Work Order Summary Report Type: CTA Procedural Complaints Area: Ward 42 Street: 567 W Lake ST City: Chicago State: Illinois Postal: 60661 SR#: SR19-01160792 WO#: 19-01028809 Priority: Standard Status: Completed Created By: Elidia Martinez Created Date: Mar 14 2019 03:24 PM Closed By: Elidia Martinez Method Received: E-Mail Subject: Description: From: Sent: Sunday, March 03, 2019 4:33 PM To: Johnson, 7(1)(b)&(c) Kristin Subject: Filming Trains Hi Kristin, I believe you're the person I need to speak regarding this matter. I have a six-year old boy (he'll turn seven next month) who loves two things in the world: trains and recording things. Since he was able to operate a camera, he's been taking video of trains. He's recorded freight trains and passenger trains. He's recorded real trains and model trains. He's recorded himself at train museums and train restaurants. And when he's done recording, he spends countless hours watching those train videos. Heck, he even records himself watching the videos he's already recorded. We purchased it for him a few years ago. It's a simple camera. A kids' camera. It's cheap. It doesn't take great quality videos. But, nonetheless, he's probably recorded close to a hundred hours of train footage on it. I know this for a fact because they're all on my computer (I, being the one responsible for transferring them all there from his camera). So, I preface what I'm about to say with the fact that we have taken him on numerous train trips. Almost all of these on a CTA train. And on all of these train trips he's used that little lime-green camera to record his adventures. Sometimes we have a destination, sometimes we don't. It's not about where we're going, it's only about the trains for him. Over the weekend, his grandmother bought him a new camera. An "adult" camera. An HD camera. A camera with ZOOM. And best of all, she gave him a tripod to go with it. And you would not believe how excited he was. "Daddy," he said to me last night, his smile beaming ear to ear, "I want to go the Blue Line and take some video." So, I said OK. I said OK because we had taken a hundred trips on the CTA before and he had recorded himself on all of those trips and never once did I have any inkling that we were breaking any sort of rules or policies. But today, when he pulled out his new camera and set it up on his new tripod, someone from the CTA came over and told us that we weren't allowed to be filming. Needless to say, my son was upset. And I was confused. How many hours had we spent recording trains over these last few years and no one ever said anything? I wondered maybe if it had something to do specifically with the tripod, so I asked the employee and they said, "No recording of any kind on any device." I asked, "Even on my phone?" I thought back to all of the times we had rode the CTA Holiday Train and saw everyone with their phones out, taking pictures and video, and not a single employee batted an eye. "Not even a phone," they said. "If you want to record video, you need to get a media permit." In addition to being a lover of trains and recording things, my son is also a stickler for the rules. Every time we get on the train, he makes it a point to read all of the rules on the train and listen to all of the announcements. No loud radios. No eating or drinking. No feeding the pigeons. No crossing from one train car to the next. Stay behind the blue line until the train makes a complete stop. But as we went home today, we both wondered: if it was against the rules to record video on the trains or CTA property, why were there no notifications on the trains or on the platforms? How had we gone on like this for years and not know about this rule? When we got home, I immediately went to your website and found this: "The general public is permitted to use hand-held cameras to take photographs, capture digital images, and videotape within public areas of CTA stations and transit vehicles for personal, non-commercial use. Large cameras, photo or video equipment, or ancillary equipment such as lighting, tripods, cables, etc. are prohibited (except in instances where commercial and professional photographers enter into contractual agreements with CTA)." This policy above seems to contradict what the employee at the CTA station told me. If I'm understanding it correctly, recording video, so long as it's for personal use is, in fact, allowed, yes? Just not with a tripod (or other misc. video equipment), right? Assuming that is true... if my son did want to use a tripod, could we do this through the use of a contractual agreement? Am I being a weirdo asking for a contractual agreement so that my six-year old boy (who's only doing this for personal use) can record trains with a tripod? And, if I am being a weirdo for asking, is there some sort of alternative under those circumstances? Would any of this cost money to fulfill? My son is, as you might guess, devastated by the fact that he was told he can't record these trains. I don't know what to tell him as I want to be sure we're following the rules but I also don't want to break his little heart. So, needless to say, any assistance you can offer me would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, 7(1)(b)&(c) Sent: Tuesday, March 12, 2019 1:14 PM To: Feedback Subject: Re: Filming Trains Thank you. My initial interaction was at the Washington Blue Line station. It was here we were told we couldn't be recording. However, by the time we packed up all of our things, I was unable to find the employee again for elaboration. So, on our way home, we spoke to a couple people at the Clark/Lake vestibule for the Green Line. That was where I was told that there was no recordings, even on cell phones. No additional information provided Flex Questions Answers This request type is typically completed in about 14 days: What type of complaint is this?: CTA Failure to Assist Customer What date did this occur?: 03/03/2019 What time did this occur?: Did this happen on rail or bus?: CTA Rail What location did this happen?: Washington What route/line was involved?: Blue Line Which Garage/Terminal is this route/line out of?: Rail Customer Service What direction were you traveling?: Not Applicable What was the bus/train number?: What run number was this?: What is the description of the employee?: What is the employee's badge number?: What is the employee's name?: What is the performance indicator?: Courteous Is this a Title VI issue?: No Is this a Title VII issue?: No Is the customer requesting a response?: FYI Was the SR# provided to the customer?: No Contact Name Address Email Mobile Phone Home Phone Business Phone 7(1)(b)&(c) Participants Name Address Email Mobile Phone Home Phone Business Phone 7(1)(b)&(c) Activities Assigned Staff Case Review Resolution Questions Complete Date Mar 14 2019 03:28 PM Answers Outcome No Available Questions None Activity Outcome Reviewed - Edits Made