CTA Bus #157 – Streeterville/Taylor

Takes me from work next to CitiGroup Center right to Michigan Ave where I have appointments (and window shopping). Driver was super nice, no problems with the patrons, bus was clean and non-​smelly. Great trip! Bonus points for being on-​time.

I used to live near this and it was the absolute worst. Once it took me an hour to go downtown (3.5 miles). I could’ve walked in that amount of time. UIC students make this line especially bad, because 15 of them will line up at a time to get on, and then only go a block or two. I say «stay away» and that there is almost always a faster way to get to where you’re going, even if it’s walking.

This route is so mind-​bogglingly inefficient and slow. It once took me almost an hour to go a little over 2 miles, from N. Michigan Ave to Roosevelt and Racine to meet up with a friend.
It took that same friend nearly 50 minutes to get from Roosevelt & Racine to meet up with me at Michigan and Lake, again a distance of a mere 2 miles.
This bus stops wayyyyyy too much on this route, seemingly every block or so. If they eliminated some of the bus stops it would definitely make it more efficient.

Ever since the CTA created the new 157 route, my commute has become extremely easy and to top it all off, a bus driver I have gotten to know over the years, Mike, is one of the drivers on the route! Score!
A little back story… For over 5 years, I’ve had one of the friendliest bus drivers around. It didn’t matter what route I was normally taking, it seemed that Mike was one of the drivers on the route. We chat a bit here and there and have discussed a wide variety of topics over the years. Always a happy guy, always helpful to the riders on his bus and people asking for help/​directions. Awesome.
In general, the drivers on this route seem pretty friendly. One of the other drivers has recognized me before and held the bus for a few seconds so that I could cross the street and board the bus. Talk about a life saver during the early morning commute! There’s nothing I hate more than missing the bus because you’re on the wrong side of the street as the bus pulls up. On top of that, you get the bonus of watching your missed bus drive away as you cross the street to wait the 10 – 15 minutes for the next one.
I love this combined route that the CTA created! The drivers are friendly and the buses on this route are generally pretty clean.