Associated Student Government and several other Northwestern student organizations will attend the Chicago Transit Authority public forum tonight to protest proposed cuts to the Purple and Red lines.
NU students plan to take a bus to the public forum held at Evanston Township High School at 6:30 p.m.
NOWAR, Campus Greens, NU Progressive, SEED and several other groups have encouraged members to attend the public forum.
Earlier this month the CTA proposed reducing the hours of operation for both lines. The Purple Line would stop running after 10 p.m., and the Red Line would not run between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. to compensate for budget shortfalls.
“If this goes through, the use of mass transit will become impossibility or a lot harder for both students and residents of Evanston,” said ASG External Relations Committee member Aaron Goldberg, who drafted an ASG bill to protest the cuts last Wednesday.
“The cuts aren’t good for Evanston, Chicago and Northwestern period,” Goldberg said. “We want to leave the door open for dialogue between the CTA, state and local government.”
The bill authorized a petition on the HereAndNow Web site in which students can express their opposition to the cuts.
Goldberg also pointed out the possible disadvantages of the proposal. He said many students go to Chicago and people come to Evanston for shopping or dining. The cuts could have a negative impact on the local economy, he said.
CTA officials acknowledged the proposal could have a large impact on the community.
“We carry 1.4 million customers,” said CTA spokeswoman Anne McCarthy. “There is no part of our service area that will be unaffected.”
A reduced El service may impact NU students’ ability to experience Chicago, but cuts also will hurt university employees like the late night crew who work at Norris University Center.
Lexi Carlson, president of NOWAR, will be at the public forum to bring up alternatives to cutting service hours. She said she will ask the CTA to consider increasing fares. The reduced hours will make transportation much more difficult for Norris employees, she said.
“Some people need the El and not have the option of having a car,” Carlson said.
Paul Komelasky, district manager for SodexhoUSA, said a majority of workers will not be affected by the proposed El cuts because they leave work before the Purple and Red lines would close.
Norris dining cashier Krystal McKinley, who works the late night crew, already is rushing after 11:30 p.m. to catch the Purple Line before it closes at midnight to reach her home in the West Side of Chicago.
For the last three years, the El has been McKinley’s only way to get home. Heavy traffic makes it difficult for her to bring her car to work, she said.
“I have to walk 12 blocks to Howard if they make the cuts,” she said. “That’s a long way.”
McKinley said she is willing to pay a higher fare if it means the El still will be available after she gets off work.
As the weather gets colder, she is beginning to worry about the consequences the cuts will have on her and other late-night workers.
“I guess I’ll have to keep myself warm and walk the whole way,” she said. “It’s going to be a very big stress on me.”
The bus to the meeting at ETHS leaves Norris at 5:30 p.m., and students will need to bring $3.50 for fare.
ASG’s External Relations Committee will sponsor another organized protest at the Oct. 27 public meeting at the Palmer House in downtown Chicago. The group will meet students at The Arch at 2:45 p.m. and take the El to attend the 4 p.m. public forum.
Reach Stephanie Chen at [email protected].
