Hundreds Plead With CTA: 'Save No. 11 Bus'

The No. 11 Lincoln Avenue bus is more than a ride to the Brown Line for Myriam Migrditchian.

She boards it to get to the grocery store, head to dinner, shop for friends and family, and run miscellaneous errands. It's so convenient, she says, that when the option of moving presented itself this past year, she and her husband opted to stay in their "tiny Ikea house." 

Why? Because, "We live in a great neighborhood and we have the No. 11 bus," she said, while testifying Monday night at the first of two Chicago Transit Authority budget hearings.

The Lincoln Square architect was among about 200 people—more than half, clad in golden yellow "Save #11 Bus" T-shirts—who showed. CTA officials directed late-comers to an overflow room where they could watch the more than two-and-a-half-hour hearing unfold on monitors. Those individuals filtered in as people in the main room trickled out.

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Board President Forrest Claypool kicked off the night by applauding the balanced $1.39 billion 2013 outlook, saying it was "no doomsday budget." The CTA offers the "most generous discounts in the city," he told attendees, while standing in front of a slide show presentation.

He reiterated that the spending plan "maintains current service levels, freezes base fares and calls for modest reductions in discounts for CTA passes to bring them in line with other major U.S. cities." 

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While the budget holds the line on single fares, which will remain $2.25 for train or bus rides, other prices are going up. The cost for single-day passes will increase from $5.75 to $10; three-day passes from $14 to $20; weekly passes, from $23 to $28; and 30-day passes from $86 to $100.

The budget also neglects to include the $1.2 million needed to keep the No. 11 bus running between Western and Fullerton avenues—a fact that Monday's crowd said is unacceptable. The group is a sampling of thousands who have supported keeping the bus over the past few months via petition and at various CTA meetings.

But board members contend that the route is "duplicative" 

"Nearly every segment of Lincoln Avenue from Western to Fullerton sits within a few blocks (and in some cases, adjacent to) another CTA bus or rail line," Claypool wrote in a statement sent to the Lakeview Chamber of Commerce. " … A main option is the Brown Line, which closely follows Lincoln Avenue between Fullerton and Western. In most cases, the closest Brown Line station to Lincoln Avenue is within a few blocks away."

Many, including Migrditchian, disagree. The bus allows North Side residents to shop locally, they've said, and businesses rely on it bringing them customers.

"If I have to take the Brown Line, that takes my dollars out of my neighborhood and I'm just not going to do that," Migrditchian said. "There's no easy way to get on and off the train and shop. It's not set up that way. It's a commuter experience."

READ: Residents Will do 'What it Takes' to Save No. 11 Bus

It's also an outlet for the area's senior citizens, like Elizabeth White, a 68-year-old who moved to Northcenter three years ago. "A few blocks" to a "duplicative service" is a few too many when you're asking a senior to hoof it, she said.

"I sold my car and I'm on a fixed income," she said. "To get around, I use my feet and I use public transportation." 

She likened cutting the Lincoln/Sedgwick section of the Lincoln bus to pulling a string from a sweater.

"If you pull out a thread, or a strand, from a garment, you leave a hole," she said. " … Please rethink the hole this cut is making in the whole."

Lincoln Park resident Rachel Goodstein, who's been living in the neighborhood for 34 years, too, mentioned the seniors. But they're not the only ones being impacted. Students attending any of the many schools along the route—including those at DePaul, which is now the largest Catholic university in the country—are also affected, as are business' employees and tourists wanting to visit the history museum or other local landmarks.

"It's one of the few diagonal buses left, since the Clybourn bus was gotten rid of and I guess the Elston bus, too," Goodstein said. "Those are designed, diagonal streets, to be faster. There should be a bus on the diagonal roads."

State Rep. Ann Williams, Ald. Ameya Pawar (47th Ward) and Cook County Commissioner John Fritchey (D-12th) all echoed residents' sentiments. Pawar even chartered buses from the North Side to the hearing, which was held at the CTA headquarters building, 567 W. Lake St.

The bus serves around 5,500 riders each week—2,500 of which would be directly affected by the cut. And ridership has only increased since 2010, with just three months in the past two years carrying fewer riders.

Pawar offered his help Monday finding creative options to maintain the bus—making service exclusive to business hours, for example—and asked, most importantly, for more time.

"Taking this bus line away is removing critical infrastructure from my community," he said. "… What I'm asking is, let's wait. Just give me some time to come up with a solution. I'm extending my hand in partnership by saying I will work with you to find the solution if you'll only come to the table and work with me."

A second budget hearing is scheduled for and 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 17 at 3223 W. Franklin Boulevard.