At terminal 5 on 8/6 at around 3pm a woman TMA threatened to slap my 14 year old daughter as she was getting into the car at the arrivals. Filing a formal complaint is near impossible and I got the complete runaround when I tried. read more

So today (7/20/19) at approximately 10am O'Hare, I waited at the end of the terminal where I have always done for many years to wait for my ride pick up. Whoever this glorified traffic enforcer was harassed, yelled, and called me a liar when I called her out on the BS about cameras on the buses and in the terminal specifically to take pictures of license plates. She told me to move, mind you I'm just waiting, no car yet. I told her no. She said when my ride gets to the terminal she's going to make sure the driver gets a ticket, mind you cars were parking and picking up passengers. She was about two feet away from my face on a power trip. Luckily I kept calm and it got her even more upset because she knew she got caught. I reported her to the city's Office of Inspector General and also took a pic. Beware people... Unbelievable lack of decorum. BTW my ride came and picked me up... All I heard was her yelling "oh she's leaving!" But couldn't get a view of the plate bc she was too far, too funny, nice to know the universe let me have the last laugh. Hope this dumbass sleeps well knowing she got called out and didn't get her way. Lol read more

Traffic Management Aids - Lady lying to drivers, telling them cameras are taking snapshots of their plates. Terminal 3 at approx 10am 7/20/19 O'Hare - Public Services & Government Near Me

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If this position wasn't available all of the Aids would be selling Streetwise! The best is when they get angry that cars are not going fast enough through lights. They flap and flail their arms like over-wound windup dolls. I also love it when they try to tell pedestrians not to walk when there are no cars coming. One called me a "dumb shit" for not listening to them. I told her I hoped she got hit by a car. I would LOVE to meet the job candidates that were deemed "under-qualified" for this position. Those people, the ones that the city says are not qualified to be an Aid should be immediately sent to Jail. Its like telling someone they are not qualified to work at a soup kitchen. Traffic Management Aids - I hate you all! read more

'I'll F*&k You Up!' the aid yells as he aggressively approaches my open window. Full Story: At the end of our Shedd Aquarium visit, I left my family to grab the car from the garage, so they could wait for me without walking in the cold. As I exited the garage, I realized I was pointed in the opposite direction of the aquarium. I pulled up to a 4 way stop near Soldier Field, there were two traffic aids (one male, one female) standing in the middle of the intersection and no other cars at any of the other 3 stop signs. I stopped, then proceeded to make a u-turn back to the aquarium. The first aid (female) yelled, 'Hey! Hey! You Can't Go That Way!' I slowed my car to a crawl/creep and rolled down my passenger side window and said to her, 'Hey, I'm actually just swinging back around to pick up my family at the aquarium, the garage spat me out in the wrong direction.' She yells louder, 'YOU CAN"T DO THAT!' She then runs towards my car, throwing her body in front of my moving car. I stop. She then uses her thigh to make a bump motion to bumper. (What training are these people getting that tells them that if a car is moving, jump in front of it to stop it? This can't be protocol.) The second aid (larger male) yells, 'Did you just hit her!' He points to me and yells, 'You're going to jail!'(Under what authority? This man is not a police officer.) I rolled down the drivers side window to talk. But she just walks up to me loudly yelling again 'I Told You, You Can't Go This Way!' The second aid aggressively approaches my car and joins in the yelling and starts with the line 'I'll F*&k You Up!' At this point, with both of them out of the way of my car and no other traffic in sight; I decide it best to safely floor it out of there rather than risk a physical altercation before the second aid gets to my open window. I looked for a place to file a complaint on the city website; doesn't look like there is one. So I thought I'd add my voice to the reviews on this yelp thread. Bottom Line: Most of the traffic aids that I've encountered have been unfriendly and aggressive; but nothing matches these two. I believe they are adding very unnecessary stress to driving in the city. This was actually a scary experience and I hope it doesn't happen to anyone else. read more

Seriously?!?!? These people get paid to do this?!? Really!?!?!?!? Seriously. I've never, NEVER, seen a TMA actually easing traffic congestion. I've hardly seen them do anything more than a traffic light. More often then not I see them standing on the sidewalk doing nothing. I'll never understand why there are TMAs on Michigan Ave during the week and not on the weekends. Seeing these people do a sub-par job on tax dollars infuriates me. TMA's make me want to put a public address system in my car so I can yell at them while I'm driving past, loudly. They are an embarrassment to Chicago infrastructure. Please make it go away. read more

