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Metra Continues "Ride Nice" Campaign To Find Riders' Pet Peeves

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Maybe it's the guy that talks too loud on his cellphone...

Or the person who takes up two seats, otherwise known as man-spreading. Or someone who brings smelly food on the train.

Metra is bringing back the "Ride Nice" campaign that they launched last summer, asking customers what annoys them. The purpose of the campaign is to address some of the most common complaints riders have with other riders. WBBM's Mike Krauser reports.

"We are just trying to do humorous and gentle reminders that we are sharing the same space and we should be ever mindful of courtesy," said Metra spokesman, Michael Gillis.

Customers are asked to vote for the next topic they would like to see posted on the train. Riders can vote from a list of suggestions, such as littering, man-spreading, hands-free coughing and sneezing, or they can write in their own response. Metra will then make posters from the winning topics.

"We'll take that survey and identify the winners so to speak and then develop posters on those topics," Gillis said. "Those posters will go onto our trains."

The polls are now open and can be found on the Metra website, in the rotating images on the homepage.

The first round of the campaign posters, released in July, addressed topics such as hogging seats, blocking aisles, talking too loudly, putting feet up on seats and too much personal grooming.

"The first posters were humorous," said Metra Executive Director/CEO Don Orseno, in a statement. "We'll adopt the same tone for the next posters. We are simply trying to use this modest campaign to get our customers to think about how their behavior impacts others."

Metra reminds its riders to always treat others how you would like to be treated; help lead by example by practicing proper etiquette; be the change you want to see; consider on-board behavior and try to do better; and, ride nice.

The "Ride Nice" courtesy campaign is at no cost to riders. The campaign was created in-house and the only expense is the printing of the posters.

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