Remembering the Culture Bus.

[Paul Fortini]

Hey everyone!

I was going through my storage locker and I found another old CTA photo, this one of a Culture Bus bus stop sign http://www.flickr.com/photos/52209513@N03/6457075661/in/photostream The photo had been in an old magnetic type photo album, which had seen its better days and the photo had deteriorated.

So anyway the photo has to date from about 1978. I remember later on (possibly 1979) the CTA started a West Side Culture Bus. I was in high school when this service started, and as I recall, it was very popular. For the price of a Supertransfer, you could get a guided tour of the city! You could get on and off as often as you wished. The docents were all CTA employees, and as I recall, one of them was blind and he'd have his driver cue him as to which site they were approaching. He also read from a braille script.

It appears that the Culture Buses lasted throughout the 1980s and additional stops were later added. The Culture Buses introduced this then-teen and later 20-something to a whole wealth of museums including, the Smart Gallery, the DuSable, the Oriental Institute, the International Museum of Surgical Sciences, etc.

So I have a question:

The Culture Buses were quite popular. Why and when was this service discontinued?

What are your Culture Bus memories?

[jajuan]

As I recall CTA eliminated the Culture Buses for similar reasons they gave for eliminating other routes over the years, which was lack of funds. They had at least one or two fishbowls painted in black, blue and white paint schemes with red and orange flames, which others on the forum recalled and mentioned in other threads, that were said to be for the Culture bus routes. But they primarily were operated with CTA's old MAN artics when I rode in the late 80's in my early teens. From different histories given, they started in 1977 with a Culture Bus North and Culture Bus South Route. A West Route was added in 1978. Each route operated on Sundays/holidays every half hour from approximately 10:30AM through 5PM from Memorial Day through Labor Day on guided tours of popular cultural sites in each route's respective part of town served, usually the city's museums and other popular attractions that tourists might be drawn to. As the buses passed or stopped at those attractions, a CTA hired guide read scripted histories and descriptions of the attractions. The CTA's old Sunday unlimited ride Supertransfers, used I think till the late 80's, were typical ways to get you aboard, but fares were typically double the standard CTA fares of the time which also conveniently were also the cost of the Supertransfers should you wish to have one issued. CTA finally ended the routes in the early 1990's. Old Chicago Tribune articles confirm that they survived at least until 1991, but I can't recall if they made it into 1992 or if 1991 was their final year.

[busfan2847]

1991 was the final year. Culture Bus was one of the casualties of the 1992 budget cuts.

The other cuts (2/2 bus, 2/9 rail) were:-

"Daily service will be discontinued on the No. 89 North Kedzie and No. 131 Washington routes. Late night ``owl`` service will end on the No. 18 16th/18th Streets; No. 27 South Deering; No. 43 43rd Street; No. 67 67th/69th/71st Streets; No. 74 Fullerton; No. 80 Irving Park; No. 88 Higgins; No. 95E 93rd, 95th Streets; No. 108 Halsted/95th; 111 Pullman 111th/115th Streets; 112 Vincennes/111th; and No. 155 Devon.

Weekend and holiday service will end on a number of other routes and portions of routes scattered throughout the city.

Rail stations to close effective Feb. 9 include Harvard and Wentworth on the Englewood line; Grand on the O`Hare line; Laramie on the Douglas; and California on the Lake. The North/Clybourn station in the State Street subway will be closed at night, on weekends and holidays and the Thorndale station on the Howard line will be closed on Sundays and holidays.

Saturday service will be discontinued on the Skokie Swift. Owl service will be less frequent on the Lake and Englewood-Howard lines."

