CTA Approves Doomsday Plan

By Rachelle Bowden in News on Apr 14, 2005 11:59AM

By now you've heard that the CTA board has approved the 'doomsday' plan to cut train and bus operations and increase fares. If you're like us you skimmed every article you read to get to the bulleted list that tells exactly how this will affect us. So here goes -

• 54 bus routes will be eliminated (list)
• Purple Evanston express will be eliminated
• Wait times will increase by 68%
• Weekday and Saturday service will be reduced to current Sunday service levels
• Vehicle miles will be trimmed by 36%
• Fares paid by cash will increase to $2/trip
• Those who pay with cash will no longer get free transfers
• 2,000 workers will be laid off
• Reduced fares for seniors, students, disabled will increase to $1
• Chicago-Card users will have to pay a minimum $20 to get their bonus instead of $10

And something that seemed like a no-brainer to us - there's not going to be an increase in the price of tourist passes! This will all go down starting July 17th if the state doesn't cough up $55 million to help the CTA with their deficit.

The graphic used in this post is via Northside Shirts, where you can buy this and other Chicago-related tshirts.