More Bus Moves

[jajuan]

There was no Cubs game today.

Yeah I realized later last night that I was actually catching the tail end of them flashing details for tomorrow's game against the Yankees. Lol

[jajuan]

jajuan, all I'm saying is you have no basis for your original claim that North Park's artics get higher mileage than other artics. They may use more of them, simply because they have more of them. But when you average it out on a per-day basis, any individual bus isn't necessarily going to get more mileage than any other bus of the same age. Whether they're running half-full on a 136 or crushed to the doors on a 147 or 156, or comfortably loaded on a 6 or a 14 or whatever, the mileage is going to balance out.Each garage, for the same fleet type, tends to have the same spare ratio, so no garage is going to necessarily run them harder than any other garage. And given the very peak-heavy nature of a lot of North Park's service, a lot of those buses are only running a few hours a day, and many don't leave the garage at all on weekends. So, those buses at North Park get plenty of opportunity to "rest" (really, for the mechanics to do mileage-based inspections and servicing and running repairs and what have you), but on a per-vehicle basis, it's really not any different than any other garage.

And my overall point before you jumped on this I don't know what I'm talking about kick was whether NP racked up higher mileage or 103rd, though I still would say NP, NP artics have in fact racked up a significant mileage through their use on the express runs over the years and because of the higher probability of seeing them used on a local route than you do overall among the other artic garages. And that's what buses 79th street riders have to contend with now that they're not riding newer artics anymore regardless if you wish to acknowledge that or not. Thank you. And though I didn't make the case initially while making that point that NP is over stacked with artics I acknowledged that I was one who had made that point since you brought it up in a rather flippant and snide tone that a few of us made that point and reiterated my reasons for believing that to be the case.

[jajuan]

Looks like 77th still has a straggler or two among the 4300s. I saw 4346 coming of ghd Drive at Belmont signed as being not in service with a 77th run number for the 8 Halsted.

[garmon757]

Looks like 77th still has a straggler or two among the 4300s. I saw 4346 coming of ghd Drive at Belmont signed as being not in service with a 77th run number for the 8 Halsted.

I've checked the bus tracker and no sign of any 4300s on #8. #151 all 1000s this morning??? #156 have some trips ending at Fullerton???

[Busjack]

I've checked the bus tracker and no sign of any 4300s on #8. #151 all 1000s this morning??? #156 have some trips ending at Fullerton???

No, but he said Belmont, and all 156 trips end there, either Belmont-Halsted, or Belmont directly back on LSD on a deadhead.

[garmon757]

No, but he said Belmont, and all 156 trips end there, either Belmont-Halsted, or Belmont directly back on LSD on a deadhead.

Well, quite frankly this what it's showing on the app I'm using.

[Guest ctafan630]

No, but he said Belmont, and all 156 trips end there, either Belmont-Halsted, or Belmont directly back on LSD on a deadhead.

In the AM the northbound 156 buses end at either Belmont and Halsted or Fullerton and Stockton.

In the PM, the northbound 156 buses either at Belmont and Sheridan or Belmont and Halsted.

[BusHunter]

#4346 has already been at NP. I saw it on the #146 a week ago whether it went back for a loan I don't know.

[Busjack]

In the AM the northbound 156 buses end at either Belmont and Halsted or Fullerton and Stockton.

In the PM, the northbound 156 buses either at Belmont and Sheridan or Belmont and Halsted.

I got the two time periods confused.

[garmon757]

#4346 has already been at NP. I saw it on the #146 a week ago whether it went back for a loan I don't know.

Yeah it's crazy how that bus just came off the "disabled list" from 77th and then transitioned to North Park in less than a month.

[Sam92]

I've checked the bus tracker and no sign of any 4300s on #8. #151 all 1000s this morning??? #156 have some trips ending at Fullerton???

About #1000's on 151.... Artics don't come onto that route until near the end of AM rush/when the Belmont trips start.

