Chicago’s Bus Network Gets a New Route for Obama Center Visitors

Starting May 23, anyone heading to the new Obama Presidential Center can skip the transfers and take a direct ride. The CTA’s popular express bus route #10, which usually zooms from downtown to the Museum of Science and Industry, will now stretch an extra mile south to serve the center. What used to be a summer-only service will now run all year, every half hour from morning until evening. Officials expect this change to draw three times as many daily riders—up to 450 people. The route gets a fresh name too: #10 Obama Presidential Center/Museum of Science & Industry Express. It’s a small tweak with big implications. For visitors, it means no more fighting with Metra schedules or juggling multiple buses. For locals, it’s a faster way to reach the Hyde Park neighborhood, home to both the center and the university. But is this really solving a problem, or just another case of public transit playing catch-up with shiny new developments?Right now, six other bus lines already pass near the center, plus two Metra train stops. So why add yet another option? The CTA says demand will triple, but they’ve given no breakdown of where these riders are coming from. Could some be drivers switching to transit, or will this just redistribute existing passengers? Without clearer data, the move feels more like a guess than a calculated improvement. Tickets for the Obama Presidential Center go on sale May 6, with the campus opening June 19. Whether the new route fills up or fades into the background depends on how well people plan—and if the CTA’s ridership math holds up.