'"L" Challenge' Students Hang Out With CTA President

Last week, Patch wrote a piece about three Lyons Township graduates who recently tried to in visiting every single "L" stop in Chicago in a single day. The CTA took notice, contacting us to let us know their president, Forrest Claypool, was interested in meeting the young adventurers.

Tuesday, that meeting happened, with LT grads Andrew Karas and Grace Flaherty being invited to CTA headquarters to share a 45-minute lunch with Claypool, as well as to be filmed by news crews jetting around the Loop by "L."

Karas showed Claypool the results of his yearlong study on world transportation systems, and both grads were presented with mock-up "L"-stop signs with their last names on them.

"Andrew is not alone in his interest in the CTA and the region’s mass transit systems, but, along with Grace and Ryan, he did something not many people in the nation have done,” said Claypool in a CTA press release.

“I am pleased to recognize them for such a unique accomplishment and am also excited to hear the young people’s thoughts about the CTA.”

The team's third member, Ryan Faucher, was invited but couldn't make it. (He'll get his own sign.)

Karas (Western Springs,) who will attend Swarthmore College this fall, said the meeting would have been unimaginable when he started his independent study on transportation a year ago.

“It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," he said. "The meeting was really cool. I never thought I’d get that close to someone who’s really running the whole system.

“They knew we were enthusiastic, and they wanted to let us know that it was appreciated.”

Karas added that his major proposed change to current CTA transit would be for better streamlining with the Metra lines—but, he said, the current financial situation would make such projects extremely difficult in the near future.

And he gave props to Adham Fisher, the British man whose "'L' Challenge" time they failed to topple by 20 minutes. "I think he deserves some credit," Karas said. (In an e-mail to Patch, Fisher said he has moved on to challenging the Paris Metro.)

Karas, incidentally, recieved a well-deserved "A" for his independent study.