Pace Suburban Bus

Pace Suburban Bus

Parent	Regional Transportation Authority
Founded	1984 (1984)
Headquarters	Arlington Heights, Illinois
Locale	Northeastern Illinois
Service area	Cook, Lake, Will, Kane, McHenry, and DuPage Counties
Service type	Transit bus, Bus rapid transit, Paratransit
Routes	134
Fleet	733 fixed-route buses 401 Vanpools 11 On Demand services 1,230 Paratransit vehicles 37 Dial-a-Ride services1
Daily ridership	81,800 (weekdays, Q4 2025)2
Annual ridership	20,085,800 (2025)3
Fuel type	CNG, Battery-electric, Diesel, Diesel-Electric Hybrid
Executive Director	Melinda Metzger
Website	pacebus.com

Pace Suburban Bus (Pace) is a public transit agency serving suburban communities in the Chicago metropolitan area in Illinois, United States. The agency provides transit services for residents living in 274 municipalities located throughout Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. It is one of the largest suburban transit providers in North America, Pace covers 3,677 square miles and serves approximately 127,000 daily riders.⁴

Pace is the sole public paratransit provider in northeastern Illinois (including services in Chicago), making it one of the largest paratransit services in the United States.⁴ In 2025, Pace reported ridership of approximately 16.4 million, 67% of pre-pandemic ridership levels.⁵

Pace is one of the three service boards financially supported by the Regional Transportation Authority, along with Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA). The RTA was established by the Regional Transportation Authority Act of 1983, which, in part, unified disparate suburban bus agencies that existed at the time and established the formula that provides funding to the service boards, which make up the transit network in northeastern Illinois.⁴

It is headquartered in Arlington Heights, Illinois, and the agency is governed by a 13-member Board of Directors, 12 of whom are current or former suburban mayors who represent their respective communities in the northeastern Illinois region. The remaining director is the Commissioner of the Chicago Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities, who represents the City of Chicago's paratransit riders.⁶

Pace serves the northeastern Illinois region, which includes Cook County (where the City of Chicago is located), as well as the region's collar counties, which include DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties. Some of Pace's bus routes additionally serve parts of Northwest Indiana. In areas such as Evanston, River Forest, Oak Park, Cicero, and Skokie, both Pace and the CTA provide bus service.⁷

Many of Pace's route terminals are located at CTA rail stations, bus terminals, and Metra stations. The CTA and Pace have shared a payment system since 2014 called Ventra. Ventra accounts are required to obtain transfers.⁸ In 2015, Metra was added to the Ventra app.⁹

Pace operates fixed bus routes throughout the northeastern Illinois region, covering urban, suburban, and exurban communities. Many Pace bus routes run daily, seven days a week. Other routes run Mondays through Saturdays, only on weekdays, or only during weekday rush hours.¹⁰

In 2019, Pace established a bus rapid transit service called Pulse, beginning with the launch of the agency's Pulse Milwaukee Line on August 11 of said year.¹¹

The Pulse program delivers frequent fixed-route bus service to riders, enhanced on-board amenities, and a streamlined route design in some of the most populated corridors in the region. New Pulse lines are being finalized for the southern suburbs of the Chicagoland region.¹²

The Pulse Milwaukee Line was opened to the public on August 11, 2019, and was the first line to be affiliated with the Pulse program. The line operates between the Jefferson Park Transit Center and Golf Mill Shopping Center in northwest Illinois. The Pulse line overlaps with a part of Pace Route 270, which saw a reduction in service frequency after Pulse Milwaukee began.¹³

Pace's second Pulse line, Pulse Dempster, launched in 2023, operating along Dempster Street and serving communities like Evanston, Skokie, and Des Plaines. The line goes from Evanston to its terminal location at O'Hare International Airport in 50 minutes, with buses arriving every 15 minutes with the help of Transit Signal Priority (TSP) technology.¹⁴

The Pulse Dempster Line inaugural run took place on August 13, 2023, with a full launch on October 29, 2023.¹⁵ The route connects to the Chicago "L" at the CTA Purple Line's Davis station and the CTA Yellow Line's Dempster–Skokie station. It also connects to Metra stations at Evanston Davis Street on the Union Pacific North Line and Des Plaines on the Union Pacific Northwest Line.

