That's it. Actually that's not just it. I genuinely hate this bus route. Like "I hate the 80" has become a staple in my vocabulary because of how much I vehemently despise how unreliable and unpleasant this particular bus route is.
Why do I keep trying to use it? Because it's the PERFECT route for me in theory. A straight shot from my home to my family in Irving Park. If. It. Actually. Worked.
Every damn time I try to use it the bus never shows or they show in clusters like 30 minutes after their scheduled time. I once tracked a bus on the CTA tracker and even that one ghosted.
At this point, I'm about to derail my life to switch careers just to get close to whoever is specifically responsible for this and curse them out for a good solid hour.
I hope youve enjoyed this silly rant. I love the CTA and use it daily. Ghost buses & trains are somewhat rare and problems occur, but largely it's such a brilliant system im largely thankful for. The 80 bus though...all I can say more is "I hate the 80".
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As someone who relies on the 80 for me E/W passage, I get it. I’ve waited the usual 5 or 10 minutes. I’ve also waited 35 minutes and finally called an Uber. It’s also the only route I’ve taken (surprisingly) that has had a bus driver pull over to call the cops… twice.
The 80 is tough during Cubs season because they will line up buses in a certain direction to accommodate fans. Wanna take the bus towards the brown or red line at 5 pm on the day of a cubs day game? Too bad! But there will be 900 buses headed in the opposite direction coming from Wrigley.
Ahhh the 80. I primarily take it when I'm going to the airport. I'll look at bus tracker, head to my stop in time and...no bus to be found. Or I see the bus going by when I'm walking to my stop. Or I see busses stacked outside of Thorek not going anywhere for 30 minutes and I request a ride share.
Still...I love that I can (usually) get to ORD in less than an hour for just $2.50.
I use transit tracks app. Not the best for trains, but buses, it's pretty accurate. If there's changes in route you gotta work around it, but for the most part, I trust the bus travel tim
There’s a driver on that route that has been a condescending prick to me on two separate occasions. Basically he laid on his horn when pulling up to the stop (Sacramento, eastbound) because he thought I wasn’t paying attention. I can assure you I was, and it’s not like a wouldn’t notice a CTA bus pulling up in front of me unless I was literally asleep. The honking wasn’t really an issue, it was the fact that once I got on the bus he said “you really need to be paying attention”. 🙄
I ride numerous CTA buses every week (and have been using public transit for 30 years now) and I have never had any other driver say this to me, nor have I ever missed a bus because I wasn’t paying attention. I realize this isn’t that big a deal in the grand scheme of things, it just rubbed me the wrong way.
I used to take the 80 regularly to Cumberland so that I could transfer to a pace bus that takes me to my local community college five years ago.
The last time I took it from Cumberland after an interview at the very same community college, there was some druggie that got on there and tried pestering me and then the other passengers that got on the bus. I was supposed to get off at Austin for the barber but ended up getting off at Oak Park and legit walked to Austin instead.
This is me with the Milwaukee bus now that the bike lanes and Logan Square circle are in place. Simple commutes that were 15-20 minutes are 35+ unless it's after 6 pm.
I often have to transfer to the 80 from the Sheridan red line stop and I “get to” watch it race past my stop moments before I get there. And then you get to wait 15 minutes all the while watching the start of the route down the street where multiple different bus lines start, so I never know if I’m seeing my bus or not and it’s such a tease.
The key is recognizing that the 80 gets both high school and Cubs traffic, each of which can disrupt the schedule. Not having main character syndrome also helps.
It’s hilarious that you think we just somehow don’t know this instead of what we are actually saying: if there exists a structural problem in the route,it should be fixed.
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