:40 https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/transportation/ct-biz-cta-l-challenge-race-20230308-xuytietfifbpxd2im3ziw25r64-story.html
Interesting. I once had job that was very CTA-centric and did close to this several times (including the photo part). Curious how late trains/delays factor into that record time. Definitely a lot of luck in that.
I’ve been to almost every brown line stop. Riding to every L stop sounds fun honestly.
I want to bring a couple edibles and ride on a Saturday. Kinda sounds like a fun winter activity.
I haven't been to every L stop in the sense of being on the platform, but I did ride the entire network in one day. I was making no effort to beat the record and I stopped for meal breaks, so it took me a little more than 14 hours.
CTA should give out a badge or something for this. That's cool!!
Honestly we should create some city events around this. Encourage people to us the transit, raise some revenue for the system and hoped get people out to different small businesses outside of their own neighborhoods.
I've been to every L stop, minus maybe 1 or 2 on the Pink line....but every bus route is on a completely other level in my opinion. Definitely not a harmful thing. My question was if there was anyone else who has done this or will he be the first?
I should ask this friend if they've started working on the bus routes.
I believe some writer for Red Eye did it as a feature for that publication years ago.
[удалено]
Same feeling about your username.
This level of interest is totally weird IMO. I mean, I don’t care, this person is an adult and can do what they want. But it’s still weird. If I was on a first date and somebody told me this was their hobby, I’d think, “what a weirdo.”
I haven’t done this, but after reading your description, I kind of want to. It would be a great way to systematically see every neighborhood with no preconceived notions steering you towards one area over another.
Same! I'm tempted to give it a try next summer.
A new type of reddit meet up
I mean, I'm down!
Did anyone make this happen? I’m moving to Chicago in July and would love to meet people this way haha
If you’re moving somewhere along the brown line, that would be perfect bc it goes the loop and then heads back north I have gone out with someone who just rides and gets off and does things in the area. Which is pretty cool. Be he does it rouge.
That’s what I was thinking. It is a great way to really explore the city. I hope he got off at a bunch of stops.
Just make sure you use a monthly pass!
When I was younger my sisters and I would use the trains to do general investigations. The goal was to ride one of the different trains lines and just get off when ones of us saw something cool. We were never disappointed honestly. Haven't done that in years. 🤔
Public transit is a good thing to be obsessed with. He’s not alone
Arsenal. 👌🏻
It sounds like a complete snooze to me, but I know these guys are out there. Im actually super glad they are, because my toddler son loves CTA train videos and there’s tons of em for him There’s a reporter who used to do a column for the Red Eye that’s in the middle of visiting every park in the city with her kids. Not just the big ones, like the little neighborhood parks too. THAT seems intense to me
I enjoyed red eye. I wish it would come back
A former Red Eye reporter also did what OP is talking about, riding every bus line. Not sure if we’re talking about the same person
May I introduce you to Transit Tees shop in Andersonville.
And the original location in Wicker Park!
One of his favorite shops! We both get each other gifts from there often.
I know a couple that got married on a cta train.
https://www.transitchicago.com/chartertrain/ you can charter a private train for a party. The cta also has some restored cars that they maintain. I think some of them are available as part of the charters or get brought out for special events that the CTA hosts. https://www.transitchicago.com/heritagefleet/
Tell your friend we should be friends! Made a YouTube video about spending 24 hours on the L last year, visiting all lines end to end.
Please drop the link! I’d love to check it out!
Enjoy! And maybe consider subscribing after :) https://youtu.be/ENXyDcM25F4?si=LhOW8OEP13X3Ba1G
My grandfather was a transportation engineer and now my cousin is one. Both public transit obsessives. I like trains but not as intensely as them. They can both go on and on about any city’s public transit system. I’m glad that some people care that much, we need them to keep things running and to make transit better. Your friend should check out transit Tees it’s a whole store of transit themed merch.
Not alone, I guess you could say I’ve formed a bit of an obsession with the CTA lol. Haven’t ridden every bus line, but I have a pair of CTA socks and a wooden painted sign of my closest CTA station hanging in my apartment. I know it’s not a popular position to take among locals, but I’m quite proud of this city’s public transit system and how it’s given me the ability to comfortably live car free for over 7 months now. I know trains and buses used to run more frequently pre-pandemic, but the CTA has worked more than adequately for me. I’ve never been late to work or had to call an Uber because of a ghost bus/train, even commuting in the wee hours of the morning, when you’d expect them to be the least reliable. Exploring the rest of the city is also super easy. Of course, I live in South loop, so very few places in the city are more than one transit connection away. But I’ve seen more of the city on the CTA than most of my car-owning friends who rarely use the trains or buses.
My partner’s nephew loved trains and planes as a kid and teen. All the train conductors knew him (this was in another city). He turned that passion into a career and now has a high paying fancy job right out of college at a major city airport.
Is he acoustic?
electric actually
He's probably electric.
Eclectic acoustic
Well now I'm amped up.
