CTA Opens Produce Market At Ashland/63rd Station
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The CTA is trying something new at one of its 'L' stations -- a produce market.
CTA riders already can buy plenty of newspapers, coffee, doughnuts and candy at many CTA stops, but now one train station will be selling apples, bananas, citrus and salads. It's not in a trendy neighborhood, either, but at the hardscrabble Ashland/63rd terminal on the Green Line.
It's a one-year experiment by Lunderman Produce, but if it works, CTA President Forrest Claypool said you might see more. What he hopes he does not see is more apple cores and garbage aboard Green Line trains as a result.
"We don't want people littering our trains and eating their fried egg sandwiches on the train," he said. "That's just common sense."
Claypool called the green market a change of pace from the newsstands, coffee and doughnut shops that predominate at 'L' stations, although he said he was pleased to see "quite a line" one day last week at a Dunkin' Donuts shop at another 'L' station.
CTA also has given the green light to 72 more ATMs at 'L' stations, as it continues its quest to raise additional revenue from places other than the farebox.
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