A new bus line runs directly from the Davis El stop to O’Hare International Airport in a little more than one hour.

After months of discussion and planning with transportation groups, the revised Pace Suburban Bus route No. 250 began on March 20.

The route, which previously ended at the Des Plaines Metra station, now takes passengers to O’Hare’s Kiss-N-Fly station. Passengers then can travel to terminals via a free airport train.

The ride between Davis and O’Hare’s Kiss-N-Fly costs $1.50 and takes between 50 and 70 minutes, Bolton said.

Weinberg sophomore Christina Metz said she would use the new bus route. She has used taxis in the past.

“For like an hour, and you’re paying $1.50, it’s better than taking a cab,” Metz said.

Commuters, such as O’Hare employees, were the primary targets of the revised route, said Michael Bolton, Pace’s deputy executive director for strategic services. Students and residents along the bus line’s new path comprise secondary markets.

“There’s a significant number of employees at O’Hare (that) actually live on either side of that route,” he said. “It’s a fairly effective route.”

The extended bus line is part of Pace’s North Shore Restructuring Initiative, a yearlong plan to revise routes and improve the company’s service in Chicago’s north suburbs.

Pace sought the opinions of residents and North Shore transportation groups like Evanston’s Transportation Future to engineer the new routes.

“Historically, (Pace) had only sought the public’s input after they had already figured out what they had wanted to do,” said Peter Nicholson, a member of Evanston’s Transportation Future. “This time we really pushed them to involve the citizenry earlier on in the planning process.”

The collaboration between Pace officials and residents helped make the direct bus route a reality, Bolton said.

“The idea for the route was generated by people in Evanston,” he said. “We took a look at route and it made sense.”

The direct bus route between downtown Evanston and O’Hare will serve as an alternative to a taxi ride or the circuitous El ride that includes two transfers.

Mark Jung-Beeman, an associate professor of psychology at NU, said he usually takes a taxi or drives to O’Hare instead of using public transportation. It takes too much time to travel downtown on the Red Line to transfer to the Blue Line to O’Hare, he said.

“It’s inconvenient lugging suitcases and two kids,” he said.

But Jung-Beeman said he would try Pace’s new route if he were traveling alone to the airport.

Nicholson said he was looking forward to being a passenger on the new route he helped implement

“I have a trip planned, and I’m hoping to make use of the bus on the return,” he said. “It’s certainly going to be a more economical way for those who don’t wish to drive out there in their own cars.”

Pace’s bus schedules can be seen at www.pacebus.com/sub/schedules.

Reach Beth Murtagh at [email protected].