CTA to test all-door boarding on 2 South Side routes

The CTA’s #J14 and #192 bus routes will allow entrance and payment at front and rear doors starting this summer for a limited six-month period as part of a pilot program to reduce boarding times, the agency announced Feb. 24, 2020. | Sun-Times file photo

In an effort to speed up bus service, the CTA will test boarding through the rear door in a six-month pilot program starting this summer.

All-door boarding will be tested on two South Side routes: the #J14 Jeffery Jump and the #192 U. of Chicago Hospitals Express, the Chicago Transit Authority announced Monday.

“We are taking a fresh look at our bus system and operations to look for ways we can make it even better,” CTA President Dorval Carter, Jr. said in the statement.

Bus riders with Ventra cards will be able to take advantage of the rear-door loading, which can reduce loading times by half, the CTA said. Riders paying in cash will still be able to use the front door.

This pilot is part of CTA’s $20 million investment into the Bus Priority Zones program.

A similar pilot was conducted at the Belmont Blue Line station and reduced boarding times by more than 50 percent. It became permanent in 2019.