New Artics Have Arrived!

[sw4400]

People keep saying that the Olympics will result in a gush of capital money, but no one has pointed the source out, and supposedly the proposal submitted to the IOC said that existing transit infrastructure was adequate

I beg to differ, Busjack... Mayor Failey has gone out of his way to inconvience the citizens of Chicago so he can pool money together for his precious Olympics! Last winter was proof... the side streets were so slick after snow/ice storms that walking on them was a adventure, and driving on them was a nightmare(all the ones I saw looked like a sugary donut... glazed over!). You can bet that the Olympics were a reason to hold off cleaning side streets. Then, the potholes... notice how the Mayor had his crew patching potholes only near were the IOC was going to be at in the early spring? I still see it now.... on the stretch of Addison near my home, the street was "re-paved", so-to-speak. But, the sewers are about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch higher than the streets! leaving motorists to either weave around the sewer lids, or hit them and rattle their cars/trucks a little(it must really be an adventure if you own a bike)... We need a NEW Mayor!!!

[Busjack]

I beg to differ, Busjack...

You know I have nothing much good to say about da Mare, but what does this have to do with the supposed belief that all we need is for the Olympics to come, and capital money that CTA (and now apparently Metra) needs and would not otherwise be available will magically appear?*

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*To which I do not subscribe.

[Guest]

You know I have nothing much good to say about da Mare, but what does this have to do with the supposed belief that all we need is for the Olympics to come, and capital money that CTA (and now apparently Metra) needs and would not otherwise be available will magically appear?*

_______________

*To which I do not subscribe.

Im sick of Daley and his Olympics, thats all he cares about. Im tired of it, Now Oprah is trying to cash in. If anyone saw the Sun Times the other day, the headline, "Oprah-Hagen". This just makes me sick!

[New Flyer]

I agree but if we don't get them I bet you won't see those rail lines exteneded or rail stations remodled, most of which are on the south side where exteneded rail service is way over due.

[sw4400]

You know I have nothing much good to say about da Mare, but what does this have to do with the supposed belief that all we need is for the Olympics to come, and capital money that CTA (and now apparently Metra) needs and would not otherwise be available will magically appear?*

_______________

*To which I do not subscribe.

Probably nothing... probably everything. Who knows with Failey in office! It seems like he's negelcting his citizens of Chicago's needs for these stupid Olympics!!! He said pothole patching would be difficult due to city budget in Spring 2009, but he suddenly was able to patch up that area where the IOC would be at. Where did that money "magically" come from? Why the crappy repaving jobs on the roads? Why are we, the taxpayers, potentially on the hook for the Olympic costs if Failey says that a Earthquake and Tornado hit Chicago(which, given our luck, might happen)I, for one, hope Rio, Tokyo, or Madrid get the 2016 Olympics, just to piss the Mayor off!!! We DO NOT need these games with the city in the state it's in!

[jajuan]

Probably nothing... probably everything. Who knows with Failey in office! It seems like he's negelcting his citizens of Chicago's needs for these stupid Olympics!!! He said pothole patching would be difficult due to city budget in Spring 2009, but he suddenly was able to patch up that area where the IOC would be at. Where did that money "magically" come from? Why the crappy repaving jobs on the roads? Why are we, the taxpayers, potentially on the hook for the Olympic costs if Failey says that a Earthquake and Tornado hit Chicago(which, given our luck, might happen)I, for one, hope Rio, Tokyo, or Madrid get the 2016 Olympics, just to piss the Mayor off!!! We DO NOT need these games with the city in the state it's in!

Ok we have gotten way off topic here. What does anyone's view of the Mayor and the push for the Olympics, pro or con, have to do with the NF artics, this thread's topic? But we should still keep there are different budgets in play. It gets too easy to lose sight of that and want to say why is there money for this and not that. That's not to say politics and mismanagement don't enter the picture but we don't want to start comparing apples and oranges. Different monies for different things. As I recall the bulk of the money for the Olympics is supposed to come from private sources. But enough down that road for me. Who has anything new on the 4000s, if there is anything? They are, after all, all here from the current options exercised save one: 4149.

[Transit3333]

Do you have a link to the supplier?

In any event, the Buy America Act governs bus purchases, and it isn't alleged that these buses violate it (after all, the body shells are Canadian, but NF claims that its buses have 70% U.S. content while the Act requires 60%). There was also the talk about Cash for Clunkers being usable for foreign assembled cars, including the Ford Fusion, hecho en Mexico.

