Quiet cars, budget constraints and a female pioneer

I don't object to incessant cell phone chatter on Metra as long as it's interesting.

Yes, that's the rub. So often those loud conversations from fellow passengers are self-absorbed drivel, boring work-related exchanges or painful deliberations about what's for dinner.

I plead guilty to a few of those myself. The scandalous or actually amusing discussions are too few and far between for unintentional eavesdroppers like myself.

So I'm all for Metra's consideration of establishing “quiet cars for a trial period. The agency is asking riders to weigh in and could implement the idea after the holidays.

Obviously, there's a lot of things to consider where the quiet cars should be, should it just be on rush hour trains and how should enforcement work?

So far, the response in favor of quiet cars “has been overwhelmingly positive, Acting Executive Director Bill Tupper said Friday.

To give your 2 cents, drop an e-mail to onthebilevel@metrarr.com.

Flotsam and jetsam

Speaking of Metra, the agency released its 2011 budget for public comment Friday. The operating budget, which includes everything from salaries to maintenance, is $634 million and the capital budget is $407 million.

The agency is plugging a budget hole by using $60 million from it capital fund and $40 million from a Regional Transportation Authority fund to offset low ridership revenues, financial staff said.

In more good news, sales tax receipts, which help pay for transit, are down while health care and diesel fuel costs are up.

No fare hikes are planned for 2011 although officials wouldn't rule them out in future and warned about the challenging financial picture.

Public budget hearings are set for Nov. 3 and Nov. 4. For times and locations, visit the website Metrarail.com.

Pace directors also are promising no fare increases or service cuts next year after releasing for public comment a $183 million operating budget. With ridership affected by unemployment, revenues have been flat and the agency could be forced to transfer money from the capital budget to operating if sales tax receipts stay stagnant.

Pace's capital budget is $80 million, most of which will go toward replacing older buses.

Public hearings run Monday through Oct. 28. For times and locations, visit Pacebus.com.

Metra directors honored a railroading pioneer on Friday, recognizing Vallorie O'Neil, the agency's first female locomotive engineer. O'Neil has worked for Metra for more than 22 years, becoming an engineer in 1989. Her career in the industry spans 41 years. “I'm overwhelmed, O'Neil, said comparing her experiences to a marathon. “At times I ran good, at times it got ugly, but I finished, she said. “The race is not won by the swift but by the ones who persevere. I love railroading and I was proud to serve.

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DuPage shoppers will get a break this holiday season when IDOT suspends work on the pesky 22nd Street rebuild and widening starting Thanksgiving through Jan. 2. The project finishes up fall in 2011 and stretches from Route 83 to Butterfield Road.

However, more pain looms for Route 53/I-290 drivers and Woodfield Shopping Center visitors this weekend when IDOT implements a lane closure on the northbound side of the highway between Higgins and Algonquin roads. The entrance ramp from Higgins to north Route 53 will also be shut. Lanes should be opened in mid-November.