Pace is currently developing projects for additional Pulse lines in the southern suburbs, including Pulse Cermak, Pulse Halsted, and Pulse 95th Street. The proposed Pulse Cermak Line is undergoing preliminary design work, including station identification and public outreach.¹⁶

Major corridors including Harlem, Touhy, Western, and North Avenues are part of the planned Pulse network. These routes were selected to connect existing and future lines.¹²

Pace operates many routes on expressways throughout northeastern Illinois. These expressway-based routes allow Pace buses to bypass traffic either on the shoulders of the expressways or in designated flex lanes. Pace partners with the Illinois Department of Transportation and the Illinois Tollway to provide express service without expensive infrastructure projects.¹⁷

Pace currently operates three expressway-based routes with work underway to add a fourth express bus service along I-290/I-88 that would connect riders in the western suburbs of the region to the City of Chicago.¹⁸

Due to a change in Illinois law, Pace implemented bus-on-shoulder service in 2011 along the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) as part of a multi-year demonstration project. In 2014, the Illinois General Assembly and the Illinois Governor enacted legislation that permanently allowed bus-on-shoulder service and expanded the transit option to all expressways and tollways within northeastern Illinois.¹⁷

Since 2011, Pace has expanded its service along the I-55 corridor several times. The agency additionally established a pilot program in August 2024 to expand weekday service along routes that make up the I-55 Express service. The response from riders has caused Pace to propose making the service expansion permanent.¹⁹ As a result of these expansions, service along the I-55 corridor saw a nearly 8 percent increase in year-over-year ridership from January 2024 to January 2025.²⁰

In December 2016, Pace began offering I-90 Express service along the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway (I-90), providing express service between Rosemont Transportation Center and Elgin. The service uses "flex lanes" located along the lefthand side shoulders of the road when traffic congestion slows speeds. Pace coordinates with the Illinois Tollway when deciding to use flex lanes, which are also used for regular emergency purposes.¹⁷

As part of the Illinois Tollway's Central Tri-State construction project, flex lanes will be constructed along the Tri-State Tollway (I-294), allowing Pace to expand its use of expressway-based routes to more areas in northeastern Illinois.¹⁷

In April 2018, Pace launched bus-on-shoulder operations on the Edens Expressway (I-94), serving riders in the northwest suburbs and providing commuters from Chicago and North Shore communities with additional access to reach destinations within the Lake Cook Road corridor.²¹

In 2006, Pace became responsible for providing paratransit services throughout the Chicagoland region.²² Pace's paratransit services are provided for eligible customers whose conditions prevent them from using CTA and/or Pace fixed-route services for some or all of their travel. Trips are only provided at the same times and within the same geographic areas as fixed-route service. Riders also have access to other reservation-based services and Pace's fixed-route service, which includes free fares for eligible individuals. Pace fixed route buses are also equipped with accessibility features.²³ Several Pace demand-response programs operate throughout the suburbs of northeastern Illinois, including county-wide services and local dial-a-rides. In most cases, Pace has a financial partnership with a county, city, or township to pay for and operate the service. These demand-response programs have different rules on fares, geographic boundaries, and passenger eligibility.²⁴

The Pace Vanpool Incentive Program allows groups of commuters to travel together to destinations and reduce the number of vehicles on the road as a result. The program is available to commuters throughout the six counties of northeastern Illinois.²⁵ Vanpool riders pay a monthly fare to Pace based on distance, participation, and group size. Pace offers flexible fares for various commuting patterns. Riders are also eligible for tax benefits and employer subsidies.²⁵

In 2022, Pace released VanGo, a vanpool alternative that allows commuters to reserve a van for a day to get to work and travel locations within a defined zone based around train stations in the region. VanGo was released with the intent of being used by commuters without access to a personal vehicle to travel to and from their destinations from the train station and complete other trips within the defined zone. There are four VanGo zones near train stations in Deerfield, Itasca and Rosemont, Lake Forest, and Palatine.²⁶

Under the Municipal Vanpool Program, Pace provides a van to a municipality for any public transportation purpose, such as demand response service for senior citizens.²⁷

Pace owns 12 facilities, including nine bus garages (also called operating divisions) as well as a paratransit office in Chicago, along with its headquarters in Arlington Heights.²⁸

In July 2024, Pace formally opened its South Campus in Markham, Illinois, which contains administrative offices and a bus acceptance facility for intaking new vehicles to its fleet.²⁹

Photos	Year	Type	Notes
	2006-2011	EZ-Rider II MAX 30
	2012-2022	ENC Axess BRT series
	2014-2017	MCI D-Series
	2020	New Flyer Xcelsior XD40
	2021	Gillig Low Floor EV 40

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