Mayor Emanuel Joins CTA to Unveil New LED Bus Tracker Displays for Bus Shelters

10/31/2011

Mayor Rahm Emanuel joined Chicago Transit Authority President Forrest Claypool September 30 to unveil the first of 400 Light Emitting Diode (LED) Bus Tracker displays that will be installed at select JC Decaux bus shelters throughout all 50 Aldermanic Wards.

The displays will provide four lines of text via CTA Bus Tracker with bus arrival information, and eventually important customer alerts affecting the respective route and surrounding transfer points. The LED signs will be installed on the sides of bus shelters and face outward to serve as many riders as possible – both those at the stop and within the vicinity of the shelter.

Installation of the first 150 signs is underway, and will be completed by March 2012.

The full list of locations for the first 150 signs is posted on the CTA’s web site, http://www.transitchicago.com/sheltersigns/#loc.

The locations were selected based on ridership, stops serving multiple bus routes, bus-to-bus transfers, and locations providing transfers to Metra and Pace.

After testing, the remaining 250 signs will be installed by September 2012.

Funds for the purchase and maintenance of the signs are made available through $1.4 million of CTA funds, a $1.8 million Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) grant and a $640,000 Federal Transit Adminstration, Congestion Mitigation and Quality (CMAQ) grant.

The Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT), which oversees the JC Decaux contract and maintains the public right of ways, will be the CTA’s partner in the operations and maintenance of the LED screens.

In Chatham, LED screens will be installed at the 79th & King Drive bus shelter for Route # 3 going northbound, at the 79th & Cottage Grove bus shelter for Route # 79 going westbound, at the Cottage Grove & 79th Street bus shelter for Route # 4 going northbound and at the Cottage Grove & 87th Street bus shelter for Route # 4 going northbound.

8 injured in 3-vehicle crash involving police car in Chatham

Chicago police investigate a multi-vehicle accident while Chicago Fire Department paramedics render aid to the victims near 80th Street and Indiana Avenue tonight. (Eric Clark for the Chicago Tribune / October 20, 2011)

Eight people were injured, four seriously, in three-vehicle crash that injured an officer in his police car in the Chatham neighborhood this evening, officials said.

The crash at 83rd Street and Indiana Avenue left a Pontiac sport-utility vehicle on its roof and also involved a Ford Fusion and a Dodge Intrepid about 8:50 p.m., said Chicago Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford, who was at the scene of the crash this evening. Video from the scene showed the Fusion was an unmarked police car.

A brief pursuit began after Gresham District police officers learned a vehicle may have had weapons and tried to pull it over near 80th Street and Indiana Avenue, News Affairs Officer Hector Alfaro said.

The vehicle, with three people inside, fled and hit an unmarked Chicago Police car -- the Dodge Intrepid -- traveling westbound on 83rd Street before hitting another vehicle that was traveling eastbound on 83rd Street.

Four occupants of the third vehicle were injured, and three occupants of the SUV police tried to stop were among the eight injured, Alfaro said, citing preliminary reports.

The unmarked police car wasn't involved in the pursuit, Alfaro said.

Two men were being taken by Fire Department ambulance to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in serious-to-critical condition and two women were being taken to Stroger Hospital in serious-to-critical condition, Langford said.

In addition, two women and a man were being taken to St. Bernard Hospital in fair-to-serious condition. The man was somehow injured in the accident, but was being transported from 83rd Street and Wabash Avenue, Langford said.

Another man--believed to be the officer injured in his police vehicle--was being taken to Advocate Trinity Hospital in fair-to-serious condition. The officer was expected to fully recover.

Country Club Hills man shot, killed in Chatham neighborhood

A 43-year-old south suburban man was found dead in Chicago's Chatham neighborhood after being shot multiple times, according to authorities on October 2nd.

A spokesman for the Cook County medical examine's office said Darryl McWilliams, of the 17900 block of Edwards Avenue in Country Club Hills, suffered multiple gunshot wounds to his body.

Chicago police found him dead outside on the 8600 block of South Vernon Avenue at 3 a.m.

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Cops: Man dies after being shot in head, back across from his Avalon Park home

A man was shot to death in the East Chatham neighborhood of Avalon Park early this past Friday morning, down the block from his home, authorities said.

The man was on the street in the 7900 block of South Drexel Boulevard just before 6 a.m. when he was fatally shot, said Chicago Police News Affairs Officer John Mirabelli.

The victim was identified as William Newell, 29, of the an address just north and across the street from where he was shot, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

Witnesses told police they heard an argument and shots, and saw a vehicle fleeing the scene, Mirabelli said.

The victim was shot multiple times in the back and shot in the back of the head, police said.

Illinois Department of Corrections records indicate Newell was released from prison in August and was on parole in a 2010 drug case.

Calumet Area detectives were investigating.