Routes on the Ones

[artthouwill]

A short synopsis on the crazy cuts the CTA has made on routes ending with the number 1.

1. Bronzeville/Union Station: This used to be the 1 Drexel/Hyde Pk, then the 1 Indiana/Hyde Pk. This route has seen its south terminal change from 83rd/South Shore to 63rd/Stony Island to Drexel Square to its current terminal at 35th - Indiana/Michigan. I suppose the next logical step would be to either combine it with another route, say 15 Jeffery Local or eliminate it altogether.

11 Lincoln- As bad as the above route was, this one is even crazier. Its south terminal has changed from Michigan/Balbo to the Museum campus to Congress/LaSalle to Clark/Wisconsin, then combined with the 37 Sedgwick to end at Desplaines/Harrison then uncombined and shortened to Western Brown Line station.

21 Cermak - Two extensions as a result of service changes. The extension to North Riverside was really combining its 25 West Cermak route into the 21, and the eastern extension from McCormick Place to Mercy Hospital was to replace the 35th Street route that served that hospital. That was necessitated in part because of the closing of Michael Reese Hospital.

31 31st - This was the original route that served Michael Reese and Mercy Hospitals. This route was eliminated and the hospital service was replaced by the 35 route.

41 Elston/Clybourn- Before my time, I guess it was a popular route. I remember this route going through Cabrini/Green and no one was riding. At that time, the route terminal was at State/Chicago, which I thought was odd, even as a kid. Eventually the route saw a south terminal change to the railroad stations, but by that time, the 600 west Chicago Ave building and Montgomery Ward building had contracts with private carriers to shuttle their workers to/from the commuter stations, effectively eliminating any decent ridership for the south end of the 41. Eventually this route was eliminated

51 51st - Route saw a brief extension eastward from Drexel Square to 47th/Lake Park, then with the introduction of the 15 Jeffery Local, it was cut back to 47th/Red Line.

61 ARcher/Franklin Express - Eliminated as a result of the opening of the Orange Line.

71 71st - CTA seemingly couldn't decide which garage was most logical for this route. It seemingly alternated between 69th (and 74th) and 77th until it was combined with the 27 S Deering to form the 71 71st/South Shore. Hence 74th was out of the picture . At that point, it was assigned to 77th, then the 112th/Torrence trips were assigned to 103rd then eventually the entire route was assigned to 103rd.

81 Lawrence - Untouched

81W West Lawrence - Recently rerouted to cover portion of the eliminated 64 Foster/Canfield

91 Austin - Route shortened from Devon/Nagle to Jefferson Park. Devon /Nagle portion of route assigned to 86 Ridgeland/Narragansett.

111 (Pullman)111th/115th, 111 King Drive 111th - This route originally was a two way circular route between 111th/Corliss and 111th/ Vincennes as the 111 111th/115th. Then someone on drugs thought it would be a great idea to combine the then 104 Pullman with this route and make it the 111 Pullman/111th/115th, though for a while the 104 Pullman to Altgeld Gardens still ran during rush hours before it eventually was eliminated. Recently, someone got smart and decided to split this route with 115th retaining the Cottage Grove/115th portion and the 111 being routed via King Drive (replacing the 353) and 111th.

121 Union/Streeterville - Route changed from Union/ Wacker and changed terminal from Navy Pier to Chicago/Fairbanks, along with the 120.

131 Washington - Eliminated, reintroduced as rush hour service, eliminated again, reintroduced during Green Line shutdown as 23 Washington Express, eliminated upon reopening of

Green Line, reincarnated in part as X20 Madison/Washington Express, which was eventually eliminated.

151 Sheridan - The two biggest shocks to me was the elimination of the short turn at Michigan/Congress and the elimination of owl service on this route. The Michigan/Congress short turn was actually a holdover from the old 153 Wilson/Michigan route which terminated there. When the 153 local was eliminated, those trips south of Belmont basically became the 151 to Mich/Congress and were still operated by the Limits garage (then Kedzie when Limits closed). I suppose to eliminate some confusion, it was decided that all 151 trips downtown should end at Union Station. As for late night service, this route has seen extensions to Howard when the 147 wasn't operating, then as the 147 got later hours, the owl service wound up getting cut back to Lawrence. Now all owl service on this route is gone

N201 - Replacement for overnight Purple Line owl service. Route eliminated

[Busjack]

If you want to complain about 51, got back to the trolley bus days when it ran to 56th and Lake Park. In the 70s it ran only to Drexel because the old 1, 2 and 5 covered east of there. The part to Lake Park-47 was only a short aberration.

