Thanks to an unresolved dispute between union officials and the CTA, roughly 1,000 employees will lose their jobs and service will be slashed starting Sunday.
Nine express routes will be eliminated entirely (X3, X4, X9, X20, X49, X54, X55, X80 and 53AL). 41 other bus routes won't run as late or start as early; for instance, the 56 Milwaukee Avenue bus runs from 3:40 a.m. to 1:50 a.m., but starting Sunday will only run 4:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m.
Service on the L will also be limited. There will be an additional few minutes between trains throughout the day.
CTA president Richard Rodriguez blamed labor's stubbornness for the cuts.
"We don't want to reduce service or lay off employees," a statement from Rodriguez said. "Unfortunately, the harsh reality is that we don't have the funds we need to maintain our existing service. Our largest labor unions have been unwilling to help us reduce costs."
But Darrell Jackson, of the Amalgamated Transit Union 241, told NBC Chicago that the city has been refusing to negotiate. "In the past, we've always been able to work with CTA management, you know, restructure things and we've never lost anyone," he said, "but this CTA management team is unworkable."
Mayor Daley has urged both sides to go to the negotiating table. But even if the two parties do reach an agreement, service won't return to normal for several weeks, explains the Sun-Times.
For a complete list of service changes, click here.