VALPARAISO | When the city planned to start express commuter bus service to Chicago's Loop last September, Maxine Snyder couldn't wait. Unfortunately, she had to -- for another year.

Problems getting buses and an operator to run the service forced the city to postpone the project. The service, called ChicaGo Dash, now is slated to begin Oct. 6. A "soft" start to give drivers a chance to learn the route and the stops will be done the week of Sept. 29, and Snyder hopes to be one of the volunteers on those buses.

She's been commuting to her accounting job in downtown Chicago for 20 years. She takes the South Shore commuter train most of the time and participated in a van pool for a while. A bus with plush, reclining seats, tray tables, WiFi and computer hookups, satellite TV and a guaranteed seat when you buy a ticket sounds like a vast improvement over both.

"I'm looking forward to the convenience of the bus, and I'm tired of driving back and forth to the train station," Snyder, who lives close to Valparaiso's downtown, said. "I really have been looking forward to it. I checked out the company's buses online, and they look really nice. The South Shore is getting double decker cars, and I don't like those."

Normally, she starts work at 8:30 a.m. and works until 5 p.m. With the buses scheduled to depart the Village Station at Campbell Street and Lincolnway at 5:45 and 6:15 a.m. and leave the Michigan Avenue/Randolph Street stop at 4:35 and 5:20 p.m., she might have to adjust her hours, she said.

Although she usually likes to catch a few last winks of sleep on the morning commute, she said she frequently uses her laptop computer on the train. It's difficult having to actually use her own lap and deal with people going up and down the aisle jostling her as she tries to work.

"It seems to be getting worse the past year with the gas prices up," she said. "People are riding the train that don't know the train etiquette. The cell phone use is out of control. I make a call to my family when I get on, and then I turn it off. I hope the bus seats will provide more of a sound barrier."

The bus tickets are $7.50 each way, which is slightly higher than the cost of a South Shore ticket from the Dune Park station she now uses. However, when she calculated the cost of driving to the station each day and the fact the bus is nonstop, it seemed like the price was right.

"I've overheard other people on the train say they are waiting for the bus," Snyder said. "If the buses are there, people better be there to use them. I'm going to do my best to help this work."