This video introduces you to the man behind the voice of the CTA. Lee Crooks has been the the voice of the buses and trains we ride through Chicago since 1997, and he understands how weird it is to hear his own voice when he’s on the red line. Crooks in the video above from Youtube channel Rhysvid documents his process in the studio and how he sometimes goofs around with the less formal local aaaaacents to say street names.

Block Club Chicago took Crooks’s familiar tone and had him read dramatic memorable quotes from movies and books while riding around the city.