Since public transportation ridership is rapidly returning to pre-pandemic levels (I know many doubt this, but I experience it every day :)), I had to switch to the earliest commuting wave. When I started my current job, I used to take the 7:15 or 7:30 train, and occasionally the 7:00 AM train. However, these days, there is no chance to find an open seat on eitgher of them, so I switched to 6:30 AM, which was luckily added about a year and a half ago, When it was just added, there were barely five people waiting for it on the platform, but now there is a small crowd, and I have to rush in to find an open seat. And if, for whatever reason, I am not making this train, I am taking the L.
On Monday, I took a day off because I needed to do several conference-related and mom-related things, and I left the house at an uncharacteristic 7:45 AM. A CTA attendant at Jarvis station was visibly surprised to see me at the wrong time :). It was very interesting to observe the crowd on later trains, especially closer to the Loop. Early morning is for service workers, people working shifts and some occasional crazy IT like me, or contractors all all kinds, trying to start their billable hours as early as possible. Later, it’s a time for traders and the rest of the IT, especially working parents, who have no choice of commute time. And an hour later felt like students and freelancers commute. I was surprised to see that L-trains were even more crowded that an hour earlier, and I think it’s the Metra/CTA difference. Metra is officially out of the rush hour by 8:30, but the CTA rush hour continues. That’s the loudest and the friendlies crowd of all, with the least smarphone usage during commute, if you can believe it. They actually talk!
Hettie's Reflections 