By Igor Studenkov | Bugle Staff
nweditor@buglenewspapers.com
@BugleNewspapers
Over the past few weeks, Pace Suburban Bus Service has made changes to several routes that serve Morton Grove, Niles and Park Ridge.
On Aug. 15, Pace increased service frequencies on Route 290, which largely runs along Touhy Avenue, and Route 250, which runs along Dempster Street. The schedules were tweaked to reduce delays.
Additionally, the village of Niles and Pace approved an agreement Aug. 23 that will allow some Niles residents free rides on Route 270.
Route 250, which serves Evanston, Skokie, Morton Grove, Niles, Park Ridge, Des Plaines and Rosemont, got more buses running during weekdays. Between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., the buses will now run once every 20 minutes. Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., the buses run every half an hour, instead of an average of once every 50 minutes.
On Route 290, which serves Chicago, Lincolnwood, Skokie, Niles and Park Ridge, the change was more complicated. On weekdays, during the non-rush hour period, the buses traveled once every 20 minutes between the Howard ‘L’ station and Lincolnwood Town Center, but only half of them kept going west toward the Cumberland Blue Line ‘L’ station. After Aug. 15, all of those buses travel the entire route.
As a result, Skokie, Niles and Park Ridge are now served once every 20 minutes instead of once every 40 minutes during off-peak hours.
Pace made similar changes to Route 290’s weekend service in the summer of 2014, having buses that previously turned around at Lincolwood Town Center continue west until they reached Milwaukee Avenue.
While most of the weekend service stayed the same this time around, Pace made one notable change. In the past, buses stopped running at approximately 9 p.m. on Sundays. After Aug. 15, the service hours were extended so that Route 290 doesn’t stop running until around midnight.
Maggie Daly Skogsbakken, the agency’s marketing supervisor, said the reasons for the service changes were simple.
“Routes 250 and 290 are major routes for Pace with a significant market demand,” she said. “These changes were made to meet that market demand.”
While running more buses costs Pace more money, Skogsbakken said the increased farebox revenue should help cover the expense.
The transit agency and the village of Niles also negotiated a perk for village residents who live along the section of Milwaukee Avenue between Touhy Avenue and the Niles-Chicago border.
Until the revamp of the Niles Free Bus system took effect in May 2016, this area was served by Route 411. It is also served by Route 270, a paid route that runs between Golf Mill Shopping Center and the Jefferson Park Transit Center.
In the run-up to the changeover, a number of residents complained about the service cut during public hearings.
Niles mayor Andrew Przybylo asked Pace whether there was a way those residents could ride Route 270 for free. That didn’t happen when the changes took effect, but the village and Pace continued working on a solution.
Mitchell Johnson, the village of Niles Director of Communications, said they ultimately agreed to create a special pass that could be added to Ventra cards, just like any other pass. When they board the bus, riders press their card against the reader, which detects the pass and doesn’t charge them anything.
“In order to have their Ventra card registered for free ridership on the 270 route, residents living in the area formerly served by the [Niles] Free Bus on the south end of town just have to go to the Niles Senior Center and register.,” Johnson explained. “They’ll collect their name, address and Ventra card ID number, and they’ll get the privilege enabled on their card.”