The CTA recently announced that its new fall schedule will bring the system's rail service back to the same quantity of runs it was operating before the pandemic hit Chicago in March 2020. The transit agency says it's adding 20 percent more trips to all eight 'L' lines, during the entire week. But transit advocates have mixed reactions to the news, with some arguing that the promise of more trips is not all it's cracked up to be.
According to the CTA, the new schedule delivers on embattled President Dorval Carter, Jr.’s previous promise to bring the rail network back to full strength by the end of this year. The agency agency says it's adding 1,200 trips a week compared to last spring's schedule
"As a result of our efforts, I am pleased to share that as promised, CTA has returned to pre-pandemic scheduled levels across all rail lines before the end of the year," Carter said in a statement. "To our loyal riders, we thank you for your patience. Hundreds of dedicated personnel throughout our agency worked tirelessly over the last couple years to recruit, hire, and train the unprecedented number of employees needed to strengthen our workforce and get us where we are today. And I look forward to building on our success next year with more rail service improvements planned for 2025."
Notably, the CTA news release says the new 2019-strength service doesn't go back to the exact same train timing of that era, as if the global pandemic never happened. "This rail schedule returns to pre-covid service levels with some strategic adjustments to better meet current ridership patterns," it states. "Current ridership retention across all rail lines compared to 2019 is highest on Saturdays and Sundays. This schedule reduces some rush hour weekday service to allow CTA to deliver more weekend service, especially on Sundays." In other words, it doesn't make sense to provide the same density of runs serving nine-to-fivers, when nowadays fewer people commute to work every weekday.
The agency credits the new schedule to over 150 new rail operators who have been trained, certified, and put on the job this year. Right now, more are being trained, and should qualify to operate trains by New Year's Day. The CTA's 'L' driver program accommodates at least 20 trainees per class, and there are up to three classes going on at any given time.
The CTA's proposed 2025 budget, the last one before Chicagoland is projected to encounter a $730 million transit funding cliff in 2026, plans for more bus and train service. "As such, the agency will continue with its rigorous training efforts," the press release promises.
The agency says this year it has also upgraded bus service on 58 bus routes as part of its goal to reach pre-pandemic levels by the time the ball drops in Times Square. As of last August, the CTA claims, those bus lines were back to 98 percent of 2019 service levels. "As part of the winter schedule, which is expected to roll out by the end of December, CTA will meet its goal of fully returning pre-pandemic scheduled bus service levels."
The transit agency reports that providing more bus and train runs is leading to more ridership. "The CTA currently is second among peer transit agencies across the nation in year-over-year ridership growth," it boasts. The number of riders on those 58 lines that got more runs has gone up by 13 percent year-over-year, compared to only 4 percent for unimproved bus routes.
Streetsblog Chicago cofounder Steven Vance is the "Little Mikey" of our team. He's got high standards, so if he likes one of the City's transportation initiatives, it's likely the rest of our writers will as well. He initially gave the CTA's fall schedule plan a thumb's-up.
"They’re not trying to replicate the schedule pattern of 2019 but rather the number of trains per day," he noted. "That's good. The service demands of today are very different from the service demands of 2019, so they shouldn’t necessarily be running, say, six-to-eight Blue Line O’Hare branch trains per hour if that rush hour doesn’t last as long as it used to and doesn’t occur, really, on Mondays and Fridays. It’s better for CTA to try and achieve consistent headways than to try to match a historic schedule."
However, other local transit advocates expressed some skepticism about the announcement. "While the CTA's announcement of returning to pre-pandemic rail service levels is promising, it's crucial that they follow through on this commitment and deliver the improved service Chicagoans desperately need," said Active Transportation Alliance Communications Director Ted Villaire. He added that the proof will be in the pudding. "The 20 percent increase in scheduled weekly roundtrips across all rail lines must translate into reliable service that commuters can count on every day. We urge the CTA to remain accountable, continue addressing staffing challenges, and ensure that this service boost truly enhances the daily lives of Chicago's residents and visitors alike."
The grassroots transit advocacy organization Commuters Take Action (CTAction) also had a positive, but guarded, response to the news. "We're excited to see a return to pandemic-level scheduled services for CTA bus and rail," the group said in a statement. "While the hiring levels for bus operators are promising, rail operator hiring continues to lag behind, leaving no room for absenteeism with the recent schedule change."
"Our data analysis reveals a concerning performance by the CTA the first few days of these new schedules," CTAction added. "According to the data we collected, the CTA only ran 81 percent of service [last] Sunday, 88 percent of service [Monday], and 86% so far [Tuesday around 3 p.m.] Of note, the CTA has contested this data via Block Club Chicago."
On Tuesday, Block Club's Mack Liederman reported, "In a statement a CTA spokesperson contested [CTAction data analyst Brandon] McFadden’s data, saying the agency delivered 91 percent of rail service Sunday, an improvement from the average Sunday in 2019."
"We however remain confident in our analysis," CTAction told Streetsblog. "We are hopeful this was a fluke, and that service delivery will improve in the coming days and weeks."
Indeed, let's hope the CTA's announcement does, in fact, herald more frequent and reliable train and bus service. That way, more Chicagoans will opt to get around our city by transit rather than, say, a "Little Red Corvette."
Read the CTA press release here.
Read the Block Club article here.
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