Finally, this appears to be a one bus test, similar to other tests CTA has done.

www.kiel-sitze.de

[geneking7320]

:angry: Mini-Rant:

Saturday [9/26/2009] I had occasion to ride the 147 from Huron to the Howard L and the bus was one of the last of the NF artics. I was dismayed to find that apparently only nine [9] passenger seats on the bus face forward. Man! What a bummer!

End of rant.

Gene King

[BusHunter]

Mini-Rant:

Saturday [9/26/2009] I had occasion to ride the 147 from Huron to the Howard L and the bus was one of the last of the NF artics. I was dismayed to find that apparently only nine [9] passenger seats on the bus face forward. Man! What a bummer!

End of rant.

Gene King

Wait until we see the #5000's. :P

[artthouwill]

Mini-Rant:

Saturday [9/26/2009] I had occasion to ride the 147 from Huron to the Howard L and the bus was one of the last of the NF artics. I was dismayed to find that apparently only nine [9] passenger seats on the bus face forward. Man! What a bummer!

End of rant.

Gene King

Yea, when I rode one, the front four were already taken, so I had to go all the way to the rear to get one of the remaining five. I wonder if those are the first seats taken when anyone gets on those buses.

As for the 5000s, I wonder the same thing.

[trainman8119]

Mini-Rant:

Saturday [9/26/2009] I had occasion to ride the 147 from Huron to the Howard L and the bus was one of the last of the NF artics. I was dismayed to find that apparently only nine [9] passenger seats on the bus face forward. Man! What a bummer!

End of rant.

Gene King

Don't feel guilty ranting on this subject. The idea that all the new equipment is going "sidewinder" shows that those in decision making positions don't ride regularly. My experience on 4203 from Wrigley a couple of weeks ago was to say the least most uncomfortable. Nothing like cramming people in like cattle for transport !!!!! The explanations on the why just discust me.

[jacksone44]

Yea, when I rode one, the front four were already taken, so I had to go all the way to the rear to get one of the remaining five. I wonder if those are the first seats taken when anyone gets on those buses.

As for the 5000s, I wonder the same thing.

Over the past couple of weeks, I have been on nothing but "stimulus" artics and I hate it as well. I've so far been lucky in being able to sit all the way in the back to "face forward". Last night I rode a "leased" artic for the first time in a couple of weeks and it was nice to see so many seats!!! :P

[Nabinut]

Earlier today fresh looking 4206 was in service heading towards Wrigley for the Cubs afternoon game

[nflyer22]

If I'm not mistaken all the stimulus funded artics are here, saw a very nice 4207 working either on 146 or 147 several days ago in downtown after I got off school, still a good spotting though

Today I rode my 1st stimulus artic on the 147, forgot the number though (all I remember was 416x); it still has a pretty strong "new car smell" .

Not to mention 4207 currently on the 146 right now. :P

[Nabinut]

I ran into 4207 twice in two days (147 of course). Besides that and 4206, they were the only 4200s I saw

[MVTArider]

Does anyone know the breakdown by year for the 4000 DE60LF series? (For example: 4000-4039 - 2008 and 4040-4207 - 2009, this seems to be close from what I could tell.) Also while we're at it does anyone know the breakdown by year for the 1000 series D40LFs as well?

[busfan2847]

Does anyone know the breakdown by year for the 4000 DE60LF series? (For example: 4000-4039 - 2008 and 4040-4207 - 2009, this seems to be close from what I could tell.) Also while we're at it does anyone know the breakdown by year for the 1000 series D40LFs as well?

I have 4000-4038 and 4041 2008 the rest 2009.

For 1000 I have 1000-1244 2006; 1245-1429 2006/7; 1430-1629 2007/8; 1630-1945 2008; 1946-2029 2009. Highest bus I saw in 2006 1322 and 2007 1558.

[jacksone44]

Ive FINALLY spotted 4149 in service (I dont know if anyone else has yet). On the 147 tonight. I has the new yellowish white LED lights that most of the new stimulus buses have.

[Busjack]

Ive FINALLY spotted 4149 in service (I dont know if anyone else has yet). On the 147 tonight. I has the new yellowish white LED lights that most of the new stimulus buses have.

Since you mentioned it, here's the virtual view:

[jajuan]

Kedzie must have figured out the rush increases on the 12 Roosevelt were more than just summer increases because after slacking off in late summer, artic use on this route during PM rush at least has picked back up on this route in recent weeks. Just one question for the Kedzie operators on here, how tough is it to maneuver one out of the Central/Harrison terminal in the Loretto Hosp lot?

[MetroShadow]

I rode 4204 and 4207 in the past week, all I have to say is that they are cool looking buses, but the seating configurations? Really now?

