New CTA bus schedule released for many bus routes to improve service, improve tracker

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Check those times! A number of CTA bus routes start new schedules this week.

CTA said the changes were made in an effort to improve service amid a staffing shortage.

"We've never had this level of worker shortages, rarely have we had this level of unplanned absences," said CTA spokesperson Brian Steele.

And riders have noticed.

"I was at the stop at 10 minutes to six and I got the bus at 6:30 and I'm usually on at 10 after six but my first driver didn't come out," said Shirley Bennett, CTA rider.

"When you have a job and you pay your fare every month and you have someplace to be, then you're kind of disappointed. And the bus doesn't come and you're late for work, it's kind of discouraging," said bus rider Sandra Gonzalez.

CTA reported the agency is still short 600 bus operators, and is trying to recruit more workers.

"We've actually hired over 400 operators in 2022. That's the good news. Though we have hired those 400 operators, we've still seen a lot of attrition which is something we have seen throughout the transit industry," Steele said.

Bus routes are not changing and neither are service hours. Instead, the new scheduled times at stop are supposed to adjust to current staffing, create more consistent waiting intervals between bus arrivals, and address the "ghost bus" issue in which the bus appears on the bus tracker on line, then disappears.

Steele explained the bus tracker uses real time data and schedule information, and if real time data is delayed, the system defaults to the scheduled time.

"By having schedules that are more realistic for us to attain we do believe people will see improved service but, in the tracker, information and accuracy," Steele said.

While CTA tries to balance staffing and schedules, nearly half a million Chicagoans are just trying to get where they're going on any given weekday.

"I don't know what's going on with the system," Gonzalez said. "Every time they say it will get better it doesn't, so I'm just going to hold my breath now."