Riding Pace Suburban Bus route number 600, the Schaumburg Express. The huge area covered by the northwest and west Chicago suburbs of Schaumburg, Arlington Heights, Elk Grove, Rosemont, Rolling Meadows, Des Plaines, Skokie, Park Ridge, Evanston, Golf, Morton Grove, Itasca, Wood Dale, Roselle, Hoffman Estates, Schiller Park, Franklin Park, Elmhurst, Bensenville, Lombard, Oak Brook, South Barrington, Ontarioville, Hanover Park and Elgin are (for a sprawling American suburban area) well-served by Pace's network of local and express bus routes radiating out from these transit centers at Rosemont CTA Blue Line 'L' station, and at the Northwest Transportation Center in Schaumburg, central to its corporate headquarters district and shopping areas surrounding Woodfield Mall.
Buses on routes 221, 222, 223, 230, 234, 284, 325, 326, 600, 606, 610 and 616 serve the Rosemont Transit Center, as well as CTA's Blue Line 'L', and routes 250, 282, 554, 600, 606 and 696 serve the Northwest Transportation Center. Express route 655, now deleted from the system, formerly travelled I-355 from the latter transit center, as did commuter route 699. Also serving the latter are the Schaumburg Shoppers' Shuttle, Soldier Field and Wrigley Field game specials, and the Woodfield "Trolley".
Downtown Chicago commuters make heavy use of route 600, which uses the Northwest (Jane Addams) Tollway / I-90. Buses must also stop at the tollbooths, as can be seen in the video. They of course, have a pass letting them through. Upon arrival of the #600 at the NWTC, a look around the facility. It is severely underused, and poorly designed in many respects. There are far more bus bays than ever get used, it is not where most people in this area want to transfer and/or ride the bus to (that place would be Woodfield Mall, which is in walking distance, but many wide streets and parking lots stand in the way) and though there is a park-and-ride, it is rarely full, except on game days when people cram into the games special routes.
Bus types seen here are low-floor NABI 35- and 40-footers, delivered to Pace in batches of two series, in 1999 and 2003-2005, Orion VIs delivered from 2000-2004, and Eldorado EZ Rider IIs, some purchased in 2009-2010 with stimulus funds.