CTA follows through on key component of Crowding Reduction Plan that includes renegotiating contracted bus routes so agency no longer subsidizes them
The Chicago Transit Board today approved two separate contracts with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and United Parcel Service, Inc. to continue to provide express bus routes serving employees of each company.
These contracts fully cover CTA’s operating costs for these routes, as part of a CTA’s Crowding Reduction Plan approved by the Board in September 2012. To pay for additional new service on 48 bus routes and six rail lines that began December 16, 2012, CTA vowed to renegotiate or eliminate nine contracted routes that have been subsidized by the agency. These contracted routes largely serve one group or destination.
The routes are:
- #132 Goose Island Express, which transports passengers from downtown to the Wrigley Global Innovation Center on Goose Island. The five-year contract is effective January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2017. The route connects the Wrigley Goose Island campus with the Metra Clybourn station and Union and Ogilvie train stations, and provided more than 56,000 rides during the first 10 months of 2012.
- #169 69th/UPS Express, which operates from the 69th Street Red Line station to UPS’ facility in suburban Hodgkins. The route provided more than 79,000 rides during the first 10 months of 2012.
“CTA is pleased to be able to continue to offer reliable, affordable transportation that connect people to good-paying jobs at such major employers as Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and United Parcel Service,” said CTA President Forrest Claypool. “What’s more, CTA is able to do so in a fiscally responsible manner by no longer subsidizing specialized routes on the backs of our customers or taxpayers.”
The CTA continues to negotiate its other contracted bus route contracts to eliminate agency subsidies of those routes.
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