Chicago resident Tricia McMillian recently completed a CTA hat trick while making her way to visit friends in another part of town. Ms. McMillian left work on Friday planning to take the Brown line to her friends' home for dinner. She stopped at a local grocery store to pick up a bottle of wine to take as a gift to her before boarding the "L" train.

"Little did I know that decision at the grocery would play a key role in my victorious CTA trek," Ms. McMillian enthused, "if I had bothered to go to the nice wine shop instead of the grocery for that bottle of wine the whole thing never would have happened."

She walked up the stairs to the train platform in Chicago's "Loop" and, as she reached the platform, a Brown line train rolled into the station. "It was as if on cue! I ascended onto the platform and the train rolled to a stop at the station. I thought for sure it was a Green line train, but nope! It was a Brown line train. And, there were empty single seats in the car positioned right in front of me! It was during rush hour, so that in itself was pretty awesome. I was feeling really pumped about that. I like the single seats on the Brown line trains. Everyone does. So there's hardly ever an empty single seat. Whenever I take the Brown line I always end up sitting next to college aged kids returning back to the DePaul campus," Ms. McMillian explained about her fortunate seating option on the train, "no big deal, but the Brown line is the only train that has the single seats, so it's kind of a novelty for me. I wish they would use those cars on other lines," the commuter comment, wistfully sighing.

The evening would soon take another serendipitous turn. Checking the CTA's "Bus Tracker" while at a prolonged stop at the bustling Belmont station, Ms. McMillian noticed only one #50 bus on the radar for her connecting stop. "The #50 bus is the chupacabra of the CTA. Some people swear it exists, they've seen it and even taken a ride on it. But most Chicago citizens have never actually seen a #50 bus, even though the route covers heavily trafficked parts of the city. I have a friend who has driven along that route daily for 12 years, and yet he has never seen a #50 bus. He's seen the bus stops, usually with people waiting, but he's never seen an actual #50 bus." Ms. McMillian, a marketing manager, noted that she is among the exclusive group of Chicagoans who have not only witnessed, but ridden on the #50 bus, and vouched for its existence. However, on this particular evening, it looked like the #50 bus would be elusive.

"When I checked the bus tracker and saw that there was only one #50 on radar for my connecting stop, and that it was going to be there in 23 minutes, I was certain I would have to take a cab from the L station to my friends' place," the commuter opined, stating, "we were still standing at the Belmont stop, a Red line was in the distance and some of the engineers are a little too nice about holding the train for people making a transfer at Belmont, so I figured there was no way I'd be at my stop in time to catch that #50. Especially that time of day. After 5:00 the #50 becomes even more elusive." But at the Paulina stop, the intrepid traveler checked the CTA's bus tracking application again and was surprised to discover the #50 bus was still 8 minutes from her point of disembarkation.

"It was still a long shot, but I only had four stops to go, and the crowds really thin out up on that part of the Brown line. Mostly exiting passengers, not too many boarding passengers. That speeds things up at the stations so I thought I might, possibly, make it to the station and down to the bus stop in time to catch the lone #50 bus," Ms. McMillian said.

"Unfortunately, one stop before mine, an elderly couple had difficulty boarding. That hindered the train's progress, so I figured I lost all chance of catching that #50 bus. I checked Bus Tracker again and saw the lone #50 bus was only 4 minutes from my stop. And we were still standing at the station while the elderly couple navigated the L car's entry doors. I resigned myself to having to part with cab fare," said the frugal commuter.

However, once the elderly passengers boarded, the Brown line's engineer accelerated, swiftly maneuvering the train along the elevated tracks. "He was really moving that train. It's as if he somehow knew the rare and elusive #50 bus was making it's way to the next stop on our route, that if he could get the train to the station fast enough some of the more deftly exiting passengers would be lucky enough to catch the bus," the excitement of the tension of the race evident in McMillian's expression as she recalled the night's activity, "I gathered up my bag and made my way to the exit doors, poised for a quick exit at the station."

When the train neared the station, Ms. McMillian checked the progress of the #50 bus on her smartphone again. The bus' status had switched to 'Due.' "Well, that's that," she thought dejectedly, "so close and yet so far...it was a long shot anyway..." Presuming she missed her opportunity to connect to her bus, Ms. McMillian slid her phone into her pocket with quiet resignation.