As I recall CTA eliminated the Culture Buses for similar reasons they gave for eliminating other routes over the years, which was lack of funds. They had at least one or two fishbowls painted in black, blue and white paint schemes with red and orange flames, which others on the forum recalled and mentioned in other threads, that were said to be for the Culture bus routes. But they primarily were operated with CTA's old MAN artics when I rode in the late 80's in my early teens. From different histories given, they started in 1977 with a Culture Bus North and Culture Bus South Route. A West Route was added in 1978. Each route operated on Sundays/holidays every half hour from approximately 10:30AM through 5PM from Memorial Day through Labor Day on guided tours of popular cultural sites in each route's respective part of town served, usually the city's museums and other popular attractions that tourists might be drawn to. As the buses passed or stopped at those attractions, a CTA hired guide read scripted histories and descriptions of the attractions. The CTA's old Sunday unlimited ride Supertransfers, used I think till the late 80's, were typical ways to get you aboard, but fares were typically double the standard CTA fares of the time which also conveniently were also the cost of the Supertransfers should you wish to have one issued. CTA finally ended the routes in the early 1990's. Old Chicago Tribune articles confirm that they survived at least until 1991, but I can't recall if they made it into 1992 or if 1991 was their final year.

[RJL6000]

1991 was the final year. Culture Bus was one of the casualties of the 1992 budget cuts.

The other cuts (2/2 bus, 2/9 rail) were:-

"Daily service will be discontinued on the No. 89 North Kedzie and No. 131 Washington routes. Late night ``owl`` service will end on the No. 18 16th/18th Streets; No. 27 South Deering; No. 43 43rd Street; No. 67 67th/69th/71st Streets; No. 74 Fullerton; No. 80 Irving Park; No. 88 Higgins; No. 95E 93rd, 95th Streets; No. 108 Halsted/95th; 111 Pullman 111th/115th Streets; 112 Vincennes/111th; and No. 155 Devon.

Weekend and holiday service will end on a number of other routes and portions of routes scattered throughout the city.

Rail stations to close effective Feb. 9 include Harvard and Wentworth on the Englewood line; Grand on the O`Hare line; Laramie on the Douglas; and California on the Lake. The North/Clybourn station in the State Street subway will be closed at night, on weekends and holidays and the Thorndale station on the Howard line will be closed on Sundays and holidays.

Saturday service will be discontinued on the Skokie Swift. Owl service will be less frequent on the Lake and Englewood-Howard lines."

Since that time, a couple of the station closures were "reversed" (California on the Green Line, whose existing station was replaced by a new station during the 1994-96 reconstruction, and Grand on the Blue Line), while Laramie was effectively replaced by a new 54th/Cermak terminal on the Pink Line.

When the Orange Line opened in 1993, Quincy/Wells was the only stop on either the Wells or the Van Buren legs of the Loop that was open on Sundays. When the Washington/Wells station opened in July 1995, it was closed on Sundays and holidays. The Library-State/Van Buren station did not open until 1997 - and it was open at all times that the Orange and Brown lines operated. On the Red Line, some time in the mid-1990s, North/Clybourn resumed opening on weekends and holidays but remained closed overnights until 2000.

Also, the part-time closures were rescinded in 2000, making all of the former part-time stations available at all times the line(s) that serve them operate. Finally, as of 2008, Saturday service on the Yellow Line was restored, plus new Sunday service was added.

As for the bus cuts, they were never restored to the pre-1992 level. Most of the routing of the old #27 South Deering has since been made part of the extended #71 71st/South Shore route. However, in a way owl service is still operated on the routing of the #95E plus portions of the old #27 (current #71) and the #67 (in the form of the #N5).

[jajuan]

One other tidbit is that the 131 would get resurrected as a rush hour only route only to be eliminated in the Booz-Allen cuts of 1997-98. It got life again east of Central Park as the eastern portion of the X20 Washington/Madison Express which itself ended up eliminated in the 2010 service cuts. By that time it was not so express as CTA made the Madison leg of the route local stop service and also added multiple stops on the West Loop portion to a degree that further defeated the purpose of calling the route 'express'.

[artthouwill]

If I remember correctly, bus 1111 was painted in the Cultural Bus scheme and was once based at 52nd/Cottage Grove. Once that garage closed, I'm not sure where it went (Limits? Kedzie?) Was that the only Culture Bus, or was there another one or two with the same scheme?

[Paul Fortini]

If I remember correctly, bus 1111 was painted in the Cultural Bus scheme and was once based at 52nd/Cottage Grove. Once that garage closed, I'm not sure where it went (Limits? Kedzie?) Was that the only Culture Bus, or was there another one or two with the same scheme?

