Service beyond SP2025 (was: March 25 System Pick)

[YoungBusLover]

With the system pick looming for the summer, a lot of rumblings about route extensions and new creations have been gaining traction around the system lately with one being confirmed to be true. The 53 will be getting an extension to Ford City while the 53A will get cut to the orange line. The 82 will more than likely takeover the terminal for the 53/53A at Komensky/31st. The 52 has also been rumored to get an extension to Roger's Park (Devon/Kedzie). There is also a possibility that the Charter service that Northwestern has may get taken over by the CTA with several new peak AM/PM routes that run similar to the 120/121. The System Pick has been long overdue for Bus operations so hopefully with normal service coming in full strength things will pan out well. 

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

The current year is 2025.

[artthouwill]

35 minutes ago, YoungBusLover said:

With the system pick looming for the summer, a lot of rumblings about route extensions and new creations have been gaining traction around the system lately with one being confirmed to be true. The 53 will be getting an extension to Ford City while the 53A will get cut to the orange line. The 82 will more than likely will takeover the terminal for the 53/53A at Komensky/31st. The 52 has also been rumored to get an extension to Roger's Park (Devon/Kedzie). There is also a possibility that the Charter service that Northwestern has may get taken over by the CTA with several new peak AM/PM routes that run similar to the 120/121. The System Pick has been long overdue for Bus operations so hopefully with normal service coming in full strength things will pan put well. 

The 53 extension to Ford City would be interesting.   At least it would maintain a one seT ride from 76th to north of the Orange Line.   Apparently the intent would be to cut frequency on the 53A, especially north of 81st.  

The 120/121 is a direct competitor to the Northwestern Shuttles.  Ir wouldn't cost CTA much to increase service and/or add artics to the routes.  The question is whether CTA can get the contract to shuttle between the downtown Chicago and Evanston campuses?

I'm  not sure if a 52 extension makes any sense considering rge proximity to the 82.

[Rail Introvert]

2 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

With the system pick looming for the summer, a lot of rumblings about route extensions and new creations have been gaining traction around the system lately with one being confirmed to be true. The 53 will be getting an extension to Ford City while the 53A will get cut to the orange line. The 82 will more than likely will takeover the terminal for the 53/53A at Komensky/31st. The 52 has also been rumored to get an extension to Roger's Park (Devon/Kedzie). There is also a possibility that the Charter service that Northwestern has may get taken over by the CTA with several new peak AM/PM routes that run similar to the 120/121. The System Pick has been long overdue for Bus operations so hopefully with normal service coming in full strength things will pan put well. 

The 53 extension to Ford City would make the route super long.

[artthouwill]

34 minutes ago, Rail Introvert said:

The 53 extension to Ford City would make the route super long.

True.  It would be one of the longest routes in the system.   Now the question is whether C will handle the entire route solo or will it become a shared route.   What would be the 2nd garage? 7?  NP? K?  If C does handle the entire thing itself,  would C give up some routes like 157, 37, maybe 54B?

[Tcmetro]

I guess it's still shorter than the 9 between Lawrence and 103rd. I thought that Pulaski & I-55 has pretty bad congestion. I would guess that reliability is going plummet if the 53 runs Peterson to Ford City.

[TaylorTank1229]

3 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

With the system pick looming for the summer, a lot of rumblings about route extensions and new creations have been gaining traction around the system lately with one being confirmed to be true. The 53 will be getting an extension to Ford City while the 53A will get cut to the orange line. The 82 will more than likely will takeover the terminal for the 53/53A at Komensky/31st. The 52 has also been rumored to get an extension to Roger's Park (Devon/Kedzie). There is also a possibility that the Charter service that Northwestern has may get taken over by the CTA with several new peak AM/PM routes that run similar to the 120/121. The System Pick has been long overdue for Bus operations so hopefully with normal service coming in full strength things will pan put well. 

