(File Photo: Tim Boyle/ Getty Images)
Don't Miss This
CHICAGO (CBS) — Within two years, commuters will be riding new or totally rebuilt CTA buses, under a plan unveiled by Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Friday.
The Chicago Transit Authority will spend $330 million on 425 new buses, including 325 standard buses and 60 larger “accordion” buses.
The agency is starting to accept bids for the new buses.
LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Nancy Harty Reports
The agency will spend another $165 million to rebuild another 1,030 standard buses. The work–which will include new engines, transmissions, suspensions, heating/AC and more–will essentially make the buses appear brand new, the CTA said in a news release.
Funding for both projects will come from sales tax revenue.
The initiative will also create about 200 jobs, the CTA said.
Buses provide roughly 60 percent of all rides taken on the CTA each year, serving all of Chicago and 40 surrounding suburbs. In 2011, there were 310 million recorded bus rides.
Last month, the CTA announced it was purchasing 100 articulated hybrid buses
