from the series Metro Transit…
By JOHN CHARLES WILSON
As any regular transit user knows, COVID-19 did a real number on Metro Transit service. There is a project called Network NOW, which is the blueprint Metro Transit created to restore service while adjusting it for the new realities of commuting. Metro Transit plans to adjust buses and trains to cater more to all-day, everyday use, and less to traditional rush hour usage, as fewer people are using transit for commuting to jobs at traditional hours.
The Phillips Community area will see more frequent buses and trains on heavily used routes, but a lot of minor routes that were given time outs during COVID are going away, permanently. Most people won’t notice much, but individuals with limited mobility may not like it because these minor routes, although not very frequent, brought them closer to their destinations.
Changes relevant to the Phillips area will be:
- Route 2 will run every 10 minutes in the daytime seven days a week.
- Routes 5 and 67 will not change.
- The Chicago-Lake Transit Center will close once the Lake & Chicago station for the B Line opens in Fall 2024.
- Route 9 will run every half hour in the daytime on Sunday, just like other days of the week.
- Route 11 will run every 15 minutes on weekdays at midday and the PM rush hour.
- Route 14 will run every 15 minutes on weekdays in the daytime. The sometimes annoying 14E branch will only run school trips.
- The B Line will mostly replace Route 21, which I have mentioned at length over the years. However, the 21 will still run between Uptown and Minnehaha Avenue once every 30 minutes, providing stops that the B Line will skip.
- Route 22 will run every 15 minutes on weekdays.
- They will permanently abolish Route 27, which is currently suspended because of COVID. People will have to walk 2-4 blocks south to Lake Street for a 21 or a B Line.
- Metro Transit will permanently abolish Route 53, which was suspended because of COVID. The B Line will be an effective substitute.
- Metro Transit will permanently abolish Routes 111, 135, 156, 552, 553, 554, and 558. These are I-35W expresses which were suspended because of COVID, and whose main relevance to Phillips is the stop at Lake Street. Suggested substitutes are: Routes 4 and 18 for Route 135, Route 146 for Route 156, the D Line for Route 553, and Route 18 and the Orange Line for Route 554.
- Route 146 will run two trips in each direction during both the AM and PM rush hours.
- Route 578 and 579 will each run three trips at rush hour on weekdays.
- The Blue Line will run every 10 minutes.
- On weekdays at rush hour, the Orange Line will run every 10 minutes. On weekends, it will run every 15 minutes. It will start one hour earlier in the morning, and end three hours later in the evening.
- The D Line will run every 10 minutes on weekdays.
My opinion is that this plan will be good for most people, but not so good for people who have limited mobility. Of particular concern to me is the plan to run Route 21 only once every half hour. People who have a hard time walking to a B Line stop will really suffer.
If you have concerns about this plan, the public comment period runs until Friday, November 15th, 2024.
More information is available at https://www.metrotransit.org/network-now and there is a virtual meeting Monday, October 7th, 2024 from 5:30 to 7 PM.