[Busjack]

Yeah it's crazy how that bus just came off the "disabled list" from 77th and then transitioned to North Park in less than a month.

Question whether it is a NP, since 156 and most Belmont 151 trips are usually Kedzie. Jajuan said that it had a 7 run number. Maybe it really was an 8 starting a trip at Waveland, and you confused the issue.

[garmon757]

Question whether it is a NP, since 156 and most Belmont 151 trips are usually Kedzie. Jajuan said that it had a 7 run number. Maybe it really was an 8 starting a trip at Waveland, and you confused the issue.

I don't see how it was #8 if I've checked the whole entire route on the bus tracker but it was a no show. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not calling him a liar but it had transitioned to North Park less than a month after it went back in service. Also, it couldn't possibly be a ghost bus.

[Busjack]

I don't see how it was #8 if I've checked the whole entire route on the bus tracker but it was a no show. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not calling him a liar but it had transitioned to North Park less than a month after it went back in service. Also, it couldn't possibly be a ghost bus.

jajuan only said that it had a 7 run number, not a destination sign, so it certainly could have been a ghost bus.

Also, unlike Pace, any CTA bus not on the route punched into the Clever Device (such as on a detour) is a ghost bus.

[garmon757]

jajuan only said that it had a 7 run number, not a destination sign, so it certainly could have been a ghost bus.

Also, unlike Pace, any CTA bus not on the route punched into the Clever Device (such as on a detour) is a ghost bus.

I have to disagree with that because a driver can be logged on and still not be on the bus tracker. Like last night when I was waiting for #77 and it said it was coming in 15 minutes but one came less than 5 minutes and the driver was "On Route".

[Busjack]

I have to disagree with that because a driver can be logged on and still not be on the bus tracker. Like last night when I was waiting for #77 and it said it was coming in 15 minutes but one came less than 5 minutes and the driver was "On Route".

You seem to be saying the opposite of what I was. Maybe you don't get the definition of "ghost bus," which, at least here, is a bus that is out there but not on a tracker. All you indicate is that there are numerous causes for ghost buses, including yesterday's technical glitch, whatever it was.

[garmon757]

You seem to be saying the opposite of what I was. Maybe you don't get the definition of "ghost bus," which, at least here, is a bus that is out there but not on a tracker. All you indicate is that there are numerous causes for ghost buses, including yesterday's technical glitch, whatever it was.

I know what it is mate every since it was brought up in previous forums. Come on now, I'm not stupid.

[BusHunter]

I have to disagree with that because a driver can be logged on and still not be on the bus tracker. Like last night when I was waiting for #77 and it said it was coming in 15 minutes but one came less than 5 minutes and the driver was "On Route".

Probably was #6721. I went out last night after seeing #4398 was still on Belmont looking for a possible picture opportunity from the west end. The arrow on the tracker at Cumberland was pointing south so it appeared it was coming back east. (it was in the terminal) So I see a bus coming east thinking it's #4398 cause it was at the terminal. Here it is #6721 a ghost bus. It said the next bus was like 30-45 minutes. So i missed my photo opp by like 15 minutes. Damn!! But wouldn't it be a $hit if #6721 was tracking as #4398!! Cause it was in the same spot, but it could've been a night car pullout. I guess I need to see if FG pulls out buses on the #77 at 11:30 at night.

[ChicagoNova]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm looking at #79 79th on the Bus Tracker right now, & I don't seem to see anymore 4300s on that route; just the 4000 Series artics.

[TripleTransit1]

You seem to be saying the opposite of what I was. Maybe you don't get the definition of "ghost bus," which, at least here, is a bus that is out there but not on a tracker. All you indicate is that there are numerous causes for ghost buses, including yesterday's technical glitch, whatever it was.

That's what ghost buses are? I thought they were in-service buses that had 1 or 2 people on it.

[Busjack]

That's what ghost buses are? I thought they were in-service buses that had 1 or 2 people on it.

