Love the Belmont Bus!

[Golden Camel]

The 41 Elston Clybourn bus was cut in 1997. It ran from Milwaukee/Elston on the northwest side to Belmont and then along Clybourn to downtown.

There was also the 13 Elston bus that ran from Milwaukee/Elston (later cut back to Elston/Armstrong) down Elston to downtown during rush hours. I'm not sure when it was cut back.

The opening of the 'L' extension from Logan Square to Jefferson Park really hurt the ridership on the diagonal streets. Finally, the closing of all the factories along Elston and Clybourn pretty much killed any remaining ridership. The routes were discontinued before the gentrification of the corridor began.

Picture of 41 Elston Clybourn bus stop sign.

[jahk]

I have a love/hate relationship with the #8 (Halsted) bus. I love that it runs right between the place I live and the place I end up going for social events, and passes 2 blocks from my good friends' home on the way.

I hate that the bus has left me waiting more than an hour more than once, and that it seems to randomly appear and disappear from the tracker.

[Chi-town Native]

Originally Posted by Gemini1963

This made me laugh out loud.

seriously, it often is - because when I see a bus on Milwaukee most of the time it's the #76 on that little sidetrack it takes between Logan and Diversey.

[Manigault]

I love the #2 Hyde Park Express. If you leave early in the morning and come home late (like I do) then you can always get a seat.

There's not too many sullen high-schoolers going off to class and most folks are deep into whatever they are reading. I had long discussions with a guy reading Dostoevsky and a woman deep into "1493". The law babies reading cases I just ignore.

In rush hoiurs its scheduled for every 6 minutes and the last bus out of the loop is after 7. Last week a bike rider got off, took his bike and left the rack down. The driver did not even cuss -- he just got out, put the rack up and went about his business.

I actually prefer the #2 to the #6 or #28X -- they are more crowded. They tend to have a large person taking up two spaces, too.

[tompope]

Originally Posted by Golden Camel

The 41 Elston Clybourn bus was cut in 1997. It ran from Milwaukee/Elston on the northwest side to Belmont and then along Clybourn to downtown.

There was also the 13 Elston bus that ran from Milwaukee/Elston (later cut back to Elston/Armstrong) down Elston to downtown during rush hours. I'm not sure when it was cut back.

The opening of the 'L' extension from Logan Square to Jefferson Park really hurt the ridership on the diagonal streets. Finally, the closing of all the factories along Elston and Clybourn pretty much killed any remaining ridership. The routes were discontinued before the gentrification of the corridor began.

Picture of 41 Elston Clybourn bus stop sign.

The good old #41 (which of course shared Belmont Avenue with the #77 for about a mile-and-a-quarter or so) was my all-time favorite bus route. I used to ride it all the time between the Northwest Side and Downtown Chicago back in the 80s and 90s. It made for kind of a voyage across interesting parts of the city, including the Clybourn corridor, which at that point was still in the process of being converted from industrial to commercial/residential. Of course, one of the things I liked about that bus is that I was usually one of very few passengers—and frequently the only passenger—so it didn't have to stop very often for people to get on and off, and was almost like an express bus. Of course, that fact also made it seem like its days were numbered, and so it came as no surprise when service on the #41 was reduced in the mid-90s and then ended entirely in the late 90s.

With all that's happened there, I agree that I would think there might be enough demand now to justify an Elston bus again, or even an Elston Avenue light rail, though that's certainly a pipe dream. I could easily imagine a bus running the entire length of Elston (even the #41 only ran on Elston north of Kimball), from Milwaukee Avenue to Milwaukee Avenue, as it were, and then continuing down to the Loop or the Metra stations, having substantial ridership nowadays, and even on nights and weekends. So maybe, maybe, maybe someday the #41 or some substitute will be revived.

[Jesse69]

What are the interesting businesses or stores that make Belmont interesting to you?