151-At some point it was mostly to Howard, and 147 became a full time substitute north of Devon much later. Update: I'm sure they figured that with the owl cutback, the Red Line, a block west, was an adequate substitute north of Lawrence (later Foster).

[ChicagoNova]

A short synopsis on the crazy cuts the CTA has made on routes ending with the number 1.

1. Bronzeville/Union Station: This used to be the 1 Drexel/Hyde Pk, then the 1 Indiana/Hyde Pk. This route has seen its south terminal change from 83rd/South Shore to 63rd/Stony Island to Drexel Square to its current terminal at 35th - Indiana/Michigan. I suppose the next logical step would be to either combine it with another route, say 15 Jeffery Local or eliminate it altogether.

11 Lincoln- As bad as the above route was, this one is even crazier. Its south terminal has changed from Michigan/Balbo to the Museum campus to Congress/LaSalle to Clark/Wisconsin, then combined with the 37 Sedgwick to end at Desplaines/Harrison then uncombined and shortened to Western Brown Line station.

21 Cermak - Two extensions as a result of service changes. The extension to North Riverside was really combining its 25 West Cermak route into the 21, and the eastern extension from McCormick Place to Mercy Hospital was to replace the 35th Street route that served that hospital. That was necessitated in part because of the closing of Michael Reese Hospital.

31 31st - This was the original route that served Michael Reese and Mercy Hospitals. This route was eliminated and the hospital service was replaced by the 35 route.

41 Elston/Clybourn- Before my time, I guess it was a popular route. I remember this route going through Cabrini/Green and no one was riding. At that time, the route terminal was at State/Chicago, which I thought was odd, even as a kid. Eventually the route saw a south terminal change to the railroad stations, but by that time, the 600 west Chicago Ave building and Montgomery Ward building had contracts with private carriers to shuttle their workers to/from the commuter stations, effectively eliminating any decent ridership for the south end of the 41. Eventually this route was eliminated

51 51st - Route saw a brief extension eastward from Drexel Square to 47th/Lake Park, then with the introduction of the 15 Jeffery Local, it was cut back to 47th/Red Line.

61 ARcher/Franklin Express - Eliminated as a result of the opening of the Orange Line.

71 71st - CTA seemingly couldn't decide which garage was most logical for this route. It seemingly alternated between 69th (and 74th) and 77th until it was combined with the 27 S Deering to form the 71 71st/South Shore. Hence 74th was out of the picture . At that point, it was assigned to 77th, then the 112th/Torrence trips were assigned to 103rd then eventually the entire route was assigned to 103rd.

81 Lawrence - Untouched

81W West Lawrence - Recently rerouted to cover portion of the eliminated 64 Foster/Canfield

91 Austin - Route shortened from Devon/Nagle to Jefferson Park. Devon /Nagle portion of route assigned to 86 Ridgeland/Narragansett.

111 (Pullman)111th/115th, 111 King Drive 111th - This route originally was a two way circular route between 111th/Corliss and 111th/ Vincennes as the 111 111th/115th. Then someone on drugs thought it would be a great idea to combine the then 104 Pullman with this route and make it the 111 Pullman/111th/115th, though for a while the 104 Pullman to Altgeld Gardens still ran during rush hours before it eventually was eliminated. Recently, someone got smart and decided to split this route with 115th retaining the Cottage Grove/115th portion and the 111 being routed via King Drive (replacing the 353) and 111th.

121 Union/Streeterville - Route changed from Union/ Wacker and changed terminal from Navy Pier to Chicago/Fairbanks, along with the 120.

131 Washington - Eliminated, reintroduced as rush hour service, eliminated again, reintroduced during Green Line shutdown as 23 Washington Express, eliminated upon reopening of

Green Line, reincarnated in part as X20 Madison/Washington Express, which was eventually eliminated.

151 Sheridan - The two biggest shocks to me was the elimination of the short turn at Michigan/Congress and the elimination of owl service on this route. The Michigan/Congress short turn was actually a holdover from the old 153 Wilson/Michigan route which terminated there. When the 153 local was eliminated, those trips south of Belmont basically became the 151 to Mich/Congress and were still operated by the Limits garage (then Kedzie when Limits closed). I suppose to eliminate some confusion, it was decided that all 151 trips downtown should end at Union Station. As for late night service, this route has seen extensions to Howard when the 147 wasn't operating, then as the 147 got later hours, the owl service wound up getting cut back to Lawrence. Now all owl service on this route is gone

N201 - Replacement for overnight Purple Line owl service. Route eliminated

Actually, 81W was modified to replace 69 Cumberland/East River since that route was also eliminated.

