5/27/04
The Chicago Transit Authority is launching a new shuttle service that will operate on weekends and holidays to popular attractions in the South Loop and on the West Side between Memorial Day, May 31 and Labor Day, September 6.
The Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and the Pilsen Little Village Information Center are subsidizing the service, along with a federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality grant that funds projects geared to help attract customers to public transit.
The #40 Chinatown/Pilsen shuttle will provide free service on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays between the South Loop, Museum Campus and Chinatown and Pilsen neighborhoods. This service was formerly provided by the City of Chicago, which operated a similar free trolley for the past three years.
Noting the success of the previous trolley program, these organizations reached out to the CTA to design a route enabling customers to easily travel between area attractions and ethnic neighborhoods.
The shuttle service helps to support some of Chicago's most popular attractions which draw large crowds during the busy summer months. In addition, continuing this shuttle service also helps to meet the demand for public transit in the Pilsen and Chinatown communities by complementing local service for customers wanting to make connections to attractions along the route. Last summer, the City's free trolley service provided transit for more than 20,000 customers on weekends and holidays over a three-month period.
Service will operate every 20 minutes looping in one direction via State/ Roosevelt then making stops at the Field Museum, Shedd Aquarium, Prairie Avenue Historic District, Cermak/Wentworth, Cermak/Archer, 18th/Blue Island, 18th/Ashland, Mexican Fine Arts Center Museum and Maxwell Street Sunday Market, back to State/Roosevelt from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.
The CTA continually evaluates new and better ways to serve customers, stemming from its mission to deliver quality, affordable transit services that link people, jobs and communities. As with all CTA service enhancements, the new shuttle route meets the Service Standards adopted by the Chicago Transit 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.
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