News in Commuting and Music!

Now that I consider $3.67 for gas to be cheap (in comparison to $3.99 at the gas station across the street from my apartment), I think its time to get back on the bus and trains. According to NPR, taxi drivers are feeling the crunch as well. The Chicago City Council has passed a ruling, mandating that a $1 surcharge will be added to cab fare to subsidize the costs of gas (only when gas is over $3.50 for seven days straight). However, a group of taxi drivers are suing to have this ruling overturned in favor of a fare increase per mile, citing this to be a long-term solution in the face of the economic and energy crunch.

And the days of seeing three buses back-to-back is hypothetically over. The CTA has unveiled their website, CTA Bus Tracker, which provides people on the go with estimated travel times for bus routes (14 routes are available now with more to come in May). The site has an estimated time arrival section as well as a bus location map, and comes in a text version for mobile devices.



And the purveyor of mass-hipster fashions, Urban Outfitters, offers up their summer mix online. Plenty of electronic blips and whistles, breathy boy voices, and drum machines for all (all tongue-and-cheek snarkiness aside, they have gathered a pretty good mix)!