CTA Tattler

The Tracker must be close to complete now that they've gotten to the slashed routes. Not the ones where service was slashed, but the ones with slashes in their names, like Marine slash Michigan and Foster slash Canfield. All we need now are the appendages - the ones with letters appended to their route numbers, like 49B and 53AL, and then we'll really be done!

Perhaps some enterprising soul with a boring office job could go through and find the routes that still aren't on the bus tracker.

Crickets in subways? Sounds like a no-brainer...

I'm really glad to see my daily route, the #136 on there finally. As an avid user of Bus Tracker, this will be very helpful.

It would be nice if they put on the #19 United Center Express bus on there too. Since their website hast next to no information about this route, you have no idea about where the bus stops are located. The website simply states that it makes 2 different stops in the loop, but does not mention if it stops in between them at all. A call to their 800 line offered no additional info either. They barely even knew the route existed. Maybe someone else knows if there are more than these 2 stops?

http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/busroute.aspx?RouteId=325

Glad to see the 155 finally added. That takes care of all the Rogers Park routes, and I think all the routes I ever ride are now on there.

In response to Adam's request, the missing routes are:

19 - United Center Express
26 - South Shore Express
33 - Magnificent Mile Express
X98 - Avon Express
120 - Ogilvie/Wacker Express
121 - Union/Wacker Express
122 - Illinois Center/Ogilvie Express
130 - Grant Park Treasures
132 - Goose Island Express
134 - Stockton/LaSalle Express
154 - Wrigley Field Express
168 - UIC-Pilsen Express
169 - 69th/UPS Express
170 - U of Chicago/Midway
171 - U of Chicago/Hyde Park
172 - U of Chicago/Kenwood
173 - U of Chicago/Lakeview Express
174 - U of Chicago/Garfield Stations
192 - U of Chicago/Hospitals Express
200 - Main Shuttle
201 - Central/Ridge
205 - Chicago/Golf
206 - Evanston Circulator

136? Wow, that's news i can use!

Eeeeek!!! Blind albino flesh-eating crickets in the subways!!! AND they're chatting on cellphones!!!

Chris-

Here's the CTA brochure (pdf) for the 19:

http://www.transitchicago.com/assets/1/bus_schedules/19.pdf

It's old but I think the info is still good.

Strannix,

Thanks for that! I looked all over the web site for that exact thing, but could not find it in the redesigned site. You'd think they could incorporate that into their new page or in the training manuals when you call their 800 number.

"A call to their 800 line offered no additional info either."

Interesting you should mention that, chris. Last summer friends from Milwaukee were coming down for a Cubs game and wanted to take the 154. My friend called the CTA and, while the customer service person was very pleasant, she could not find any information about the route. I've heard the same regarding calls about the 19. I fired off an email to CTA explaining that they might want to get on the ball since using these bus routes might be the only exposure to CTA some people ever have and that perhaps having CTA customer service people unaware of the routes was not the best representation of the agency. I received a very effusive reply saying that was probably a good idea and they'd get right on it. Guess not.

Chris,

The 19 is in fact shown on the new site's bus schedules page:

http://www.transitchicago.com/travel_information/bus_schedules.aspx#1

Maybe you just missed it?

Perhaps I looked in the wrong spot. That doesn't explain why if I click on Bus Schedules on the top right of the page, click #19 on the drop down box, it does not bring up that information. It is not consistent with the rest of the routes in that respect.

I guess I went about it the wrong way, but all other routes are available via that method, and also have a graphic of the route displayed on the page.

Either way, why did Customer Service not have this info? They told me it made exactly 2 stops. One at Michigan and Randolph, the 2nd at Ogilvie, which of course made no sense to me... I even asked them to ask someone else to verify that info they were giving me.

Correction, it looks like the route image is not displayed on all routes, just some. Either way, the pdf link is not available on this page, like all others.

http://www.transitchicago.com/riding_cta/busroute.aspx?RouteId=325

It looks like what you guys did was click on the Full List of Bus Schedules link below the drop down box.

Anyway, it was just a source of frustration with the website not giving me the info, and customer service essentially repeating to me something I knew was wrong, but couldn't prove at the time. Thanks for clearing this up guys.

I do wonder why not all buses show a graphic of the route.

My personal favorite route map is the 49B -- just a straight line from Howard to the Western Brown Line. I'm always so relieved when I see that map at the bus stop, because otherwise I would be completely disoriented.

A potential idea: would it be helpful to be able to highlight certain routes on a system-wide map? With the individual route maps, it can be hard to see the context, but with the full map, it can get confusing, especially for downtown routes. Seems like it might not be that difficult to implement.

Amazing! There was a recent CTA press announcement that Route 19 would would get better service - 10 min intervals instead of 12, and No more stops along Michigan ave. (except for Washington near Michigan EB, and the aforementioned start of route WB at Randolph/Michigan). The links and brochure for 19 mentioned here are definitely outdated.

Good point, John T. I had forgotten about that.

I've been using Bus Tracker quite a bit and have found it almost useless for the 152 Addison. I'll check it in the morning while walking out the door and if it says 2 minutes or due and it's crappy weather I wait for it. However, more times that not after 5+ minutes and no bus I end up walking and the bus almost never passes me. So, what does due mean? Due in the next 10-15 minutes? Due when the driver decides to put down their cell phone and start driving? It baffles me that when bus tracker thinks the bus is close enough to call it due, it can take more than 5 minutes to get there.

I use the mobile version most of the time, so I can't pull up the map, which might be more useful.

Not sure where you are, Tim, but offhand I know that the 152 often goes haywire in the mornings and afternoons because of Lane Tech high school, so I wouldn't be surprised if predictions anywhere near Western Avenue are a crapshoot during the wrong hours of the day. Then again, even that probably shouldn't account for a deviation of more than maybe 3-5 minutes from any given arrival prediction.