On the first weekday since the Chicago Transit Authority implemented its new "de-crowding" initiative -- which includes the elimination of 12 of the city's bus routes -- commuters expressed mixed reactions to the agency's plan on Monday.
The CTA has touted its new initiative as one that will reduce uncomfortably crowded rides on the city's trains and buses and meet the needs of its growing ridership, particularly on high-demand routes.
But the flip side of that is that more than a dozen lower-demand bus routes will either see reduced service or have been cut altogether.
"The routes we're adding service 76 percent of our customers, the routes discontinued 2 percent of customers," CTA spokesman Brian Steele told ABC Chicago of the de-crowding plan.
According to the Chicago Tribune, the Monday morning rush hour was noticeably less crowded on the CTA trains heading into the Loop.
In Lincoln Square, where Brown Line riders told the Chicago Sun-Times they are noticing increased train service, many residents still lamented the loss of the No. 11 Lincoln bus route, which passes through the neighborhood's central shopping area. Despite a spirited defense of the bus line, it will remain one of the casualties of the CTA's new initiative.