Pace (transit)

Pace Suburban Bus

Parent	Regional Transportation Authority
Founded	1984 (1984)
Headquarters	Arlington Heights, Illinois
Locale	Northeastern Illinois
Service area	Cook, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry, and DuPage Counties
Service type	Transit, Bus, Paratransit
Routes	134
Fleet	733 fixed-route buses 401 Vanpools 11 On Demand services 1,230 Paratransit vehicles 37 Dial-a-Ride services
Daily ridership	81,800 (weekdays, Q1 2025)
Annual ridership	20,085,800 (2024)
Fuel type	CNG, Battery-electric, Diesel, Diesel-Electric Hybrid
Executive Director	Melinda Metzger
Website	www.pacebus.com

Pace Suburban Bus (Pace) is a transit system serving suburban communities in the Chicago metropolitan area. Pace also is the sole paratransit provider in northeastern Illinois, operating one of the largest paratransit services in the United States for riders with disabilities.

Pace is one of the three service boards financially supported by the Regional Transportation Authority. The three service boards, including Pace, Metra, and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), were created by the 1983 RTA Act. The law, in part, unified disparate suburban bus agencies that existed at the time and established the formula that provides funding to the service boards, which make up the transit network in northeastern Illinois.

Today, Pace’s family of services provides transit options for residents living in 274 municipalities located throughout Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. As one of the largest bus providers in North America, Pace covers 3,677 square miles, an area that is about 15 times the size of the City of Chicago, serving approximately 127,000 daily riders.

Pace is headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and the agency is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors, 12 of which are current and former suburban mayors who represent their respective communities in the northeastern Illinois region. The remaining director is the Commissioner of the Chicago Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, who represents the City of Chicago's paratransit riders.

Pace service area

Pace serves the northeastern Illinois region, which includes Cook County (where the City of Chicago is located), as well as the region's collar counties, which include DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. Some of Pace's bus routes also serve parts of Chicago and Northwest Indiana. In some areas, notably Evanston, River Forest, Oak Park, Cicero, and Skokie, both Pace and the CTA provide bus service.

Many of Pace's route terminals are located at CTA rail stations and bus terminals and Metra stations. The CTA and Pace have shared a payment system since 2014 called Ventra. Ventra accounts are required to obtain transfers. In 2015, Metra was added to the Ventra app.

Pace buses generally have longer bus routes than CTA buses. Due to its geographic service area, service is provided by nine operating divisions (see below), as well as under agreements with several municipalities and private operators (school bus and motor coach companies).

Pace services

Fixed Bus Routes

Pace operates fixed bus routes throughout the northeastern Illinois region, covering a vast and diverse area in urban, suburban, and exurban communities. Many Pace bus routes run daily, seven days a week. Other routes run Mondays through Saturdays, only on weekdays, or only during weekday rush hours. For complete information on routes and schedules, visit the Pace website.

Pulse Rapid Transit

Main article: Pace Pulse

To meet riders’ evolving public transportation needs, Pace established a new bus rapid transit service called Pulse, beginning with the launch of the agency’s Pulse Milwaukee Line in 2019.

The Pulse program delivers fast and frequent fixed-route bus service to riders, enhanced on-board amenities, and a streamlined route design in some of the most populated corridors in the region. Pulse continues to grow with new lines being finalized for the southern suburbs of northeastern Illinois.

Pulse Milwaukee Line

On August 11, 2019, Pace officially launched Pulse, a new rapid transit service that began with the Pulse Milwaukee Line. The line operates between the Jefferson Park Transit Center and Golf Mill Shopping Center in the northwest suburbs. The Pulse line overlaps with a part of Pace Route 270, which saw a reduction in service frequency after Pulse Milwaukee began.

Pulse Dempster Line

Pace's second Pulse line, Pulse Dempster, launched in 2023, operating along Dempster Street and serving communities like Evanston, Skokie, and Des Plaines in the northwest suburbs. The line promises to take riders from Evanston to its terminal location at O'Hare International Airport in 50 minutes with buses arriving every 15 minutes thanks to the innovative use of Transit Signal Priority (TSP) technology.

