On the loss of the X buses

All guidebooks contain some out of date information by the time they get published, and Carless in Chicago is no exception. Unfortunately, the CTA ensured that I’d have a bumper crop of such information when they introduced service cuts earlier this when the book was already too far along in the production process to revise. You can find a comprehensive list of those service cuts at the CTA web site.

These cuts have definitely made life a little more challenging for transit-dependent Chicagoans, and I’d like to see all of them restored. But I’d like to highlight the elimination of virtually all of the X routes as among the most problematic and short-sighted.

The CTA hasn’t always had X routes, but in recent years had begun heavily featuring these variations on local routes that bypassed minor streets for quicker travel times on major thoroughfares. These buses provided important supplementary service along streets like Ashland and Western that serve as key conduits among rail lines, and more generally for a series of increasingly dense neighborhoods, particularly between Grand Avenue and Irving Park Road, but in parts of the south side as well.

In my opinion, eliminating these routes was a mistake, and instead, the CTA should have reduced (not eliminated) local service to retain express service. In addition to adding important service along major streets, X buses make buses more attractive than driving for certain types of riders; X buses have a lower impact on traffic than local buses; and express service may have collateral health benefits by encouraging some riders to add some additional walking to their commute in exchange for a faster ride.

To be fair, less local service on these routes would have a negative impact on some riders, particularly those with less mobility due to age or disability. But much of that could be counteracted through expansion of bus tracking and employing other methods to reduce time spent waiting at a bus stop.

Of course, the other alternative as written up nicely by Matt Yglesias is general reduction of bus stops while maintaining relatively high stop density. With the caveat that we have to take the needs of all riders into consideration, that’s an experiment for which I’d happily sign up.