The El is Broken: Here's How to Fix It

Ridership, meantime, is not a problem: Chicago's system is full of people, writes Zotti:

"Ridership on the trains has boomed in recent years. Last year almost 174 million people passed through the turnstiles, the most since 1967. (And in 1967 Chicago's population was 25 percent greater than it is today.) The city is becoming more dependent on trains and less on buses. Since 1992, weekday el ridership has increased nearly 25 percent, while bus ridership has dropped by roughly a sixth."

As the city prepares to modernize parts of the system, Zotti lists his tips for fixing the current problems.