A recent report released by the CTA indicates that customer complaints have dropped in 2009. While it’s nice to think that there are more satisfied customers riding public transportation, there could be other factors at play.

Here are just a few possible reasons for the decrease:

The Return of Apathy
The “Yes We Can” epidemic caused by last year’s election has gone into remission. The symptoms, which included widespread optimism and the belief that one can make a difference, have been replaced by the familiar “Ah, Who Cares, Nothing’s Gonna Change Anyway” attitude.

iPods & iPhones create “Shield of Oblivion”
A rise in iPod and iPhone sales by 3% and 123%  in 2009 also marks an increase in the power of people to ignore the world around them. More and more customers are able to turn on mp3 players and tune out the rude behavior so commonly displayed by CTA employees.

Sports – The Great Distraction
Nothing puts people in a good mood like the taste of victory. Winning seasons and play-off appearances by both the Bulls and Blackhawks have kept Chicagoans distracted. In the same respect, nothing puts people in a bad mood like the agony of defeat. And judging by recent performances by all Chicago teams, the number of CTA complaints should skyrocket any day now.

Twitter – A cooler place to criticize
Rather than voicing a complaint directly to the CTA website, people are opting to broadcast their dissatisfaction on social websites like Twitter and Facebook. Although being able to vent on these sites provides the victim with instant relief, it’s about as effective as complaining to a 3rd grader about the lack of public school funding.

Poor service in other industries skyrocketing
It’s not that CTA employees have gotten better, it’s that other businesses have gotten worse. People can’t spend all their time complaining, so they’re forced to prioritize.

People can’t afford to complain
With the unemployment rate increasing, people are struggling to make ends meet. Sometimes the bills just don’t get paid and that means that certain services (i.e. phone, internet) get disconnected. You can’t submit a complaint, if you don’t have a way to communicate.

What do you think? Leave a comment with your vote or add your own ideas.

Want some more facts about the report released at CTA? Go here.

Want to know more about Apple’s second quarter earnings? Try this.

This was written by Tia Ayers for The Daily Blank. It is licensed under an Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. If you love it, please re-post the complete article (including this blurb) on your site. We'd be flattered.