CTA shrugging off pandemic service lows; how about Metra and Pace?
For the first time since the pandemic, the Chicago Transit Authority announced Monday that rail service is back to normal levels.
That benchmark comes with the agency rolling out more than 1,200 weekly train trips across its eight lines, about a 20% increase compared to the spring 2024 schedule.
CTA President Dorval Carter thanked riders and said in a statement he looks forward “to building on our success next year with more rail service improvements planned for 2025.”
COVID-19 decimated ridership on the CTA, Metra and Pace, causing the agencies to subsequently cut back bus and train schedules.
As of Monday, Metra is running at nearly 100% of pre-pandemic trips overall, and in 2025 those numbers could increase a bit, officials said.
Breaking it down, the commuter railroad is running 96% of the trains it provided before COVID-19 on weekdays, or 665 currently compared to 692, spokesman Michael Gillis said.
On weekends, Metra is surpassing its 2019 levels.
“The extra service we’ve added on weekends is in line with our strategic plan goal to increase off-peak service and in response to rider demand,” Gillis noted.
Currently on Saturdays, Metra is operating 101% of the trains it did pre-pandemic, or 276 compared to 273. On Sundays, that number is 112%, or 203 trains versus 181.
As for additional trains, “updated schedules for the Milwaukee District West and North Central Service are being developed,” Gillis said.
At Pace, the suburban bus service is expanding several existing bus routes on Dec. 8
At that point, “Pace will be at about 98% of the revenue hours operated in March of 2020 and 88% of the vehicle hours operated in March of 2020,” spokeswoman Maggie Daly Skogsbakken said.
“Our vehicle hours are lower as we have fewer commuter routes with excess amounts of deadhead time.”
Bus routes that will be more frequent or offer upgrades include: Pace Route 322, between Cicero and Yorktown; Route 301, between Forest Park and Wheaton; Pace Route 563, between Waukegan and North Chicago; and Route 564, within Waukegan.
Pace ADA Paratransit service has surpassed 2019 levels, Daly Skogsbakken said.
Meanwhile, CTA bus routes are at 98% of pre-pandemic service levels and expected to normalize this winter, the agency said.