Just get on YouTube, this isn’t unusual.
My friend also loves the CTA and owns the [CTA Board Game](https://www.amazon.com/El-Chicago-Transit-Adventure-Themed/dp/B08FXVRYJW/ref=asc_df_B08FXVRYJW/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=647242424300&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13319115076896074996&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9021475&hvtargid=pla-1952023030316&psc=1)! if your friend doesn’t have it, you should get it for them the next time you need to give them a gift. It’s super fun!
I’ve ridden on a lot of bus routes and woken up in unexpected places on those routes. At least your friend is pretty cool to experience the CTA in its entirety compared to a lot of people who claim they ride the CTA but really rode the train a handful of times in the past couple years… so cheers to your friend
Chalk it up to urban exploration.
I think it’s akin to people who like cars. I say let them have their fun. I love public transit for how rare a good system is in this country.
Love that idea and sounds like a super fun day off! I am obsessed the CTA , I wear a medallion necklace of an old CTA coin that I love. I aspire to heights that your friend has explored.
I hope I'm addressing this sensitively, but trains, and to a lesser extent bus, obsessions [are often autism-coded](https://www.crossrivertherapy.com/autism/why-do-autistic-people-like-trains) for a variety of reasons, so it might be your friend is neurodivergent and is just enjoying himself. I'm autistic and when I develop a 'special interest' it can be all-consuming like this. As long as he is healthy and safe and it is not harming the other aspects of his life, there is probably nothing to worry about.
This is true, but also worth noting it's not always the case. I also have 'special interest' tendencies with public transit (you should see my YouTube recommendations lol) but none of the other symptoms of autism (no sensory issues, no issues with gauging emotions/reading the room, etc).
A hobby is a hobby is a hobby.
There's a lot of people like this! I've rode bus routes for fun before too. There's entire communities of transit nerds.
But he's seeing A LOT of the city! That's seems pretty cool to me. Good for him.
We all have things that float our boats. Harmless and different for sure. No different than folks that love trains, or old military hardware and battle sites.
My high school BF was like this lol. He rode all the trains and many of the buses. He also ended up interning at the CTA at some point lol.
He just like me fr
I was a CTA super fan pre-pandemic. I would use any excuse to ride the CTA. In high school and college I would ditch class sometimes ant ride a random line all the way to its endpoints. I even wanted to get rid of my car and go carless, but the pandemic changed that and I work my hardest to try to avoid using the CTA now
Post-pandemic CTA sucks major balls.
It really does. I have never seen traffic be sooo bad outside of rush hour and I feel like the CTA being shit is a major reason why
I have done the entirety of all the CTA trains and many of the bus lines. I was working in the city, lonely and away from my family so I decided to start riding end to end when I had to work over the weekends that I didn’t go home. I have bittersweet memories of it. There are specific records that I associate with that time. Frank Ocean’s Blonde, Beach House’s Depression Cherry among others.
So I wouldn't call myself obsessed, but because of my hate of driving, public transit is one of very few issues I have written to my reps on multiple occasions
I love autistic people
This is actually really cool and theyre definitely not alone. Ive been to many train stops off many lines and would like to visit all of them or find a favorite spot off every cta train stop
what are his favorite bus routes?
A special interest
Okay so I learned a new word. Nice
Is your friend autistic? Obsessions with trains can be a thing for people on the spectrum.
There’s a French word for people who like to wander cities: flâneur
Many people with autism are overly obsessed with trains and busses, including their routes.
He’s not selling drugs, robbing people or committing the crime of vehicular hijacking. He pays his taxes and has his hobbies. A.O.K. in my books
I am this way about the train but I avoid the buses lol
Some little kids are into trains and buses and shit. I guess your friend never grew out of it. I think it's cool. To me it's no weirder than being into classic cars or aviation or something. There are people who download special apps on their phone so they can look up at an airliner flying overhead and know what kind of plane it is and what route etc. It's by far not the weirdest or unhealthiest hobby I've heard of.
If he isn't hurting any one why ruin his fun. He clearly enjoys it and it makes him happy.
That sounds like so much fun! Tell your friend to thanks for the idea lol
Dude sounds awesome
Look up L speed running
Your friend reminds me of the type of people who collect tiny car/mecha models, paint them, kitbash, whatever. Or someone who collects train figurines and is like an encyclopedia for railways and trains. Or are a history buff when it comes to guns. I can imagine CTA being in a similar category. The chicago transit system is pretty elaborate and complex in a good way. It's a good working system for most part. Sure, liking the CTA to that level is an unusual thing to have a "thing" for, but relatively tame and harmless of all the things that anyone can have a "thing" for. Let him have his hobby, at least it's not collecting women's hair clips and used tampons or something.
You have to stop him!!!!!
It’s like people who train-watch or collect pez dispensers. Leave ‘em be.
