Chicago49xxx

I was just having this same discussion with some more operators earlier today. There are many factors that come into play. As for careless operators while that are some careless operators out there. Driver fatigue is part of the reason. CTA is overworking there remaining employees to compensate for the layoffs. You have some operators, including myself who are working 3 and even 4 streets in a single run. Operators should never work more than 2 streets on a run in my opinion. We are not machines we get tired and frustrated like everyone else does. This is not the job that you need to let your guard down even for a second. The motoring public needs to also slow down and be patient. I cannot count the times that i have almost hit other vehicles because they don't wanna get stuck behind the bus. They will literally risk there own life to beat a bus. Someone should be out here enforcing the rules keeping cars and other vehicles out of the bus stop and writing tickets for those who disobey. I am surprised that no one has gotten killed from these accidents. With that said im not saying that all operators are tired or that all motorist dont know how to drive. This problem will get worse unless both operators and the motoring public respect the bus.

Chicago is also picking up the 54B

I'm not sure what that one to the left is used for but the one to the right is a accessory outlet just like the one in your car. Many operators use it to charge their cell phones.

I really don't know if there poor maintenance on CTAs part or if they are really modifying these buses to run slower. It is a pain to operate a slow bus. I did a couple of transfers to the south shops from Chicago i was reading some of the maintenance papers in the mechanics office and i found out that a lot of the problems for our slow buses is a blown turbocharger. Their is a different sound between a bus with a working turbocharger and one without one. 1037 1352 1345 1320 are some that are slow 1333 has a problem with the brakes releasing it takes about 5 seconds before the bus starts rolling when coming from a complete stop. Bus 1335 sounds like the bus only has 1 long gear its sounds like this bus never shifts gears. Also has anyone notice how some of the 19s and 20s seem to smoke excessively? I've seen some brand new flyers that smoke way more than any 5300 did. The entire drive-train on all flyers is under warranty for 6 years. I think the CTA are screwing up these buses or just doing enough work to get the bus rolling again without doing a complete repair job. Just my .02

Not to mention chicago now has 2025-2029. I dont know yet what we sent away.

I must agree this is one of the biggest issues i have on the bus especially on the 53 and the 20. The sign and the bus tells them pulaski to erie or madison to pulaski. I mean do they expect us to hold there hand and tell them every little thing??? It only takes 5 seconds to read the sign and if in doubt simply ask. Another thing that gets me is just becasue i operate a bus im reponsible for knowing all the streets and adresses in the city. I cant count how many times someone has given me a specific address and when i tell them i dont know they look at me all crazy. The last thing the really gets me is when people get on ask me to let them know when we get to such and such stop on a packed bus. Im doing 100 other things the last thing i am thinking about is your stop. I agree that people need to do there share and stop blaming operators. Lastly id like to hear your opinion on when your at a stop light and the bus stop is across the street but passengers want to get off on that side do you let them out on that side or the side the bus stop is on. Personally i only let them out at the bus stop but that hasnt stopped people from pulling the cherry to get off on that side. I'm not real sure on how to stop people from doing that...

Actually there is a difference starting with 1430 i dont know if its a completely different engine but it has something to do with the ep standards for the 2007 and up diesel engines the ones we have at chicago jerk when taking off i had a number of people who almost fell on my bus from leaving a service stop and if you notice the exhaust pipe on the 1430s and 1440s looks as if it was brand new on the inside its not covered with soot or anything while 1000-1429 the inside of the exhaust pipe is black maybe the cta ordered a couple like this to test them out

Thats an interesting topic since i drive new flyers almost everyday out of chicago. I would say the our mechanics at our garage do a fairly good job at maintaining our buses. I think you all need to realize that no bus rides or handles the same even if they are the same series. The other most important thing to note it can vary greatly from operator to operator what they consider to be a bad/defective bus. Ill give a perfect example, i had relieve another operator generally i always ask them how is the bus. He told me i had to fight with the steering wheel. The power steering was going out making it impossible to make left turns. Now to me that's a bus that needs to be taken off the street i called control for a new bus, which is something he should have done before i even got the bus. There are times where i have had bad buses but because im only going one way or its a short trip i just dealt with the problem. A lot of operators either don't report the problem there having with the bus or forget to when pulling in so the mechanic has no ideal there is a defect with the bus unless its major. Just tonight i had got bus 1376 from a operator as soon as i got two blocks down the street i knew the bus had a front suspension problem i not a mechanic nothing but the ride was horrible i was literally bouncing up and down in my seat. He told me it was a good bus. He had to have known something was wrong with the bus but i guess to him it wasn't bad enough to take the bus off the street. I personally think all operators should report the slightest defect so it doesn't become a major issue.

Being an operator out of chicago i have never broke down yet on any series bus out of our garage. The main problem with our flyers is the batteries either they have a short life span or they cant handle the load put on them. Some of them produce a very strong sulfur smell that can be inside and outside the bus. Some of the batteries have even exploded. There is an acceleration difference with our flyers our 10s have a nice speedy take off and most of them do not annouce the route and destination when you open the doors. While our 13s and 14s varies some are very speedy and some are slow but all of them announce the route and destination when the door is opened.

A lot of operators are not to happy about getting these 6000s they feel that there junk but they have to be in better shape than the 5300s

Oh Ok Makes me wonder what are they going to do with the remaining 5300s we have personally id would rather have them trade some 13 or 14s instead of the 10s but it would be nice to drive a 6000

Hey all im a fairly new operator out of Chicago ave and on my way out of the garage i saw 5 to 10 6000s pulling in i spoke to the oprerators so i guess we had a trade with 74th for some of our flyers i dunno if its temp or not