I always thought #1111 was called the "Custom Bus". Here's my photo http://www.flickr.com/photos/52209513@N03/6315280770/in/set-72157628027689391

[Busjack]

If I remember correctly, bus 1111 was painted in the Cultural Bus scheme and was once based at 52nd/Cottage Grove. Once that garage closed, I'm not sure where it went (Limits? Kedzie?)

The only time buses of that range were at 52nd was between roughly 1972 and 1976, the latter when 52nd got 9100s and the 1100s went somewhere else. Of course, 1096 to 1099(?) went to Evanston before that.

Assignment to 149 would imply Kedzie.The first character in the run box isn't that clear in the photo.

[i8itall4u]

The only time buses of that range were at 52nd was between roughly 1972 and 1976, the latter when 52nd got 9100s and the 1100s went somewhere else. Of course, 1096 to 1099(?) went to Evanston before that.

Assignment to 149 would imply Kedzie.The first character in the run box isn't that clear in the photo.

1111 was assigned to Limits after 52nd closed. The Culture Bus routes also used Limits' 9200s and 52nd's 9040-9049 which were taken from 69th's 9000-9111 group and as mentioned, Artics from Archer and North Park. I don't recall any other specially painted buses running those routes besides 1111 and 9040.

[artthouwill]

1111 was assigned to Limits after 52nd closed. The Culture Bus routes also used Limits' 9200s and 52nd's 9040-9049 which were taken from 69th's 9000-9111 group and as mentioned, Artics from Archer and North Park. I don't recall any other specially painted buses running those routes besides 1111 and 9040.

I also remember 9040 having a darker shade of brown scheme surrounding the standee windows compared to the rest of the CTA fleet. 9040 - 9049 also seemed to have "speakers" on the ceiling throughout the bus. I would supposed based on what you are saying that this was for the PA system in those buses, although I don't recall seeing one in them. But it does make sense to have them for the Culture Bus if they were guided tours.

Eventually the Mayor's Office took over the tours and sponsored "neighborhood" tours every Saturday originating from the Cultural Center downtown during the summer. The city did not charge for this. I haven't been downtown on a Saturday morning in a while so I don't know if they still have the tours, but they used to use Keeshin/Coach USA at one time. The city provided the guides.

[MRCTA]

Who here misses the Culture Bus and Sunday Supertransfer?

[sw4400]

Was this one of those culture buses?

CTA3433.bmp

[sw4400]

Also, what of this one? I know by the time NOVA LFS buses arrived, the Culture Buses were long gone, but it's decked out about something regarding a Chinatown/Pilsen Shuttle and the LED crawl says something about FREE Sn/pilsen

cta6551.bmp

[sw4400]

These might be more... I'm going to post and you can judge them...

CTA3183-3701-1342.bmp

CTA1111CULTUREBUS.bmp

CTA4175.bmp

[nflyer22]

Also, what of this one? I know by the time NOVA LFS buses arrived, the Culture Buses were long gone, but it's decked out about something regarding a Chinatown/Pilsen Shuttle and the LED crawl says something about FREE Sn/pilsen

The bus displayed "CHINATOWN/PILSEN" (flip) "FREE SHUTTLE". As it is advertised, it ran on weekends from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend, beginning from the Roosevelt Red/Orange/Green station to Museum Campus, then Prairie Ave. Historic District, through Chinatown, went on 18th into Pilsen, up on Damen to the Mexican Fine Arts Center (now the National Museum of Mexican Art), before heading back up north to Roosevelt, traversing east to Maxwell Street Sunday Market, then finally back to the station where it began. Forgive me since I certainly do not remember the years that this ran under (I believe it was 2003-2005) but it was some time ago. Changes to the route occurred as the route gained popularity and promoted tourism to both hotspots of the city, such as the expansion into late September in the last year. In latter years the route reversed itself where buses headed westbound first, along with minor changes to the actual route, maybe for scheduling purposes. According to a newsletter from the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, the commerce stopped funding for the route due to financial reasons, which was one of the leading reasons the route got the ax.

I remember so clearly as a young transit fan when I dragged my wise grandma out of the house just for a "sightseeing" ride every weekend just to soak up the views of summer from different parts of the city in an air-conditioned bus.

