Buses to serve 31st Street between Kedzie and Cicero beginning this fall
The Chicago Transit Board today approved an experimental service enhancement for the #35 31st/35th bus route that will extend service to include 31st Street between Kedzie and Cicero avenues. The extension of #35 bus service is part of a 180-day experiment beginning this fall, and is based on increased potential ridership demand in the corridor.
“This extension of service not only addresses a need for east/west public transit service in the area, it also strengthens the connection to an existing transportation network that serves the Chicagoland region through the combination of CTA, Pace and Metra services,” said CTA President Forrest Claypool. “Experimental service enhancements such as this serve as a stepping stone in identifying the best plans to improve our existing system while maintaining operational efficiency.”
As a result of this route extension, customers will have improved connections and will require fewer connecting trips to access CTA’s Red, Green and Orange lines; other CTA or Pace bus routes and Metra’s Cicero station on the Burlington Northern Sante Fe line.
“The Little Village neighborhood is a growing community and Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new team at the CTA, led by Forrest Claypool, are addressing the concerns of the community,” said State Senator Martin Sandoval (12th District). “The Illinois General Assembly must play a greater role in providing resources for service expansions in the future.”
Currently, the existing #35 buses travel west from 35th Street/Cottage Grove to 36th Street/Kedzie. Once the service enhancement is implemented this fall, westbound #35 31st/35th buses will travel over the regular route to 36th Street/Kedzie and then continue north on Kedzie to 31st Street, west on 31st Street to Cicero Avenue, north on Cicero to the existing CTA bus terminal at 24th Place.
Service along the route extension will be provided seven days a week, between the hours of 5 a.m. to 8 p.m. and at a frequency of 10-20 minutes – depending on the time of day. Hours of service along the #35 route east of Kedzie will remain the same from approximately 4 a.m. until 12:30 a.m. seven days a week.
Federal funds from a Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) grant along with local matching funds will be used to help support operational costs of the experimental service enhancement. For the 180-day experiment, CTA operating costs will be approximately $600,000. If continued, the total operating cost would be $1.2 million for the first full year of operation.
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