Finally, something on Yelp that we can all agree to hate. These heroes can be seen at busy Loop intersections, often "working" in pairs and waiting for rush hour to end so they can catch the bus back to the halfway house before curfew. Ideally, this job would be performed by traffic cops (even more ideal would be to rely on traffic lights, but idiot drivers and jaywalkers make this difficult). It is generally considered the most menial type of police work, but traffic cops are still cops, which means they still get to carry guns, which means that people respect their authority. People do not respect TMAs because theirs is the most superfluous occupation in a city that prides itself on its vast array of public jobs with grossly inflated paychecks. TMAs are overpaid by being paid at all. One recent morning at Adams & Franklin saw a TMA feverishly waving her baton, snorting at pedestrians, and generally acting like someone who deserved to meet the business end of a CTA bus. She stopped her squawking, though, when she bolted out of the intersection to take a call on her cell phone. Oh no! What will people do with only crosswalk signs and traffic lights to obey?! For a brief moment, that intersection was safe for driver and pedestrian alike. Today was real rich, too. Again we find ourselves at the corner of Adams & Franklin, only this time it's pouring rain and the traffic lights are flashing red. Now, a busy intersection with broken lights is a sight to behold during rush hour. It's the only time the existence of a TMA could possibly be validated. Only there wasn't one on duty this morning, or the other time this happened at the same intersection a couple months ago. Thanks TMAs; all the constant honking and yelling give Chicago that nice third-world feel. Throw in a guy hauling a fridge with a donkey and we're done here. If these people absolutely are going to be retained, they should all be issued whistles and trained how to actually direct traffic with them. People don't respond to yelling from people with no authority, but they do respond to whistles, because ultimately most people are sheep and will do what they are told. A shrill blast and an outstretched hand will go a lot further than calling some guy from Schaumburg a dumb mother****** because he stretched a red light. Rahm would do well to sack the lot of them, though, and a good mass deportation of the TMA "workforce" to Greenland or Kazakhstan would be an ideal conclusion to this comically bad public program. read more

Tonight at the intersection of Financial and Congress, the TMA agents waived Congress traffic through FIVE red lights in a row. If you've ever tried to cross Congress by foot, you'd know that even one light takes forever to change. The agents didn't seem to be phased by the huge masses of pedestrians waiting on either side to get across--we have places to be too, y'know? When I asked a TMA agent when we'd get to cross, he waved his flashlight at me and said (verbatim): "Shut your ____ing mouth!" Dude. You're not even a real cop. Eventually pedestrians got fed up and tried crossing against traffic. A guy almost got hit. Way to keep people safe... idiots. read more

I wouldn't normally insult someone who is out there trying to make an honest dime in this world, but come on! The city of Chicago within the last few years implemented Traffic Management Aid positions for the loop, as well as near the ball parks and other high traffic arias. They can be seen out there in the middle of the intersection during rush hours in the loop wearing a florescent yellow jacket and swinging a flashlight baton. This is one of the biggest examples of waisted tax payers money. In my daily experiences I have been yelled at, given the middle finger, and waived through a busy, dangerous intersection like I was a about to be thrown into the fiery gates of hell. Traffic has become so much worse in the last couple years because of them. Yes, it does create jobs for people as our unemployment rates are some of the highest in the country but there is a higher cost! Again, it is not fair to blame the people doing the job because lack of training and general education, even common sense it not there fault but the fault of the city (or "The Man") who hired them. It could be worse, the employees could be stealing something from me while I sleep but instead they are directing cars into many insurance claims and frustrating situations. Little known Fact: I once asked a traffic aid if they had any authority to issue sitations for moving violations and the answer was "no, not even a parkin ticket". What is the incentive to obey someone who is the reason traffic is worse than it usually is, and can not fine you somehow? Notables: I once approached an intersection and noticed the "Traffic Aid" helping a person out of there car who had just had a bad accident right in front of where the aid was directing traffic. Isn't there job to prevent this kind of thing? It was the biggest case of irony I had seen in a very long time, right there in the open, sun soaked summer air. I tried to capture the moment with my camera phone but the pix came out bad. Another time I did not obey the "aid" because I knew they were not paying attention. Sure enough if I had obeyed I would have been side swiped because a car made a fast left hand turn being directed by an additional aid three feel away. When I did not obey, the very large traffic aid lady gave me the middle finger and said something to the effect of " dumb ass cracker". Classic, where is channel 2 when you need them? I always say that if you want to see the true definition of job security, go to city hall or any city building and spend some time doing something involving a city worker. Best wishes and god bless to them, I may need a job one day! read more

