CTA seeks bus rider feedback

The Chicago Transit Authority is seeking feedback from its riders to help improve the bus network.

The survey, available online at ctabusvisionproject.com, is part of the agency's Bus Vision Project, which it announced Tuesday "will shape how CTA reimagines its bus network and what improvements it should implement in the future."

The CTA also said it will hold in-person public engagement sessions this summer and later this year.

Buses are the face of public transit for most Chicagoans, the agency said.

Bus trips account for more than half the trips taken on the CTA, according to a report released with the survey. More people live closer to a bus stop than a train station. About 96% of residents live within a half-mile of a bus stop versus around 30% of residents who live within a half-mile of an L stop.

Buses retained a higher percentage of ridership than rail during the pandemic, according to the CTA. But bus ridership was already taking a hit before the pandemic. The CTA said it saw a sustained bus ridership decline between 2012 and 2019, which the CTA linked to reduced service levels caused by the 2008-2009 recession, shifts in population and jobs, and the emergence of ride-hailing services among other factors.

CTA buses have not run as often since the pandemic hit. The CTA still doesn’t have as many bus and train operators as it did before 2020 but said it is addressing the worker shortage.