Loop/Downtown Rush Hour Traffic Control—I don’t get it.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rush hour traffic control team (TCT), let me briefly break it down for you: During rush hour periods downtown there are people in neon yellow vests that stand at intersections with traffic lights and instruct vehicles to stop when the light turns red and go when the light turns green. They also hold the responsibility of directing pedestrians to walk when the white man shape walk sign illuminates and to stop on the corner and wait until the walk sign comes back up when the orange stop hand becomes illuminated.

This is a HUGE responsibility, considering that thousands of lives are at stake. But there is some assistance offered to the traffic control team. The walk and don’t walk icons will begin to flash when they near the end of their current increment. This allows the TCT time (though not nearly enough, if you ask me) to prepare for their next move.

And since it’s an entirely new system that red light means stop and green light means go and white man walking icon means walk and orange hand icon means stop, this team is ESSENTIAL for the survival of downtown commuters. Fortunately there are A LOT of them. They’re very pleasant and the look on their faces says “There no where else I’d rather be right now then here with you and these cars.” Seeing these people before getting on the spacious and reliable red line with my fellow pleasant and spatially aware commuters is actually a really nice way to end the work day. I don’t know what they’re getting paid but I know that this city department is worth EVERY penny. Thank you Rush Hour Traffic Control! And on this mother’s day my mother thanks you too for getting her little girl home from work safe and sound each and everyday, which without you would otherwise be highly unlikely.

In other news, nearly all of the public health clinics in Chicago were closed because the city could no longer afford to keep them open. Understandable. They clearly have more important things to spend their (OUR) money on.

Unrelated: What’s really going on between Mary Poppins and Bert?