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7239 7240 in service

Anyone able to explain the new end cap differences? Checked around from photos and couldn’t tell any differences.

Fran Spielman column: "Mass transit bailout a sure thing during Springfield fall veto session, [Kam Buckner] says." He's throwing in a surcharge for major entertainment events, basically saying that if you take CTA to Lollapalooza, you may as well pay for it.

140-year-old topic based on the following, perhaps inconsistent posts: Under Pennsylvania: Under TTC, Transit has always been political, from when private parties wanted franchises to put horse car tracks in the streets and elevated tracks over them, and Chicago cops tried to blockade the Northwest Elevated Railroad (now the NSM to Wilson) to keep the company from meeting a deadline in its franchise to commence service), to fights over what agency has the right to regulate the companies, to attempts to collect taxes from receivers in bankruptcy court, to takeovers by public entities, to Chicago with the descent of management from businesspersons and transit professionals to political hacks and preachers, to the current fiscal mess and, in Illinois, transit reform proposal. But... In my view, this is relevant in only two senses: If the discussion is about policy. Stuff like Chicago mayors appointing persons not meeting statutory qualifications or trying to dictate who will be the CTA President involve policy. Policy is implicated, both nin Illinois and Pennsylvania, when transit advocates say "the state should give us $1.5 billion" or "the Commonwealth should give us $250 million," respectively, or service will be cut 40%, but the rubber hits the road, and the state says taxes and fees have to go up, and someone, such as tollway drivers or property sellers, has to pay it. That isn't "political cr--," @Glennwood Road Ent., but your statement quoted first above is. The matter should affect the writer, directly, by analogy, or by inference. This is what I meant by my Chicago Transit Forum comment, @MetroShadow, and not necessarily a restriction onn transit news from elsewhere. That's why I asked why someone who lives in Bermuda has any interest in what a politician from Erie Pa said, and, by inference, was "Republican cr--." I admit I have departed from this occasionally, such as to refute "savants" such as @nitro, who asserted New York soluutions applied in Chicago, when MTA was in fact 52 years behind. Now, that I have clarified my position, back to whether bus 1862 has met its crusher. 🫠

changing out the door control boxes and the non cab partition window as well as get new end caps to match with 7011 and up and other random things updated

It’s not, just simply just a showing of its “regular” (current) routing before next Sunday when all trips will just continue west of Lawndale on 31st to the Komensey/31st terminal.

#8890 and #8920 entered service out of Forest Glen yesterday.

Pages 62 (pdf 76) and 72 (pdf 86) of this year's budget. My 100 number seems to be off. Sounds like up to 200 of them could even get AC motors along with the 3200s. I would guess that that would only happen, though, if for some reason they cannot get more 7000s, but it is budgeted for. Reading the tea leaves, there won't be a 9000 series anytime soon, either (see this thread)--perhaps leading to this last resort move to keep 2600s running longer if needed.

Case in point, WHYY has a good overview.

1200 back at K this morning according to bustracker

Whatever year it was built, UP doesn't want any liability regarding people repainting that Evanston viaduct even if they did it for free. Metra would probably also have to assume liability.

8925 is at 74th.

ABC7: "Work is ramping up on a new CTA train station at State and Lake streets."

saw that same bus on the #91 earlier and guess what……..SAME SOUND as in the video😂😂

Yeah plus Chicago shares the 12 with them during the AM rush. So they basically had to keep enough to handle the 82 being added to the Frequent Network yesterday. Chicago getting more makes sense due to the 53 becoming a part of the Frequent Network and getting the extension to Ford City. 1108 operated on the 53 yesterday as a matter of fact as a first assignment at C. Though NFs running on that route is extremely rare and had been for a few years now long before the count at C dropped to less than 30.

Beach services now done as of this morning based on what's reflected on Bus Tracker. No surprise there since CTA has changed the service over the last couple of years at least to end in August instead of Labor Day and the earlier CPS school starts bringing earlier starts to fall pick. The only remaining summer extra services are the 10, the 130 and midnight service end on the 124 since those are explicitly stated to operate until Labor Day weekend. Not very many of the new updated schedules have been posted yet. Most notably no schedule updates are posted for the following: • the beach service routes reflecting the end of the route extensions to the beach • the four new Frequent Network routes, meaning in the case of the 53 and 82 no reference yet to the extensions to their routing • 53A to show it now starts and ends at the Pulaski Orange Line station instead of 31st/Komensky (also Bus Tracker not yet updated to clip the route at the Orange Line) • 93 to show it now has Sunday service again as of this morning

Dang, first buses I've personally photographed in service to be retired (1678 and 1691, both on Route 60). My photo of 1691 was pretty poor, guess I won't be getting a better one.

Maybe to become Metro Transit buses (and first seen on Mileage Mike) : KSTP: "The Metropolitan Council’s transportation committee unanimously voted to suspend the Northstar Commuter Rail and replace it with an enhanced bus service." Cited very low ridership, and hence high subsidy per rider, and bus could provide midday service.

the production cars have a clear coat on em as 7011 and up don’t.

#1917 is currently on the 74

To be fair, this is the General Transit Discussion, so items like these are allowed. Folks can and should exercise the need to respond (or not).

