The Chicago Transit Authority encourages visitors attending the 2014 Taste of Chicago at Grant Park this week to take public transportation to the annual food festival. Convenient and affordable transit service is available for the event that begins Wednesday, July 9 through Sunday, July 13.
Additional CTA bus and rail service will be provided to accommodate the crowds expected to attend the festival. Longer trains will operate into the Loop until late night and extra buses will be available toward the close of each evening’s activities.
To help decrease travel times and reduce lines at rail stations during the return trip, the CTA recommends that customers either load transit value or passes to their Ventra farecard at rail stations, online or at more than 1,300 local retailers ahead of time (see below for more information) or purchase a 1-day unlimited ride Ventra ticket.
RAIL SERVICE
- Blue Line: on Wednesday and Thursday, longer Blue Line trains will operate all day until at least 10:30 p.m. and on Friday until at least midnight. On Saturday, longer trains will be in operation roughly from 8 p.m. until at least midnight, and then on Sunday from approximately 8 p.m. until at least 10 p.m.
- Brown Line: on weekdays, longer Brown Line trains will operate from the morning rush period until 10 p.m. each night. On Saturday and Sunday, longer trains will operate from Kimball beginning at 9 a.m. until 10:30 p.m.
- Orange Line: longer trains will operate from Midway on weekdays beginning 10 a.m. until midnight.
- Red Line: more frequent service will be provided along the Red Line, with trains operating from the 95th Terminal approximately every six minutes from 6:30 p.m. until 10 p.m. on weekdays and Saturday.
- Green, Pink, Purple and Yellow lines: normal weekday and weekend service schedules will be in effect along the Green, Pink, Purple and Yellow lines for the duration of the festival.
STREET CLOSURES
Currently in effect until 4 p.m. Monday, July 14, the following streets are closed to all traffic:
- Columbus Drive between Roosevelt and Monroe
- Monroe Drive between Michigan and Lake Shore Drive
- Jackson Drive between Michigan and Lake Shore Drive
- Congress Drive between Michigan and Columbus
As a result of these street closures, the following six CTA bus routes are currently being rerouted to adjacent streets: #2 Hyde Park Express, #6 Jackson Park Express, #10 Museum of Science & Industry, #J14 Jeffery Jump, #26 South Shore Express and #28 Stony Island.
BUS SERVICE
As Taste activities wind down each evening, additional service will be provided along the following routes. Customers can board buses serving the following routes at the normal posted stops, unless otherwise noted due to reroutes in the area:
- #3 King Drive
- #4 Cottage Grove
- #6 Jackson Park Express and #J14 Jeffery Jump: buses operating in both directions are being detoured from Columbus drive to Michigan Avenue between Roosevelt and Balbo. All service stops normally served along Columbus will be made on the alternate route along Michigan Avenue.
- #29 State
- #146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express
- #151 Sheridan
FARE INFORMATION
Bus customers who use CTA fare media pay $2 to ride. The fare for rail customers and for customers who choose to pay cash on the bus is $2.25. Customers who use CTA fare media may transfer for a 25-cent fee within two hours of the start of their trip. A second transfer within that period is free. Transfers are not available for customers paying fares in cash.
New Ventra Fare Payment System
Effective July 1, the CTA fully transitioned to the new Ventra fare payment system. Customers are no longer able to purchase or use Transit Cards (i.e. magnetic stripe and Chicago Card/Chicago Card Plus cards) on buses or at CTA rail stations.
Ventra makes it easier to travel on the CTA by allowing customers to pay-per-ride or use unlimited-ride passes from the same reusable Ventra transit farecard. Customers can add value or passes to their Ventra cards at rail station vending machines, online (including from mobile phones) or at more than 1,300 retailers (including drugstores and currency exchanges). Customers can also pay their fares directly with their contactless personal debit or credit card at turnstiles or while boarding buses.
To learn more about CTA fare payment options, including use of contactless personal bank cards, or if you wish to add value or passes to your Ventra card in advance, visit ventrachicago.com.
*New cards cost $5 at machines, which can be refunded as transit value upon registration within 90 days online at ventrachicago.com or by phone at (877) NOW VENTRA (877) 669-8368.
Stay in the Loop on CTA service
Plan your trip using the Google Transit Trip Planner. Be sure to also check out CTA on Facebook or Twitter (@CTA) for system travel updates and alerts. For details about all CTA service, call 312-836-7000 or visit the CTA website at transitchicago.com.
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