The Chicago Transit Authority will add three more bus routes to its “frequent” network and will expand the hours of operation or frequency of service on a batch of other routes starting Sunday, the transit agency announced in a news release Tuesday.
The No. 85 Central, No. 74 Fullerton and No. 35 31st/35th Street buses will join the CTA’s “frequent” bus network, meaning they will be scheduled to run at least every 10 minutes between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekdays and between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m. on weekends.
The addition of the new routes to the network brings the total number of bus routes within the network, which the CTA launched last year, to nearly two dozen. A list of existing frequent network routes is available on the CTA’s website.
The CTA also said the No. 8 bus, which runs on Halsted Street, will be added to the network in December.
That’s roughly when a Chicago Department of Transportation project to reconstruct the Chicago Avenue Bridge — necessitating street closures on Halsted and a reroute of the No. 8 bus — is expected to wrap up. The CTA acknowledged the addition of the route to the frequent network is contingent on the CDOT project.
The additional service on those four routes is expected to cost $1.5 million this year. In a news release, acting CTA President Nora Leerhsen credited funding provided by the Northern Illinois Transit Authority Act — the state’s transit funding and reform legislation, which is expected to raise more than $1 billion for regional mass transit annually — with making the service expansion possible.
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The CTA also said it would expand hours or frequency across six other bus routes throughout the city. Those improvements include adding later weekend service on the No. 73 Armitage and No. 76 Diversey buses, adding earlier weekday service on the No. 70 Division bus and adding earlier weekend and holiday service on the No. 3 King Drive, No. 91 Austin and No. 44 Wallace/Racine buses.
The No. 74 Fullerton bus, which is being added to the frequent network, will also see more frequent service during late-night weekend hours outside of the frequent network’s timetable.
The CTA provided the following details about the new bus schedules:
- No. 3 King Drive: Service will start at 5:30 a.m. northbound and 6:45 a.m. southbound on Sundays/holidays.
- No. 44 Wallace/Racine: Service will start at 8:00 a.m. northbound and 8:46 a.m. southbound on Sundays/holidays.
- No. 70 Division: Service will start at 4:20 a.m. eastbound and 5:04 a.m. westbound on weekdays.
- No. 73 Armitage: Service will end at 8:30 p.m. westbound and 7:30 p.m. eastbound on Saturdays and Sundays/holidays.
- No. 74 Fullerton: Service is scheduled every 18- 20 minutes from 9:00 p.m. until midnight on Saturdays and Sundays/holidays.
- No. 76 Diversey: Service will start at 7:40 a.m. eastbound and 7:45 a.m. westbound on Sundays/holidays. Service will end at 10:40 p.m. westbound and 9:48 p.m. eastbound on Saturdays and end at 9:06 p.m. westbound and 8:17 p.m. eastbound on Sundays/holidays.
- No. 91 Austin: Service will start at 5:20 a.m. southbound and 6:00 a.m. northbound on Saturdays and 6:00 a.m. southbound and 6:40 a.m. northbound on Sundays/holidays.