You hit it right on the nose alongside with the 5000s hydraulic system and propulsion system would be conflicting if were electronically coupled with any other rail series. It can result to suspension and/or brake propulsion failures.

went on route 9

Just saw 8907 making its way to 74th garage. If you see that bus pop up on any of our routes that’s why lol.

I was lucky enough to drive on 294 around the perfect time to come across something unexpected which was mentioned to see otherwise I wouldn’t know lol. I also spotted those two 7200s as well, we’re both lucky

that and and a few other random things that the base order cars have

Oh trust me I really thought 74th was going to get those routes back as well.

7001-7010 are going back to CRRC for upgrades

When I saw these buses, there was no signage. My first thought was the W routes aren't programmed and these were temporary loans .

New bus stop signs for 53/53A, reflecting on the upcoming service changes for 8/17/2025 Photos via Eric LeShon Brown via Facebook https://www.facebook.com/share/p/173CBpC2Tt/?

I'm not sure to what you are referring, but this is a Chicago Transit Forum, and all comments were asking was "what does this have toi do with Chicago?" Nobody here cares who is the CEO of TTC, unless he is the second coming of Alf Savage and is being recruited by Brandon Johnson for a 6-month job running the CTA. Chicagoans know who the named persons were, including that Savage was in charge of TTC and NFTA before CTA. (According to legacy.com, he's not coming back, so so much for that thought.) BTW, speaking of political bull, who by the name of Glennwood posted this? I'm sure that the view of some commonwealth legislator from Erie Pa. is of importance in the Bahamas. Not.

easy fix when it comes to the A/C being out.

...and from where do you think Mass Transit got its story?

Thanks. That's what I originally figured. I guess I missed the shading on the lines.

Delaware Car Rental operates shuttle buses at O'Hare between the economy parking lots and the MMF; it appears this was once split between Delaware and Continental Air Transport, but it appears the latter has dropped out and handed their service to Delaware, including the buses. Delaware has some ElDorados that were delivered to them new, but the majority of the fleet are secondhand from various other operators. I've only ridden in two of Delaware's ElDorados, #3 and #25. #3 is one of the batch delivered new in 2008, and CPTDB Wiki claims #25 is secondhand but doesn't say from who, though this would track as it carries a plain white paint scheme compared to the Chicago flag livery carried by #1-#14, and #25 has different seating than #3 (#25 has cloth seats, while #3 has hard plastic). Both have similar configurations- a large luggage rack with standing room only on the low floor portion, with a few seats in the raised portion in the rear. #3 has a few seats in the front by the driver, on the left side. Aside from #1-#14, the rest are secondhand. I'll include what I managed to take photos of here, along with what information I've gleaned. 1, 3, 9, and 10 are 35 foot EZ Rider II MAX, new to the service in 2008. Two mysteries in plain white; 25 is another 35 foot EZ Rider II MAX, but of unknown history, and 52 is a 40' Gillig BRT of similarly unknown past. Delaware has two more Gillig BRTs from Metro Transit (Minnesota) and Utah Transit Authority (50 and 51, respectively) 44 and 45 were originally operated by Continental Air Transport, but now say they're operated by Delaware. They're both ElDorado Arrivos from the University of Southern California. They're both in original livery with only minor modifications. 47 is ex-Detroit Metro Airport Shuttle, 53 is ex-Boston College Campus Shuttle, and 55 is ex-Norwalk Transit. All three carry their original liveries with the only modifications being the crude removal of the original company's name. I also got this photo of a bus storage area, on the edge of Economy Lot G. 42 is ex-Intercity Transit (un-repainted), and was another bus formerly operated by Continental.

8867 entered service out of Forest Glen on the 92

one might enter service in the PM out of FG, 20 are allegedly going to F.

The buses should all be delivered and in service by now.

A nod back to when the Ravenswood typically had hand-me-downs before the arrival of 3200s/ booming Lakeview ridership bought modernization to the Brown 🤗

They're twice the size of the older unit. I assume by then of the year they'll be ready for service.

#1879 is at SS on the vault lane where buses pull in at. Looks like it may have been towed there to await maintenence. Still has its farebox as well.

2200-series: Two cars have made a comeback to become a member of the heritage fleet, which will soon become limited to only ten cars. Two 2600s were swapped in exchange of those for scrap. Rode by on the yellow line and saw 2232 on a flatbed in the entrance on the west end of the shop awaiting to be unloaded. 2231 is parked in the yard awaiting inspection and maintenance. Credits to confirmed information on a post on Facebook. The locker room cars can now be scrapped 2600-series storage: 2607-08, 2789-90 and more cars visible. Can’t see the numbers 5000-series storage: 5271-5272: unit 5272 will soon be sent to Delaware for repairs as it sustained significant body damage in a incident, the amount is not to exceed more than $591,704.00.

2611-12 2615-16 2621-22 2625-26 2645-46 2649-50 2655-56 2663-64 2667-68 2669-70 2671-72 2675-76 2679-80 2681-82 2683-84 2687-88 2689-90 2699-00 as well, these should be scrapped already along with some 2700s. They’re retiring whatever’s cars are in worst shape regardless of which year. There are newer 2600s that were swapped off the blue line as well as right now that are being stored instead. CTA needs to figure out what to do with besides letting the sit and rot in the yards for over a year just taking up space. Those vandals have tagged every last 2600.

