 "Photo: The Phoenix/Sarah Tassoni")
 "Photo: The Phoenix/Sarah Tassoni")
Regular CTA users will soon have to allow even more time for travel. Beginning Feb. 7 the CTA will institute reduced services on numerous trains and buses, a change due to the weak economy.
Most of the el trains and bus lines will see a reduction in service, and nine express bus routes will be eliminated altogether, according to the CTA Web site. For Loyola students and faculty, this means having to wait a couple of extra minutes for each #147 bus or Red Line train. Although the Red Line will continue to offer 24-hours-a-day service, the #147 bus will change its ending time on both weekdays and Saturdays. From Michigan/Congress north toward Loyola, instead of offering service until 12:30 a.m. on weekdays and 1:05 a.m. on Saturdays, the #147’s last northbound trip will be at 10:30 p.m. on both days.
Freshman Alexis Alfano uses the CTA trains every day to get to her babysitting job and is disappointed with the upcoming reduction in services.
“I think it’s really unfortunate,” said Alfano, an elementary education major. “I’ll still use them every day because, as a college student, I don’t have any other form of transportation. I guess I’m just going to have to be more careful in how I plan my travel.”
Andrew Tarvis, a junior accounting and management major, is equally worried about how the less frequent service will affect his travel. Living nine blocks north of the Lake Shore campus, he generally takes the #147 to get to his apartment during the colder months.
“The other day I had to wait nearly 20 minutes in the freezing cold for a #147 to take me from the Lake Shore campus to my apartment,” Tarvis said. “This is before the reduced frequency has even been implemented.”
Loyola students are not the only people affected by this change.
Cristina Guijarro, a part-time Spanish teacher at Loyola, is also concerned. Guijarro, who lives near Navy Pier, gets on the #147 at 7:00 a.m. to arrive in her classroom at the Lake Shore campus by 7:45. She is worried that, because of the less frequent buses, she will not be able to arrive at the university with time to prepare for the lesson and check her e-mails.
According to Guijarro, the #147 is already very crowded in the mornings and she is curious about how the new service frequency will work out.
“If the frequency declines that much, I might consider taking the Loyola shuttle,” Guijarro said. “It’s not too far away, but it saves me about two to three blocks if I take the #147. The #147 is very good now; it’s so frequent.”
Should the changes go into effect, Tarvis hopes the Loyola shuttle service would increase its frequency from 20 minutes to 15.
However, Eniko Racz, business manager for the business services department at Loyola, which oversees the transportation contract, is eager to see if the changes will actually go into effect come Feb. 7.
“They say this almost every year, and in the last moment they usually get the funding from the state,” Racz said. “Before we make any changes with campus transportation, we want to see if the service cut is going to be happening for real or not.”
A recent article in the Chicago Tribune on Jan. 27 quoted Mayor Richard Daley saying that people shouldn’t expect “another last-minute reprieve for the service cuts planned for February 7.” He said he believes fewer buses and trains are preferable to an increase in CTA fares.
If the changes were to be implemented, Racz said she would have to meet with the student development office, including Vice President of Student Development Robert Kelly, to talk about how to address the issue on campus.
“It’s really a university-wide decision from higher levels,” Racz said. “We would have to talk about whether we would get additional funding for stepping up the Loyola shuttle service.”
Regardless of whether the changes will occur on Feb. 7, both Loyola students and faculty hope the CTA can figure out a system that will remain beneficial to the people of Chicago.
“I hope they figure something out, because the [#147 service changes] will definitely impact those who stay out past 1 a.m.,” said freshman Liza Massingberd.
Though he acknowledges the lack of funding for the CTA, junior Trevor Currie can’t help but see how this will affect the city of Chicago.
“By reducing their services, the CTA is not only affecting Loyola students, but also many of the citizens of Chicago who live on the North side and who rely on buses as their means of transportation for getting to and from work,” Currie said.
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