[BusHunter]

Actually, 81W was modified to replace 69 Cumberland/East River since that route was also eliminated.

Also they snuck in a few hour cuts, I believe the service terminates a few hours earlier than in it's heyday. (used to run to close to 1:00 AM and now it's lucky to run to 10:30-11:00 PM especially on weekends.)

And 1, the number of riders I've seen on two straight trips on the #35 from 24th/Cicero EB, the one rider was me.

[geneking7320]

If you want to complain about 51, got back to the trolley bus days when it ran to 56th and Lake Park. In the 70s it ran only to Drexel because the old 1, 2 and 5 covered east of there. The part to Lake Park-47 was only a short aberration.

151-At some point it was mostly to Howard, and 147 became a full time substitute north of Devon much later. Update: I'm sure they figured that with the owl cutback, the Red Line, a block west, was an adequate substitute north of Lawrence (later Foster).

I can remember riding Marmon-Herrington ETBs on 51st-55th (at least as far as 55th and Cottage Grove.

[Guest ctafan630]

A short synopsis on the crazy cuts the CTA has made on routes ending with the number 1.

1. Bronzeville/Union Station: This used to be the 1 Drexel/Hyde Pk, then the 1 Indiana/Hyde Pk. This route has seen its south terminal change from 83rd/South Shore to 63rd/Stony Island to Drexel Square to its current terminal at 35th - Indiana/Michigan. I suppose the next logical step would be to either combine it with another route, say 15 Jeffery Local or eliminate it altogether.

11 Lincoln- As bad as the above route was, this one is even crazier. Its south terminal has changed from Michigan/Balbo to the Museum campus to Congress/LaSalle to Clark/Wisconsin, then combined with the 37 Sedgwick to end at Desplaines/Harrison then uncombined and shortened to Western Brown Line station.

21 Cermak - Two extensions as a result of service changes. The extension to North Riverside was really combining its 25 West Cermak route into the 21, and the eastern extension from McCormick Place to Mercy Hospital was to replace the 35th Street route that served that hospital. That was necessitated in part because of the closing of Michael Reese Hospital.

31 31st - This was the original route that served Michael Reese and Mercy Hospitals. This route was eliminated and the hospital service was replaced by the 35 route.

41 Elston/Clybourn- Before my time, I guess it was a popular route. I remember this route going through Cabrini/Green and no one was riding. At that time, the route terminal was at State/Chicago, which I thought was odd, even as a kid. Eventually the route saw a south terminal change to the railroad stations, but by that time, the 600 west Chicago Ave building and Montgomery Ward building had contracts with private carriers to shuttle their workers to/from the commuter stations, effectively eliminating any decent ridership for the south end of the 41. Eventually this route was eliminated

51 51st - Route saw a brief extension eastward from Drexel Square to 47th/Lake Park, then with the introduction of the 15 Jeffery Local, it was cut back to 47th/Red Line.

61 ARcher/Franklin Express - Eliminated as a result of the opening of the Orange Line.

71 71st - CTA seemingly couldn't decide which garage was most logical for this route. It seemingly alternated between 69th (and 74th) and 77th until it was combined with the 27 S Deering to form the 71 71st/South Shore. Hence 74th was out of the picture . At that point, it was assigned to 77th, then the 112th/Torrence trips were assigned to 103rd then eventually the entire route was assigned to 103rd.

81 Lawrence - Untouched

81W West Lawrence - Recently rerouted to cover portion of the eliminated 64 Foster/Canfield

91 Austin - Route shortened from Devon/Nagle to Jefferson Park. Devon /Nagle portion of route assigned to 86 Ridgeland/Narragansett.

111 (Pullman)111th/115th, 111 King Drive 111th - This route originally was a two way circular route between 111th/Corliss and 111th/ Vincennes as the 111 111th/115th. Then someone on drugs thought it would be a great idea to combine the then 104 Pullman with this route and make it the 111 Pullman/111th/115th, though for a while the 104 Pullman to Altgeld Gardens still ran during rush hours before it eventually was eliminated. Recently, someone got smart and decided to split this route with 115th retaining the Cottage Grove/115th portion and the 111 being routed via King Drive (replacing the 353) and 111th.