The Pulse Dempster Line inaugural run was on August 13, 2023, with a full launch on October 29, 2023. The route connects to the Chicago "L" with the CTA Purple Line's Davis station and the CTA Yellow Line's Dempster–Skokie station. It also connects to Metra stations at Evanston Davis Street on the Union Pacific North Line and Des Plaines on the Union Pacific Northwest Line.

Priority Corridors for Future Development

Pace is currently developing projects for additional Pulse lines in the southern suburbs, including Pulse Cermak, Pulse Halsted, and Pulse 95th Street. The proposed Pulse Cermak Line is undergoing preliminary design work, including station identification and public outreach.

In addition, major regional corridors, including Harlem, Touhy, Western, and North avenues, are included in Pace’s near-term Pulse priority corridor network. Routing, station locations, and other transit access improvements will be developed in the future. These corridors were selected to build upon existing ridership and provide competitive mobility and connectivity for those living and working along existing and future Pulse lines.

Expressway-based routes

Pace operates many routes on expressways throughout northeastern Illinois. These expressway-based routes allow Pace buses to bypass traffic either on the shoulders of the expressways or in designated flex lanes. Pace partners with the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Tollway to provide express service, providing Pace riders with special benefits without expensive infrastructure projects.

Pace currently operates three expressway-based routes with work underway to add a fourth express bus service along I-290/I-88 that would connect riders in the western suburbs of the region to the City of Chicago.

I-55 Express

Due to a change in Illinois law, Pace implemented bus-on-shoulder service in 2011 along the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) as part of a multi-year demonstration project. In 2014, the Illinois General Assembly and the Illinois Governor enacted legislation that permanently allowed bus-on-shoulder service and expanded the transit option to all expressways and tollways within northeastern Illinois.

Since 2011, Pace has expanded its service along the I-55 corridor several times. Most recently, Pace established a pilot program in August 2024 to expand weekday service along many routes that make up the I-55 Express service. The response from riders has allowed Pace to propose making the service expansion permanent. In fact, service along the I-55 corridor saw a 7.7 percent increase in year-over-year ridership from January 2024 to January 2025.

I-90 Express

Main article: Pace I-90 Express

In December 2016, Pace began offering I-90 Express service along the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90), providing express service between Rosemont Transportation Center and Elgin. The service uses "flex lanes" located along the lefthand side shoulders of the road when traffic congestion slows speeds. Pace coordinates closely with the Illinois Tollway when deciding to use flex lanes, which also are available for regular emergency purposes.

As part of the Illinois Tollway’s Central Tri-State construction project, flex lanes will be constructed along the Tri-State Tollway (I-294), allowing Pace to expand its use of expressway-based routes to more areas in northeastern Illinois.

I-94 Express

In April 2018, Pace launched bus-on-shoulder operations on the Edens Expressway (I-94), serving riders in the northwest suburbs and providing commuters from Chicago and North Shore communities with additional access to reach jobs within the Lake Cook Road corridor.

ADA services

Since 2006, Pace has been responsible for providing regional ADA paratransit service throughout northeastern Illinois, including the region's six counties and the City of Chicago.

Paratransit service is required by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act and is provided for customers whose disability or health condition prevents them from using CTA and/or Pace fixed-route services for some or all of their travel. Trips are only provided at the same times and within the same geographic areas as fixed-route service. Riders with disabilities also have access to other reservation-based services and Pace’s fixed-route service, which includes free fares for ADA certified riders. Pace buses also are completely equipped and accessible to people with disabilities.

In recent years, Pace has introduced an easier trip-planning program for ADA certified riders. The TripCheck mobile app allows riders with disabilities to track rides, and view and cancel reservations without the need to call in advance. It also is available in English, Spanish, and Polish.

Pace also coordinates various dial-a-ride services. Dozens of Pace demand-response programs operate throughout the suburbs of northeastern Illinois, including county-wide services and local dial-a-rides. In most cases, Pace has a financial partnership with a county, city, or township to pay for and operate the service. These demand-response programs have different rules on fares, geographic boundaries, and passenger eligibility.

Vanpool Incentive Program

For more than 30 years, the Pace Vanpool Incentive Program allows a group of commuters to share a van, save money, and travel together to work and reduce the number of vehicles on the road as a result. The program is available to commuters throughout the six counties of northeastern Illinois.