Scene: Wood and Monroe Streets, Saturday, October 8, 2011. Opening night for the Hawks. Crowd departing the UC. There is a TMA standing in the intersection of Wood and Monroe Streets. TMA (screaming at a minivan): "Stop! I toad you tuh stop right there. Stop! I will call da poe-leece." Man driving minivan that is nearly or completely stopped: "Don't ever talk to me like that again." ___________ I found it particularly funny that a woman who obviously cannot control her emotions or temper was hired to do a job that requires calm nerves and self control to help the pedestrian and vehicular traffic depart the area. Her behavior was totally unnecessary but typical of how TMAs treat the citizens whose taxes pay their wages. I also found the driver of the minivan's calm, measured response, as if he were a teacher talking to a pupil, quite hilarious and an aberration as far as drivers in the city go. "Don't ever talk to me like that again" implies that they've previously crossed paths and anticipate it again in the future. Well, I guess when you've seen one of these TMA idiots, you've seen them all. Incidentally, the TMA involved in this incident was the only TMA I saw anywhere within the six blocks east of the UC post-game. Getting out of the area of the UC post-game now that the bandwagon is firmly in place is a gigantic headache. Well, it always was anyway unless you drove. Zero stars. read more

If I could assign negative stars, then this would be it. I remain uncertain to the point of this "service". In the best case scenario, the TMA stands in the middle of an intersection and interprets the stoplight. Said differently, they wave you forward if green and ask you to stop if red. Yes, it is that silly and this is a best case scenario. However, in the MAJORITY of cases the TMA actually makes an intersection worse. For example, they routinely wave cars into an intersection even if the intersection is blocked. Consequently, cross traffic is unable to advance effectively taking several light cycles to filter out the mess. Lastly, you do not have to look too hard to find TMA doing nothing. Seriously, nothing. I would be delighted to display pictures (if possible) of the TMA employees who sit/stand on the side of the street and voluntarily do nothing. Perhaps this represents the smartest of them all-- recognizing they offer zero value and represent an overpaid and unnecessarily redundant stoplight. To be sure, it is NOT my intent to demean someone or their occupation, but unfortunately if the waste of this cannot be seen then the folks need to bring attention to this unnecessary city expense. read more

Why are our tax dollars paying people to do what the traffic lights already do? Especially when there's not even a large event going on! I have watched these people just standing off on the corner of the intersection talking on their cell phones or filing their nails! The city is cutting teachers and cops, but keeping these useless employees. If anything, they confuse people and make the intersections less safe. Seriously, Daley, how about some common sense? read more

How has there not been an expose on the news regarding TMA? Do our tax dollars seriously pay for this? I'm confused. We are paying for people to stand in the middle of the street and wave a wand, in essence pantomiming that the light is, in fact, green. Then, when the light turns red, they motion for cars to.....stop. Of course, this scenario only applies to the 2% of TMA that actually work. Let's be honest. Usually it's two fat ladies standing in the middle of the street talking about the closest location of Popeye's Chicken so they don't have a heart attack from sodium and trans fat withdrawal. There has been a lot of rain this summer, and a shitload of street lights have been out all over the city. This seems like a cause for "TMA to the rescue!" But no, somehow the drivers of the automobiles approaching an intersection with no working traffic lights still know how to stop, look both ways, and then proceed in an orderly fashion. Amazing. It's like we all took driver's ed and retained pieces of information for future driving. One quick, true story: Every morning I walk from Ogilvie to 700 S. Clinton. This is near the courthouse on the corner of Clinton and Harrison. I walk past about 6:20 a.m. everyday. Both of these streets are one way, and at this time of day, these streets look like that scene in Vanilla Sky where Nutball Cruise is running through an empty Times Square. Shit is deserted. So I see a TMA standing in the middle of the intersection. I walk up to her. I look down one road, then the other. Obviously there is no "traffic" to "manage." I asked her, "Why are you standing out here?" She looked at me and said "Move it along." I certainly wouldn't want to hold things up. read more

