Yes, Jack Clark, there are too many bus stops [March 31]. The CTA should be eliminating many of them–who wants to take a bus if it misses every light because it stops every block? I hope your article inspires a round of eliminations of bus stops at the CTA.
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One: the new transfer policy. This largely unheralded reform gives riders a two-hour window to take advantage of the 30-cents transfer and the free “third” transfer, allowing for a dirt-cheap round-trip errand. Previously, one couldn’t use the cheap transfer on the return trip on the same line. Now you can. Thank you, CTA.
Three: new express bus lines that avoid the excessive bus-stop problem you’ve identified. The best example of this is the new Western Express route, which only stops every four blocks–at most. This allows the bus to actually get in the fast lane, make green lights, and deliver passengers almost as quickly as a car can. Whoever came up with that idea ought to get a medal.
Dan Johnson-Weinberger