No, that's called "inefficiency" or maybe Pace North Shore.

[jajuan]

Whooooaa. I didn't think my offhand sighting this morning would cause such a ruckus. To clear things up, yes as Busjack pointed out I did say I physically spotted 4346 coming off a Lake Shore Drive deadhead, signed as "NOT IN SERVICE", and displaying a #8 Halsted run number in its run box, 7875 to be exact. I never said I spotted the bus in service as Jack was apt to catch on to, but from past experience whenever I did see a bus come off that LSD deadhead with run number 7875, it has always been a bus known to be on 77th's roster at the time and did in fact run along Belmont to Halsted and up Halsted to Waveland to become one of those extra southbound #8 buses that that route needs during the morning rush which is in part why I remembered the run number in question was a #8 Halsted run number. I did a double take when I saw it because in fact I too remember seeing 4346 as late as last week doing runs on NP's usual routes you're likely to see an articulated bus in service. Now I admit, I very likely misspoke when I called it a 77th straggler because I still had a few sleepy cobwebs on the brain due to it being quite early in the morning still when I spotted 4346. Plus I was trying to record my sighting on the forum quickly while I still had the details fresh in my memory (one of the advantages of having a smartphone handy ). So in that regard BusHunter is right that the better explanation is that the bus was likely a loan. And Jack's thought that it could have been a ghost bus along with my own that the bus was on its way to become a rush hour extra could both explain why no one was able to pick up 4346 on BusTracker in service on the #8 if in fact it did go into service on that route.

[wordguy]

jajuan, all I'm saying is you have no basis for your original claim that North Park's artics get higher mileage than other artics. They may use more of them, simply because they have more of them. But when you average it out on a per-day basis, any individual bus isn't necessarily going to get more mileage than any other bus of the same age. Whether they're running half-full on a 136 or crushed to the doors on a 147 or 156, or comfortably loaded on a 6 or a 14 or whatever, the mileage is going to balance out.

Each garage, for the same fleet type, tends to have the same spare ratio, so no garage is going to necessarily run them harder than any other garage. And given the very peak-heavy nature of a lot of North Park's service, a lot of those buses are only running a few hours a day, and many don't leave the garage at all on weekends. So, those buses at North Park get plenty of opportunity to "rest" (really, for the mechanics to do mileage-based inspections and servicing and running repairs and what have you), but on a per-vehicle basis, it's really not any different than any other garage.

See Tea Eh, your analysis of day-to-day operations is really spot-on. (I was a CTA bus pilot myself in the late-60s into the early 70s, but I had never thought about examining bus operations as thoroughly as you've just done).

Still, I share Jajuan's skepticism in regard to overall mileage balance among the garages. I particularly get the sense that Kedzie's artics are under-utilized. Kedzie seems to have the same level of peak-heavy service as North Park, perhaps even more so. The 64 artics assigned to Kedzie serve only two routes on weekends: #12 and #151 only to Belmont. (I realize that both barns also fill weekend L shuttle runs).

My basic question is this: Why have so many artics been swapped in recent weeks if overall mileage balance isn't the issue? I'd also like to add an historical spin. During the short service lives of the ill-fated NABI artics, there were a number of even trades between Kedzie and North Park. A much smaller number of NABIs was also swapped between 77th and North Park --- and later swapped back.

So again, what would have been the purpose of these trades other than evening out mileage imbalance?

[andrethebusman]

Last couple of days Clever Devices has been very poorly functioning. Yesterday it would not take any run number at all at Forest Glen, always defaulted to manual mode. Today seems back to normal. Last week would not recognize badge numbers, saying "please log in" while the announcement and even schedule adherence parts worked fine. Seems like with the adding of Ventra to the system, things have gotten all fouled up and they are still trying to straighten it out.

[ArcherRider]

Is Chicago Garage short on bus because saw 1227 and 6604 on #20 and 1400 on #65 this morning on bustracker.