36 Broadway to Congress

[artthouwill]

One day I observed three 36 Broadway buses whose destination was Congress. Bus 1 heading south on State turned west at Congress. Bus 2 heading south on State turned west on Harrison. Bus 3 heading south on State turned west on Van Buren. What gives?

[jajuan]

One day I observed three 36 Broadway buses whose destination was Congress. Bus 1 heading south on State turned west at Congress. Bus 2 heading south on State turned west on Harrison. Bus 3 heading south on State turned west on Van Buren. What gives?

Last year, the daytime (before 10:30pm, the after 10:30 Harrison/Desplaines terminus still the same) south terminus for the 36 was changed to Harrison/Wells. Originally the route terminated in a loop via Congress, Wells, Harrison to start NB at Dearborn. Within the last week or two, that was changed to SB turning onto Van Buren to Wells instead of Congress.

[santran]

At the begining of the winter pick 12/28, all 36 runs are to go to Wells via Van Buren and terminate at Harrison. The late night trips would then turn right at Harrison to the 156 terminal. Before this pick no set route was official, I used Congress sometimes and Van Buren others.

[jajuan]

At the begining of the winter pick 12/28, all 36 runs are to go to Wells via Van Buren and terminate at Harrison. The late night trips would then turn right at Harrison to the 156 terminal. Before this pick no set route was official, I used Congress sometimes and Van Buren others.

Apparently some operators were not following this up to a couple weeks ago when I noticed the Van Buren routing. Some of the day buses were still turning at Congress to Wells/Harrison and others were turning at Van Buren. I now have been seeing just about all turn at Van Buren now for the day and earlier evening trips within the last couple weeks which is why I thought the current routing was official starting this month. Even noticed one or two operators make too wide a turn and almost get stuck in the turn behind parked cars on the library side of the street.

[cta_44499_FG]

Apparently some operators were not following this up to a couple weeks ago when I noticed the Van Buren routing. Some of the day buses were still turning at Congress to Wells/Harrison and others were turning at Van Buren. I now have been seeing just about all turn at Van Buren now for the day and earlier evening trips within the last couple weeks which is why I thought the current routing was official starting this month. Even noticed one or two operators make too wide a turn and almost get stuck in the turn behind parked cars on the library side of the street.

That Van Buren turn is quite interesting...if you don't do it "right" you will either come close to parked cars or almost hitting the 'L' beam.....even more fun is trying to get your space to swing out when cars are at the light with you.

Typical of motorists...they will always be in the way and 90% of them will act is though they don't know what you're doing. If only it were illegal to disrupt the movements of a bus... :P

[Buslover88]

That Van Buren turn is quite interesting...if you don't do it "right" you will either come close to parked cars or almost hitting the 'L' beam.....even more fun is trying to get your space to swing out when cars are at the light with you.

Typical of motorists...they will always be in the way and 90% of them will act is though they don't know what you're doing. If only it were illegal to disrupt the movements of a bus...

I can understand your pain on that. My school bus driver has to deal with this everyday (but she always gets through them because she's a very skilled driver).

[Busjack]

I can understand your pain on that. My school bus driver has to deal with this everyday (but she always gets through them because she's a very skilled driver).

I'm somewhat surprised that they would schedule turns there given the narrow clearance (also at State & Lake, for 146, especially since they could use Wacker).

Nonetheless, Van Buren is the official turn on the Feb 1, 2009 schedule.

[cta_44499_FG]

I'm somewhat surprised that they would schedule turns there given the narrow clearance (also at State & Lake, for 146, especially since they could use Wacker).

Nonetheless, Van Buren is the official turn on the Feb 1, 2009 schedule.

The reason for this is because sometime later this year, the left-turn at Congress and Wells will become a NO LEFT TURN intersection.

The other reason also is that Van Buren has service stops, whereas Congress does not...and therefore we can provide service to people traveling to , forsay, the LaSalle St Metra station.

A little birdy told me. :rolleyes:

[jajuan]

The reason for this is because sometime later this year, the left-turn at Congress and Wells will become a NO LEFT TURN intersection.

The other reason also is that Van Buren has service stops, whereas Congress does not...and therefore we can provide service to people traveling to , forsay, the LaSalle St Metra station.

A little birdy told me.

That makes sense. As for the turn at State and Lake for the 144, 145, 146 and 148, the clearance problem isn't really as bad as State onto Van Buren as evidenced by articulated buses turning there with little problems. There aren't the issues with parked cars on Lake as there is on Van Buren. Since there are buses now turning onto Van Buren, perhaps the last two or three parking spots could be made no parking zones to leave clearance space for the buses now turning there as done for the SB 91 turning from Fillmore or was done for the 92 when it still operated on Kenmore from Berwyn.

[T8H5307A]

Since there are buses now turning onto Van Buren, perhaps the last two or three parking spots could be made no parking zones to leave clearance space for the buses now turning there

Have the city jack up the parking meter rates for those parking spots... $18/15 mins!

[cta_44499_FG]

There aren't the issues with parked cars on Lake as there is on Van Buren. Since there are buses now turning onto Van Buren, perhaps the last two or three parking spots could be made no parking zones to leave clearance space for the buses now turning there as done for the SB 91 turning from Fillmore or was done for the 92 when it still operated on Kenmore from Berwyn.

This is not entirely true, the problem with State and Lake is with ILLEGALLY parked cars. I've been in situations before where the turn onto Lake off of State could turn into trouble if I did not swing out the bus further than usual, either because someone had illegally parked right off the northeast corner, or they were sitting there with the flashers on and felt they were too important to move.

I've encountered similar problems on the Fillmore, Mason, Roosevelt, Austin turn where cars were parked illegally right off the corner. I remember one night I was working the 91 and I was forced to go down to Mayfield because 2 vehicles were parked in the middle of the street parallel to each other barring all traffic!

Perhaps this is time for CTA to get cracking on having cameras on the buses that can issue tickets to these pinheads that think they don't have to obey the laws. A cop can't be everywhere! :blink:

[jajuan]

This is not entirely true, the problem with State and Lake is with ILLEGALLY parked cars. I've been in situations before where the turn onto Lake off of State could turn into trouble if I did not swing out the bus further than usual, either because someone had illegally parked right off the northeast corner, or they were sitting there with the flashers on and felt they were too important to move.

I've encountered similar problems on the Fillmore, Mason, Roosevelt, Austin turn where cars were parked illegally right off the corner. I remember one night I was working the 91 and I was forced to go down to Mayfield because 2 vehicles were parked in the middle of the street parallel to each other barring all traffic!

Perhaps this is time for CTA to get cracking on having cameras on the buses that can issue tickets to these pinheads that think they don't have to obey the laws. A cop can't be everywhere!

Ok maybe I'm just not riding a bus through the State and Lake turn when it's a problem. Each time I ride one of the routes that use that turn, the drivers don't seem to need to swing the bus out further than normally needed to make the turn. The bus just makes the turn and everyone is off on our merry way. After thinking about it though, the 91 is more the one where I don't understand using the routing as currently configured because of how narrow Fillmore and Mason are.