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Evanston Now says Pace told the RTA that it has enough unspent Covid funds that it won't have to cut bus service in 2026. Apparently not so with CTA.

That was confusing because there were both express and limited, but it made no difference if boarding SB on Michigan.

originally, none of the express buses that used Lake Shore drive even had numbers. And I remember when the 76 Diversey & the 152 Addison went all the way downtown, instead of terminating at LAD.

If you want to go into 50 or so year old history, most signs had DOWNTOWN as part of the destination, such as 4 COTTAGE DOWNTOWN or 153 WILSON DOWNTOWN. 153s out of North Park (so assumed because they were Flxibles rather than GMCs) just had 153 DOWNTOWN. Clearly Cottage Grove and Wilson were not streets in the Loop, and 4 had a short reading for 4 WABASH-HARRISON. But people survived without a reading for Garland Court (which @monsieurmétro would have demanded if he were around between about 1920 to 1973, as that was the actual terminal). Presumably, this was because otherwise they would have to splice into roll signs whenever a downtown routing changed. Similarly, around 1973 (7400 series buses), when route names became standard on headsigns, downtown was 153 MICHIGAN CONGRESS and northbound 153 MICHIGAN WILSON [over] RAVENSWOOD. Then, as you noted, it eventually became 145 and 146 MICH EXP. Also, as you implied, today someone can use a trip planner or read the bus stop sign. The main function of the destination sign is to get on the correct bus--not to find the bus to the operator's restroom at the turnabout.

On top of @Busjack's point people that are going somewhere new are most likely using Googlemaps which would show them all the info you're asking to cram into a sign or add unnecessary flips for. The people that need to use 9 to connect with 22 pretty much already know, I don't know how you drew the conclusion you did about 3... Its straight to the point. Serves the Hospital downtown via Michigan and Chicago. Looking up directions to 6600 N Clark shows the Arthur Terminal being served and states you can ride to Arthur. 14 and 147 used to only say "express". 145 and 146 both just said "Mich Exp" and people managed just fine with just a paper map. Anybody that needs THAT much assistance probably shouldn't be travelling without a chaperone to be honest.

You're talkmg maybe 1/2 block, and the only using at Arthur is the operator's washroom, unless someone is crossing midblock to the police station. While there was sign confusion before whether the destination was Devon-Ash or Devon-Clark, what you propose would be WAY more confusing. There's a limit to how much can be put on a sign before it has to flip repeatadly. Also, until 1974, the headsign was 36 BROADWAY-DEVON. As I said before, 99.1% of the riders don't know or care where Ashland-Arhur or Clark-Arthur is. And they are not going there.

Update: As of yesterday, all of 2006 Orion VII HEV #1000-1149 series were retired yesterday. 1064 and 1102 were the last units in service. Rip 2006-2025 Also RIP to the TTC Orion VII first generation era, January 24, 2003 - September 11, 2025.

Went back through C & I just ran across 1000-01 as training buses 20250910_130003.mp4 20250910_130025.mp4

Seeing 77 get more even if it’s temporary makes me happy.

Since the 9 destination signs just said “Irving Park” before, I take that to mean Ashland and Irving Park. For the 151/36 it could say “to Clark/Arthur via Devon” or “to Clark/Arthur via Devon/Clark” perhaps (this is one of the reasons why I’d like to experiment with these sorts of decision in some format). On another note, it annoys me that the buses don’t remove via clauses that are currently being used once the bus in question has passed the place being referred to the via clause. For example, the 3 buses advertise themselves as going to “Northwestern Memorial Hospital via Michigan and Chicago” even after they’ve passed Michigan and Chicago. This makes it seem that the bus is going to loop around a second time by Michigan and Chicago before reaching the hospital (which isn’t the case).

The old 9 layover was close enough to Irving to justify the sign, the main thing people rode all the way there for was to transfer to 22 so at most Irving Pk/Clark would help highlight that connection. 152- Since the bus is already on Addison which is a block south of Waveland no need to change that. Also notice the 8 also terminates at Waveland but uses Broadway (6400s used to use Waveland). 151/36 - Think of it like this.... if the bus is pulling up with a sign that not too many people remember then you'd have people let the bus pass if they're not too confident in it going where they're going while they get on their phones trying to look up where Arthur is.

71 - I agree that Commercial could've worked with it spending the most time of Commercial but there's one minor issue (see 26) 26 - Since the 6 was renamed after the area it serves maybe this is the case, if we're talking streets it does stay on South Shore the longest vs other streets. Personally I wouldn't disagree if they were to be named Commercial but I do know when it comes to talking about the far east side, if I were to tell them I live in South shore then they'd recognize it. However if I name streets majority don't know anything east of Stony unless they're from there

While I personally prefer the buses to advertise their destination in a manner that is consistent with the name of the stop where they terminate, I definitely agree that using names of larger principal streets to increase recognition is absolutely important to consider. The two primary issues I have outside of that is when the advertised destination is not very close to the actual destination (such as the old northern terminal of the 9) or if there are some buses that terminate at the destination and others that don’t (such as the 151/36 and 152 examples I shared above). For the routes (old) 9 people might not understand that they could take it for certain journeys and so might consider other modes of transport due to their false belief about the bus being less convenient than it actually is. The 151/36 and 152 examples represent much more confusing situations because if someone is trying to go to Clark/Arthur or Lake Shore/Waveland, it is impossible to tell whether the bus serves there. While most buses do serve those locations beyond the stated destination, there are many buses that don’t go beyond the stated destination. Does anyone know the dimensions and pixel resolution of the signs in use? It would be interesting to experiment with different sign text formats to best balance readability with information density.

8928 entered service on the 2 out of 77th

Any update on 1902 and 1982

8911 appears to have made its debut on the #79 out of 77th.

