PSA: keep an eye on your bike while on the bus
I was taking a CTA bus Sunday evening and my bike was on the bus' bike rack. I was sitting towards the back and unfortunately wasn't keeping an eye on my bike while riding. Several stops before the stop I was supposed to get off at, I realized my bike wasn't on the bus anymore and alerted the driver.
It turns out a guy on the street had been waiting at a bus stop about 5 minutes prior to me noticing, and motioned to the driver to stop so he could get the bike off. The driver asked the bus passengers several times if the bike belonged to anyone but I had been zoning out on my phone and didn't hear him. The guy on the street pointed to the bike repeatedly, took it off the bus, and then biked away (and I didn't realize until 5 minutes later when I looked up).
I should have been sitting closer to the front and keeping an eye on the bike/listening to the driver. The driver had said the guy on the street looked very confident and it probably wasn't his first time stealing a bike off a bus.
PSA to everyone to keep an eye on the bus' bike rack while you're riding!! I've taken my bike on this particular bus line many times in the past and never considered that someone off the street could just steal it.