An overhaul of bus service on the West Side is scheduled for Sunday, when the CTA revamps some routes and adds three express routes, trimming travel times by 14 minutes on some routes.
The changes and additions are part of an effort to improve transit on the West Side and in the western suburbs. They also include the creation of the Pink Line, which starts June 25. Approved in February, the modified service will operate for 180 days on an experimental basis.
While most of the attention has centered on the Pink Line, the bus improvements represent the biggest revamp of bus service since the CTA overhauled its express routes on North and South Lake Shore Drive in 2003, agency spokeswoman Noelle Gaffney said.
One change–splitting the No. 37 Sedgwick/Ogden into two routes–has generated negative reaction from some riders, who distributed a flier and urged people to e-mail CTA President Frank Kruesi and CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown.
The agency received about a dozen comments, Gaffney said. Many of the people were satisfied once they learned more about the route change, she said.
Under the new plan, the southern end of the No. 37 will be at Congress Parkway and Wells Street, where buses will turn and head north rather than travel west of downtown.
That area will be covered by the new, weekdays-only No. 38 Ogden/Taylor route, which will stop at Ogilvie and Union Stations, making it easier for commuters to get from the train stations to the Illinois Medical District.
CTA officials believe splitting the route will create more reliable travel times, because the buses won’t hit rush-hour traffic twice. Now the No. 37 travels into the Loop from the north and then again into the Loop from the south.
To help Pink Line riders reach the University of Illinois at Chicago and Illinois Medical District, the CTA reconfigured its No. 7 Harrison route to serve the Pink Line’s Polk Street stop.
Other changes include:
The No. 21 Cermak bus route to North Riverside Park Mall will be extended to weekdays, rather than only on weekends.
The No. 25 Cermak bus, which has gone to the mall on weekdays, will be discontinued.
The No. 52 Kedzie/California will serve 63rd Place during all hours of operation rather than just in early mornings and late evenings.
The No. 52A South Kedzie will stop at the Orange Line’s Kedzie stop rather than continuing north to 36th Street.
The No. 86 Narragansett/Ridgeland will extend north on Nagle Avenue to Milwaukee and Devon Avenues instead of ending at Wright College at Montrose Avenue.
The No. 90 Harlem route will extend south, linking to the Blue Line’s O’Hare branch, the Green Line and the Union Pacific West Line’s Oak Park station, making it easier for West Side and west suburban residents to take the CTA to O’Hare.
The No. 91 Austin bus route will go to Jefferson Park’s Blue Line station at all times but will no longer head north on Nagle Avenue, except when Taft High School is in session, when some buses will do so.
The No. 127 Madison/Roosevelt Circulator will no longer travel east of Michigan Avenue to the Museum Campus.
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Express yourself
The bus service overhaul adds three express routes, which typically stop only every half mile. The routes will run only on weekdays.
– The No. X20 Washington/Madison Express could speed up travel times between downtown and Austin Avenue by as much as 14 minutes, depending on the time of day.
– The No. X54 Cicero Express will travel between the O’Hare branch of the Blue Line’s Jefferson Park bus terminal to the Orange Line’s Midway station. It also will connect with the Green, Pink and Blue Line’s Forest Park branch.
– The No. X9 Ashland Express is designed to improve north-south connections to the Illinois Medical District and the Red, Orange, Green, Pink and Blue Lines. A local No. 9 Ashland bus will continue to run.
SOURCE: CHICAGO TRANSIT AUTHORITY
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