Well, back to CTA... 1 could have been something like "1 Central Michigan." The (essentially) Bronzeville to 35th Mich doesn't bother me so much, as it isn't redundant. Streeterville doesn't bother me, thinking back to when 157 was "Ohio" but barely went on Ohio St.. and the destinations are McClurg/Huron or Fairbanks/Chicago. 124 does sort of bother me, although CTA cut "Union-Ogilvie" from its name (now just Navy Pier). To throw one more out there, I'm not sure why 26 and 71 were not also named Commercial Ave. At least they aren't the now meaningless 27 SOUTH DEERING. To get back to a point raised by @monsieurmétro and @Sam92, Devon is justifiable because the buses stop there. Grand-Nordica seems justified by it being 2 blocks short of Harlem. More recently, the question is what the 82 SB sign says, as the notices said 31st-Pulaski, but the schedule brochure says 31st Komensky (where the turnaround is).

You almost answered the question: I'd like to call your attention to the headlights: Gilligs never had them (Low Floors, Phantoms, etc) since they would encapsulate both the front and part of the sides near the door. Orion has, as you mentioned, had the "vertical" from the five, six, and early seven models (until the New Generations came on by). The defense rests. 😅

I certainly agree with you about the Pace connecting Communities thing. I only mentioned that as part of Pace's inconsistencies. The 1 got its name because the line was truncated from both Indiana and Hyde Park so that neither made sense to use Also when the 120 and the 121 got extended, they became Oglivie/Streeterville and Union/ Streeterville respectively

Since we diverged from CTA: Being more used to the CTA grid system (except 1 Bronzeville-Union Station diverges from that), I disagree with Pace's "connecting communities" (as you characterized it) or destination to destination route names because where both atr used (i.e. 832 Joliet-Orland Square/Orland Square) they are redundant. That seems to be more prevalent in the collar cities. On the 208, I recognized the theory that at Old Orchard, Oakton College, and Golf Mill, buses go in both directions, so the EASTBOUND may be useful, but the WESTBOUND was lost when the I-90 express bus system was implemented and 208 WESTBOUND/SCHAUMBURG became 208 SCHAUMBURG /NORTHWST TC (as did 600 and 607). Anyway, my point was EVANSTON was EVANSTON, until Pulse, when it and 250 became DAVIS CTA/DAVIS METRA for the same spot. BTW, Pace West buses seem to show Green Line or Pink Line, while others usually just say CTA, but maybe that's because there are more L lines there, but FOR PK CTA is not signed BLUE LINE.

I care where Arthur is LOL! Seriously, although CTA may be more consistent, they still have some quirks. The 20 Madison goes to Millennium Park but the 56 Milwaukee goes to Michigan and Washington ( the same place). And what's with the signage with the 34 S Michigan going to 95/ Red Line in both directions. The announcements inside the bus do indicate that southbound buses are going to 131st/Ellis. What happened to the Altgeld Gardens destination signs? As for Pace, they were trying to implement route names that emphasizes communities rather than streets. The 303 used to be Madison/19th, but when combined with the 325 it became 303 Rosemont CTA and 303 Forest Park CTA. The 208 used to be Golf Rd. I suppose that at a place like Golf Mill where both eastbound and westbound buses stoo at the same place, it's easier to differentiate the two, especially for seniors who might be coming from the Niles Free Bus . It does seem extreme for one bus stop, but at least seniors don't have to ask which way the 208 is going. The same can be true at Woodfield Mall

My point was "slowly." As I posted earlier, if 7000 and deployed on schedule, 3200s would have already started moving. And even if CTA rstored the status quo before CTA moved 3200s to the Blue Line, Oange would still have about 100 2600s.

To add to @Sam92's post (yes, no one othther than @stricturesknows or cares where Arthur is, nor cares), the manufacturers say that the fonts supplied with the signs are ADA compatible. So, the complaint about supplying condensed fonts should be directed to Hanover. Signs with the wrong direction are on the Clever Device. Obsolete readings and the squish to the left are on CTA. CTA is not entirely consistent on the latter, since some are still full width. Actually, CTA is way more consistent than Pace, which either includes or omits route names, leaves out vowels, uses inconsistent names for the same terminal (i.e. NWTC NORTHWST TC; DAVIS CTA/DAVIS METRA, EASTBOUND/EVANSTON), intermediate stops without "via," and wrong way readings.

Some of these we can SOMEWHAT justify lol. Devon/Clark vs Arthur is a case of the main street being more memorable. Harlem and Devon is a street a lot of everyone either knows of or can find vs Octavia or Nordica which are relatively minor streets that only people that live in those areas would know so we for the most part give CTA a pass on that note. 9 to Irving Park can again fall under the "not too main know where Belle Plane is" situation plus the main point of the route is serving Ashland which basically used Irving to turn around. 6 could have fully spelled out Michigan/Wacker vs Wacker and Columbus because no one's really going all the way to Columbus moreso the 6 just needs a place to turn back. 147 is accurate. ida B Wells is the first and last stop (if you've seen Balbo those were pull ins/deadheads). The opposite destination issue is gonna happen here and there if the gps acts up but for the most part the real issue is the left aligned font. Some of the abbreviations you mentioned sound like they were around during the days when signs couldn't display much but I don't ride 50 that much but I would think that got cleared up along with all the other stuff like Dear/Kinzie and other stuff limited by the 15 character limit.

the plan is to equip the blue line with all 7000’s so if capacity is 380 cars that means they’ll get 380 7000’s and they have 241 (7001-7010 are included even tho they got sent back to CRRC for mods/upgrades/updates) already so 139 more to go but see what line could see the 7000’s next? orange or brown to knock off some of the 2600’s?