Cook County

Edens I-94 Bus-on-Shoulder Service Promises Faster Transit

Pace buses are starting to drive ‘on the shoulder’ of the Edens Expressway to bypass traffic between Cook and Lake counties

A new option for bus riders promises to get them between Cook and Lake Counties faster and on-time.

“Service that bypasses congestion, one that’s reliable, one that operates on schedule,” said CTA Chairman Kirk Dillard.

Pace buses are starting to drive ‘on the shoulder’ of the Edens Expressway to bypass traffic between Cook and Lake counties.

The new bus-on-shoulder routes include the 620 between Dempster in Skokie and Allstate in Northbrook, as well as the 626 Route between Dempster in Skokie and various businesses in Northbrook, Deerfield, Riverwoods, Buffalo Grove and Lincolnshire.

The Pace Suburban Bus service has already seen successful results with this new program along the Stevenson Expressway.

“On time performance from 65 percent to 90 percent by going on the shoulder and also we increased our ridership by over 600 percent,” said Pace Chairman Rick Kwasneski.

Officials said they plan to expand the bus-on-shoulder program to riders in more parts of Cook County.

“Service that goes from the Jefferson Park Transit Center up to Old Orchard and Skokie,” said Pace Board member Chris Canning. “We look forward to doing that, helping our friends in northern Cook County.”

Moreover, Pace says riders are safe in buses driving on the shoulder of the expressway. The Illinois Department of Transportation is on board with the creation of these new routes.

“(The program allows) our expressways to move more travelers more reliably at relatively low costs for new infrastructure, without adding additional traffic to our already crowded expressways,” said IDOT Secretary Randy Blankenhorn.

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