VALPARAISO | In response to requests from riders of the new ChicaGo Dash, the city's Board of Public Works and Safety voted Thursday to approve adding a Saturday service and a monthly pass.

Stuart Summers, executive director of the city's Redevelopment Commission, told the board the Chicago Cultural Express service will begin Saturday and run through Dec. 27. The fare will be the same as the weekday express commuter run of $7.50 each way. The bus will leave at 9 a.m. from Village Station next to the Franklin House at Lincolnway and Campbell Street.

Once downtown, the bus will stop at the museum campus, Millennium Park and Water Tower Place. The return bus will depart from Water Tower Place at 5 p.m. and make stops at the other two locations downtown before returning to Village Station, arriving about 7.

Ridership on the weekday commuter service is up to about 30 a day with a high of 33 on Monday. Summers said the monthly pass is designed for the convenience of those who ride at least four times a week. The fee is $240, and riders must pick a departure and return time for the entire month to guarantee a seat.

"If a customer's schedule changes -- say the boss made him work late and he needs the late bus instead of the early bus -- we will honor the monthly pass but only on a space-available basis," Summers said in a report to the board. "If the customer wants a guaranteed space on another bus, he would have to buy a separate one-way pass.

"By offering a monthly pass, we can forecast seating needs, reduce credit card fees and simplify the ticket procurement process for these regular customers," he said.

The ChicaGo Dash is subsidized by a Federal Transportation Administration grant under the congestion mitigation and air quality program. The grant covers up to 80 percent of the operating costs for the first three years. The remaining cost is covered by fares and by funds from the Redevelopment Commission. The service started about a month ago.

The service was established with the goals of fostering a transit oriented development around the Village Station with a mix of residential and commercial uses and of providing a commuter system to link area residents with good-paying jobs in Chicago. Two buses now operate, one leaving Village Station at 5:45 a.m. and the other at 6:15 a.m. They make three stops in Chicago's Loop.