New Express Routes Coming Soon.

[jajuan]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

No link, so can't tell. Might also be a study associated with the I-55 Managed Lane proposal, discussed earlier.

The other thing I saw clicking on the brochure is that it includes Route 606, which I don't believe was there before. Maybe the highway buses on that route were not a fluke.

That's part of why I was thinking that that picture wasn't necessarily staged, because 606 along with other existing NW are Pace Express routes are listed on the brochure. Though it very well could be a test run to be sure things run smoothly. I remember other TAs doing test runs after new transit construction. CTTransit did test runs, for example, of their FastTrak bus highway after those were completed and a few weeks before the debut to the public.

[BusHunter]

8 hours ago, Busjack said:

It doesn't look that way. Those buses have been running unwrapped for a while, the design conforms to the pamphlet,* if you compare this bus to 6387, the "Pace Express" is toward the back rather than the front, this bus includes the "Smart Road" and "I-90" logos, and, most importantly, it is going to run in a dynamic diamond lane. Now, maybe some sources are calling the diamond lane a shoulder, but they are legally distinct.

All @west towns did was come to the same conclusion I did above. There may be a question whether this was staged for the Daily Herald or Pace has started wrapping the 25 buses, which @BusHunter was going to investigate. If the bus was using a new ramp being demonstrated, it wouldn't have been on an existing route.

*Except perhaps for an advertising frame or equivalent partial wrap.

Sorry i didnt get back to you guys yesterday but no I didnt see any wrapped express buses. It could be a bus higher than #6501 cause everything is normal that i could see. They are still working on the Touhy bridge but the work is basically done. Im shocked they actually have 5 lanes in both directions and the bus lane too. Cars were just wissing by when I was on it.

Checked out this east river road bridge and I was shocked to see they pushed back the landscaped grass area and looks like they added a lane or two on each side. If i didnt know better id say there was a wb flyover as well. They are taking care of Cumberland.  unfortunately that will add tons of traffic on it.

[Pace831]

22 minutes ago, jajuan said:

That's part of why I was thinking that that picture wasn't necessarily staged, because 606 along with other existing NW are Pace Express routes are listed on the brochure. Though it very well could be a test run to be sure things run smoothly. I remember other TAs doing test runs after new transit construction. CTTransit did test runs, for example, of their FastTrak bus highway after those were completed and a few weeks before the debut to the public.

Pace would also need to train all the operators who might be driving the new routes. When the I-55 BOS debuted, there were buses on the road almost a month before the service began. However, I tend to agree with @Busjack that this was probably a staged photo. The bus was pictured on the offramp, which wouldn't be logical for any of the new routes to use. Maybe 607 would use the onramp. Plus the "Welcome Aboard" display is usually used for publicity photos.

[BusHunter]

Only rhing with that was there was no press conference that i know of.

Heres some puctures of the other day at Rosemont man those bus bays sure are long

[Busjack]

4 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Only rhing with that was there was no press conference that i know of.

Somebody summoned the Daily Herald there. The political boss of DuPage County (now Tollway head)  wouldn't have been on a ramp just for the fun of it.

[BusHunter]

Just seems like a random news story to me not instigated by a press conference. 

[jajuan]

Ultimately though does it really matter if Pace had the photo op arranged in the grand scheme of things? The NW burbs are about to get a new arrangement of the Pace expresses services in that area that seeks to speed up express bus services in that part of the region. Residents will need to know what that is and what it looks like beyond bland hypotheticals on a map in a brochure. So showing off the lanes in photos can be pluses to help that along, and we're making it sound like something nefarious even if it's no intent to do so.  Big deal if the photo was staged. They have to get the word out there about the upcoming changes in service with them being only a little over three weeks away especially if they want I-90 bus improvements to be a success on par with that of Bus on the Shoulder in spurring expansion of express bus service on the Stevenson Expressway and the rest of I-55 that falls in the RTA service area. 

[west towns]

Wasnt schaumburg behind the new ramp ?  it seems thia was more for the tollway and schaumburg than pace.  there was a trib and a daily herald article which most likely indicates some sort of press event

[Busjack]

10 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Just seems like a random news story to me not instigated by a press conference. 

Nothing random about that, as @west towns and I pointed out. Actually speaking, the only random news comes over the police or fire radio.

[Busjack]

37 minutes ago, west towns said:

Wasnt schaumburg behind the new ramp ?  it seems thia was more for the tollway and schaumburg than pace.  there was a trib and a daily herald article which most likely indicates some sort of press event

I don't know if Schaumburg had to kick in*, but the village's site indicates that they are supporting it.

Indication from this Daily Herald article is that Schaumburg wants to build a performing arts center next to the Convention Center, and this exit would provide access to it. However, I don't see why they also didn't accommodate eastbound I-90, unless the ramps would have conflicted with the I-290 junction.

*Like Rosemont had to kick in some money for the Balmoral Rd, exit from I-294 to get it closer to the Outlet Center, as though the River Road exit wasn't adequate.

[Pace831]

Here's a short video of eastbound I-90 from on board route 600. You can't really tell in the video, but the flex lane is asphalt rather than concrete.

I went through a lot of trouble to try to ride one of the highway buses but still ended up on an Orion!

