Mass-transit doomsday would border on catastrophe for more than 1.5 million passengers forced to pay more to ride buses and trains next week, or to find another way to get around if their bus service disappears.
With some advance planning, however, doomsday need not be the end of the world.
There is no way around the fact that implementation of the Chicago Transit Authority’s budget contingency plan — eliminating 8 percent of bus service — would mark the biggest hit on riders since the CTA cut bus and rail service by 10 percent in 1997.
It would mean far fewer commuting options, significantly slower trips on overcrowded buses and trains, and fare hikes as high as $1.
Yet one of the beauties of the Chicago region’s mass-transit grid system is that alternative service would still exist for riders who are able to walk a little farther to catch a bus (or two or three buses to replace the normal one-seat ride), hop on a local all-stop bus instead of an express bus or switch to train service.
For instance, eight CTA express bus routes with an “X” in their names — such as X3 King Drive Express, X20 Washington/Madison Express and X49 Western Express — are tagged for elimination under the CTA’s contingency plan. But service will continue on local, non-express versions of those routes, although the specific turn-by-turn routes and service hours are not identical in all cases.
Metra riders commuting to downtown Chicago will also lose their speedy CTA express bus service during the morning and evening rush periods if the proposed cuts go through. But alternative service will still be available: from the Ogilvie Transportation Center on a combination of four CTA bus routes and from Chicago Union Station on five CTA bus routes.
Michigan Avenue, State Street and other major downtown thoroughfares are served by numerous bus routes, somewhat reducing the impact of the service cuts in the central business district. Still, no degree of planning will completely alleviate the inconvenience to riders, especially in towns and neighborhoods well away from downtown. The CTA plans to raise fares Sept. 16 and eliminate 39 bus routes Sept. 17 unless new state funding is approved to help the transit agency balance its 2007 budget. The CTA would lose more than 100,000 rides a day, according to official “conservative” estimates.
“One of our big concerns is how much excess capacity we will have on the service that remains,” CTA President Ron Huberman said. “On the Brown and Red Line trains, where we expect to see a migration of bus riders, service is already operating pretty much close to capacity during peak travel periods.”
Meanwhile, Pace, the suburban bus agency, is set to raise some shuttle bus fares Sept. 16, eliminate 22 bus routes Oct. 7, and cut 188 more routes later in the year and in early 2008 if the funding shortfall is not bridged.
Until then, travel options are available using alternate CTA service and a combination of CTA and Pace bus routes.
There are many alternate service choices and not enough space to list them all here, but a few examples follow, focusing on some of the eliminated bus routes with high riderships:
*Service to and from LaSalle Street would be eliminated on the CTA No. 135 Clarendon/LaSalle Express bus route. But service will continue on the No. 156 LaSalle bus south from Belmont Avenue. From Irving Park Road, passengers may also ride the No. 136 Sheridan/LaSalle Express during rush periods.
*Evanston would lose the No. 93 California/Dodge bus route under the CTA contingency plan. Service still would be available on the CTA No. 206 Evanston Circulator during rush periods. Direct service on the northern part of California Avenue in Chicago will not be provided. Alternative service is available on Western Avenue using the CTA No. 49B North Western bus.
*The CTA No. 96 Lunt bus stops running under the service cuts, but service from the CTA Red Line rail station at Howard Street is available along Touhy Avenue on the Pace route No. 290 Touhy Avenue, which operates about one-fourth of a mile north of Lunt.
*Riders displaced by the loss of the CTA No. 127 Madison/Roosevelt Circulator can switch on the Madison Street portion of the route to the CTA No. 20 Madison bus, the No. 56 Milwaukee bus or the No. 60 Blue Island/26th bus. The Roosevelt portion of the No. 127 route is served by the CTA No. 12 Roosevelt.
*Good options are available to riders forced to switch from the CTA No. 125 Water Tower Express. Direct service to North Michigan Avenue is available on the No. 151 Sheridan from Union Station. Service from Ogilvie to North Michigan Avenue requires a transfer from the No. 14 Jeffrey Express, No. 20 Madison or No. 60 Blue Island/26th to a northbound Michigan Avenue service (No. 3 King Drive or No. 26 South Shore Express on Michigan or No. 145 Wilson/Michigan Express, No. 146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express, No. 147 Outer Drive Express or No. 151 Sheridan on State Street).
In some cases, however, there are no attractive alternatives. For example, the planned elimination of the CTA No. 86 Narragansett/Ridgeland route means that the nearest alternate north-south route is on Austin Avenue. Travel to Wright College will require a transfer from the No. 91 Austin bus to the No. 78 Montrose bus.
If the service cuts are enacted, riders are encouraged to use the Regional Transportation Authority’s online Trip Planner to map out commuting itineraries. It will be adjusted effective Sept. 17 to account for the eliminated bus routes, officials said.
The Trip Planner can be accessed at www.rtachicago.com, www.transitchicago.com and www.pacebus.com.
Pace officials also encourage commuters to consider joining a Pace vanpool. Information is posted at www.pacebus.com.
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