Metra is making a huge mistake with its changes, including raising prices and eliminating 10-ride tickets. Instead of attracting more riders, these moves will make people think twice before choosing Metra. It’s also a real pity the commuter rail agency is doing away with all ticket windows, which means customer service on site will be scant at best.
I grew up in Flossmoor, and my parents both commuted on Metra for their jobs in the Loop. I occasionally used their monthly passes to go downtown on the weekends as a kid.
When Metra got rid of the live ticket agent at the Flossmoor station, I remember my mother having great difficulties getting us on the train when the machines were broken. You had to pick up a special phone to talk to someone, and if no one was there, you had to jump the turnstiles or risk missing your train. Sounds like what’s old is new again.
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After college, I worked downtown using 10-ride passes since I didn’t have to be there every day. It was very convenient and affordable, and the pass expired one year from the date of purchase. Why get rid of that convenience?
Moving to Wilmette, I already have found Metra to be a bit less comfortable. (Why don’t we have electric trains?!) What the transit agency is doing now aren’t improvements. It is sad because Metra should be doing everything it can to incentivize and make train travel attractive to cut down on pollution and inconvenience. But it sounds like Metra just wants to emulate the airline industry.
Andrea Berggren, Wilmette
Haley’s choice
Nikki Haley should appeal to independents and moderate Republicans in a bid to beat Donald Trump, columnist S.E. Cupp recently suggested. But it is clear Haley doesn’t want that. Just consider her response when asked about the origins of the Civil War. The media called her omission in citing slavery as the cause as a “blunder” and a “gaffe.” It was neither.
Haley believes if she has any hope of defeating Trump, she must earn votes from a large number of MAGA voters, many of whom are white nationalist racists clinging to fantasies of the “Lost Cause.” She thought spouting nonsense about “freedom” and skipping the mention of slavery would appeal to the voters she so desperately needs.
Her problem, as with all the Republican presidential candidates, except for Chris Christie, is her appeals to the MAGA base are heard by the many Americans who are neither racists nor craven politicians in thrall to Trump.
Michael Gorman, River North
