Pace Pulse

Pulse is an express bus service and a purported bus rapid transit^[a] system operated by Pace, a bus and paratransit agency in the Chicago metropolitan area. Pulse lines incorporate some aspects of a bus rapid transit line like transit signal priority, but not others, including no bus lanes.^[3][4][2] For this reason, Pulse is not true BRT, and can be accurately described as BRT creep. There are currently two Pulse lines: the Pulse Milwaukee Line and the Pulse Dempster Line.

Pace Pulse
Pulse Dempster bus at Davis CTA/Metra bus station in Evanston.
Overview
System	Pace bus system
Operator	Pace
Garage	Northwest
Began service	August 11, 2019 (2019-08-11)
Route
Route type	Express bus service Bus rapid transit[a]
Locale	Chicago metropolitan area
Communities served	Milwaukee: Chicago (Jefferson Park, Norwood Park), Niles Dempster: Chicago (O'Hare), Rosemont, Des Plaines, Park Ridge, Niles, Morton Grove, Skokie, Evanston
Start	Milwaukee: Jefferson Park Dempster: O'Hare (Multi-Modal Facility)
End	Milwaukee: Golf Mill Dempster: Davis CTA/Metra
Stations	Milwaukee: 10 Dempster: 17
Route map Legend Dempster Line Davis CTA/Metra Dodge St. Louis Crawford Dempster–Skokie Austin Milwaukee Line Waukegan Golf Mill Harlem Milwaukee (Dempster Line) Dempster (Milwaukee Line) Cumberland Main Western Oakton Dee Harlem Des Plaines Touhy Oakton Devon Lee/Touhy Austin Higgins Central ATS O'Hare Jefferson Park All stations are accessible This diagram: view talk edit ← {{{previous_line}}}  {{{system_nav}}}  {{{next_line}}} →

History

A system of express bus services operated by Pace was proposed as far back as 2014. One line was to run along Milwaukee Avenue from the Jefferson Park Transit Center, serving the Blue Line and the Union Pacific Northwest Line, to the Golf Mill Shopping Center.^[1] Despite delays, the Pulse Milwaukee Line opened on August 11, 2019.^[2][5][6]

Another express bus service was planned to run from O'Hare Airport to Evanston mostly via Dempster Street. The Dempster Line opened on August 13, 2023, at a cost of $10 million; however, buses only ran on Sundays.^{[7][8][9][4][10][11]} Services on the Dempster Line began running daily on October 29, 2023.^{[12][13][14][15]}

Services

Milwaukee Line

Milwaukee Line highlighted in purple

The Milwaukee Line (internally designated as route 100) entirely runs along Pace bus route 270 from the Jefferson Park Transit Center to the Golf Mill Shopping Center. The line primarily travels along Milwaukee Avenue.^[16]

Stations

The entire route is in Cook County, Illinois.

Location	Station[17]	Connections and notes[b][18]
Chicago	Jefferson Park	Chicago "L": ■ Blue Line Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest CTA bus: 56, 68, 81, 81W, 85, 85A, 88, 91, 92 Pace: 225, 226, 270
	Central	CTA bus: 68, 85, 85A Pace: 225, 226
	Austin
	Devon	CTA bus: 86
Niles	Touhy	Pace: 290, 411
Chicago–Niles	Harlem	Pace: 410, 411, 423
Niles	Oakton	Pace: 226, 410, 411
	Main	Pace: 410
	Dempster	Pace Pulse: Dempster Line Pace: 250, 410
	Golf Mill	Pace: 208, 240, 241, 270, 272, 410, 411, 412

Dempster Line

Dempster Line highlighted in purple

The Dempster Line (internally designated as 101) entirely runs along Pace bus route 250 from O'Hare Multi-Modal Facility, which directly connects to O'Hare International Airport via the Airport Transit System, to a station hub on Davis Street in Evanston. The majority of the line travels along Dempster Street.^[8][19][9]

Stations

The entire route is in Cook County, Illinois.

Location	Station[20]	Connections and notes[b][18]
Chicago	O'Hare	ATS to O'Hare Airport Metra: ■ North Central Service (O'Hare Transfer) Pace: 250, 330
Rosemont–Des Plaines	Higgins	Pace: 223W, 223E
Des Plaines	Lee/Touhy	Pace: 221
	Oakton	Pace: 226
	Des Plaines Metra	Metra: ■ Union Pacific Northwest Pace: 208, 209, 226, 230, 234
Des Plaines–Park Ridge	Dee
Park Ridge–Niles	Western
Niles	Cumberland
	Milwaukee	Pace Pulse: Milwaukee Line Pace: 270, 410
Niles–Morton Grove	Harlem	Pace: 410, 423
Morton Grove	Waukegan	Pace: 210
	Austin
Skokie	Dempster–Skokie CTA	Chicago "L": ■ Yellow Line CTA bus: 54A, 97 Pace: 626
	Crawford	Pace: 215
	St. Louis
Evanston	Dodge	CTA bus: 93, 206
	Davis CTA/Metra	Chicago "L": ■ Purple Line (Davis) Metra: ■ Union Pacific North (Evanston Davis Street) CTA bus: 93, 201 Pace: 208, 213, 250

Future

Pace is planning to add two more Pulse lines, both of which will be located in the South Side of Chicago and the south suburbs. One line will mostly run along 95th Street from the Moraine Valley Community College to the Red Line's 95th/Dan Ryan station;^[21] another will mostly run along Halsted Street from Harvey station on the Metra Electric District line to the same Red Line station that the 95th Street Line will end.^{[22][23][24][25][26][27]}

Notes

1. Although Pace promotes its Pulse service as a "rapid transit service," it is missing several key features that a typical BRT system would have, such as dedicated bus lanes.^[1][2] See BRT Standard.
2. The notes column does not include the Pulse line's parallel, local service except in terminal stations. Parallel, local service is highlighted in bold.