CTA’s trains and buses are the best and most affordable ways to get to various sporting events, concerts, the Chicago Triathlon and Back to School; Construction work to impact the Brown Line
CTA is getting Chicago area students back to school next week and remains the best option for other Chicagoans to get to important events like the Chicago Triathlon, one of the largest triathlons in the world.
CTA reminds and encourages all area K-12 students and their guardians to take part in the popular back-to-school tradition of “First Day, Free Rides,” which will be offered on Monday, August 26 – the first day of school for Chicago Public Schools (CPS). Students can travel CTA buses and trains for FREE, along with an accompanying adult, courtesy of this year’s returning sponsor Butcher Boy Cooking Oils.
Other customers can save money by purchasing an unlimited rides pass, either the 1-Day ($5) – far more economical and convenient than the price of gas and parking - or the 3-Day ($15) pass – a real budget-saving move.
Service for Upcoming Events
Chicago Triathlon
Grant Park, Sun. 8/25 at 6 a.m.
Service:
- Rail: All rail lines downtown will get you access to the event.
- Loop Elevated: Exit at either Washington/Wabash or Adams/Wabash
- Red and Blue Lines: Exit at Jackson and walk a couple blocks east
- Bus: Several bus routes in the area will be rerouted. For additional route information check our website: https://www.transitchicago.com/schedules/
Soldier Field
Service on the #146 Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Express route
- Pink & Sheryl Crow – Sat. 8/24 at 6:30 p.m.
Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island
Service on the #146 Inner Lake Shore/Michigan Express route
- Omar Apollo – Fri. 8/23 at 7:30 p.m.
- Glass Animals – Wed. 8/28 at 7:45 p.m.
Navy Pier Fireworks
Service on the #29 State, #66 Chicago and #124 Navy Pier routes.
- Sat. 8/24 at 10 p.m.
- Wed. 8/28 at 9 p.m. - #65 Grand route also available for this evening’s event.
Wrigley Field
- Detroit Tigers vs. Chicago Cubs – Thu. 8/22 at 1:20 p.m.
- Luke Bryan – Sun. 8/25 at 4:30 p.m.
Service:
- Red Line: The Addison station is located just a half block east of Wrigley Field.
- Purple Line (New!): Before weeknight games only, Loop-bound Purple Line Express trains will stop at the Addison station.
- Yellow Line: Take the Yellow Line and transfer at Howard to the Red Line; continue to Addison station. To accommodate fans returning home, the Yellow Line will run for an hour later from Howard – until midnight – for all night games at Wrigley Field.
- #152 Addison: The #152 route will provide additional service on Cubs game days, with more frequent service two hours before and one hour after all games.
- #80 Irving Park: The #80 route will provide additional service before the games, timed to meet the inbound UP-NW Metra trains at Irving Park.
- Adjacent bus routes: Several CTA bus routes serve the Wrigley Field area, including:
- #8 Halsted
- #22 Clark
- #36 Broadway
- #151 Sheridan
Guaranteed Rate Field
- Detroit Tigers vs. White Sox - Fri. 8/23 at 7:10 p.m., Sat. 8/24 at 6:10 p.m., Sun. 8/25 at 1:10 p.m., Mon. 8/26 at 7:10 p.m.
- Texas Rangers vs. White Sox – Tue. 8/27 and Wed. 8/28 at 7:10 p.m., Thu. 8/29 at 1:10 p.m.
Service:
- Red Line: Guaranteed Rate Field is just one block west of the Sox-35th station.
- Green Line: The 35th-Bronzeville-IIT station is just three blocks east of the ballpark.
- #35 31st/35th: The #35 route (which connects with Orange and Green lines) is the main bus route providing service to the stadium and operates during all game times.
- Adjacent bus routes: Several CTA bus routes serve the ballpark area, including:
- #1 Bronzeville/Union Station (during Monday – Friday rush periods only)
- #4 Cottage Grove
- #24 Wentworth
- #29 State (which runs Monday – Friday to 8:30 p.m.)
- #31 31st (which runs Monday – Friday to 7 p.m.)
- #39 Pershing (which connects with Orange and Green lines)
- #44 Wallace/Racine
Summer Service to Navy Pier and Museums
The following routes are currently running a summer service schedule through Labor Day:
- #124 Navy Pier: Service will be extended by 90 minutes in the evening daily. Eastbound service from Union/Ogilvie stations will run until 11:30pm. Westbound service from Navy Pier will run until midnight.
- #130 Museum Campus: Service between Union/Ogilvie stations and Museum Campus/Planetarium will operate daily.
Service to the Lakefront:
Weekday beach service ends on Friday, August 23rd. Weekend and holiday beach service continues until September 2nd (Labor Day). Buses begin their trips to these beaches between approximately 9 a.m. and end at 9:30 p.m.
Construction Work to Impact Brown Line Service
- Starting on Fri. 8/23 at 10 p.m. and ending on Fri. 9/20 at 10 p.m., Kimball-bound trains will not stop at the Western Brown Line station. More details
- For Kimball-bound service from this station, take a Loop-bound train to Damen and transfer to a Kimball-bound train.
- For Kimball-bound service to this station, take a Kimball-bound train to Rockwell and transfer to a Loop-bound train.
- Service changes are due to improvements happening at the Western Brown Line station.
Know before you go!
The CTA strongly recommends customers allow extra travel time and plan ahead by downloading the Ventra app, which allows you to manage your Ventra account, and also features a new trip planning tool powered by Google Maps.
Fare payment options: We offer a variety of convenient payment options—from smart devices to contactless credit cards. Learn more about payment options and ways you can maximize your dollars with our lower-priced unlimited-ride passes by visiting: transitchicago.com/fares/
Service updates: Stay in the loop on CTA service changes and alerts by subscribing to CTA Updates. For details about all CTA service, call 312-836-7000 or visit the CTA website at transitchicago.com.
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