Pulse Halsted Line

South Halsted Street is Pace’s highest-ridership corridor and has seen among the strongest ridership recovery in a post-COVID world, indicating the importance of public transportation for people living and working along the corridor. A new Pulse line will improve travel times and reliability of bus service for the thousands of current customers and make transit a more attractive option for many more. This project, in conjunction with a new Transportation Center at the Harvey Metra Electric station and the Pulse 95^th Street Line, represents significant investment by Pace to improve transportation in South Cook County.

Pulse provides various improvements over current service including:

Fast, reliable, and frequent service to your favorite destinations
Free Wi-Fi and other amenities on Pulse-branded buses
Modern, heated stations
Real-time next bus arrival information
Faster boarding and improved accessibility at stations
Transit priority treatments including dedicated bus lanes through one of the most congested parts of the corridor
“Queue jumps” that allow buses to skip traffic backups at the most congested intersections
Transit Signal Priority for buses throughout the corridor ensuring reliable service
Improved connections to other transit services

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Pulse Newsletter - Summer-2023

Location

The 8.5 mile project corridor consists of approximately 7.5 miles of South Halsted Street, from the Pace Harvey Transportation Center to 95^th Street, and then continuing east along 95^th Street to connect to the CTA 95^th/Dan Ryan Red Line station. The project corridor serves the communities of Harvey, Phoenix, Calumet Park, Riverdale, Dixmoor and the City of Chicago neighborhoods of West Pullman, Morgan Park, Roseland, and Washington Heights.

PULSE HALSTED LINE MAP

Image of Pulse Halsted map with station locations

Current transit service in the project area is provided by CTA routes #108 and #8A and by Pace routes #348, #350, #352 and #359. Numerous other CTA and Pace bus routes overlap part of the corridor providing connecting services. The corridor also intersects with the Metra Electric Line at the West Pullman and Harvey Stations, and the CTA Red Line 95th/Dan Ryan Stations.

Queue jumps are proposed at select locations along the Pulse Halsted Line they providing buses with the ability to bypass traffic at busy intersections. Queue jumps are short segments of bus lanes paired with special bus-only traffic signals that allow buses to jump ahead of other traffic. Below is a map showing locations of the proposed queue jumps and bus lanes.

Image of the queue jump location map for Pulse Halsted line

Image of coming soon banner for South Halsted Pulse line

Where are we now?

The South Halsted Bus Corridor Enhancement Project was initiated in early 2018 by Pace and CTA to identify and evaluate potential bus service and infrastructure improvements.

In 2019, Pace and CTA moved forward with a more in-depth study of the corridor, refining the proposed improvements. As part of this process, the project followed federal regulations to analyze potential environmental impacts and to seek public input to develop transit services that best fit the local communities. With the help of a Corridor Advisory Group -- consisting of community leaders, elected officials, regional government entities, and transit agencies -- and input from the public, the project team developed and submitted a final plan for bus enhancements for federal review and approval. That plan includes implementation of the Pulse Halsted Line.

In December 2022, the Project reached a milestone as it obtained National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) approval. The NEPA process ensures that environmental impacts are carefully considered and addressed, guaranteeing that the project aligns with federal standards while delivering improved transportation options to these communities.

The Pulse Halsted Line portion of the project corridor was awarded $20 million from the highly competitive federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) Grant program in June 2023. Pace has also been recommended for a Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality (CMAQ) grant from the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), which, if approved, will ensure the project is fully funded.

The project will move into the Final Design phase with construction anticipated to begin in 2025. Pace aims to launch service by 2027.

Image of current Pulse Halsted Timeline in 2023

Learn more about the study process and schedule.

What will happen to my current bus service?

The Pulse Halsted Line improvements are intended to complement current bus services, not replace them. Pace Route 352, which currently serves the corridor, will retain its 24-hour service span, making all current stops. However, service frequencies on Route 352 on the portion between the CTA 95^th/Dan Ryan Red Line station and Harvey Transportation Center may decrease with the addition of Pulse Halsted Line service, which will provide a faster limited stop alternative. Frequencies between Harvey and Chicago Heights will remain. Other bus service in the project area, including CTA routes 108 and 8A and Pace Routes 348, 350, and 359, will also not change. As with all Pace routes, any major schedule changes require a public hearing.