Mayor Emanuel, CTA Improve Bus and Rail Service on South, Far South Sides

As part of their continuing efforts to improve transit service across the city, Mayor Emanuel and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) today announced a series of enhancements to bus routes and rail lines serving Chicago’s South and Far South Sides.

The enhanced service to six bus routes and the two branches of the south Green Line will provide faster, more convenient and more frequent service for customers.

“With this expansion, the CTA is continuing the important work of connecting more residents to jobs and economic opportunities,” said Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “This announcement builds on the strides we have made to improve connections to and from downtown. These types of investments help our economy to grow, our neighborhoods to prosper, and our city to thrive – and we will continue to make them to ensure that every resident has an opportunity to succeed.”

The bus routes receiving improvements include:

• The 95th Street bus, which will combine separate east and west segments to create a continuous route
• The #4 Cottage Grove bus, which will extend south from 95th Street to 115th Street
• The #71 71st Street bus, which will extend all trips from 73rd to 112th and Torrence, and see increased frequency
• The #26 South Shore Express, which will see earlier and later service
• The #34 Michigan and #119 Michigan/119th bus routes, which will see increased frequency during midday and evening hours

Additionally, the Cottage Grove and Ashland/63rd branches of the Green Line will see increased frequency during the AM and PM rush hours.

“These changes will benefit tens of thousands of bus and rail riders each day,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “Our goal is to provide additional service, as well as more frequent and more convenient trips for riders on Chicago’s South and Far South Sides.”

These improvements are the latest among several enhancements over the past year designed to improve bus and rail service. In December 2015, the Mayor and President Carter reintroduced express service on the #9 Ashland and #49 Western bus routes, two of CTA’s busiest bus routes.

Also in December, the CTA and Chicago Department of Transportation launched Loop Link, a first-of-its-kind corridor connecting the West Loop commuter rail stations with the heart of the Loop and Michigan Avenue.  Featuring dedicated bus lanes, bus-only traffic signals and raised-platform stations along Washington and Madison Streets, Loop Link was designed to provide faster, more reliable travel times and an improved customer experience.

In March, the Mayor and CTA unveiled the first-ever Bus Tracker arrival-time displays at 51 rail stations, an expansion of CTA’s most-popular technology for customers. CTA also announced it will soon begin pilot bus routes on the #11 Lincoln and #31 31st routes.

The improvements are expected to begin as soon as this summer, with the majority of improvements implemented in September. More details to come.