Hey, bus driver, stop at the McDonald's drive-thru, OK?

Off the Tribune's website today:

... Starting next year, city and suburban buses will offer more space in the seat. The Chicago Transit Authority and Pace have ordered wider seats for the hundreds of buses that'll begin hitting the streets next year. Typically, bus seats are about 17 1/2-inches wide, according to industry officials. But the City of Big Shoulders can soon settle into some of the nation's biggest transit seats--18 inches wide.

You could call it a natural progression for a city that at least one fitness magazine recently ranked the fifth-fattest city in America. But you won't hear that from transportation officials.

CTA President Frank Kruesi said the wider seats reflect "growing support" for transit. Melinda Metzger, a Pace deputy executive director, said she thinks "people like a little more room in the seat."

Despite the carefully chosen words, transit officials said the seats were ordered primarily because of people's growing bottoms.

How about this idea for bus riders who find the seats too uncomfortably small? STAND!