'Pee all over the place': CTA riders talk about 'open air restroom' at Red Line stop
CHICAGO (CBS) --The area in and around a major Chicago Transit Authority terminal is being used as a bathroom -- and riders are over it, reaching out to CBS 2 with concerns about cleanliness because they said no one else will listen.
As CBS 2's Tara Molina reported Tuesday, we received very specific concerns about conditions at the Howard terminal serving the Red, Purple, and Yellow lines , and brought them directly to the Chicago Transit Authroity. We told them exactly what people are concerned about -- we could smell it ourselves.
"Right now I can smell it and it's horrible," said a rider named Cathy. "There's pee all over the place. On the escalator. On every single place that you can find. It's absolutely gross. And then you get it on your shoes!"
CBS 2 showed up after hearing concerns about cleanliness and general deterioration. We let our eyes and noses guide us, and it didn't take long to find out what people were reaching us about.
Then, Audrey Behm met us there to show us exactly what she said has been a problem for more than a year now.
"This is definitely like an open air restroom," Behm said. "You know, there are people going in there for comfort."
And that's why she reached out to CBS 2.
"The lack of maintenance and the deterioration is very discouraging and detrimental to wanting to use the facility to go downtown," Behm said.
Discouraged by the state of the system so many rely on to get around the city.
"It's extremely unpleasant and I know some people can't handle those kind of smells," Behm said.
A CTA spokesperson said a parking garage, stairwell, and elevator where the urine stench was noticeable are privately owned. CBS 2 reached out to the group managing it. But as for the rest of the property?
That spokesperson for the CTA said cleaning crew reports to the Howard station every morning. There's a janitor there in the morning and afternoon and power washers work to clean it up overnight.
The people CBS 2 heard from want to know how they keep missing the same areas. Areas, Behm said, impact the entire ridership experience. Something she's sure she's not alone in.
"We have a great transportation system set up. And it's all in place. But it's not being taken care of," Behm said.
There's been no response from SP+ Parking, the company that manages the Gateway Garage (CTA Park and Ride) attached to Howard CTA station.
The CTA said the parking garage at Howard is privately owned, and the transit authority does not manage the parking garage. It does have an agreement with the company that owns the garage to offer discounted parking to CTA customers.
In a statement sent to CBS 2, the CTA said:
The CTA works to provide clean and safe transportation to roughly 900,000 riders each day.
A cleaning crew is sent to Howard every morning, and a janitor is staffed to the station in both the morning and afternoon, and power washers work to clean the station overnight.
When instances of uncleanliness happen CTA works to address them as quickly as possible. Occasionally cleaning crews have to travel from stations, which takes a little time, but is often addressed immediately. CTA uses special cleaning products to clean and disinfect the area and has a regular regiment of deep cleaning stations.
This kind of behavior is unacceptable, and individuals violating the regulations can be fined by Chicago Police.
CTA works hard to prevent this kind of unsanitary behavior, but give the large station footprint with thousands of people passing though daily, it can be a challenge. But as soon as we are made aware of an issue, we address it as quickly as possible.