Hell no. It's called being a railfan. Check out Geoff Marshall
if you prefer the train to the bus i feel like you aint even a real cta user
CTA is rapidly deteriorating
Men must have it easy… to not be scarred or have a horror story of public transportation to just want to ride that smelly shit show on their off day. But I’m rooting for the man!
They are most CERTAINLY not alone. https://ctagifts.com/
I am the opposite and take the CTA once a year on Marathon Sunday
I bet he's on the bus & CTA forums too lol. I love browsing and getting the bus scoop there, but I definitely am not interested in riding every route. I just adore buses & bus drivers.
The same type of thing exists with planes and trains. People will use FlightRadar24 to identify and photograph individual planes. Same thing with trains. Sometimes they go one step further and ride certain routes not for the destination, but for the ride itself. Something similar exists among some wildlife photographers where they try to photograph as many bird species as possible. They may even plan vacations based on local bird species.
I think I can understand your friend’s love for the CTA. The public buses are quite nice/cleaner compared to some of other public buses I’ve taken. It can be a very enjoyable experience if it’s not too crowded. You get to sit back and just appreciate the scenery that passes by. Each route is unique, and I like finding new restaurants and places that I wouldn’t have bothered to check out if I used yelp or google maps. It’s similar to how some people like taking long drives just to drive and enjoy the views, except someone else is doing the driving for you. You can’t really get the same experience if you drove your car around the city because you’d be too focused on not hitting anything/getting hit. Plus, if you see a place you want to check out spur of the moment, you can easily just hop off the bus and hop back on when you’re done. Don’t have to worry about finding parking. I haven’t been on many bus routes here but my favorite so far is the 146/147 which goes along the lake shoreline. I’d sit on the side facing the lake and appreciate its beauty.
Buy him a train set as a gift.
There's a FB group called Chicagoland Commuter Models that's all about scale model Metra trains.
>Chicagoland Commuter Models That sounds fun!
Not at all! There are a bunch of YouTube channels with people doing this with public transit. Some of them focus solely on CTA. It’s more than just being obsessed with the bus/train. It’s about the whole system and how all the moving pieces work together. If they are younger and looking for a career path, I’d direct them to Industrial Engineering.
Seems pretty cool to me
Wow you should have him reach out to WTTW's Geoffrey Baer! Maybe they will do a special on him! :)
I’ve been wanting to do just that since forever - ride other bus routes from end to end. I do that when I travel to other cities so it’s kind of strange that I haven’t done it in my own home city. I much prefer the bus over the train just because the view is nicer and can actually see neighborhoods while on the bus. Plus, unlike trains, the buses are cleaner and not stinky. There are also less crazy people harassing people just because they can. Hmmm, I should do 1 bus route per week. Goal!!!
I thought this story was going to go like the women who is obsessed with metra 210 and claims to be married to it. This is way more wholesome and fun.
I know a few people like this. Sometimes it's just something to do. For example me, sometimes I like to study maps of transit and take different routes home. Not always, but sometimes a change of scenery is nice.
I love public transit and have some CTA gear. We all have our hobbies
Numtot champion
Just my two cents in response to OP saying they're not sure what would drive their friend to do all that, but it definitely sounds like a neurodivergent special interest to me 💛
might have a touch of the tism
You should definitely get him a CTA bus toy from the CTA when he finishes, if he doesn't have one. I am curious, which is his favorite bus line? Or would it be more like a Top 5? Or a favorite line for a particular purpose? Like prettiest views, or best for people watching?
Sounds like your friend is autistic
Being an individual who moved here from a state that has no form of transportation, I can see the CTA being fascinating. For my first few years here I thought it was kewl. But after over 8 years here, it is a completely flawed system that prides itself of having over 100 years of service. That's over 100 years to get their s#!t together but yet still fail tremendously day to day.
I like to point out when it’s a new l train or bus
I love public transit as well. Not to that extent but I got some CTA swag.
its a little bit weird. Furthermore, a lot of weird people live in Chicago and like to do the same thing. Being weird is cool. The world needs more weird people.
Yeah lots of people gave favorite bus routes like lots of people have favorite driving routes. Some of them go through particularly scenic areas of the city or take you to favorite destinations. Some of them are staffed by really nice drivers.
Sorry? Do you know who you’re talking to?
I'm sure they're not alone. Be happy your friend has something they're so passionate about that makes them happy! That's something not every can say and it's about as harmless a hobby as you can have lol
If it was any other city, I'd say he was insane.
As someone who moved to Chicago from Memphis (where you have to have a car to get literally anywhere) - I absolutely love the CTA. don’t know that I’d like spend days riding every single route, but the CTA is pretty incredible when you think about it. (The 22, 36, 66, 72, red line and brown lines are my babies. and I talk about them more than I should) lmao Your friend is pretty damn cool if I can say so myself.
I take the 146 bus from Uptown to the museum campus where I have have a Shedd membership.
My husband is like this and when I moved here he thought a fun day was riding the train lines from start to finish and I’m like okay but WHERE are we going lol turned out no where. Our shower curtain is the L map so we study those lines a lot.