I believe I still have an old promotional brochure of the free shuttle, and I'll do my best to dig it out and upload it (if I can find it!) when I head back home from finals here at the University of Illinois. :)

[i8itall4u]

Also, what of this one? I know by the time NOVA LFS buses arrived, the Culture Buses were long gone, but it's decked out about something regarding a Chinatown/Pilsen Shuttle and the LED crawl says something about FREE Sn/pilsen

None of the buses 1342, 3183, 3433, 3701 and 4175, were used. And yes, 9040-49 had interior speakers used on the tours.

[artthouwill]

Was this one of those culture buses?

CTA3433.bmp

This bus appears to be repainted to promote Lincoln Park Zoo, and this bus was used on the then- 74L route which ran from the Fullerton station to the zoo.

[Busjack]

This bus appears to be repainted to promote Lincoln Park Zoo, and this bus was used on the then- 74L route which ran from the Fullerton station to the zoo.

That's undoubtedly what it is, and given the type of bus, was probably out of service not long thereafter.

They painted a lot of buses during that time, and I remember one painted for Mexican Independence Day for Route 60, which broke down soon thereafter. Don't remember how I found out that it broke down.

Update: 3183 in one of the picture links above is the Mexican bus, to which I referred.

[jajuan]

The bus displayed "CHINATOWN/PILSEN" (flip) "FREE SHUTTLE". As it is advertised, it ran on weekends from Memorial Day weekend until Labor Day weekend, beginning from the Roosevelt Red/Orange/Green station to Museum Campus, then Prairie Ave. Historic District, through Chinatown, went on 18th into Pilsen, up on Damen to the Mexican Fine Arts Center (now the National Museum of Mexican Art), before heading back up north to Roosevelt, traversing east to Maxwell Street Sunday Market, then finally back to the station where it began. Forgive me since I certainly do not remember the years that this ran under (I believe it was 2003-2005) but it was some time ago. Changes to the route occurred as the route gained popularity and promoted tourism to both hotspots of the city, such as the expansion into late September in the last year. In latter years the route reversed itself where buses headed westbound first, along with minor changes to the actual route, maybe for scheduling purposes. According to a newsletter from the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, the commerce stopped funding for the route due to financial reasons, which was one of the leading reasons the route got the ax.

I remember so clearly as a young transit fan when I dragged my wise grandma out of the house just for a "sightseeing" ride every weekend just to soak up the views of summer from different parts of the city in an air-conditioned bus.

I believe I still have an old promotional brochure of the free shuttle, and I'll do my best to dig it out and upload it (if I can find it!) when I head back home from finals here at the University of Illinois.

As I recall the system maps of the time designated this route as #40 Chinatown/Pilsen Shuttle though the buses never displayed a route number. As for sw's photo's the old Flxible's and the fishbowl in gray were three of CTA's bicentennial buses first painted that way in 1976 for the country's bicentiennal celebrations. They also happened to have a few artics that also had the bicentennial paint schemes in those days. They kept those schemes for a few years as I recall being about six and seven years old and still seeing buses painted as such. 4175 got that paint scheme I think shortly after being reassigned to North Park from 69th once 74th replaced 69th where it remained and kept that look the rest of its service life as the Americanas gradually were pulled from the south side to the northern half of the city and eventually saw their final days solely at North Park and were used only for the Lake Shore expresses as most of us know. The photo suggests a timeframe of the Americanas' final two years or so of service, about when the Seattle MANs arrived since by that point very few of them had operable destination signs anymore, 4218 being the last one and only one to have a working one IIRC by the time Americanas were only at North Park.

[mel bernero]

There were 3 3400 series Flxible buses painted up for Route 74L 3433, 3434, 3435.

The photo of 3434 was taken on an OSA charter in 1975, while 3435 is an inservice bus at the Fullerton station.

Mel Bernero

[MRCTA]

There were 3 3400 series Flxible buses painted up for Route 74L 3433, 3434, 3435.

The photo of 3434 was taken on an OSA charter in 1975, while 3435 is an inservice bus at the Fullerton station.

Mel Bernero

Very Nice Buses! I remember the 3300s-3400s when I was a kid!

[MRCTA]

Happy Holidays From MRCTA To Everyone At ChicagoBus. Org!