121 Union/Streeterville - Route changed from Union/ Wacker and changed terminal from Navy Pier to Chicago/Fairbanks, along with the 120.

131 Washington - Eliminated, reintroduced as rush hour service, eliminated again, reintroduced during Green Line shutdown as 23 Washington Express, eliminated upon reopening of

Green Line, reincarnated in part as X20 Madison/Washington Express, which was eventually eliminated.

151 Sheridan - The two biggest shocks to me was the elimination of the short turn at Michigan/Congress and the elimination of owl service on this route. The Michigan/Congress short turn was actually a holdover from the old 153 Wilson/Michigan route which terminated there. When the 153 local was eliminated, those trips south of Belmont basically became the 151 to Mich/Congress and were still operated by the Limits garage (then Kedzie when Limits closed). I suppose to eliminate some confusion, it was decided that all 151 trips downtown should end at Union Station. As for late night service, this route has seen extensions to Howard when the 147 wasn't operating, then as the 147 got later hours, the owl service wound up getting cut back to Lawrence. Now all owl service on this route is gone

N201 - Replacement for overnight Purple Line owl service. Route eliminated

The 91 had two terminals - one at Jefferson Park and the second at Nagle/Devon

[MetroShadow]

The 91 had two terminals - one at Jefferson Park and the second at Nagle/Devon

The Nagle branch is still applicable to school runs.

[Brandon93]

A short synopsis on the crazy cuts the CTA has made on routes ending with the number 1.

1. Bronzeville/Union Station: This used to be the 1 Drexel/Hyde Pk, then the 1 Indiana/Hyde Pk. This route has seen its south terminal change from 83rd/South Shore to 63rd/Stony Island to Drexel Square to its current terminal at 35th - Indiana/Michigan. I suppose the next logical step would be to either combine it with another route, say 15 Jeffery Local or eliminate it altogether.

11 Lincoln- As bad as the above route was, this one is even crazier. Its south terminal has changed from Michigan/Balbo to the Museum campus to Congress/LaSalle to Clark/Wisconsin, then combined with the 37 Sedgwick to end at Desplaines/Harrison then uncombined and shortened to Western Brown Line station.

21 Cermak - Two extensions as a result of service changes. The extension to North Riverside was really combining its 25 West Cermak route into the 21, and the eastern extension from McCormick Place to Mercy Hospital was to replace the 35th Street route that served that hospital. That was necessitated in part because of the closing of Michael Reese Hospital.

31 31st - This was the original route that served Michael Reese and Mercy Hospitals. This route was eliminated and the hospital service was replaced by the 35 route.

41 Elston/Clybourn- Before my time, I guess it was a popular route. I remember this route going through Cabrini/Green and no one was riding. At that time, the route terminal was at State/Chicago, which I thought was odd, even as a kid. Eventually the route saw a south terminal change to the railroad stations, but by that time, the 600 west Chicago Ave building and Montgomery Ward building had contracts with private carriers to shuttle their workers to/from the commuter stations, effectively eliminating any decent ridership for the south end of the 41. Eventually this route was eliminated

51 51st - Route saw a brief extension eastward from Drexel Square to 47th/Lake Park, then with the introduction of the 15 Jeffery Local, it was cut back to 47th/Red Line.

61 ARcher/Franklin Express - Eliminated as a result of the opening of the Orange Line.

71 71st - CTA seemingly couldn't decide which garage was most logical for this route. It seemingly alternated between 69th (and 74th) and 77th until it was combined with the 27 S Deering to form the 71 71st/South Shore. Hence 74th was out of the picture . At that point, it was assigned to 77th, then the 112th/Torrence trips were assigned to 103rd then eventually the entire route was assigned to 103rd.

81 Lawrence - Untouched

81W West Lawrence - Recently rerouted to cover portion of the eliminated 64 Foster/Canfield

91 Austin - Route shortened from Devon/Nagle to Jefferson Park. Devon /Nagle portion of route assigned to 86 Ridgeland/Narragansett.