I haven't had much experience with TMAs in the Loop but I have seen plenty of them at O'Hare, and they are almost always rude and belligerent. In the past month, I've been to the airport three times, twice to pick up and once to drop off. Both times during pick-up we got yelled at for no good reason. Let me ask you: when your husband is standing RIGHT there, mere feet from your car, and you are only waiting for an inconsiderate SUV driver to leave so he can get in said car and you will gladly leave ... what other choice is there? Was I really supposed to drive off and make my husband run after me? Or maybe loop back around since I was stopped for more than 10 seconds? After this most recent idiocy, I complained. There are general and department contacts for O'Hare listed here: http://ohare.com/About/Contact.aspx I suggest the Chief of Safety and Security, since the TMAs are in theory under that purview. If enough people complain, perhaps something will change. Would it really kill these folks to be nice, to realize we are just trying to get out of the way and have no interest in sitting there all day? read more

TMA do a great job at moving traffic . I think a lot of people in this crappy city just do not like authority. They are there to prevent grid lock.. When dumb drivers don't care. Help pedestrians cross when cars won't let them.. You ppl in this city make me sick.. TMAs pulls cars through lights... When possible and safe.. There are a lot of idiot drivers in this city .. Everyone taking crap Let's see you do a better job... read more

Useless! I'll give credit to the TMAs at 31st and La Salle and Wentworth for shortening useless lights when no one is coming. And the guy at 31st and Wells is cool cause he's all about waving us through the stop sign. But the TMA on 31st and Princeton is completely useless! She stands there at the box, never cycling the lights, never directing traffic, just watching us go by or talking on her phone. WHY DO YOU GET PAID TO STAND AROUND???? It kills me my tax dollars pay the salaries of these useless jobs. Green? Go? Me? REALLY NOW? THANKS! read more

The previous 1 star reviews are awesome -- here's my two cents. Was turning onto Roosevelt IL-38 from State Street only to be blocked and stopped in the middle of the intersection by a complete idiotic TMA right before a Bears game! WHAT A FANTASTIC IDEA!! To put it lightly, people wearing orange or yellow vests around that Loop area directing traffic are like trained monkeys. They are more useless than rat excrement. Seriously, RUN don't walk if you need to cross through. If you are driving, they literally will treat you like a teacher yelling at a kindergartner who accidentally spilled milk on the floor. Willing to bet nine out of every ten TMA's do NOT have any traffic management experience. If any of the top Chicago city officials were to experience what hundreds of thousands of drivers go through, they would fire themselves for allowing such filth to take place. Out of 5 stars I wish I could rate Chicago TMA a negative 10. Pathetic. read more

These people have one job that they perform terribly. It also happens to be the exact same job as the electric traffic light, invented in 1914. Main differences: one is an efficient, polished authority that everyone respects, while the other is an aggressive waste of tax payer money. read more

Yesterday I saw a TMA hit a car (hard) with her baton because it turned left. Not sure why turning left was wrong, but maybe left turns weren't permitted that time of day? The next car was following the first and the TMA raged at the second "Are you trying to hit me." Expletives followed. Does anyone know how to get in touch with the Traffic Management Authority? I wanted to report this woman but I can't find the department listed. read more

I'm always instantly stressed when I see these rude people directing traffic. For some reason I tend to be in the car that they decide can't make the wide open right or left turn even though the people before me or behind me are allowed to do so. Also, if you don't slam on the gas when they say you can go so you travel the half car length in the minimum possible time, you get a dirty look and tons of body language. I don't see the problem with taking 2 seconds to move forward until you have to stop over taking one second and wasting gas. No private company would last with their performance and attitude. It just makes government employees look bad and you're stuck with them and stuck paying for them. read more

Oh, the light is green? So that means I can go?? Thank you so much!! I would have never figured that out without you! The City of Chicago really knows how to spend our tax dollars! read more

I'm sad i have to give them one star. These sacks of human excrement clog intersections worse then an obese man clogs a toilet after a Chinese buffet. The city would be less conjested if they removed the stop lights and "Traffic Aids" competely and just used stops. In all seriousness, children could do this job. If they actually had people who were trained and competent I'm sure it would run a lot hell of a lot smoother. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Little side note, if you honk at them, they are known to swear and even threaten drivers, city workers at their finest. I thought I would give alittle update. This is a day later Obviously yesterday I had a bad experience with the traffic "aids". Today, which is a friday, was busier, traffic wise. At one intersection yesterday it took me a half hour to make it threw. The same intersection today, one minute. Why you ask? They went from five, yes five "aids" to zero. Not one in site, obviously a lot more traffic, and no jam. All thanks to the absence of the "aids". They all make $18.00 btw, I looked it up. Worth it! read more

