When I first heard about the Go Lane, the special lane at the bigger El stops just for Chicago Card users, I thought it was a retardo idea. I mean, there aren’t lines at the El stations, are there? Then, two days in a row, I would have been caught behind a gaggle of tourists blocking all the turnstiles trying to figure out which end of a CTA Card went in the slot and which end went in their ear. Except that the Go Lane was clear and I zipped right through. Time saved: realistically, 30 seconds to a minute. Aggravation saved: 1 million. Thanks Go Lane, for preventing me from bludgeoning a visitor to our fair city.

(Oh, but the Go Lanes on buses are still retardo — I always forget I’m getting on one of the few bus lines that has them and I hold everything up as I try to press my Chicago Card Plus against the featureless black surface of the normal farebox.)