Chicago Transit Authority’s No. 201 bus will follow a new routestarting Monday, making the line more convenient for students butlimiting transit options for some Evanston residents, particularlysenior citizens.
The bus, which runs from the Howard Street El station to OldOrchard Shopping Center in Skokie, will now make that trip alongSheridan Road between Chicago Avenue and Central Street,eliminating service along Clark Street and Sherman Avenue.
The changes to the bus route, which come as part of a 180-dayexperiment to restructure CTA bus services, were designed to”better serve Northwestern,” CTA spokeswoman Anne McCarthy wrote inan e-mail to The Daily. Overnight service on the route — whichtravels from Chicago through the Howard Street station to CentralStreet — will not be affected.
But the change could make it harder for some senior citizens toget around during the day, said Nancy Flowers, Evanston’s long-termcare ombudsman.
“There is some sense of loss,” Flowers said, adding that manyseniors had trouble using the El because they can’t climb stairs atthe stations.
Several apartment buildings are located along or near Sherman,including two subsidized housing facilities at 1900 Sherman Ave.and 2300 Noyes Court run by the Cook County Housing Authority. Thebuildings contain about 200 apartments total, most of which areoccupied by senior citizens, Flowers said.
The CTA has posted customer alerts at bus stops and distributedfliers to publicize the route changes. Flowers said she also hasdistributed CTA brochures explaining the upcoming alterations toseveral senior-occupied buildings.
But not all residents are aware of the impending changes.
“I had not heard that,” said Stacy Kalish, 32, who lives at 1900Sherman. “This is bad news for me.”
Kalish said she rides the 201 bus about once a week to travelaround Evanston, including to Evanston Hospital, 2650 RidgeAve.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do,” Kalish said. “I’m reallypissed off.”
Kalish said she was especially frustrated that the bus route ischanging for the second time in less than a year. The last set ofchanges took effect in June, as part of a previous phase of CTA’sroute restructuring.
Many of the seniors affected by those earlier changes turned tocity services to cushion the impact, Flowers said.
“It’s working for a lot of these folks because we have servicesin place,” she said. “So the costs get shifted to us.”
The Levy Senior Center, 300 Dodge Ave., offers a free bus to andfrom the center, and runs shopping trips to Dominick’s Finer Foods,1910 Dempster St., and Jewel Food Stores, 2485 Howard St., onWednesdays and Thursdays. The center recently acquired a second busand hopes to increase service.
“We’re going to expand service because right now there are a lotof gaps in service,” said Christina Ferraro, the center’s manager.”If we had an additional bus, we could add an additional line. Wecould have nonstop service.”
But Ferraro added that it probably would take another yearbefore the center has the staff to operate an additional bus.
Evanston also offers subsidized taxi vouchers which allow seniorcitizens to take a cab anywhere in Evanston for a $2 flat fee. Thevouchers can be purchased at the Levy Center, Evanston CivicCenter, 2100 Ridge Ave., or the United Way office, 828 Davis St.,as well as by mail.
Flowers said participation in the program has increaseddramatically in recent years and expects further increases afterthe bus route changes take effect. “I’m not sure how else they’llget around,” she said.
Despite increased demand and Evanston’s chronically tightbudget, Flowers said she is confident the taxi-voucher program willcontinue to be available.
“This is a service we feel is very, very important for seniors,”Flowers said. “There’s a strong commitment to this program on thepart of the city and the aldermen.”
