west towns Posted April 28, 2017 Report Share Posted April 28, 2017 Why bring up the STAR line? It doesnt even come close to serving this market. It was flawed plan as it still is miles away from most developments such as fox valley mall offices along rt 59 never came close to sears prairie stone never came close to elgin and never was close to schaumburg. The i90 service does the same for efficient and cheaper. Add the art on 59 and you got the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 28, 2017 Report Share Posted April 28, 2017 2 hours ago, west towns said: Why bring up the STAR line? The only reason was in response to BusHunter's suggestion that someone could ride from Plainfield to Hoffman Estates via 855, some I-294 and 610. I said there could be less indirect ways of doing it. However, the STAR Line appears dead, so don't get in such a high dudgeon about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 Daily Herald confirmation that the construction on the Edens is in advance of BOS service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 What equipment are they going to use. Express coaches? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 22, 2017 Report Share Posted May 22, 2017 41 minutes ago, west towns said: What equipment are they going to use. Express coaches? You'll find out in 2 years (approximately), You'll also note that the article only mentioned the existing routes (620 and 626), and not the following ones mentioned in the grant proposal: Dempster to Lake-Cook/Milwaukee (split from Dempster to Buffalo Grove, at Wimot Road). Jefferson Park to Lake-Cook/Milwaukee (note that the article said that the shoulder would be improved to Foster). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 2 hours ago, west towns said: What equipment are they going to use. Express coaches? 2 hours ago, Busjack said: You'll find out in 2 years (approximately),.... While I'll stand on my prior answer, @west towns's comment did get me ruminating again. Despite the old time CTA distinction (cited by @artthouwill) between Express and Limited, Pace seems to be using the following new nomenclature: Express: On expressway, direct to either transit centers or park and rides. Most likely to use OTR or express bus. Limited (such as 606, 616, and 626): On expressway, but local distribution on one end. Direct (672, 673, 675): No stops, but not on expressway. Pulse: Arterial rapid transit Since 626 is now Skokie-Buffalo Grove Limited on the schedule (although the website still has references to Skokie Valley Limited), and the basic pattern will not be changed by this project (they aren't building a park and ride or transit center at Dundee Road and Skokie Blvd.), my guess is that the system stays Limited and uses transit buses. We thought that 6377-6378 were an omen, but they moved on to East Dundee. 895 is a strange bird: it is Express, but has a local component and uses EZ Riders. Maybe it will be something else, when the Central I-294 construction project is completed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Wrapped transits probably a dedicated fleet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 Why is it going to take two years of construction? This type of work should be one season. The grant application appears to include expansion. If this is similar to I55 they start with rts 620 and 626 expand later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 23, 2017 Report Share Posted May 23, 2017 2 hours ago, west towns said: Why is it going to take two years of construction? This type of work should be one season. The grant application appears to include expansion. If this is similar to I55 they start with rts 620 and 626 expand later. I was just estimating on the way things usually go. Maybe I overshot it. The 2017 budget says under Planning Initiatives In 2017, construction and implementation of shoulder operations is planned for I-94/Edens Expressway. This heavily congested corridor is served by routes 620 and 626. Construction costs are funded through a CMAQ grant awarded to IDOT. However, that's the only mention of it, no mention of new buses or anything like that. So, it appears that you came up with your own answer: IDOT may get the shoulder improvements done this year, but if Pace runs on it, it will be running the buses it already has. No express buses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 27, 2017 Report Share Posted May 27, 2017 The pacebus.com home page has a story on this. What appears to be the current development is that service on 620 and 626 will start when construction is over, whenever that is, while Additional routes that could utilize the I-94 service in the future are in the planning stages. Preliminary concepts aim to provide connections from the Jefferson Park Transit Center and the CTA Kimball Brown Line Station to the Lake Cook Corridor. Service expansion is based on the availability of funding and equipment and is subject to change. So my comment about "we'll find out what buses in 2 years" wasn't that off base, as I was contemplating the full program in the CMAP application. Obviously, Pace won't need more equipment to run 620 and 626, but since they will have to be wrapped, @west towns's conclusion that it would have to be a dedicated fleet seems correct. At least one interline between 215 and 626 is probably gone. In that 620 was run for a while with 6377, that shows there isn't any interline problem there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted May 27, 2017 Report Share Posted May 27, 2017 New trips added to I-55 routes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotjohns Posted May 27, 2017 Report Share Posted May 27, 2017 2 hours ago, Pace831 said: New trips added to I-55 routes. Where are they gonna get these buses from? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted May 27, 2017 Report Share Posted May 27, 2017 2 hours ago, rotjohns said: Where are they gonna get these buses from? This is probably what 6972-76 were ordered for. Which means the remaining 6900s will likely stick around a little longer. I'm not sure if 6510-11 are still out there, but those might be to avoid putting miles on 6900s rather than having them sit in the lot until Pulse service starts. The fact that they must have wrapped them for shoulder use indicates their intent was to use them for more than a few weeks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 2 hours ago, Pace831 said: This is probably what 6972-76 were ordered for. That's what Pace said in the 2016 budget: Three OTR coach buses will alleviate overcrowding on Pace’s popular I-55 Bus on Shoulder routes... except it got 5. 2 hours ago, Pace831 said: Which means the remaining 6900s will likely stick around a little longer Not sure that there are any, but at a minimum Pace has 27 OTRs for this service (6950-6976). If the 6 remaining 6900s are still around, that makes 33, 2 hours ago, Pace831 said: I'm not sure if 6510-11 are still out there They were leased from MCI and were returned when Pace got either the 6950s or 6379-6385. They are not in the inventory. I'll try to crunch some numbers, but I doubt that Pace would announce service with phantom buses. However, my numbers for evening rush now shows 28 buses, and this adds 4, so they'll need 32, and if the 6900s aren't around, some transit/express buses. There's still the question about 6510-6511, plus R still has 6390-6391, which it could give up. Those numbers also don't really assume that Pace can turn the buses around quickly enough, although it does assume that the 755 7:30 Heritage Corridor trip is a turnaround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted May 28, 2017 Report Share Posted May 28, 2017 Can anyome co firm if the extra buses on I55 Esp tbe pulse buses are wrapped ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted May 30, 2017 Report Share Posted May 30, 2017 On 5/22/2017 at 4:43 PM, west towns said: What equipment are they going to use. Express coaches? According to the Pace home page for the edens project it looks like mcis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 30, 2017 Report Share Posted May 30, 2017 28 minutes ago, BusHunter said: According to the Pace home page for the edens project it looks like mcis. Which means nothing, as that is a I-55 bus (#6969) in front of the South Holland Division (obviously in photoshoot service). As @west towns figured out, only thing in the short term (probably winter) is what is running now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 5 hours ago, Busjack said: Which means nothing, as that is a I-55 bus (#6969) in front of the South Holland Division (obviously in photoshoot service). As @west towns figured out, only thing in the short term (probably winter) is what is running now. Well if there is no current contract for Axess', what is left? The only way I see them using Axess' is if they share the MCI's with the I-90 corridor and send some of their Axess' to the Edens. Somewhat hair raising, if you read the article, is the revelation that they want to have a Kimball Brown line connection as well as a jeff pk connection. I wonder how hard it would be to maneuver an MCI versus a regular transit bus down the crowded streets of Lawrence? As far as I-90, in a somewhat related question, I wonder if #895 and the Cubs roundtrippers will have access to the express lane? If not, in a way it undermines that service. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 The I90 buses came from cmaq grant and cant be moved around . I think cmap and the feds may have somethimg to say about this Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 What type of 40 ft vehicles does NS have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 15 minutes ago, west towns said: What type of 40 ft vehicles does NS have? 10 Axess buses, 9 2005 NABIs and the rest 2003 NABIs. On the rest of your and @BusHunter's comments, one has to remember that I-55 did not start with new equipment. 8 of the 2002 MCIs were moved from South, and they leased the 6910s from MCI to fill in for them. Then Pace leased the 6920s (45 foot MCIs). Again, I'm not sure where Pace will immediately get maybe 4 buses for I-55 (we'll find out in a couple of weeks) or any buses if and when it increases service on the Edens (which won't be next year), but renting may again be an option. Also remember that we didn't expect 6522-75 either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Question is does the MCI shown on Pace website article mean anything or is it simply what marketing picked up as a pretty picture of a new bus and it runs on shoulders. I remember an ad for some fly by night airline starting new service to a small market showing a 747. Highly unlikely but the plane looked nice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 4 minutes ago, Busjack said: 10 Axess buses, 9 2005 NABIs and the rest 2003 NABIs. Maybe axess they will be on eden. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 1 minute ago, west towns said: Question is does the MCI shown on Pace website article mean anything or is it simply what marketing picked up as a pretty picture of a new bus and it runs on shoulders. I remember an ad for some fly by night airline starting new service to a small market showing a 747. Highly unlikely but the plane looked nice That's essentially what I said. Better than when Pace used (about11 years ago) line art of a Seattle MAN Americana. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 31, 2017 Report Share Posted May 31, 2017 Just now, west towns said: Maybe axess they will be on eden. Could be, but by then they will have to replace the 2003 buses, since the Axess buses run on all NS routes at some part of the day or the other. But, again, that might be the moved 2600s (if Pace ever orders the 53 small buses and frees the 2600s), which probably can run on all routes other than 215, school trips, and a couple of heavy shuttle bugs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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