Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) riders will see more scheduled bus service across the region — the final step in meeting the agency’s goal of providing pre-pandemic scheduled service hours by the end of 2024. 

Nineteen bus routes are receiving additional service under the winter schedule, as the CTA continues to add more bus operators — the result of the agency’s aggressive recruiting and hiring efforts.

“Our ability to provide pre-pandemic service marks not a finish line but a milestone in providing the exceptional bus service our riders deserve,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter Jr. “In 2025, we will be expanding on this milestone and looking to make further improvements to our service. The work of providing world-class transit service means there will always be improvements to be made.”

CTA’s Bus Network Improvement

The bus network will be returning to pre-pandemic service levels with some strategic adjustments at the route level to better meet changing ridership patterns. CTA will continue to analyze ridership trends and mobility patterns to determine additional service adjustments that can better meet evolving ridership.

The latest changes to the bus schedules are being implemented as part of CTA’s quarterly scheduling process for bus operators.

The CTA has seen an increase in ridership on routes that have received more service throughout the year. 

Ridership on routes that already received additional service in 2024 were up 14% to 15% year-over-year in October, while routes that did not receive service adjustments have also increased, but at a lower rate of 10% during the same period.