111 (Pullman)111th/115th, 111 King Drive 111th - This route originally was a two way circular route between 111th/Corliss and 111th/ Vincennes as the 111 111th/115th. Then someone on drugs thought it would be a great idea to combine the then 104 Pullman with this route and make it the 111 Pullman/111th/115th, though for a while the 104 Pullman to Altgeld Gardens still ran during rush hours before it eventually was eliminated. Recently, someone got smart and decided to split this route with 115th retaining the Cottage Grove/115th portion and the 111 being routed via King Drive (replacing the 353) and 111th.

121 Union/Streeterville - Route changed from Union/ Wacker and changed terminal from Navy Pier to Chicago/Fairbanks, along with the 120.

131 Washington - Eliminated, reintroduced as rush hour service, eliminated again, reintroduced during Green Line shutdown as 23 Washington Express, eliminated upon reopening of

Green Line, reincarnated in part as X20 Madison/Washington Express, which was eventually eliminated.

151 Sheridan - The two biggest shocks to me was the elimination of the short turn at Michigan/Congress and the elimination of owl service on this route. The Michigan/Congress short turn was actually a holdover from the old 153 Wilson/Michigan route which terminated there. When the 153 local was eliminated, those trips south of Belmont basically became the 151 to Mich/Congress and were still operated by the Limits garage (then Kedzie when Limits closed). I suppose to eliminate some confusion, it was decided that all 151 trips downtown should end at Union Station. As for late night service, this route has seen extensions to Howard when the 147 wasn't operating, then as the 147 got later hours, the owl service wound up getting cut back to Lawrence. Now all owl service on this route is gone

N201 - Replacement for overnight Purple Line owl service. Route eliminated

I think they CTA should put the 111 back like it was make it go in the mall where Wal-Mart is or make both the 111 & 115 go in there and either way eliminate the 111A

[Guest ctafan630]

The Nagle branch is still applicable to school runs.

Yes there are a few school runs on the 91 that go down Nagle, but do they go all the way to Milwaukee and Devon?

[Busjack]

Yes there are a few school runs on the 91 that go down Nagle, but do they go all the way to Milwaukee and Devon?

The schedule indicates no.

I got a bit confused and had to reread art's post, but only 86 goes to Milwaukee and Devon. There used to be a split of 91 between Nagle and Jefferson Park.

[Guest ctafan630]

The schedule indicates no.

. There used to be a split of 91 between Nagle and Jefferson Park.

And I said that 4 posts up.

[jajuan]

One slight correction about the 131, that second resurrection as rush hour service under its original 131 route number, which came about two weeks after its second elimination, was still in effect when the 23 Green Line west side replacement service was introduced back in 1994, so the 23 wasn't an reincarnation since the 131 route was still here at that time and actually outlived the 23. The 23 was in service from January 1994 until May 1996. The 131 under its second resurrection in its rush only incarnation was eliminated for a third time in October of 1997 under the first wave of Booz-Allen cuts. You are right though that the X20 was a partial reincarnation of the 131. The X20 service hours were actually identical to those of 131 when it was around as a rush hour only service.

[rvwnsd]

The schedule indicates no.

I got a bit confused and had to reread art's post, but only 86 goes to Milwaukee and Devon. There used to be a split of 91 between Nagle and Jefferson Park.

I grew up a few blocks from Nagle and Higgins in the 1970's. Even back then, the 91 Austin buses were never very crowded north of Lawrence except mornings and afternoons when Taft High School was in session. Even then, a lot of the kids from the West Side took the 68 NW Highway to Jefferson Park and transferred to the 85 Central.

[andrethebusman]

The Nagle branch is still applicable to school runs.

Minimally - one morning trip to Nagle/Bryn Mawr, one PM trip from Taft HS via Natoma-Avondale-Raven-NW Hwy-Nagle. Nothing to Milay any more.

[andrethebusman]

#1 is now effectively a short-turn for #4, to Union Station instead of Illinois Center. Oddly enough, when 38 and 1 were combined in 1982, for a while most ran to NW Sta like old #1, but some rush ran to Union Sta like old 38. Soon, however, all started going to Union Sta.

41 in its original incarnation ran Belmont/Western to Monroe/State, but owl, Sunday, and evenings always ran to Chicago/State since conversion. In 1950's route was extended out Elston to Milwaukee, when lower Elston was given up on except weekday daytime. Downtown service ended in 1973, as did Saturday and evening (sunday and owl went 1961).

131 was once upon a time a "full service" route 7 days a week, mostly locals but some rush weekday rush. Sunday ended soon after CMC was taken over, and route became all-express late 50's.