2231 and 2232 have been acquired for CTAs heritage fleet according to a post on Facebook.

In simple terms, were allowed to run ahead at the scheduled time on our run paddles at that particular time point. So for example. On Halsted at Belmont were allowed to run early at the scheduled time point indicated for us and also at 74th Street. I believe certain routes have this implemented into the running time on our paddles system wide. Now to answer your second question about the potential effects on passengers this is where frequency comes in based on overall demand throughout the course of the day. Which is why the control center has been cracking down so much on operators maintaining schedules properly no matter what time of day it is. It's gotten to the point where they're making sure we pull in to the garage at the scheduled time to make sure that the last runs of the evening aren't running ahead of schedule before pulling in. We're pretty much back to pre pandemic guidelines as far as enforcement and tolerance for transit operations. The CTA cut everyone some slack during the pandemic. Here's some examples shown below from 77th. Notice how only certain routes have early time allowance while others don't.

Tribune column: to the effect that the fiscal cliff is not quite as bad, because the state extended the sales tax on out-of-state purchases to include local sales taxes, including those for the RTA. No wonder "your chief financial officer" reports that sales tax receipts exceed budget. Update: Rich Miller column with more elaboration.

They do but I remember stating this years ago that the amount of coverage they have to monitor at certain times of the day is difficult to manage at times. The head manager of supervision will occasionally have supervisors do special checks for upwards of 30 mins to an hour on key routes that have numerous service delays. Normally for the #22 they'll sit at North Ave and Clark and turn buses around to either deadhead NB to the relief point or continue in service NB from North Ave , for the #77 they'll sit between Halsted and the Blue Line, for the #4 they'll sit at 35th/King Dr and or 79th. There's only so much the Control Center can do along with supervision. I'll put quite a bit of the blame on certain operators that bus bunch on purpose behind there leader that is delayed, some operators don't know how to operate the streets properly which then causes more delays. This is what the control center will send to us at times during the course of a work day. We have so much going on 24/7 and there are times when certain individuals aren't team players which in return makes it harder on everyone else.

The control center doesn't seem to do anything with the bus tracking info it already has. Does the control center also know approximately how many people are on a specific bus? because when they are bunched, the first one is always jammed with people & the followers aren't. If they do have approximate numbers, what I wish they would do is instruct the driver of the overcrowded bus to not stop at the actual bus stops, but on the opposite corners, so they just drop off people, speed up that run & let the followers pickup the new passengers.

Here is a #600s delivery and assignment list. Right now it's a wip (last updated 9/1/22) A demo bus came to CTA along with the pilot below both buses tested before delivery started on the order. There would be two different models ordered a model called BE 40 Catalyst, which would be the first 6 buses, followed by the ZX5, (final 17 buses) which is the current model Proterra produces. The former Catalyst and Ecoride brands are no longer being built (Ecoride last year 2015, Catalyst last year 2020) So with this purchase there are 2 different models. Photos of the BE 40 Catalyst demo are below (Photos courtesy of members Mr.NewFlyer1051 for the top photo, Shannon CVPl for the bottom photo) #600 (pilot) delivered 10/19?, first ran in service 3/26/21 on 66 (photos courtesy of member CTA 9537) #601 delivered week of 11/19/19 first ran in service 5/14/21 on 66 #602 delivered week of 11/19/19, first ran in service 3/23/21 on 66 (Both photos courtesy of YoungBusLover) #603 delivered week of 11/19/19, first ran in service 3/25/21 on 66 #604 delivered week of 11/19/19, first ran in service 4/16/21 on 66 (Photos all courtesy of $100KBusOperator) #605 delivered early 1/20, first ran in service 4/2/21 on 66 (Photo courtesy of member $100KBusOperator) Before delivery of the ZX5 Proterras, another demonstrator which was a ZX5 came to CTA around March 2021 and tested (Both Pictures courtesy of member YoungBusLover) #606 (2nd pilot) delivered around 6/6/21, first ran in service 2/4/22 on 66 #607 (2nd pilot) delivered around 6/6/21, first ran in service 2/12/22 on 66 (Both photos courtesy of member YoungBusLover) #608 (2nd pilot) delivered around 6/6/21, first ran in service 2/4/22 on 66 #609 delivered 11/4/21 #610 delivered 11/6/21 #611 delivered 11/6/21 #612 delivered 11/6/21; first ran in service 8/26/22 on the #66 #613 delivered 11/6/21; first ran in service 8/29/22 on the #66 #614 delivered 11/6/21 #615 delivered 11/11/21 #616 delivered 11/11/21 #617 delivered 11/11/21 #618 delivered 11/18/21 #619 delivered 11/18/21; first ran in service 9/1/22 on the #66 #620 delivered 11/18/21 #621 delivered week of 12/3/21 #622 delivered week of 12/3/21

I also remember with the optima 500 series you could turn the headlights on and off as well.