Vanpool riders pay a low monthly fare to Pace based on distance, participant frequency, and group size. Pace offers flexible vanpool fares for hybrid, reduced work weeks, and regular work shifts. Riders can increase their savings by inviting more commuters to join, becoming backup drivers, or applying for a tax-free commuter benefit or employer subsidy.

In 2022, Pace launched a new vanpool alternative, called VanGo, allowing commuters to reserve a van for a day to get to work and travel locations within a defined zone based around train stations in the region. VanGo provides another means for commuters without access to a personal vehicle to travel to and from their jobs from the train station, go out for lunch on breaks, and complete other trips within the defined zone. There are currently four VanGo zones near train stations in Deerfield, Itasca and Rosemont, Lake Forest, and Palatine.

Under the Municipal Vanpool Program, Pace provides a van to a municipality for any public transportation purpose (such as demand response service for senior citizens).

Pace operational structure

Pace owns 12 facilities, including nine bus garages, also called operating divisions, as well as an ADA Paratransit Office in the City of Chicago and its headquarters in Arlington Heights.

In summer 2024, Pace formally opened its South Campus in Markham, Illinois, which includes administrative offices and a state-of-the-art bus acceptance facility for admitting and testing new vehicles to its fleet.

Pace Headquarters in Arlington Heights, Illinois

Operating Division	Garage Location	Areas Served
Fox Valley	North Aurora	Aurora and Naperville areas
Heritage	Plainfield	Will County, Joliet, and southwest suburbs
North	Waukegan	Lake County
North Shore	Evanston	North Cook County and southeast Lake County
Northwest	Des Plaines	Northwest Cook County
River	Elgin	Greater Elgin Area and far western suburbs
South	Markham	South Cook County, South Side of Chicago, and DuPage County
Southwest	Bridgeview	Southwest Cook County and South Side of Chicago
West	Melrose Park	West Cook County and DuPage County

Pace bus fleet

In 2011, Pace received its first diesel-electric hybrid buses from the former Orion Bus Industries. These Orion VII buses were the first buses in the Pace fleet to not be powered directly by diesel. In 2015, Pace received its first fleet of compressed natural gas buses from ElDorado National.

In January 2024, Pace entered its first battery-electric bus into service. The Gillig battery-electric bus primarily operates along Pace Route 381 in the south suburbs.

Pace's first battery-electric bus enters service in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Pace bus #2741 in Crystal Lake, Illinois

Pace bus #20405 at Yorktown Center

Year	Manufacturer & Model	Length	Engine Type	Numbers	Divisions
2006–2010	ENC EZ-Rider II MAX	30 ft (9.1 m)	Diesel	2600–2825 (222 buses)	Fox Valley, Heritage, Highland Park, Northwest, River, Southwest, Village of Niles
2011	ENC EZ-Rider II BRT	32 ft (9.8 m)	Diesel	2826–2829 (4 buses)	Fox Valley
2011	Orion VII	30 ft (9.1 m)	Diesel-electric (Hybrid)	2830–2831 (2 buses)	Highland Park
2013–2015, 2017	MCI D4000CT	40 ft (12 m)	Diesel	6950–6979 (30 buses)	Heritage
2012–2018	ENC Axess BRT	40 ft (12 m)	Diesel	6323–6575 6700–6786 (337 buses)	North, North Shore, Northwest, River, Southwest, West
2015–2020	ENC Axess BRT	40 ft (12 m)	CNG	15500–15520 17500–17571 18500–18510 20500–20505 (108 buses)	South
2020	New Flyer Xcelsior XD40	40 ft (12 m)	Diesel	20400–20485 (85 buses)	West
2021	ENC Axess BRT	30 ft (9.1 m)	Diesel	20300–20322 (23 buses)	Fox Valley
2023	Proterra ZX5 MAX	40ft (12 m)	Electric	N/A (20 buses)	North

• Individual units in a series may be retired or out of service (also, a few units in a mostly retired series might still be operating).
• No buses with fleet numbers ending in 13 (20400–20485 consists of 85 buses, and there is no 20413).
• Some routes operated with paratransit or community vehicles.

External links

• Pace Suburban Bus website