CTA Schedules (Chicago: buses, authority, trains)

[Pondering_girl]

Is there anywhere to find a CTA time schedule, like how Metra's schedule is? How do you know how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B? The only thing I found was the times that the trains leave. Thanks.

[jdiddy]

Originally Posted by Pondering_girl

Is there anywhere to find a CTA time schedule, like how Metra's schedule is? How do you know how long it takes to get from Point A to Point B? The only thing I found was the times that the trains leave. Thanks.

The CTA's schedule is embedded into Google Maps now. If you enter your locations, they will tell you how you can reach it via the CTA and how long it will take.

Google Maps

[soulful]

Check out Chicago Transit Authority | 1-888-YOURCTA on the bottom right. You can click on the RTA link to find tripplanner. I actually prefer using the "Regional Trip Planner" even for trips within Chicago as it gives me more options.

[dragoro]

As if anything the cta does is ever on time lol.

[sharkylittleton]

Originally Posted by dragoro

As if anything the cta does is ever on time lol.

Show up and pray is the best tactic.

[scarletneon]

Originally Posted by sharkylittleton

Show up and pray is the best tactic.

... and make wagers with the people that are waiting with you.

the bus tracker isn't even right half the time.

[prairiestate]

Forget the schedules. Theoretically, buses on most routes run every 10-20 minutes, most of the time. So, theoretically, you don't need a schedule. The reality is you will often wait an hour for a bus that's supposed to run every 10 minutes. This is why I keep insisting Chicago doesn't have a very good transit system for most of the city. If you're in a city like Minneapolis or Denver, maybe most buses only come every half hour. However, if you have a schedule, you know when it's supposed to be there, and it almost always arrives within a few minutes of the posted time. Being able to hop on a bus every ten minutes sounds great, but not when it doesn't ever actually happen. And then of course most other transit systems are much cleaner, equipment is in better shape, most employees are reasonably friendly. People on the north side love to defend the CTA because of the dense network of buses and trains there, but just try relying on the CTA in the bungalow belt. I've done it, and it's a nightmare.