CTA BUS ROUTE TO SERVE SOUTHEAST SIDE MANUFACTURING CAMPUS

The Chicago Transit Authority will launch a new 180-day experimental bus route Monday, May 3 serving a manufacturing campus on the Southeast Side. The #X99 Chicago Manufacturing Campus Express route will serve eight stops between the 95th Street Red Line Station and the Chicago Manufacturing Campus (CMC) at 126th/Avenue O.

The first of its kind in the United States, the newly developed manufacturing campus currently consists of 10 companies that supply auto parts to the nearby Ford Motor Company assembly plant. The 155-acre park ? a collaboration between local and state officials and Ford Motor Company ? is expected to employ approximately 1,000 people by July of this year.

?Linking people to jobs is central to the CTA's mission," said Chicago Transit Board Chairman Carole Brown. ?This route will serve the needs of both employers and employees, and support job growth in the area."

?We are continually looking for ways to better serve our existing customers and to attract new customers to the convenience of public transit," said CTA President Frank Kruesi. ?Creating service in newly identified markets reinforces the importance of the CTA in Chicago's economic development."

The CTA worked with the City of Chicago and the campus? employers to develop a weekday-only service schedule that corresponds with the three weekday employee shifts. In addition, the service will make eight stops along the route. Connections to Metra and other CTA bus routes make it possible for customers to transfer to the #X99 to get to the campus and to the Ford Assembly Plant.

Each weekday the #X99 has 13 scheduled departures from the 95th/Dan Ryan Red Line station starting at 4:40 a.m. and 14 return-trip departures from the campus operating as late as 1:15 a.m.

The Chicago Transit Board approved the creation of the new route at its February meeting. The route complies with the Service Standards adopted by the Board in 2001.

Information on all CTA service can be found by calling 836-7000 from any local area code or on the web site at www.transitchicago.com.