19 United Center Express

[busfan2847]

17 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

I might be inclined to agree, but people headed to Soldier Field seem to not have the same compunctions, so I don't see what the difference would be for United Center.

I thought inbound in this case meant inbound to the United Center, not the loop.

Inbound is towards downtown, sorry for any confusion. On the way to United Center people arrive over a period of time. Afterwards everyone wants to leave at once! More capacity is needed heading downtown. 

[Sam92]

1 hour ago, busfan2847 said:

Inbound is towards downtown, sorry for any confusion. On the way to United Center people arrive over a period of time. Afterwards everyone wants to leave at once! More capacity is needed heading downtown. 

I wonder if they’re just gonna do extras on the 20 before the events then and just have the 19 be an away bus? I noticed in the loop on those days a lot of buses were just signed as something else even though they were for the event so maybe cta might jus the quietly phasing it out and slowly getting riders used to the new pattern of using the 20 to the event and jsut providing strategic shuttles for after the event. Cause another reason why it may make more sense to start relying on the 20 is because the west loop is nearby and really developed recently so people might wanna do stuff in the area which the 19 basically bypasses but 20 serves locally not to mention a lot of residents in the area. 

[NewFlyerMCI]

59 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

I wonder if they’re just gonna do extras on the 20 before the events then and just have the 19 be an away bus? I noticed in the loop on those days a lot of buses were just signed as something else even though they were for the event so maybe cta might jus the quietly phasing it out and slowly getting riders used to the new pattern of using the 20 to the event and jsut providing strategic shuttles for after the event. Cause another reason why it may make more sense to start relying on the 20 is because the west loop is nearby and really developed recently so people might wanna do stuff in the area which the 19 basically bypasses but 20 serves locally not to mention a lot of residents in the area. 

This reminds me that CTA had 3 artics sitting outside Roosevelt CTA (eb) signed "SOLDIER FIELD/GO BEARS". Not sure if those were supposed to be 146 supplements, since there were drivers, but they weren't taking any passengers. This was about 10 minutes before kickoff. The set up looked similar to what you just described in terms of using the 20 to get to events and supplementing it with extra buses. (although both the regular 146 and the 128 continue to run along side whatever those buses might've been used for, they never left the station).

[artthouwill]

32 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

This reminds me that CTA had 3 artics sitting outside Roosevelt CTA (eb) signed "SOLDIER FIELD/GO BEARS". Not sure if those were supposed to be 146 supplements, since there were drivers, but they weren't taking any passengers. This was about 10 minutes before kickoff. The set up looked similar to what you just described in terms of using the 20 to get to events and supplementing it with extra buses. (although both the regular 146 and the 128 continue to run along side whatever those buses might've been used for, they never left the station).

Most Metra trains carrying fans to Bears games arrive downtown around 10am.  Remember that Sunday Metra service runs every 2 hours.  Also, the Pace Bears buses also arrive early as does a lot of car traffic for tailgating.   While other sports may have massive crowds arriving 10 minutes before game time,  football is different.   Therefore only stragglers would be left and those extras at Roosevelt would probably sit empty.

[renardo870]

So the 19 United Center Express is providing Loop bound service after all events at the UC. Is C or K providing the service? 

It seems the 20 Madison is providing extra service to the UC before the events and the 19 along with the 50 Damen is providing extras service afterwards. 

[artthouwill]

17 hours ago, renardo870 said:

So the 19 United Center Express is providing Loop bound service after all events at the UC. Is C or K providing the service? 

It seems the 20 Madison is providing extra service to the UC before the events and the 19 along with the 50 Damen is providing extras service afterwards. 

Are you saying that there's no 19 service TO the United Center  before events?  I suppose with traffic there's no time savings with the 19 compared with the 20.

Extra service on the 50 seems interesting considering the Blue Line is a short walk away. 

It will be 2024 at the earliest when we see the Damen Green Line stop open.    Too bad a Pink Line station was never considered, even if it would have been built at Warren Blvd or at Adams.

[Smolensk]

6 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Are you saying that there's no 19 service TO the United Center  before events?

