For many students, public transportation is a necessity of everyday life, and with recent changes to the Evanston bus lines, as well as an almost $500 million dollar station rebuild in downtown Chicago, Chicago Transportation Authority (CTA) users are navigating a period of significant change.
Recently, the CTA extended the No. 93 Dodge/California bus route, which now runs from the Davis Purple Line station to the Logan Square Blue Line station. The route also now operates seven days a week. This extension allows Evanstonians a new direct connection to the Logan Square Blue Line station and improved north-south traveling, free of detour through the Loop.
Sarah FioRito, Transportation and Mobility Coordinator at the City of Evanston, regularly communicates with Evanston’s transit agency partners to ensure that city transportation meets community needs and is as efficient as possible.
“We heard feedback from ETHS students and administrators regarding schedule and reliability challenges with transit to school and communicated this to the CTA,” said FioRito. “This led to a [No. 206] bus schedule that is better aligned with the afternoon bell schedule.”
FioRito believes that the Evanston transit system is making progress, but involves ongoing work to truly meet the needs of students and the greater Evanston community.
“Sometimes the CTA app will say there is a bus about to show up, but then it doesn’t and never comes,” said sophomore Stella Lucks.
Lucks is a consistent user of public transit and has noticed that this irregular service is much less common now compared to her freshman year.
“The ghost buses were really annoying because I depended on them, but I [have noticed improvement recently],” said Lucks.
Furthermore, the Loop train station located at Lake and State streets began construction on Jan. 5th for an estimated $444 million redesign. After 130 years, the Chicago Department of Transportation has decided to give one of its most popular “L” station locations a remodel, including a new overhead glass canopy to offer light and a more futuristic look.
“The investment in this light-filled new transit hub sends a strong message that Chicago’s downtown is coming back better than ever from the challenges we’ve faced in the last year,” said Gia Biagi, the commissioner for the Chicago Department of Transportation, in the project description published by the architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM).
Many students who take the train downtown would use this rebuilt station as their stop for shopping, social trips or internships.
The new station is expected to be completed and reopened in 2029, following several years of construction and planned upgrades to reliability and accessibility.