The "traffic management" after a concert last week at Soldier Field was a joke. These people were directing people who were trying to catch cabs to a huge line....and not directing the cabs over there. It appeared that you had to jump the wall and hail a cab on Lakeshore Drive to get out of there. That's a great way to manage traffic - have pedestrians standing on LSD trying to catch a cab. There was, however, a 'helpful' CTA employee talking people in the cab line into getting on buses to Ogilvie and Union Station to catch Metra trains...(which might have been helpful, for those who live in the suburbs, if the Metra trains hadn't already stopped running). read more

I have the walk signal, walking with double stroller and come to car blocking crosswalk. No room to go around him, TMA nowhere to be found. Knock on rear window to ask driver to please move up as there's 5ft in front of him to which he responds "don't hit my f**kin car!!" OK sir next time I'll honk my stroller horn instead of tapping your window. I get to median, next walk signal on. I see truck with huge flatbed in middle of crosswalk. Okay I'm not getting stuck again I'll wait till next signal. TMA decides it's time to work and rudely yells "GO AROUND IT!!!" Okay time to weave through traffic with my infant and toddler I guess! On the way back I think to look for this TMA to share some thoughts. Oh but she's chilling in her illegally parked LEXUS SUV (oh that's where my tax dollars went) as traffic and pedestrians pile up in the intersection. read more

I think they are a waste of money. They stand their without any real knowledge of how traffic flows. I have seen these people on their phone instead of changing the lights. I think TMA is a waste of time!!!!!! read more

Came into O'Hare at Terminal 3. Walked out of the vestibule at 3G where overhead it indicates that exiting at this door is for passenger pickup. Had the nastiest lady TMA tell us to move over. When my husband tried to tell her we told our ride to pick us up at 3G, based on what we were reading inside, and when I tried to ask, where should we go then so we can call our ride back...she would not even listen, just yelled at us "you don't want to argue with me...but we weren't arguing, just asking a question. So she continued to yell and we moved from 3G to 3E, where we hailed our ride and he picked us up quickly. She followed us and while we were trying to get in the car quickly she yelled that my husband was opening the car door so quickly that he almost hit her..then she made a big act of writing our ride's license plate number down. If our driver gets a ticket from this TMA, my husband and I will make a trip back to fight that ticket in court. Never in any airport that I have EVER travelled to have I dealt with a more rude awful person. What an awful reflection on the city of Chicago. read more

Traffic lights were out all along Washington Blvd last week. The useless TMA morons were nowhere to be found. I guess they were too busy mimicking the traffic lights on Michigan Ave. Too Much Ass indeed. read more

OEMC Traffic Management Aid O'Hare Airport Terminal 3 Sunday July 1 2018 6:45 pm. The female aid was screaming and blowing her whistle at anybody at the curb. I had my Van rear hatch door up and I was out of the vehicle. My elderly wife was walking from the opposite end of the terminal at the curb and I explained that to the aid. Said she didn't care that she was supposed to be at the curb. I was on the phone with my wife and she said that she was slowly walking down. (2 bad knees) I told the aid that and she said she didn't care. She was nearly screaming. I understand that it was very hot, 90's and that it is a tough job keeping the area uncongested. Very few cars though. Extremely poor representative of the city. She was screaming at everyone. Another black eye on the city. Been to many airports and never had an experience like that. Actually never had an experience like that at O'Hare. The woman should not have that job. An embarrassment to the city. read more

I was currently looking for a part time job to make some extra money and I came across the traffic contol aid position. I was looking for employee reviews about the job and ran into this. I currently drive for a paratransit company for a living so I have also encountered the traffic aides. Yes some of them have attitudes but these comments go further than that. I mean saying they should sell streetwise or go back to the half way house. What exactly about them make you say that? Lets face it no matter who is directing traffic we all don't want to listen. I include myself because I have also gotten angry at them. The fact is we are not patient. That is it and that is all. I say they should let people get ran over. Even though someone did comment they hope the traffic aides get hit, too late that is already happening. Grow up people! read more