09/12/00
The Chicago Transit Authority is marking today, September 12, 2000, as Try Transit Tuesday. The day is part of a national week-long campaign developed by the American Public Transportation Association to promote the benefits of public transit and encourage new customers to ride the rails and board the buses.
CTA staff distributed the latest edition of the CTA Map, together with information on the CTA and its services, throughout the morning and early afternoon today at the Thompson Center to all those visiting the State of Illinois office building.
Chicago Transit Board Chairman Valerie B. Jarrett said, "Every person in this region benefits from public transit. The CTA provides 1.5 million rides each weekday, so just imagine trying to get to work in the morning if half of our daily customers chose to drive instead. The result would be traffic gridlock and the quality of the air we breathe would decrease substantially. Taking public transportation is a smart move that's convenient and affordable."
The Chicago Transit Authority operates the nation's second largest public transit system providing more than a million rides each weekday across a network of seven rail lines and 134 bus routes that serve Chicago and 38 suburbs.
The CTA has 1,875 buses that made about 21,288 trips daily. The CTA's rapid transit system is made up of 223 miles of track that make about 1,452 trips each day and serve 143 rail stations.
CTA President Frank Kruesi said, "The CTA's Loop 'L' is as much a Chicago icon as the skyline, Museum Campus and Buckingham Fountain. We're very pleased to see that CTA ridership has been increasing steadily for the past two years. This is welcome news after a 15-year decline in ridership. Customers are turning to public transit because we're better matching service to demand, we're expanding bus routes, extending hours of service, opening up more rail stations and entrances. We're providing on-time, clean, safe and friendly service at an affordable price."
CTA information is available at 1-888-YOUR CTA. To plan a trip, call the RTA Travel Information line at 836-7000 from all area codes.
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