CTA Bus Stop sign information

[trainman8119]

Maybe the RTA should go back to being a funding funnel instead of trying to be a service board. I guess they can't do either well.

[jajuan]

While waiting for the bus this morning at Jackson and Riverside, above the regular bus stop signs there was a small rectangle sign with the bus emblem and a "A" inside a red circle. Has anyone seen this before and what does it mean?

New interagency stop location system. They have the same setup at the Davis Purple Line station. The intent is to direct passengers to their correct bus stop in designated boarding zones coming out of the rail station. In the case you mentioned Union station would be the relevant station. And despite the quick negative reactions here, I find the system quite useful whenever I'm at the Davis station and need a quick reference idea of when one of the buses I might need that's serving the station is supposed to arrive.

[Busjack]

New interagency stop location system. They have the same setup at the Davis Purple Line station. The intent is to direct passengers to their correct bus stop in designated boarding zones coming out of the rail station. In the case you mentioned Union station would be the relevant station. And despite the quick negative reactions here, I find the system quite useful whenever I'm at the Davis station and need a quick reference idea of when one of the buses I might need that's serving the station is supposed to arrive.

I haven't been there recently, but I certainly can tell the difference between a Pace bus and sign and CTA ones.

Also, IIRC, 201 and 205 don't pull into Benson St., and hence there is a need to direct passengers to either Church or Davis, and the southbound of one of them is on Davis and the other on Church. So, if the sign is clear enough, it serves a purpose.

But is the RTA sign a combined Tracker (estimated next bus) one?

[jajuan]

No it's not a tracker. It's a map like on that brochure with the list of relevant routes and the tines after each hour the bus is scheduled to arrive. I usually ignore the map part and pay more attention to the schedules. That's the part I meant was more useful. Other riders would find the arrows to 201 or 205 useful as you suggest. And as MetroShadow alluded to, this is useful for that rider who uses public transit less than any of us probably does. I will say they do need to improve those maps from the convoluted mess they currently are.

[MetroShadow]

No it's not a tracker. It's a map like on that brochure with the list of relevant routes and the tines after each hour the bus is scheduled to arrive. I usually ignore the map part and pay more attention to the schedules. That's the part I meant was more useful. Other riders would find the arrows to 201 or 205 useful as you suggest. And as MetroShadow alluded to, this is useful for that rider who uses public transit less than any of us probably does. I will say they do need to improve those maps from the convoluted mess they currently are.

I forgot Davis Purple is involved in this. That's actually not a bad idea to use it (those bus stops can be tricky if you're not familiar with it).

I think Joliet is supposed to get them as well, before and after the transit center reconstruction. Knowing how asinine it is to find your route as it is (I've not taken a bus out of there since 2005), this can be really useful.