In another sign that things are getting closer to normal in the Chicago area, the CTA and Pace will start collecting bus fares again, and the CTA will end rear-door boarding.
The CTA will require customers to enter buses via the front door and pay fares starting Sunday, while the Pace suburban bus service resumes fare collections Monday.
Both agencies had waived fare collection as a way to protect operators and passengers from the coronavirus. But since the agency started rear-door boarding in April, the state and the agency have adopted other ways of keeping people safe, including providing masks for all drivers, requiring that passengers be masked, and implementing new cleaning technology, said CTA spokesman Brian Steele.
The agency limits the number of passengers on buses to no more than 15 people on a 40-foot bus and no more than 22 on a 60-foot bus. The CTA also has a ridership information dashboard on its website that shows when buses are the most crowded to help people choose a better time to travel.
Keith Hill, president of the bus drivers’ union, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 241, said his group agreed with the resumption of front-door boarding. Hill noted the CTA had agreed to increase the “standee line,” or how far passengers have to stand back from drivers, to more than six feet.
“Safety is our No. 1 concern,” Hill said. “We don’t want a resurgence of COVID in our membership.”
Of the local union’s 7,000 members, five have died of COVID-19, Hill said.
Pace put up vinyl barriers by the driver to protect both operators and passengers, while CTA drivers are protected by plexiglass shields. Unlike CTA buses, most Pace buses do not have rear doors, but the agency waived fares to prevent people from bunching at the front of the vehicle.
Pace said it is still waiving fares on City of Chicago Taxi Access Program or TAP trips.
Transit agencies saw a sharp drop in ridership as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the state’s stay-at-home order, but passengers have begun to slowly return.
Pace ridership has gone from from being down to 75% of normal in April to being down 60% in the last week, according to spokeswoman Maggie Daly Skogsbakken. CTA ridership is down about 80%.
