THE L: Short for “elevated,” as within the CTA’s elevated commuter rail system; additionally oddly refers to that system when it’s not elevated — at avenue degree or a subway.
THE THIRD RAIL: 1. High-voltage electrified monitor that powers L trains.
2. A subject fraught with peril if mentioned in public, equivalent to race and faith.
CTA BUS: Mass transit car that doesn’t include a public toilet, although many riders appear to suppose it does.
CTA Bus.Susan Smith/For the Sun-Times
GREEN LIMOUSINE: Longtime nickname for CTA buses, so known as not as a result of they had been environmentally pleasant however as a result of they was once coloured inexperienced.
STANK: That disagreeable, hard-to-define odor inside a CTA bus.
EYE CONTACT: Something you need to by no means make with different passengers whereas driving the L or a CTA bus.
UBER: 1. Word used universally to explain any ride-share firm, together with competitor Lyft.
2. Godsend in case you’ve had just a few too many drinks.
3. The drivers that you simply conjure hell upon as they lower you off, block fireplace lanes and idle over crosswalks all through the town.
4. Killer of taxi firms, public transit.
