Board Also Approves Additional Service on #43 43rd and #65 Grand Bus Routes
Today the Chicago Transit Board approved service enhancements for the Yellow Line, and the #43 43rd and #65 Grand bus routes that will be funded through grants.
The Yellow Line will add weekend service to improve access to major employment centers in Skokie including Westfield Old Orchard and Lutheran General Hospital.
"The Yellow Line connects to other CTA rail routes and with several CTA and Pace bus routes which helps to reduce traffic congestion in the area," said CTA President Ron Huberman. "Adding weekend service will make it more convenient to take public transit to shop and to work in the area."
"These experimental service enhancements will afford riders more opportunities to use public transit," said Chicago Transit Board Chairman Carole Brown. "We will evaluate the added service after a six-month test period to determine if it would make a good permanent offering for customers."
During baseball season, the Yellow Line serves as a convenient option for Cubs fans to use the Park & Ride at the Skokie Yellow Line station, just three blocks of the Edens Expressway. Fans can park for $2 and take the Yellow Line to Howard then transfer to a Red Line train to travel to Wrigley Field.
Yellow Line trains will operate on Saturdays and Sundays from 6:10 a.m. to 11:15 p.m. at 15-minute intervals starting Sunday, March 30. Funding for the additional service is from a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program (CMAQ) grant. Yellow Line ridership on an average weekday is just over 1,800 rides. In 2007, the Yellow Line provided 587,667 rides.
Service on two bus routes will also be increased. On the #43 43rd route, hours of operation will be expanded to midnight during weeknights, with service intervals of every 20 minutes. The #43 connects the residential area along 43rd Street with the 47th Street Red Line station and the #3 King Drive and #4 Cottage Grove bus routes. Currently no east-west service exists east of the Red Line between 39th Street/Pershing Road and 47th Street after 7 p.m. The additional service will go into effect on Sunday, March 23 and is being funded by the Mayor's Office of Workforce Development. Average weekday ridership on the #43 is just over 1,500 rides.
On the #65 Grand, evening hours from Navy Pier will be extended from 7 p.m. until 10 p.m. and more frequent weekend service will be added. These improvements will enhance access to jobs on Michigan Avenue and Navy Pier on the east, and to the new employment centers at Wal-Mart and the rebuilt Brickyard Mall on the west. Federal Job Access Reverse Commute funds (JARC) will subsidize the cost of the additional service. Average weekday ridership on the #65 is approximately 7,000 rides.
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