Pace route 220

[RIPTA42]

Route 220 appears on the latest RTA map (2004), but I can't find schedule information on the Pace site. I'm assuming this route was a casualty of some recent restructuring? Was it absorbed into another route, or is there no longer bus service along Lee Street?

[Busjack]

Yes, as part of the North Shore Initiative in March 2005. The O'Hare to Des Plaines part was incorporated into 250, the Des Plaines to Golf Mill part into 208, and the Golf Mill to Glenview portion canceled due to low ridership.

At the hearing I attended on this, the chart said "restructured," and an audience member said "shouldn't that say discontinued?"

BTW, the 2004 RTA map isn't too accurate; it is very haphazard regarding changes made after the 2000 "Map of the Milennium" with regard to both Pace and CTA. You are better off using the Route Finder on the Pace main page (not the Trip Planner).

[RIPTA42]

At the hearing I attended on this, the chart said "restructured," and an audience member said "shouldn't that say discontinued?"

But "discontinued" is such a harsh word.

You are better off using the Route Finder on the Pace main page (not the Trip Planner).

Unfortunately, a search for "Lee" on the Route Finder yielded nothing.

[trainman8119]

Was it absorbed into another route, or is there no longer bus service along Lee Street?

You could also include Route 226 between Oakton Street and downtown Des Plaines in both directions as part of the same silly restructering.

[Busjack]

The 250 restructuring was justified at the hearing on the basis that Evanston people (who are in one of the core communities of the initiative) wanted a direct ride to O'Hare, and "220 resources" needed to be applied to get it.

What I find silly is that the big changes that were made, including to 220 and 226 as mentioned (as well as 212, on which I often comment, since it was nearby), were technically outside the study area (Evanston, Wilmette, Skokie, and Lincolnwood) and the result was to cut frequency on the outlying parts to once an hour. Also, while there may be a point to establishing a Des Plaines transfer point, I don't see how rerouting 226 to it had anything to do with the survey in the core area. (I guess trainman would also lump the interlining of 209 and 234 into that, although something had to be done to 209 after 208 was extended over it west of Des Plaines to create the "Golf Corridor").

I suppose that none of us can argue with the passenger counts collected by the IBS, and so Pace could push the cutbacks.

[Busjack]

Unfortunately, a search for "Lee" on the Route Finder yielded nothing.

"O'Hare" and "Des Plaines" do work. The site seems more attuned to towns and destinations than streets. There is also the WebRoute map, but I wouldn't recommend that either. You have to disable the PopUp blocker, have to keep zooming in, and it doesn't appear that the streets are marked with their names or that there are enough route number markers to tell what route is on a street that looks like Lee.