CTA – Howard

Came to the station at 11ish to go sightseeing in the city. The station had a decent amount of parking. The employees could be more customer friendly. The station was adequately clean. I love coming at this time because there are a lot of seats available and no traffic or congestion on the train. I would definitely come back to this station cause overall it wasn’t too bad of an experience.

so much better than the austin green line but still be careful

This is useful to get from point a to point b like if you are not a millionaire on the north shore and you are trying to get into the city… large amounts of vagrants, criminals and people who are about to cop copious amounts of drugs in the station or right outside the station. Cook county has a few buildings where the people who are on supervised work reside nearby.
I use this as a place to be in if I have to get somewhere. I will ask «where are the police» for the rest of us who dont fit into the categories in the above description and just want to go about their lives. it has either been decided that in a method of organized chaos to let this place remain that way so that this behaviour stays where it is or maybe the police are elsewhere.
Either way you should only be here for 15 minutes and after 10PM at night do not be here for that long.
:)

I don’t mind this station, I live right next to it. It’s convenient with all the busses, red/​purple/​yellow line. I’ve never actually needed any sort of assistance here but I’ve witnessed people that work there being super friendly and informative with riders.
My only real complaint, which really has nothing to do with the station, is the amount of times I’ve almost been hit by a bus turning in off Rogers as I’m crossing my street to go home… like yo, I’m in the middle of the street already, you’re supposed to stop… I seriously feel like they just go «well I hope you’re out of my way before I hit you» they NEVER stop, I could understand if someone was waiting to cross, but being IN THE MIDDLE OF THE CROSSWALK is way different.
Ultimately I don’t find any el station to be «clean» or «safe» ummm you’re walking through it, with 1000+ people per day you’re obviously not going to be licking the floor, but it’s also not like you’re walking through a dump… I’ve also witnessed people mopping multiple times n it often reeks of bleach, so they apparently do try n clean it as good as they can. As for safety, I’m 4’11 n 92lbs… I’ve never felt my life was in danger, but I’ve also never found a CTA or Metra station to be any sort of safe haven. I do usually see cops sitting out by the busses though, whether coming home from work at 6PM or coming home from a bar at 5am, so that’s comforting

For three days there has been a dead smashed rat in the bus area. Can someone clean it up?

ZERO stars. The entire CTA needs to be revamped. Trains are ALWAYS delayed or waiting for signal clearance. It’s like they don’t realize people use this service to get to work. You know who doesn’t care. the CTA. They remind you of their compassion each time they leave the doors open in the freezing cold while waiting to depart. I’m honestly surprised the city hasn’t revolted. If and when it happens, I’ll be there.

When I moved to Chicago in W Rogers Park almost ten years ago. The Howard street station was horrible to say the least. Then we were fortunate enough to get the Brand new state of the art beautiful station. They spent millions and millions of dollars in our neighborhood. The residents should be as elated as I was.
I have a car and don’t use the el that much. But went to pride last week of June and took the train. I was blown away as to the condition our once beautiful station has fallen into. The escalator was clanking horribly. The windows and walls don’t appear to have ever been cleaned. So I’m thinking. Ok. They will fix the escalator. WRONG. Took the train last week 3 months later and the escalator is still making that awful noise and the place is a dirty mess
I contacted Ald Moores office, the CTA and WGN News. Got standards email responses from all
We have a multi million dollar stop here. Who is in charge of maintenance on the station? Who is in charge of cleaning? We certainly need to find out who is responsible for this and Fire the lazy sob’s. This is ridiculous. If any of you witness this. Please contact Mr Moores office. The CTA and any news agencies that you may have ties with
Dawson Davis
W Rogers Park

This place is scary. There’s not a lot of room on the platform but not as many people die as I would have expected from falling onto the tracks, or being pushed.
There’s nothing cozy about this place and there’s a permanent stank of urine (and beer, if you’re lucky).
I’ve been here past midnight and there are non-​train or bus riding thugs hanging outside the station, bums begging for change so aggressively that they follow you onto the bus and never a cop in sight. Not that Chicago cops are capable of doing anything but writing tickets, but I’d feel safer if there at least a non-​dangerous looking person around.
I’ll probably be killed here in the future.

While staying in Skokie this was my transfer station to the red line and I thought the station was okay. Don’t know where the purple goes but maybe some day I will find out.
The only thing I don’t see at stations are bathrooms. What is that all about.
Anyhow, station staff are helpful and assist very well in directions and even conversate with you. Makes the trip enjoyable.

In my Initial Review I gave this Sorry excuse for a Station 2 Stars,
and I will be deducting 1 star in todays update for these reasons.
This place is infested with Rats, and because I work many nights
I have seen these Suckers run right in front of me for the last 4 nights!
Now, back in the 70’s, which were my favorite times BTW, there were 2
movies/​films that came out about Rats, one was called Willard, and the
other was called Ben.
And, Michael Jackson sang the theme song from Ben as well.
Now, I have loved M.J. and his Brothers since I was a kid, and I know M. J had
a fondness for out of the ordinary creatures like his Llama named Louie and
his chimp named Bubbles, however, he also had a pet rat and that’s where
I draw the line. even for M.J.
So, yes, it’s bad enough that I have to walk through this Rat Infested Terminal
pretty much on a daily/​nightly basis, I mean I get hit up for money, Jehovah’s
Witnesses try to preach to me, yadda, yadda.
And now, there are Rats running rampant!
Worse than Munchkins running rampant!
Well, maybe not…

I was concerned about safety at the Howard stop. I have never felt unsafe in the station; that said, I have only made transfers so never been outside of the station proper. In the early mornings (rush hour) transfers from purple to red and vice versa has been very simple and smooth. In other times, give yourself a 10 or 15 minutes wait at least. The worst is night transfers and weekends. On one occasion I waited 30 minutes at the station for my transfer because the purple line left just as the redline was arriving. Otherwise, the staff have all been friendly, and there’s always going to be a few (harmless) crazies at any stop so that doesn’t make this station anything special. It does its job!

