CTA: Red Line Work Going Well, But More Riders Should Use Shuttle Buses
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The CTA said the first week of the Red Line South Reconstruction Project has gone smoothly, but it can go even smoother if riders follow a few suggestions.
WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, according to the CTA, a lot of people who normally ride the Dan Ryan branch of the Red Line did not take advantage of the free shuttle buses connecting stations south of 63rd Street to the Garfield stop on the Green Line, where they can catch free trains to downtown.
Instead, many riders opted for north-south bus routes that run roughly parallel to the Dan Ryan Expressway.
"For example, we noticed that ridership on the #29 State Street bus jumped significantly the first week of the project. A lot of people simply wanted an alternative," said CTA spokesman Brian Steele.
However, Steele said riders would find it much cheaper and faster to take shuttle buses from the 95th, 87th, 79th, and 69th Red Line stations to the Green Line.
The CTA said many riders told them the shuttle bus service was faster than it had been to take the Red Line downtown from Garfield.
CTA Urges More Red Line Riders To Use Free Shuttle Buses
"That really highlights the need for the project. When a bus can travel faster than a train, that tells you that you need to make the investment, and that's what the CTA is doing," Steele said.
