As the city approaches its second week in Phase 3 of the reopening process, the Chicago Transit Authority has unveiled a new online tool to help passengers know when certain buses are too crowded to maintain proper social distancing.
Right now, the CTA has capacity limited to 15 passengers on a standard 40-foot bus and 22 passengers on a 60-foot bus and on each train car. If a bus or train is over that capacity, riders are encouraged to wait for the next one.
The new Ridership Information Dashboard is meant to help these riders figure out what times are best for travel. The graph is color-coded — green means low ridership, yellow means moderate seat availability and orange means there may not be enough seats available — and is organized by bus route and hour of the day. These codes are based on the average ridership over the last two weeks and will be updated weekly.
The agency says it is working on a similar tool for the “L” and spokesman Brian Steele told the Chicago Tribune that the CTA is in the midst of working on a way to track and distribute this information in real-time.
The CTA is also rolling out new signs and floor decals to help commuters adhere to social distancing best practices. These include floor markers and signs within vehicles, train cars and elevators translated in both English and Spanish.
All of this is meant to be a way for the CTA to maintain a safe and healthy environment as more people start using public transit to head back into the office. In fact, these efforts could become even more important, with the city hinting that Phase 4 may be right around the corner.
“As Chicagoans return to work and discover their ‘new normal,’ we welcome them back and encourage them to stay safe by planning ahead using the new dashboard tool and to continue to follow the new habits we’ve all embraced over the past three months,” CTA President Dorval R. Carter said in a statement. “It is my goal to put out as much information as possible into the hands of our customers, so that they can make informed travel decisions that help us all achieve proper social distancing.”