Gets me to where I need to go. Easy and drop n pick up area’s near and safe.

Howard is the end of the line, the spot where Chicago meets the Great Unknown of suburbia. This is where the Red Line, Purple Line and Yellow Line all converge in a rainbow of possibilities. The station is large, multi-​leveled, concrete and modern, having been recently refurbished.
There is a large bus station down below with numerous CTA & Pace buses waiting to take you further.

In the winter, you’ll freeze your %$#@ off while waiting forever to make your next transfer. (I sometimes take the Metra in and out of Evanston specifically to avoid this cold windy CTA platform in January. Yes, they have the overhead heat lamps that make you feel like a bag of French fries, but it can still get VERY cold here midwinter.) While you wait, you can watch weary CTA workers roust the sleeping hobos off the train, so they can make their next sleepy time return trip south to 95^th.
From the platform, you can see the interesting Jamaican and Belizean restaurants and shops below, along with some distinctly sketchy street goings-​on amid the near constant flash of police Mars lights on Howard. The street is bathed blue in the flicker of the police camera box mounted high up near the platform level.
There is a large Dominick’s grocery store and several other stores in a nearby shopping mall, easy to get to from the train station by cutting across the bus station and up the stairs or elevator in an office building to the plaza level.
Somnolent hobos
And shivering Jamaicans.
This must be Howard.

I’ve used this train stop for commuting to work for almost a decade now. I remember how it was before the huge renovation. I’ve traveled on each of the three lines in every direction. And I wish I lived in an area where I didn’t have to.
Here are my problems with the station:
1. Train management. Extremely dysfunctional. There are three lines that end their routes here. This means during rush hour there are significant delays while your train waits for other trains to clear the station. So if you can’t wait to get home after a long day at work, the CTA will add a few interminable minutes right before the finish line for you.
2. Platform design. Downright dangerous. There are large sections of both platforms where the space between a staircase/​escalator wall and the edge of the platform is barely 3 feet wide. So if one person is standing there and you need to walk by, you need to either hug the stranger or risk falling on the tracks. And good luck if there is a train coming in from behind you.
3. Bums. The red line has a long route, which is perfect for sleeping on the train if you don’t have another place to do it. But the route ends at Howard, so you get kicked off the train and have to get back on on a different one. In the meantime it’s only logical to use the stop as a bathroom. I’ve seen this in the act, numerous nauseating times and sometimes the smell is almost overpowering.
4. The staff and upkeep. I won’t even go into details how unhelpful the people are that work here. They just don’t care. The station is usually pretty dirty due to the amount of traffic and the type of area that is East Rogers Park. It is also not very well lit, which adds to the overall feeling of gloom and downtroddenness.
OK, I’m done venting. There is not a good alternative to public transportation in this area unless you’re willing to walk or take the bus, which takes much longer. I just wish CTA management would care enough to make some improvements, maybe just put in some more lights, it wouldn’t cost that much, but would definitely help.

Howard is my most frustrating CTA station … by far.
I can’t wait to move out of Evanston!

Few things excite Julie D more than a good train ride. We ditched our car in the parking garage here and opted for a good old train ride to the Cub’s game. Everything here is well marked. And when I wasn’t smart enough to figure out the proper way to purchase the necessary fare, help was nearby. Another plus is the very interesting scenery along the way. Sure wish Pittsburgh had public transportation like this.

I used this station throughout my stay in Evanston. The Transfers were easy, The Docks reasonably clean. I like it and am very pleased that the trains are available and that they are well ridden! Thank you Chicago!

It’s a nice station, one of the best on the Red Line, at its terminus. Gotta love to hate the terminus on the other end though with all of its problems.
What’s to like about this station is that it’s very clean (unlike at 95^th), you can transfer to safe bus/​train lines (unlike at 95^th, save the ³⁵²⁄₃₅₃ Pace buses, blah!), there aren’t many stupid hoodlums or hoodlums at all here (unlike at 95^th), and right outside the station is a nice strip mall containing big-​name stores and restaurants, including Dominicks (unlike at 95^th).

I like the howard stop on the red line even though the jarvis is a smidge closer to my haus.
howard stop has a bike rack area which is nice.
there’s a bus hub there too.
purple express stops here and it’s very convenient.

I think one of my favorite parts of riding the Red Line, is hearing how much people like to complain about the «sketchy» stops. Unfortunately, there isn’t a specialty train that will take people living in Evanston or other snooty neighborhoods directly downtown without their having to endure REAL urban neighborhoods (believe me, I would be just as happy without them on my train as they would be with their own private express route). So cowboy up, folks, and hold on tight to your Gucci purse!
I LOVE the Red Line, and I’m so pleased that my apartment is only a block or so away from the Wilson stop. It runs all night, it goes mostly everywhere a person would want to go (I suppose that includes transfer stops), and it’s just «sketchy» enough to make a late night/​early morning ride really interesting, and usually funny.
All hail the Red Line!