Posted March 20 - 5:32 p.m

Okay, it's time for the Reader Letter of the Day. And today's comes from a non-fan of the No.65-Grand, the route where I experienced a loudmouth rider just the other day.

But poor Kyle, who hails from Uptown, went all Popeye on public transit.

I finish work at 8am and take the 65 EB Grand bus to the Red Line (Grand/State). Every morning between 1-3 #33 Magnificent Mile Express buses pass with (usually) fewer than 10 people on them. Never once have I seen a #33 bus with every seat filled. So I wait and I wait, and finally when a #65 bus comes it is so full that I either have to stand in the doorway (and get off at every subsequent stop to let people out), can't safely get on (and have to wait for the next bus), or the bus doesn't even stop because they are at capacity.

In short, why do so many (relatively) empty #33 buses pass when those buses would very obviously be better utilized as #65 buses?

Thank you for listening, Kyle Turner-Uptown

You bet, I'm listening, Kyle. Riders, what bus route makes you want to eat your spinach and go all sailor-style on the CTA?

Perhaps it's not a satisfactory excuse, but those empty #33's you're seeing are likely returning to the garage after having done the majority of their work. They start at the Metra station by Clybourn/Ashland, pick up a good load there (I live along the route), and drop off those people along Michigan Ave. After that, they go back to the garage along Grand Ave. That's why you're seeing them empty at that point.

"GOING PUBLIC" SAYS: Thanks so much for writing! You gave us some perspective on this CTA situation.

Keith, a few corrections:

The Clybourn Metra station is actually not at Clybourn but at Ashland/Elston. It's still called the "Clybourn" station because it used to be further northwest.

You got the routing wrong. The #33 Magnificent Mile Express runs from the Clybourn Metra station to the Western Metra station via Cortland, Elston (or Clybourn, depending upon the driver), North, LaSalle, Lake Shore Drive, Michigan, Ontario, Wells, Grand, Campbell, and Hubbard. Then it runs back to the Clybourn Metra station via Western, Grand, Orleans, Ohio, Michigan, Lake Shore Drive, LaSalle, North, Elston/Clybourn, Cortland, Hermitage, Armitage, Paulina, and Cortland.

The #33 has two busy sections:
1. From Clybourn Metra to Michigan/Pearson southbound.
2. From Western Metra to Michigan/Huron northbound.

The buses start going to the garage at 8:45-ish. All the #33s that Kyle is seeing are buses that are going to get full at the Metra station.

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