Metra is asking for input from riders that will be used to craft new schedules as service is reimagined following the COVID-19 pandemic.
Riders of all 11 Metra lines are encouraged to take a brief survey at metra.com/survey that will be used to guide future schedule changes and upgrades. The survey asks questions about customers’ riding habits, including their origin and destination stations, their usual trains, their preferred arrival times in the morning, preferred departure times in the evening and their use of any connecting service. It also asks them to identify the most important scheduling feature that Metra could address to improve their experience and contains room for them to provide any general comments. The survey will close Aug. 5.
“This survey will help us create schedules that do the best job possible of meeting the changing needs of My Metra riders following the pandemic,” said Metra CEO/Executive Director Jim Derwinski. “We promise that we will consider every suggestion; however, we cannot promise that we can accommodate every one of them.”
Metra cut back its schedules to about half of normal in response to a precipitous drop in ridership in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, it has been restoring and adjusting schedules line by line depending on a variety of factors, including ridership, rider feedback and the availability of manpower. This survey will help inform future scheduling decisions as Metra adapts to post-pandemic travel patterns.
The schedule changes have been guided by the following principles: provide consistent and frequent service throughout the day; create easily understandable and memorable service patterns; implement new express service, when possible, in the peak travel periods; explore reverse-commute and new ridership markets; promote regional equity and create transfer opportunities within Metra and with other transit services.