Once in the station, she exited the train and made her way down the stairs at a normal pace, her hopes for an economical bus ride giving way to hopes of a cab waiting at the station's exit.

Her erstwhile sense of urgency evaporated, the urban professional passed through the turnstile and meandered to the station's doors. "My only concern at that point was if there'd be a cab."

Little did she know that she was on the brink of her second victory of the night.

"I stepped out of the station and looked for a cab. But what to my wondering eye appeared? The #50 bus rolling up to the station! I couldn't believe it! I mean, it was as if it was a limo assigned to pick me up and pulled up specifically for me. I stepped out of the station, saw the bus pulling up, I walked to the designated bus stop as the bus eased up to the stop, the driver opened the door and I boarded, never having to slow or hasten my pace," McMillian explained with an air of awe and wonder.

"I swiped my fare card and made my way to the back of the bus. I texted my friends, telling them I was on the elusive #50 bus. They texted me back telling me how impressive my feat was," McMillian said of her #50 bus ride. After I texted them I realized I still had the CTA bus tracker app open, and I started to close it...and then thought, 'What if...'"

Ms. McMillian's "what if..." was another bus connection that would take her a block from her friends' door. "Normally I'd just walk the 10 blocks from the bus stop to my friends' place, but I guess I was feeling a bit full of myself and checked to see if there was a connecting bus even in the vicinity."

There were a couple connecting buses showing up on the CTA's bus tracker, but the time she'd have to wait for one was the time it would take her to walk the remaining 10 blocks of her journey. "I wasn't upset about that, I was still riding high on my victory with the #50 bus."

The #50 pulled to the stop closest to Ms. McMillian's friends' home and she exited at a street corner. While waiting for the light to turn so she could cross the street, Ms. McMillian heard a familiar sound. "I heard the beep beep beep of the handicapped access ramp on the entry of a CTA bus. I looked down the street and saw someone in a wheelchair struggling with the CTA bus access ramp. I knew if the crosswalk lights worked in my favor, and if the bus was delayed long enough, I might make it to its next stop in time to board. It would be a nail biter, I had to cross two intersections to make it to the next bus stop, but there was enough potential that I had to go for it."

"By the time the light changed to my favor for the first intersection, the wheelchair passenger was on the bus and the bus driver was pulling away from the stop. As soon as I could safely cross, I raced across the street. Traffic was heavy, there was no way I could cross against the light, so all I could do was watch the bus quickly approaching the stop."

Then, fate intervened once again. A car pulled in front of the bus, forcing the bus to slow down. It was enough of a slow down to cause the bus to get snagged by the light turning red. "As soon as I saw the bus stop at the red light, I sprinted across the street and down the half block to the bus stop. As I approached the stop, the bus pulled up. Once again, without changing my pace, I boarded the bus as it stopped at its designated stop."

It wasn't until she swiped her fare card for the third time on her journey that the magnanimity of her feat hit her. A train and two buses, no waiting for any of them, all perfectly timed for transfer.

A perfect CTA hat trick.

"You could never plan this, there are too many variables," Ms. McMillian waxed philosophically, "and I know there are people who will never believe me. But I have fare card swipe times as proof. The precise times of my rides plotted against the average speed and distance of the Brown line and buses will show how precisely timed my journey was and that I did, indeed, pull off a CTA hat trick."

Ms. McMillian attended her party that evening and regaled party goers with her feat of skill and luck on her way to the party. Many, themselves CTA riders, were impressed. Others, primarily the non-public transit rider, didn't understand the hullabaloo.

Said one woman in attendance, "I don't know what the big deal is, why all the fuss? She transferred from a train to two buses. Big whoop. What's a hat trick?"

But for Ms. McMillian, the quiet satisfaction that has settled over her in the days since her victory is indeed a big whoop. "A few months ago I was considering leaving Chicago. I've been thinking maybe I made the wrong decision to stay," citing the crime, high property taxes, and stalled job market, Ms. McMillian says she was starting to regret not moving to a less urban locale, "but now, well, now I'm taking this as a sign that I made the right decision to stay here. In all the years I've been riding the CTA I've never pulled off that kind of hat trick, it can't be just a mere coincidence it happened now, when I was regretting my decision to stay here. Right? It must be significant. It must be a sign. It has to be a sign."