Transit cuts just a week away

Evanston is scheduled to lose much of its bus service next week as a result of the continued impass over state support for mass transit.

The Chicago Transit Authority plans to eliminate half of its six routes that serve Evanston next Monday and the suburban bus Pace will eliminate one of its four routes Evanston routes.

Evanston will lose:

• CTA Route 93, which runs from the Davis Street ‘L’ station west on Emerson Street and then south on Dodge and California avenues to the North Park University campus in Chicago. That will leave most of Dodge with just rush hour service from the Route 206 Evanston Circulator bus. There will be no remaining bus service on Emerson, but some service will still be available on Church and Simpson streets.
• CTA Route 200, which runs from the Main Street ‘L’ station west to Madison Street and Central Park Avenue in Skokie. That will leave Main Street without any bus service. The CTA suggests riders use the Route 97 bus that runs on Oakton and Howard streets instead.
• CTA Route 205, which runs from the Howard Street ‘L’ station up Chicago Avenue to the Davis Street ‘L’ station and then west on Church Street and Golf Road to Old Orchard. The CTA suggests riders use the Purple line ‘L’ service for the north-south portion of this route and the Pace Route 208 that runs along Church Street for the east-west part.
• Pace Route 426, which runs from Ryan Field to Northwestern’s Chicago campus. The Purple line provides one possible alternative route.

Evanston will still be served by:

• CTA Route 97, which runs from the Howard Street ‘L’ station along Howard, Dodge and Oakton and eventually reaches Old Orchard.
• CTA Route 201, which runs from the Davis Street ‘L’ station along Sheridan Road and Central Street to Old Orchard.
• CTA Route 206, a rush hour route called the Evanston Circulator which runs from the Howard Street ‘L’ to Evanston Township High School and on to Central Street and Gross Point Road.
• Pace Route 208, which runs from the Davis Street ‘L’ station west along Church Street in Evanston and on to Old Orchard and the Northwest Transportation Center in Schaumburg.
• Pace Route 213, which runs from the Davis Street ‘L’ station north along Green Bay Road to Northbrook Court.
• Pace Route 215, which runs from the Howard Street ‘L’ station to Old Orchard via Howard Street, Crawford Avenue and Golf Road.

Earlier plans to eliminate rail service on the Purple Line Express and Yellow Line routes have been dropped from the service cutback plans.

Lawmakers in Springfield still grappling with the funding crisis now say it’s highly unlikely a new funding plan can be adopted before the cuts are scheduled to take effect.

The cutbacks will also be accompanied by fare hikes — with cash fares for CTA bus routes rising from $2 to $2.50.