5/24/05
The Chicago Transit Authority begins its second summer operating its Chinatown/Pilsen Shuttle service that runs on weekends and holidays to popular attractions in the South Loop and on the West Side. Service will begin Saturday, May 28 and continue until Sunday, September 25.
The Chinatown Chamber of Commerce and the Latino Information Center (an expansion of 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 Chinatown/Pilsen shuttle will provide free service on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays between the South Loop, Museum Campus, and Chinatown and Pilsen neighborhoods. Last summer, 19,700 customers used the new shuttle during the 31 days it was in operation.
The shuttle service helps to support some of Chicago's most popular attractions which draw large crowds during the busy summer months. This 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.
Service will operate every 20 minutes looping in one direction via State/ Roosevelt (connects to Red, Orange and Green Line stations) then making stops at the Maxwell Street Sunday Market, Blue Island/18th, 18th Street Blue Line station, Mexican Fine Arts Museum, Damen Blue Line station, Cermak/Archer, Cermak/Wentworth (connects to Cermak-Chinatown Red Line station), Prairie Avenue Historic District, Soldier Field, Shedd Aquarium and the Field Museum from 10:30 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.
The service was formerly provided by the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce, the Pilsen Little Village Information Center and local sponsorship, and was operated with trolley vehicles in 2002 and 2003.
Noting the success of the previous trolley program, these organizations reached out to the CTA in 2004 to design a route enabling customers to easily travel between area attractions and ethnic neighborhoods.
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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