[busfan4022]

These buses are big, bulky, and slow. Nice to sit in the front (if you're facing forward) but once you ride in the back, you feel all the bumps/vibrations/head jerks, and hear the loud engine. Not to mention those strange annoying fax machine noises the bus makes.

I don't like these buses.

I wish the NABI's weren't so defective and all.

[speedracer1407]

These buses are big, bulky, and slow. Nice to sit in the front (if you're facing forward) but once you ride in the back, you feel all the bumps/vibrations/head jerks, and hear the loud engine. Not to mention those strange annoying fax machine noises the bus makes.

I don't like these buses.

I wish the NABI's weren't so defective and all.

To each his own, i guess. But I've had a distinctly different experience with these buses, especially sitting in the back.

I've been riding the 147 for near 2 years now, round trip every day, starting with the horrible NABIs and finding relief in the 4000s

The front (as in near the front axle) is acceptably smooth, but the air springs are calibrated stiffly enough to transmit pretty severe jolts over sharp bumps. And more stuff seems to rattle up there, so I feel like the front is not the ideal spot.

The middle is the worst. Those 5 or so side-facing seats over the middle axle are positively punishing over rough roads. For whatever reason, maybe low floor and lack of suspension travel (thus stiffer air spring settings), sitting in the middle makes me feel like I have jiggly man-boobs, and I'm a rather slight 155lb. Sharp frost-heave bumps are great for compressing the spine.

The back, near the rear-most axle, is the most comfortable by far in my experience. Yes, it's loud, and the brake regeneration cooling fans are annoyingly loud, but I suspect the suspension has a LOT more travel in the high-floor section. Sharp bumps that will blur my vision in the front and middle of the bus are mere vibrations in the rear.

Make no mistake, thought; on a bumpy road, the rear section is a very giggly ride. It's the only driven axle, so it has a big, very heavy differential and drive shafts built into the axle. The axle assembly probably weights several hundred pounds more than the other axles, so it bounces around under the chassis more. But those softly calibrated air springs in the back make for a relatively impact-free ride.

Having ridden in nearly every seat on North Park's 400s, I'll take the noisy back every single time if I can.

As for being bulky and slow. Well, yeah, they're 60ft artics, so they're big. And while I've commented on this forum before about them being astonishingly slow to respond to throttle inputs, once under way, they seem to accelerate briskly, especially from 5-30 MPH or so.

One universal complaint I have about these buses, however, is the awful new seats. Nobody like sitting sideways on a bus that's constantly jerking between acceleration and braking. And the seats are designed for people with cone-shaped butts. I'm not big at all, and yet I feel like I'm sitting in a child's chair.

[BusHunter]

We'll see how these low floor artics perform over time framewise, though for the same thing to happen at NF would be unlikely. But it would be interesting to see how there doing in 2020 or the long term effect of low floor artics in general. I was thinking the other month, after hearing about Las Vegas' purchase of some double deck buses and hearing of there existence in Canada and Europe mostly I wonder if the double deck buses will eventually give the artics a run for their money. They seem to be entering the U.S. transit market, but are still quite rare to see in a transit environment versus a sightseeing environment. Probably the biggest obstacle in Chicago would be all these low bridges. But Chicago Motor Coach pulled it off in the 20's,30's,40's and 50's. (There's a couple pictures in the 2004 and 2008 historical calenders if you care to research further) It would be kind of neat to ride a double deck city bus down Michigan avenue or LSD for that matter. (But Chicago's sightseeing company's might not like that) But it would be an additional way to make revenue downtown. It would also save space on the already conjested roads eliminating half the buses length, not to mention what it would do for overcrowding bus garage space. I wonder what Megabus does with it's double deckers. Is it restricted to run in certain areas? (It doesn't seem to have a problem running the area expressways) BTW, does anyone know where the double deck sightseeing buses garage is?

[Busjack]

Keeshin/Coach USA says it runs the double deckers. Some were labeled Chicago Motor Coach company, but the site of a company with that name doesn't indicate sightseeing.

As far as double deckers, the Alexander Dennis one in Vancouver was reported to be 14 feet tall, and a Los Vegas site similarly states. Most of the UPN-Ravenswood and CTA North Main overpasses (under which any bus going from North Park to LSD would have to traverse) are marked at about 11 foot clearance. There was some conjecture on the Yahoo group whether clearance was reduced from CMC days by paving, or that some of the clearance signs are a bit understated, but, in any event, the bus would not make the clearances here. Also, since CTA can't get riders to go to the back, how is it going to get them to go upstairs?