Bus tracker data and plots for approximately half of the CTA’s routes are now available. For about half of these, plots and data are being automatically posted around 3 am every operating day. I will be working over the next month to expand the number of tracked bus routes, to start tracking the ‘L’, and to make the data easier to navigate.

As the CTA generously provides their Bus Tracker and Train Tracker APIs to developers including myself, I am releasing my derived data files and plots under the condition that they be used only to assist transit customers or to promote public transportation.

Enjoy.

Bus tracker data for four of six Chicago’s south Lake Shore Drive express bus routes, the 2, 6, J14, and 28, were collected in November and early December 2014.

The J14 Jeffery Jump is branded as a premium bus route with features, such as improved bus station design, peak period dedicated lanes, and transit signal priority.  During peak periods, these features allow the J14 delivers reliable service with consistent travel times and limited bus bunching. Travel times on the two miles through the loop are nearly as long as the entire run along Jeffery Boulevard suggesting that the investment in the loop can further significantly improved travel times.

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Since October, the CTA has been operating two newly purchased battery electric buses. Since early December, I’ve gathered bus tracker data on the six routes that these buses are initially operating on: 7 – Harrison, 120 – Ogilvie/Streeterville Express, 121 Union Station/Streeterville Express, 124 – Navy Pier, 125 – Water Tower Express, and 157 – Streeterville/Taylor. I’ve also tracked some major north-south bus routes on the south side that I will comment on in a future post. As before, plots of the bus tracker data are available here. I’ve also added zipped csv files of the plotted position and speed data.

The electric buses, buses 700 and 701, have been replacing diesel buses on up to two peak-hour tripper runs per day each. Each run lasts between two and four hours and up to 35 miles. In the mornings, the buses have either taken run number 52 of route 157 inbound switching to route 121 at Union then the 120 in Streeterville, or they’ve taken run 54 of route 120, switching to route 121 in Streeterville, then route 124 for a round trip. In the afternoons, they’ve taken run 3 of routes 7, 125, and 121, or run 2 of route 7. On my plots of these routes, diesel buses are in red and electric buses in blue.

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