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Chicago Transit Board Chairman Terry Peterson and Chicago Transit Authority President Richard L. Rodriguez today reminded customers that CTA bus and rail service reductions and layoffs will go into effect this coming Sunday, Feb. 7.<\/p>\nChicago Transit Board Chairman Terry Peterson and Chicago Transit Authority President Richard L. Rodriguez today reminded customers that CTA bus and rail service reductions and layoffs will go into effect this coming Sunday, Feb. 7.<\/p>\n
Riders are expected to feel the full impact of service reductions on Monday, February 8, the first weekday under reduced operation.<\/p>\n
Service will run less frequently on 119 bus routes and seven of CTA\u2019s eight rail lines, and hours of service will be reduced on 41 bus routes.<\/p>\n
These routes either will start service later in the morning, end service earlier at night or both.\u00a0 In addition, nine express bus routes that have corresponding local service will be eliminated. <\/span><\/p>\n Although the service reductions were designed to minimize the impact on rush hour service, riders should expect to experience longer wait times, particularly in off peak hours, and more crowded buses and trains.<\/p>\n Under current operation there are already numerous rail and bus routes that are at capacity during rush periods.<\/p>\n When service is reduced, crowding on these routes will increase so, in addition to longer wait times, riders who travel on the agency\u2019s highest volume routes may have to wait for multiple buses or trains before boarding.<\/p>\n The CTA is advising riders to allow for additional travel time.<\/p>\n \u201cWe don\u2019t want to reduce service or lay off employees \u2013 we would rather be adding service, growing ridership and saving jobs.\u00a0 We know that the service reductions will inconvenience our riders and add time to their commutes,\u201d said CTA President Richard L. Rodriguez.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, the harsh reality is that we don\u2019t have the funds we need to maintain our existing service.\u00a0 Our largest labor unions have been unwilling to help us reduce costs, even if it means more than 1,000 of their members lose their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe know that we have many dedicated employees that will be laid off on Sunday.\u00a0 Their preference would be to keep working rather than join the ranks of the unemployed,\u201d said Chicago Transit Board Chairman Terry Peterson.<\/p>\n \u201cSadly, the leaders of the labor unions have not shared our urgency in working to save jobs for their members and preserve service for our riders.\u00a0 These service reductions will make it more difficult for people to get where they need to go.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the last few weeks, CTA has posted information on its vehicles, at stations and on its Web site.<\/p>\n Hundreds of CTA representatives have been out on the system at key locations to pass out informational brochures to riders which will continue into next week.<\/p>\n Information has also been provided to offices of local elected officials to share with their constituents and help them prepare for the impact of service reductions and to Chambers of Commerce, municipalities, city agencies and faith-based organizations to have on hand for residents who may contact them for information.<\/p>\n Customer alerts have been posted across the system listing routes that will be impacted.<\/p>\n Information has also been programmed on digital displays and electronic signage at rail stations and affected bus routes have been playing announcements outlining specific changes since early January.<\/p>\n Signs are also posted at all CTA bus stops notifying customers of the changes to service.<\/p>\n Service has been scheduled so that vehicles are carrying as many people as possible.<\/p>\n As a result, both buses and trains will be crowded at all hours.\u00a0 As a general guideline, riders can expect an additional two to five minutes between buses during weekday rush periods.<\/p>\n Rail customers can expect an additional one to two minutes for a train during rush hour, and generally two to five minutes longer during off-peak hours.<\/p>\n Although that may not seem significant, both buses and trains will fill up faster as a result of the service decrease, particularly during peak service hours, and riders may be forced to wait for multiple vehicles to pass before being able to board.<\/p>\n During off peak service hours, generally riders can expect an additional two to eight minutes between buses \u2013 during very late evening hours, there may be an additional 10 to 15 minutes between buses.<\/p>\n Customers are strongly encouraged to check the CTA Web site for specific information regarding their routes.<\/p>\n Informational brochures are available to customers at rail stations, on CTA\u2019s Web site at transitchicago.com<\/a> and through CTA\u2019s Customer Service Center via e-mail at feedback@transitchicago.com<\/a> or by calling 1-888-YOUR CTA (1-888-968-7282).<\/p>\n Brochures are available in English, Spanish, Polish and Chinese.\u00a0 Detailed route-by-route information is available on the CTA\u2019s Web site: transitchicago.com<\/a><\/p>\n Chicago Transit Board Chairman Terry Peterson and Chicago Transit Authority President Richard L. Rodriguez today reminded customers that CTA bus and rail service reductions and layoffs will go into effect this coming Sunday, Feb. 7. Riders are expected to feel the full impact of service reductions on Monday, February 8, the first weekday under reduced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-276996","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276996","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=276996"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/276996\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=276996"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=276996"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=276996"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/img><\/a>
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