I could see things with the 53 as a possibility, something like how the 52 once ended at the Orange Line (Kedzie) and 52A ended at 36th/Kedzie before it’s early 2000s restructuring to extend 52 to 63rd and cut 52A to end at the Orange Line. 82 probably wouldn’t be such a big deal extending its terminal from Central Park to Komensky on 31st at all times, it’s only like a 1/2 mile extension. I don’t see #52 extending down Kedzie all the work to Devon as the obvious reason is adjacent service with the #82 being 1/4 mile apart between Kimball/Homan & Kedzie. I could only see it going as far as Logan Square Blue Line if the demand is sufficient enough. #53 could maybe work with an extension from Peterson to Devon/Kedzie, to better connect with route like #11, #96 & #155, especially after the hours that #84 stop operating after… especially on weekends (unless they extend the Peterson bus’s hours). And a new bus service in place of NWU’s charter bus service? Would that work, especially given that Pace once a had a bus route for that service but was discontinued in the 2000s or something?

[Tcmetro]

5 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

With the system pick looming for the summer, a lot of rumblings about route extensions and new creations have been gaining traction around the system lately with one being confirmed to be true. The 53 will be getting an extension to Ford City while the 53A will get cut to the orange line. The 82 will more than likely will takeover the terminal for the 53/53A at Komensky/31st. The 52 has also been rumored to get an extension to Roger's Park (Devon/Kedzie). There is also a possibility that the Charter service that Northwestern has may get taken over by the CTA with several new peak AM/PM routes that run similar to the 120/121. The System Pick has been long overdue for Bus operations so hopefully with normal service coming in full strength things will pan put well. 

The Northwestern Metra shuttle page does say the shuttles are ending but all the CTA alternatives are existing routes. Perhaps improved service levels for the 120/121.

https://www.northwestern.edu/transportation-parking/shuttles/routes/chicago-campus/metra-stations.html

 

[Sam92]

Interesting considering we were on the verge of overhauling routes in bus vision. 53 to Ford city is definitely something I didn't foresee especially with the malls dying 

[Busjack]

8 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

The 52 has also been rumored to get an extension to Roger's Park (Devon/Kedzie).

If this is the case, posters here will get what they have long wanted but was considered not feasible. First it was contended that 94 should stay on California even though the Metra yard was in the way, nd now it does. Then there were calls to extend north on Kedzie, even though it is 2 blocks from Kimball, and various Kedzie-Homan variations failed.

One thing for certain: due to the "No Buses" sign, it won't go past Bryn Mawr on Jersey. If it is going to Devon-Kedzie, it will have to overlap 82 or 93 at least to Peterson.

[YoungBusLover]

8 hours ago, Erin Mishkin Jr. said:

The current year is 2025.

Yeah that was a typo on my end, I was rushing out the door while heading out this morning I somehow forgot to proofread everything. 😅

[YoungBusLover]

3 hours ago, Tcmetro said:

The Northwestern Metra shuttle page does say the shuttles are ending but all the CTA alternatives are existing routes. Perhaps improved service levels for the 120/121.

https://www.northwestern.edu/transportation-parking/shuttles/routes/chicago-campus/metra-stations.html

 

I'll just leave these here.... 😅 Whatever they're planning I hope it pans out.

[YoungBusLover]

54 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

Interesting considering we were on the verge of overhauling routes in bus vision. 53 to Ford city is definitely something I didn't foresee especially with the malls dying 

Yeah it caught all of us by surprise because outside of the remaining manufacturing facilities that sit around Ford City it's pretty much dead over there minus Daley College ridership.

[YoungBusLover]

20 minutes ago, Busjack said:

If this is the case, posters here will get what they have long wanted but was considered not feasible. First it was contended that 94 should stay on California even though the Metra yard was in the way, nd now it does. Then there were calls to extend north on Kedzie, even though it is 2 blocks from Kimball, and various Kedzie-Homan variations failed.

One thing for certain: due to the "No Buses" sign, it won't go past Bryn Mawr on Jersey. If it is going to Devon-Kedzie, it will have to overlap 82 or 93 at least to Peterson.

Yeah that rumor was a more little far fetched than the other stuff I heard about but I wouldn't be surprised if got extended to at least Logan Square. 

 

 

 

 

[YoungBusLover]

5 hours ago, artthouwill said:

True.  It would be one of the longest routes in the system.   Now the question is whether C will handle the entire route solo or will it become a shared route.   What would be the 2nd garage? 7?  NP? K?  If C does handle the entire thing itself,  would C give up some routes like 157, 37, maybe 54B?

