This Labor Day Weekend You Deserve a Break from Being Behind the Wheel; Let CTA’s Affordable Service Get You Around Chicagoland

CTA is the most convenient and most affordable way to get to downtown fireworks, sporting events, and music such as the Arc Music Festival or the Chicago Jazz Festival; Ongoing construction work impacts service on the Forest Park Branch of the Blue Line

As you travel across the city over the last holiday weekend of the summer, allow CTA to be your designated driver and avoid high-priced gas and parking hassles. 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 Jazz Festival

Grant Park – Thu. 8/31 – Sun. 9/3 at 12 p.m.

• Rail: All rail lines downtown will get you near 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: For bus route information check our website: https://www.transitchicago.com/schedules/

Arc Music Festival

Union Park – Fri. 9/1, Sat. 9/2 and Sun. 9/3 at 2 p.m.

Service:

• Rail: Take the Green and Pink Lines and exit at the Ashland station.
• Bus: The #9 Ashland route provides service to the festival.

Chicago Football Classic

Soldier Field – Sat. 9/2

Pre-game activities at 8 a.m., Central State University vs. Mississippi Valley State game at 3 p.m. 

• Rail: The Red, Orange and Green Lines will provide the closest access to Soldier Field. Exit at the Roosevelt station and walk east.
• Bus: Several CTA bus routes will provide the closest service including the following:
  • #3 King
  • #4 Cottage Grove
  • #12 Roosevelt
  • #130 Museum Campus
  • #146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express

For additional route information check our website: https://www.transitchicago.com/schedules/

United Center

Get to and from the following event via the #20 Madison and #50 Damen bus routes. Customers can also take the #19 United Center Express route post event:

• AEW Collision Wrestling – Sat. 9/2 at 6:30 p.m.
• AEW All Out Wrestling – Sun. 9/3 at 6 p.m.
• Pearl Jam – Tue. 9/5 and Thu. 9/7 at 7:30 p.m.

Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island

Service on the #146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express route

• Beck & Phoenix – Thu. 8/31 at 6:30 p.m.
• Duran Duran – Fri. 9/1 at 7 p.m.

Navy Pier Fireworks

Service on the #29 State, #65 Grand, #66 Chicago and #124 Navy Pier routes.

• Sat. 9/2 at 10 p.m.

Note: This is the last weekend for Navy Pier Fireworks.

Wrigley Field

• San Francisco Giants vs. Chicago Cubs – Mon. 9/4 at 1:20 p.m., Tue. 9/5 at 6:40 p.m., and Wed. 9/6 at 1:20 p.m.

Service:

• Red Line: The Addison station is located just a half block east of Wrigley Field.
• Purple Line: During weeknight games, Loop-bound Purple Line Express trains will stop at Sheridan, where riders can either walk three blocks south on Sheridan/Sheffield to the ballpark or transfer to a 95^th/Dan Ryan-bound Red Line train and exit at Addison.
• 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 area, including:

• #8 Halsted
• #22 Clark
• #36 Broadway
• #151 Sheridan

Guaranteed Rate Field

• Detroit Tigers vs. White Sox – Fri. 9/1 at 7:10 p.m., Sat. 9/2 at 6:10 p.m., Sun. 9/3 and Mon. 9/4 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.
• CTA’s Park & Ride lots are also a good choice to access CTA train service. For more information, visit transitchicago.com/parking.

• 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
  • #31 31st (which runs Monday – Friday to 7 p.m.)
  • #35 35th (which connects with Orange and Green lines)
  • #39 Pershing (which connects with Orange and Green lines)
  • #44 Wallace/Racine

Service to the Lakefront

Beach service is ending and will only be available this weekend and Labor Day. Last day of beach service is Labor Day. The following bus routes will operate directly to the lakefront and its beaches: #35 31^st/35^th, #63 63^rd *, #72 North and #78 Montrose.

*Note: Due to CDOT construction at the beach parking lot, the CTA service stop for customers heading to the 63rd Street Beach will be at a crosswalk on the south side of Hayes Drive and Lakeshore Drive.

Forest Park Branch Rebuild Phase 1: Part B

• Construction for the Forest Park Branch Rebuild is underway.  
• Blue Line service will operate in two sections, between O’Hare and UIC-Halsted and between Forest Park and Illinois Medical District (IMD). There will be no trains running between UIC-Halsted and IMD stations. More details
• Bus shuttles will operate in both directions between UIC-Halsted and IMD, stopping near Racine.
• The bus shuttle will operate every 5-15 minutes on weekdays and 10-15 minutes on weekends (depending on time of day).
• Service changes are due to major track replacement and station work.

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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