 

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, Pace831 said:

Here's a short video of eastbound I-90 from on board route 600. You can't really tell in the video, but the flex lane is asphalt rather than concrete.

I went through a lot of trouble to try to ride one of the highway buses but still ended up on an Orion!

I didn't think they were still running them there. But if you had taken the 5:15 from Schaumburg you probably would have had one, but unlike BH almost running into me there, there wouldn't be any sunlight left today.

[BusHunter]

No almost that day. I just didn't take your picture busjack. 

Dont know how you would have a problem riding a highway bus Pace831, they run them on the #606 in the rush as well as #600 and #610. I even saw one on the #616 last week if you can believe that.

[Busjack]

9 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Dont know how you would have a problem riding a highway bus Pace831, they run them on the #606 in the rush as well as #600 and #610. I even saw one on the #616 last week if you can believe that.

They have been running them consistently on 616, which has been on the brochure from the beginning.

[Pace831]

1 hour ago, BusHunter said:

Dont know how you would have a problem riding a highway bus Pace831

I went out there to check out the Schaumburg trolley and look for the wrapped express bus (didn't see it), so I passed up a few chances to ride a highway bus.

What happened was the 208 I was on got to NWTC around 2:35. The traffic around the mall was so bad, it took at least 15 minutes to go from Woodfield to NWTC. I saw 6504 on the 606 which I knew would leave at 2:53, so I decided to take the 2:40 trolley to Woodfield and board it there. There was a trolley waiting but the driver said she was on her break and wasn't leaving until 3:00, but I could sit on her bus to stay warm. As it turned out, the other trolley didn't come until 3:05, and the one I was on had to wait for it so some passengers going back north could board. Of course the 606 was long gone by the time I got to Woodfield. 6497 passed by on WB 606, then 10 minutes later was a southbound trolley followed by 6669 on EB 606. At this point I had mostly stopped caring what kind of bus took me to Rosemont, but decided to gamble that 600 might have a highway bus and be as fast as 606*, so I got on the trolley. Back at the NWTC, I just missed the 3:50 600 and watched an 895 go past me, so I finally got on the 4:10 600. So I could have hung around longer to ride a highway bus, but after dealing with the traffic mess I just wanted to get out of there.

*6669 was already at Rosemont when I got there, so, bad gamble.

[BusHunter]

Hey I'm just interested that you saw #6504 I haven't seen above #6501. But I was majorly tripping over how big the Jane Addams is now. If they did that with the Kennedy there would be no congestion.

[Busjack]

On 11/24/2016 at 4:50 AM, BusHunter said:

Heres some puctures of the other day at Rosemont man those bus bays sure are long

I did a quick view. I noted that there wasn't a sign for 600, but if one assumes that the northernmost island was properly used by taxis, as it then was, there are still 2 unmarked islands, which I assume are for 600, 603, and 605.

[west towns]

So is rosemont work all done

[Pace831]

1 hour ago, west towns said:

So is rosemont work all done

From @BusHunter's pictures and my own observation on Friday, it looks like it. I didn't see any obvious construction areas. Any work still to be done is just finishing touches such as signage.

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, west towns said:

So is rosemont work all done

 

42 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

From @BusHunter's pictures and my own observation on Friday, it looks like it. I didn't see any obvious construction areas. Any work still to be done is just finishing touches such as signage.

Around the bus terminal it looked done, but there were still barricades near the parking lot entrance, and the bus ramp from the River Road toll plaza did not appear in service (but it was Saturday).

[Pace831]

4 minutes ago, Busjack said:

 

Around the bus terminal it looked done, but there were still barricades near the parking lot entrance, and the bus ramp from the River Road toll plaza did not appear in service (but it was Saturday).

The buses were still detouring on Friday, so the ramp from the toll plaza must not be open yet. There was a passenger notice for that but it expired.

[Pace831]

Passenger notices are up for 550, 600, 606, and 616. However, the schedule previews for 606 aren't up yet. No notices yet for the new routes.

[Busjack]

4 hours ago, Pace831 said:

Passenger notices are up for 550, 600, 606, and 616. However, the schedule previews for 606 aren't up yet. No notices yet for the new routes.

What's may be notable is that the schedules that are up say River Division and have an Elgin lost and found number (same as on existing River routes). I suppose that that doesn't preclude some VoIP setup, if, in fact these are East Dundee.

The 610 one doesn't reflect the Barrington Road Park and Ride and nothing other than rush hour service.

[Pace831]

3 minutes ago, Busjack said:

What's may be notable is that the schedules that are up say River Division and have an Elgin lost and found number. I suppose that that doesn't preclude some VoIP setup, if, in fact these are East Dundee.

The 610 one doesn't reflect the Barrington Road Park and Ride and nothing other than rush hour service.

610 isn't getting any additional service, nor will it stop at Barrington Rd. The new handout says 603, 605, and 607 will stop there, but it won't be opening until 2017.

606 will probably still be operated by NW. The notice doesn't have the mention of "modern buses" that the others do, and the union contract probably wouldn't allow NW work to be moved elsewhere.

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, Pace831 said:

the union contract probably wouldn't allow NW work to be moved elsewhere.

They are both locals of the Teamsters, but work is essentially being moved, because 600 and 616 are now mixed River/NW routes. Maybe it gets back to the debate a couple of months ago of what division East Dundee is going to be an outpost.