I would love if 77th or 74th shared the 53 since we have the least amount of routes in the system, I also forgot to mention that routes from various garages may get moved to other garages due to the 53 extension that I can confirm. 77th may lose the 53A to 74th while we may gain the 44 in return. That's just speculation on my end though. C may share the 53 with K as it is remotely close in proximity.

[MetroShadow]

7 hours ago, TaylorTank1229 said:

 And a new bus service in place of NWU’s charter bus service? Would that work, especially given that Pace once a had a bus route for that service but was discontinued in the 2000s or something?

If NWU pays for it, anything is possible.

[strictures]

18 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

One thing for certain: due to the "No Buses" sign, it won't go past Bryn Mawr on Jersey.

 

 

 

 

The sole reason for that "No Buses" sign is to prevent all the buses returning to North park at the end of their runs from using it.  I doubt the residents would mind an occasional route bus using the street every 10-15 minutes.

[MetroShadow]

17 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

I'll just leave these here.... 😅 Whatever they're planning I hope it pans out.

TBH - even with the silly Left-Align, this preview is slick.

[Busjack]

22 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

I'll just leave these here.... 😅 Whatever they're planning I hope it pans out.

 

19 hours ago, MetroShadow said:

If NWU pays for it, anything is possible.

 

On 3/4/2025 at 3:59 PM, Tcmetro said:

The Northwestern Metra shuttle page does say the shuttles are ending but all the CTA alternatives are existing routes. Perhaps improved service levels for the 120/121.

https://www.northwestern.edu/transportation-parking/shuttles/routes/chicago-campus/metra-stations.html

 

There seem to be several things occurring here, some of which I was not aware, until you made me look.

In addition to canceling the Chicago Campus-Metra shuttle noted by @Tcmetro,and the statements on the NU Metra page that 120 and 121 are adequate,  it looks like NU restructured its WeDriveU routes last September, with a bidrectional Evanston Loop Shuttle, and a Chicago Express Pilot, which goes to Columbus-Roosevelt Saturdays only, but nothing indicated for Spring Quarter at the moment. The latter is in addition to the Intercampus route, which remains virtually unchanged from the predecessor Pace Route 426 (including the stop at Loyola).

In that the Loop Shuttle and Intercampus pages say that they are for the 2024-25 academic year, and NU  announced in December 2024 that after an RFP it selected WeDriveU for a new contract, and is buying new hybrid buses, CTA is not going to run those routes, even though the signs look like them. Maybe CTA bid on the RFP but lost.

The only thing which I know for sure is that the Loop Shuttle stops at the Evanston Chicken Shack (Ridge-Garnett), but that might be because there is a NU data center across the street. I might try out the new Chicken Stack sandwich.

[Sam92]

On 3/4/2025 at 1:29 PM, artthouwill said:

True.  It would be one of the longest routes in the system.   Now the question is whether C will handle the entire route solo or will it become a shared route.   What would be the 2nd garage? 7?  NP? K?  If C does handle the entire thing itself,  would C give up some routes like 157, 37, maybe 54B?

 

On 3/4/2025 at 7:20 PM, YoungBusLover said:

I would love if 77th or 74th shared the 53 since we have the least amount of routes in the system, I also forgot to mention that routes from various garages may get moved to other garages due to the 53 extension that I can confirm. 77th may lose the 53A to 74th while we may gain the 44 in return. That's just speculation on my end though. C may share the 53 with K as it is remotely close in proximity.

If C does this alone I see them giving K back everything they picked up from them since 2012 (12, 37, 157, [or 54B back to 74th]). The extension needs 15 buses and those are the only routes that can be moved. I have doubts about 74th picking back up 53A and wouldn't recommend them for a secondary to the extension cause of reliefs. I wanna say if 53 gets shared I don't see 77th doing any work cause

1: the travel time to the relief plus the added trip time for the extension is pushing it as far as cutting a piece for the runs. 

