Valparaiso to Chicago express not quite a dash, but fast enough

BY KEITH BENMAN, Times of Northwest Indiana
kbenman@nwitimes.com

VALPARAISO | Tim Harmsen arrived 14 minutes late but apparently was satisfied at his Loop destination Monday morning.

MORE: View a slideshow of the first day of service.

"It's more comfortable than the train and more affordable than a car," he said as he debarked the ChicaGo Dash bus at the intersection of Chicago's Wacker Avenue and LaSalle Street.

Harmsen was one of a dozen riders who embarked at 5:45 a.m. on the ChicaGo Dash's maiden run from Valparaiso's Franklin House, paying the standard one-way $7.50 fare for the privilege.

Valparaiso officials have high hopes the express bus service will receive enough use to support the service itself and a proposed extension of the South Shore commuter railroad.

"In three years, we'll have a train," Valparaiso Redevelopment Commission Executive Director Stu Summers predicted.

Summers stood with a smattering of local officials in the early morning darkness at the Franklin House to see off the first riders.

With Wi-Fi connections, power outlets and overhead televisions, the bus has amenities the South Shore lacks. The buses seat 54 riders each.

The 110-space parking lot at the Franklin House was finished in the nick of time for the bus service. It was funded with a $1.86 million grant from the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority.

The buses and drivers are being leased from The Free Enterprise System, a bus company based in Jeffersonville, Ind.

In the early morning darkness Monday, riders such as banker Gail Karjaka were carefully weighing the advantages and disadvantages of the bus.

"It wasn't bad," Karjaka said just before debarking at Congress Avenue. "It was good. Unfortunately, it takes the same route I do, so you meet up with the same traffic."

Karjaka estimated she could save $3,000 per year by paying the $15 round trip bus fare every day as opposed to the $30 per day she usually pays in tolls, gas and parking.

"See you all tomorrow," Karjaka said Monday as she got off the bus to connect with a shuttle provided by her bank.

In addition to the 5:45 a.m. departure, a second bus departs the Franklin House at 6:15 a.m. Evening departures from the three Loop stops start at 4:35 p.m. from Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street. The last departure time is 5:50 p.m. from Congress Avenue and Financial.

Monday's ride had some glitches in what Valparaiso officials billed as a "soft opening" for the service.

Reading lights on the left side of the bus did not work, and a ticket kiosk at the Franklin House had software problems resulting in free rides for two 6:15 a.m. passengers.