Here’s what transit experts and advocates have say about the plan for a northbound bus-only lane on Michigan Avenue

Even if longtime SBC readers haven’t been paying attention to our social media accounts lately, they probably guessed that I’m pretty jazzed right now. Yesterday, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Department of Transportation announced plans to install a dedicated bus lane on Michigan Avenue, likely within the next two weeks.

The new bus-only lane will run curbside, northbound for 1.5 miles from Roosevelt Road to Wacker Drive in the Loop. Sure, there really ought to be a southbound lane as well. But the east side of the avenue, where Grant and Millennium parks are located, has a lot less retail, lodging, and housing, so there will be fewer conflicts with delivery, taxi, and ride-hail drivers.

Indeed, CDOT spokesperson Erica Schroder told the Tribune that the west side of Michigan in the Loop “has more curb cuts, loading zones and other competing curbside uses that would require additional design work to accommodate an effective dedicated bus lane.”

And, yes, the route should continue another mile to the north end of Michigan, where North Side express buses head to and from DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Presumably creating a transit-priority corridor on the ritzy Magnificent Mile would be a heavier political lift, even if it would make tons of sense.

But half (or a third?) of a loaf is better than none, and this is at least a drive in the right direction. Moreover, Streetsblog writers has been suggesting this general idea for many years. Here are a few examples:

“The report didn’t specifically recommend adding bus lanes on the six lane-wide stretch of Michigan Avenue downtown, where the #4 and many other buses also begin or end their cross-city routes. Currently far too many bus drivers are slowed down here by traffic jams created by solo drivers.” – Steven Vance, November 2017

“Even if the time isn’t ripe for totally banning cars on Michigan, San Francisco style, what’s keeping us from converting some of the many lanes on Michigan to transit and bike lanes?” – John Greenfield, October 2019

“Years ago when I first moved to Chicago and took the CTA’s #4 Cottage Grove bus downtown from my then-neighborhood of Kenwood to visit the Art Institute museum, I was struck by the inefficiency of buses getting stuck in driver-generated traffic congestion on Michigan Avenue. I knew there had to be a way to move buses more quickly through the city.” – Courtney Cobbs, May 2022

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s currently going on with Michigan, as disclosed in the City’s press release. It says that, along with the mayor and CDOT (which Johnson controls), the Illinois Department of Transportation (which has jurisdiction over the avenue), the CTA, and the new Northern Illinois transit Authority are onboard with the plan.

“Reliable and accessible public transportation is essential to a city that works for everyone,” said the mayor in a statement. “By creating a dedicated bus lane on Michigan Avenue, we are making a critical investment in reducing delays, improving service and ensuring that the thousands of residents who rely on public transit can get where they need to go.”

According to new release, 1,490 buses on 21 routes will use at least a segment of the dedicated lanes on Michigan, and about 22,000 customers ride buses through the avenue’s Roosevelt-to-Wacker corridor each weekday. “During the morning rush, CTA buses carry an estimated 35 percent of all trips on Michigan Avenue but make up only 3 percent of the vehicles,” it states.

“Aren’t motorists just going to violate this bus-only lane, just like they do in in neighborhoods all over town?” you might ask. Granted, some cynicism is warranted, but since the route is in the Smart Streets Pilot Program’s central city enforcement district, cameras mounted on buses and other City vehicles will be issue tickets to scofflaws who stand and park in the red zone. (Unfortunately, new state legislation would be needed to use cams to ticket those who drive in the lnae.) Data shows this strategy has been fairly effective elsewhere downtown, and most first-time offenders avoid getting a second citation. So I’m cautiously optimist folks will stay in their lane.

“Following installation, CDOT and CTA will conduct field observations and collect data over the first six months to evaluate bus travel times, schedule reliability, traffic operations, safety and other conditions along the corridor,” the press statement concludes. “The agencies will use the findings to identify any adjustments that may be needed.”

This morning I contacted as many local transit authorities and advocates as I could think of to ask for their opinion of the news, and later put out a call for commentary to SBC’s Bluesky followers. Here’s what I’ve heard so far.

“This is a strong step forward toward building a network of dedicated bus lanes throughout our city, so buses are no longer in mixed traffic, and riders have faster and more reliable rides,” said Audrey Wennink, a senior director overseeing the Metropolitan Planning Council’s transportation policy initiatives. “The majority of CTA rides are on buses, and since this corridor serves so many bus routes, it will benefit thousands of riders every day. This type of collaboration and transformative change is exactly what we want to see from the new Northern Illinois Transit Authority structure. We look forward to a steady stream of good news for transit under the new regime.”

UIC urban planning associate professor Kate Lowe seconded that enthusiasm. “Along with the frequent bus network, this dedicated lane announcement demonstrates CTA’s commitment to improve its bus service, which accounts for the largest share of trips daily in Chicagoland,” she said. “The new lane will improve reliability and speed for thousands of riders and deliver meaningful benefits. As a relatively quick build and low-cost solution, it demonstrates what’s possible with cooperation and leadership by CTA, CDOT and IDOT, as well as numerous folks working beyond the scenes.”

P.S. Sriraj, director of UIC’s Urban Transportation Center had questions about the plan. “As much as I love the idea, I’m very curious about how it’s going to be operational,” he said. “Clearly Michigan is very crowded and buses get delayed by [civilian] drivers, but there are many factors at play. Will there be transit signal priority, similar to Pace Pulse buses? Will there be express buses that skip stops?”

(CTA spokesperson Manny Gonzales later told me, “The Michigan Avenue bus lanes will support the existing CTA service on this corridor, so the regular routes.”)

“It’s good thing they’re going to do this as a pilot, because only then can they unpack any operational issues, such as drivers dropping off and picking up shoppers along the curb, and see how they all are going to be addresses,” Sriraj concluded. 

Here are a couple of Bluesky posts in response to my query.

I’d prefer to think of this as Chicago dipping its toe (tire?) into creating an NYC-, LA-, or SF-style robust bus-priority street network. And if this project gets the Mayor Johnson excited about winning more of the straphanger vote in the next election, I’ll say, “Let’s go (install more bus lanes) Brandon!”

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