2: something tells me not every Southbound bus is going all the way to Ford City which makes K or even P a better candidate

[Sam92]

I wouldn't be surprised if instead of bringing back X54 they made a new X53 instead. It would pretty much revive the 53AL and consolidate it into a new express route.

[artthouwill]

23 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

 

If C does this alone I see them giving K back everything they picked up from them since 2012 (12, 37, 157, [or 54B back to 74th]). The extension needs 15 buses and those are the only routes that can be moved. I have doubts about 74th picking back up 53A and wouldn't recommend them for a secondary to the extension cause of reliefs. I wanna say if 53 gets shared I don't see 77th doing any work cause

1: the travel time to the relief plus the added trip time for the extension is pushing it as far as cutting a piece for the runs. 

2: something tells me not every Southbound bus is going all the way to Ford City which makes K or even P a better candidate

I could be wrong but 77th already has the 53A and does reliefs at 79th and Pulaski,  so the distance from the garage isn't really a factor.  However,  I think CTA wants to reduce the amount of buses on 53A, but the route requires a higher frequency north of 81st.  So I think CTA has to send all of the 53s to Ford City and they will decrease the amount of 53A buses so that all of the will need to 115th and eliminate the daytime short turns.

I also thought about the 54B possibly being eliminated and extending some 54 trips to Midway.  Maybe CTA extends 67 from Ford City to Midway. 

If 53 gets a second garage I think K or even North Park would be better choices  than 77th or 74th.

[Sam92]

6 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

I could be wrong but 77th already has the 53A and does reliefs at 79th and Pulaski,  so the distance from the garage isn't really a factor.  However,  I think CTA wants to reduce the amount of buses on 53A, but the route requires a higher frequency north of 81st.  So I think CTA has to send all of the 53s to Ford City and they will decrease the amount of 53A buses so that all of the will need to 115th and eliminate the daytime short turns.

I also thought about the 54B possibly being eliminated and extending some 54 trips to Midway.  Maybe CTA extends 67 from Ford City to Midway. 

If 53 gets a second garage I think K or even North Park would be better choices  than 77th or 74th.

As far as 77th I was saying they wouldn't be a good fit for the mainline 53 which would be getting an hour added to it's trip with the extension so combine that with the ride from the garage you're kinda pushing it. As far as service patterns what I was thinking is looking at the schedules 53 is doing like every 5 min. 53A is doing 4 min headways between 79th and the Orange Line so I figured they were gonna just run 53A every 8-10 min and 53 would be doing every 4 min north of the orange line and every 8-10 min south which combined with the 53A does the same  effect while also reduces labor. It looks like a lot of transfer activity between the two might have motivated this change 

[artthouwill]

12 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

As far as 77th I was saying they wouldn't be a good fit for the mainline 53 which would be getting an hour added to it's trip with the extension so combine that with the ride from the garage you're kinda pushing it. As far as service patterns what I was thinking is looking at the schedules 53 is doing like every 5 min. 53A is doing 4 min headways between 79th and the Orange Line so I figured they were gonna just run 53A every 8-10 min and 53 would be doing every 4 min north of the orange line and every 8-10 min south which combined with the 53A does the same  effect while also reduces labor. It looks like a lot of transfer activity between the two might have motivated this change 

 But there's another of passengers that ride north of the Orange Line.  There are warehouses between 47th and 33rd.   Most of these passengers originate south of 55th.   Let's not forget Daley College going back south.   I see this being similar to the 52 and 52A but a bigger distance.   

[Sam92]

6 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

 But there's another of passengers that ride north of the Orange Line.  There are warehouses between 47th and 33rd.   Most of these passengers originate south of 55th.   Let's not forget Daley College going back south.   I see this being similar to the 52 and 52A but a bigger distance.   

Well yeah I get that part but the fact but keep in mind 52A isnt frequent like the 53A. For the warehouse workers getting on the bus from say 76th.... there's no loss of frequency since the extended 53 would be running on the same 8 min headway that the 53a maintains for someone going north of the orange line. Even if you take out the 79th to Orange trips the 53A is still gonna have a bus every 8 min so technically this extension is doing the job that the 53A shorts were doing. I think the existing 53A would be more frequent north of the orange line otherwise