#76 Diversey Bus

Number 76 Diversey is a strange creature when it wants to be, primarily when you’re linked to one of the ever so popular transit trackers out there. Now in terms of consistency of service, I cannot say it’s the best. Buses for the most part run between 7 – 10 minutes apart during the commuting hours and everything else is a toss up. There could be busses bunching in packs or buses further apart than your distant relatives that you intentionally make distant. I do like the footrest seat though!
So to get back to the tracker, a bus could be 4 minutes away, then suddenly turns to 17 minutes… are the buses going backwards or did it de-​materialize? I may never know because I’ll grunt my way on foot to my destination. On the other hand if one is 20+ minutes away… it may be right under your nose so keep a look out for the ever so elusive bus and bus tracker that makes the #76 the creature that it is! I do find it nice that the CTA decided to put the stop right outside my building though.

Well, I’ve only been accosted by mormons, this crazy dude that laughed like Sam Kinison, and a handful of people asking for change so that’s not THAT bad, right? No one has thrown up on this bus so far and it only faintly smells of urine. One time the driver even complimented my hair, but another time a driver yelled at me because my Ventra card didn’t work. Actually, my Ventra card never really works and I always get yelled at.

I downgraded the Diversey bus because of additional rudeness by the driver I see on a daily basis. The Ventra scanner was not reading my card, Imagine that! So he proceeded to scold me. I know, I deserve to be scolded for choosing an inferior technology and on top of that for choosing an inferior mode of transportation.
The Diversey bus can go right ahead and kiss my left ass cheek and then right after that move on over and kiss my right ass cheek!

One of the worst bus routes in Chicago. Unfortunately, it’s also my most direct route to work. Too many side street bus stops and schedules that seem to always be off of what bus tracker tells me. And seriously, with shopping areas abound from Sheridan to Harlem; why does bus service start after 6am on the weekend and ends @ 8pm? Even Milwaukee has better service than this.

The Diversey bus is awesomely exciting. One of my favorite past times is taking stealth cell phone photos of bad fashion on the CTA. All of my best specimens have come from the Diversey bus.
Also, the Diversey bus is the only place in Chicago– nay, in THE WORLD– that I’ve been offered drugs at 9:30 in the morning! On a Tuesday! A kid sat down next to me, went, «Psssssst!» and showed me his phone. On it was this message: «Do you smoke weed? BE QUIET! I can sell you some right now.» I thanked him and told him I wasn’t interested, but he told me he gets a lot of new clients that way.

I think this is my favorite bus route of all time, and I definitely get around.
Clean? Check. Nice drivers? Check. Safe from beginning to end of route? Check. No congestion, traffic-​wise and passenger-​wise? Check.
It still gets 4, not 5, stars because, well, it’s the CTA.

I used to take this bus to the Blue Line for work in the morning, which makes your take on whether something is reliable or not really start to matter.
I found the 76 to usually be pretty good and on time. Sometimes it would succumb to bus bunching, which was obviously annoying. Overall though, it was reliable.
Good, reliable, but not excellent.