Smell that? It's CTA nose pollution

April 25, 2006|By Kyra Kyles.

There are good smells all over Chicago.

Just try to resist the waves of cocoa goodness just outside Ethel's Chocolate Lounge in Lincoln Park. Equally appealing is a vanilla wind wafting out of Original Rainbow Cone on the South Side.

As spring sets in, I also enjoy the scent of flowers and freshly cut grass in neighborhoods citywide.

What I am not enamored with are these unpleasant smells on the CTA, made all the more noticeable by warming temperatures:

Phantom funk

Ever seen "Night of the Living Dead"? Well, I smell strains of it rather frequently in CTA subway stations year-round. But as bad as it gets, I hadn't felt the urge to seal my nose off completely until one fateful day last summer.

The nightmare began with a mass transit miracle: An empty Red Line "L" car during morning rush hour.

I, along with another sharp-eyed rider, raced inside, eager for some wide, open space. But as soon as the train started moving, we realized our luck was too good to be true. She looked over at me, and I returned her horrified stare.

"Do you smell that," she mumbled, covering her mouth with her shirt collar. I quickly nodded "yes" because I didn't want to breathe in more air thick with the scent of freshly cut onions, sweat-soaked socks, mildewed towels and acute deodorant failure. To this day, I don't know what left that smell behind on the "L".

What I do know is that at the next stop, my fellow CTA sufferer and I scurried out onto the platform and into another car, though it was crammed to seeming capacity with riders. It was the one time I didn't mind the squeeze.


It's not just the name of a Broadway musical if you ride the CTA. I consider urine among one of the most significant smells on the system.

The outhouse aroma is often found in the stairwells of platforms and dank corners of certain subway stations. In extreme cases, it's found on actual "L" and bus seats. Personally, I run into it most often in the above-ground stairwell of the "L" platform at Roosevelt and State.

That's why I painstakingly avoid any liquid I see on those steps because there is a good chance it's not spilled soda or a leftover rain puddle.

Food funk

There's great debate about whether or not snacking should be allowed on the CTA, but reasonable riders should agree that certain meals have no business in a confined space.

I cringe whenever I see a rider unwrapping a gyro, hot dog covered with raw onions or greasy fried chicken parts.

Not only is this a fineable offense on buses and trains, it's inconsiderate to other riders. If I can tell what you're eating--and what you topped it with--from four rows away, you shouldn't be snacking on it on the CTA.

Flower power

One would think that perfume and cologne on public transit would help battle some of the more unsavory aromas, but some riders are taking their mission way too far.

Have you ever been assaulted by the smell of a drugstore concoction of begonias and baby powder? Even worse, I've often whiffed an overpowering musk reminiscent of something a 3-year-old picked out for Father's Day.

A humble request to my public transit peeps: Be selective when spritzing before your daily commute. Why contribute to rampant nose pollution on the CTA?