That's what the CTA web site says:

https://www.transitchicago.com/bus/19/

 

6 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Extra service on the 50 seems interesting considering the Blue Line is a short walk away.

Is this extra 50 service northbound or southbound?

If it were northbound, I could see how it would be a good shortcut for people heading northwest on the Blue Line:  just take the bus to the Damen station on the O'Hare branch and bypass downtown.

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, Smolensk said:

That's what the CTA web site says:

https://www.transitchicago.com/bus/19/

 

Is this extra 50 service northbound or southbound?

If it were northbound, I could see how it would be a good shortcut for people heading northwest on the Blue Line:  just take the bus to the Damen station on the O'Hare branch and bypass downtown.

The 19 may be a casualty of COVID,  ir at least the service to UC.  

[renardo870]

23 hours ago, artthouwill said:

The 19 may be a casualty of COVID,  ir at least the service to UC.  

Is the 19 one of those routes that the United Center sponsors like the 10 Museum Sci & Industry route?

Edited November 20, 2022 by renardo870

[artthouwill]

21 minutes ago, renardo870 said:

Is the 19 one of those routes that the United Center sponsors like the 10 Museum Sci & Industry route?

I could be wrong but I don't think so.   I don't think the 128 Soldier Field Express is sponsored either.  These routes are just in place for large crowds.  Only Wrigley and Guarantee Rate Field have direct L service,  at least until the Damen Green Line station opens.  I don't know why IMD isn't considered a UC stop considering its just as close to the southern side of the Uc as Damen is to the north side of the UC.  We know it won't happen,  but the Pink Line having a UC Stop would have been perfect, even if the station was at Warren,  Washington,  or Adams.  I know no one's going to sell any port or the parking lots by the Pink Line that serves the UC.

[Busjack]

24 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

 I don't think the 128 Soldier Field Express is sponsored either.

Metra paid for it.

[jajuan]

On 11/17/2022 at 6:56 PM, renardo870 said:

So the 19 United Center Express is providing Loop bound service after all events at the UC. Is C or K providing the service? 

It seems the 20 Madison is providing extra service to the UC before the events and the 19 along with the 50 Damen is providing extras service afterwards. 

In the past (by past I mean up until the time CTA posted the present notice on its website), both C and K operated the route. C operated the trips going to UC using 40 footers, while K handled things going back into downtown using artics. 

On 11/18/2022 at 9:49 PM, artthouwill said:

The 19 may be a casualty of COVID,  ir at least the service to UC.  

Possible given artics were only used for service leaving UC. That in itself suggests that even before COVID, ridership on the route wasn't as heavy to UC as that leaving UC. Folks were likely opting for the 20 to get to the stadium but then opting for the convenience of the 19 already being outside and waiting to load when going back into downtown. That's if it's not subsidized service like the 128 was. If it is in fact subsidized, then could be CTA is only now getting funding for after event service only now.

[busfan2847]

17 hours ago, jajuan said:

Possible given artics were only used for service leaving UC. That in itself suggests that even before COVID, ridership on the route wasn't as heavy to UC as that leaving UC. Folks were likely opting for the 20 to get to the stadium but then opting for the convenience of the 19 already being outside and waiting to load when going back into downtown. That's if it's not subsidized service like the 128 was. If it is in fact subsidized, then could be CTA is only now getting funding for after event service only now.

More likely that people arrive over a period of time. After the event everyone leaves at once!

[jajuan]

1 hour ago, busfan2847 said:

More likely that people arrive over a period of time. After the event everyone leaves at once!

Which does not change buses going to UC were carrying lighter loads than those leaving. And doesn't eliminate the possibility that they may have turned to the 20 more often, given the 20 operates on smaller headway times than 19 towards UC was on when pre-event service was still available. 

[artthouwill]

30 minutes ago, jajuan said:

Which does not change buses going to UC were carrying lighter loads than those leaving. And doesn't eliminate the possibility that they may have turned to the 20 more often, given the 20 operates on smaller headway times than 19 towards UC was on when pre-event service was still available. 

Add to that the possibility that traffic to the UC didn't make the 19 a faster option