sw4400

Ye Olde Overheat....

I remember these having lots of issues with their lifts later in their lives(not deploying or not retracting fully, causing the bus to be disabled).

Which would make sense, IMO. A VIN on a vehicle is like an SS # for you and me... there's a lot that can be done with it if someone gets it.

I think 8325-8349 are fine, but being vehicles that may need regisTration(state for sure), there might be an impass if some signature of approval is needed from say, FTA for them to be green-lighted and we all know why there(speculation if so)...

It's on assignment, so we'll send in the big guns...

Ok, it's responding....

Why would 7900 be "virtually dead"? I understand it might be used for training for mechanincs, but it's part of the order of 425 Novas from 2014-2016. Are you saying it's just out of service for that purpose or is it essentially gone due to a major mechanical issue that the CTA is not going to return it to service, rather keep it for training purposes?

The jury's still out on where they will go. There's only 25 buses, and Forest Glen can use some, as can 103rd for their owl service. It wouldn't be sensible to split the group(one gets 12 and the other 13), so either one or the other will most likely get these 25 due to be in service in 2019.

Well 22 years is enough time to refine electric buses to make them more stable and operate to an FTA mandate 12-year lifespan with minimal bugs. Right now, there are still some hiccups to iron out with them, 700 was an example of that. A full fleet of buses that may or may not work for a 12-year cycle without being pulled for a major issue would be a gamble right now. By 2040, a fleet of electric buses is feasible, as TA's will order small quantities to use in the meantime, allowing manufacturers to refine their products and make them better when the time comes for a 100% fleet of all-electric buses to be made.

Unless Nova bids on the next order of buses when the CTA puts one out to begin retirement of the New Flyers. As good as all-electric buses are, I can't see the CTA ordering numbers of 300, 400, 500 or even 1,000+ buses anytime in the near future. All-Electric buses are still very new and though they have been ran on CTA streets with 700 and 701 for about 4 years now, until they get closer to the 12-year FTA mandate to see how they handle that level of service in that timeframe, I can't see the CTA doing more than perhaps 100 of them, in the event a total failure should occur.... the CTA would be struggling to maintain service if a number of 25% or greater of the fleet failed. This would be why the Proterra order is only for about 45 buses* total. *=Total may not be fully exercised, as we've seen with procurements in the past.

I think you might've been looking at the wrong area(although I do see the rear vents), @Busjack. Let me highlight what I was referring to... ...it's probably a glare or something, but I'm not sure. Looks like a fan in the image taken.

Depends on their build dates. Like a car, September-December builds are considered next model year vehicles. So if September-December 2017, they'll be 2018 models. September-December 2018 will make them 2019 models. Anything in-between will be 2018 models.

Interesting the layout changes... no more rear window and is that a fan near the back left side or just a glare from the sun or something? It'll be interesting to see the seating decision for them.... the blue seats from 8200-8249 or the cloth inserts like 8250-8324? Also, what garage are these 25 going to?

I would be remiss to say that we really shouldn't call the remaining 25 Novas the 8325-Series just yet. Looking back on history of Flyer D901A from 1983 we had 9800-9974 with 25 more in a separate order. That order could've easily been 9800-9999, instead of 1600-1624. You have 7900-8324, what's to say they don't start these buses at, say 8400-8424... just for example. The theory here is we're basing what the CTA did with the Orion I's which replaced the 4900-Series TMC RTS buses. Difference here was those were temporaries until new buses could be acclimated, these will be around up to 18+ years

That's another reason why Hybrids or Clean Diesel buses will be the mainstay of the CTA roster for the foreseeable future... even when it comes time to retire the 1,030 New Flyer D40LF's in the 2020-2025 timeframe. A Clean Diesel Nova Bus from the last procurement was $500,000/bus, a Hybrid might be about $750,000/bus, maybe a touch more. But $900,000/bus just for 40' buses is a lot, not including the chargers like you alluded to @Busjack. If we went all-electric for 60' buses(which has yet to be tested), it would easily top $1,000,000/bus, maybe even more. Having a small quantity of all-electric buses is fine, but when you start talking hundreds on order, or even 1,000+ of them(in the case of the New Flyers that'll be retired in the next decade), that'll get pricey.