New Express Routes Coming Soon.

[Pace831]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

GR must not have paid Pace.

SW has a GR wrapped Bus though. I thought they must have made a general wrap so could use it for any event route but I didn't think S had any others.

[artthouwill]

8 hours ago, Pace831 said:

SW has a GR wrapped Bus though. I thought they must have made a general wrap so could use it for any event route but I didn't think S had any others.

I don't  recall  seeing  any S bus wrapped  for sporting events.   I also  believe  the route  from Markham to  GR is the only route  S has that serves any venue.

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, artthouwill said:

I also  believe  the route  from Markham to  GR is the only route  S has that serves any venue.

Only one that shows up on a search for Pace South Division on Route Finder.

[Pace831]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

Only one that shows up on a search for Pace South Division on Route Finder.

That's why I was surprised they designed the wrap the way they did. Maybe they decided to wrap them all that way from now on instead of making them specific to one venue. They probably won't need to wrap any more event buses soon though.

[Busjack]

35 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

That's why I was surprised they designed the wrap the way they did. Maybe they decided to wrap them all that way from now on instead of making them specific to one venue. They probably won't need to wrap any more event buses soon though.

Pace had no problem putting a Wrigley Field one on their home page, but it is named after the one time owner of the field, not some advertiser (which, BTW is also on a Wrigley Field roll sign). If, for instance, Wrigley Field were renamed for the "Cubs Water Efficiency Partner," I don't think Pace would put a trough wrap on its buses.

[Pace831]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

Pace had no problem putting a Wrigley Field one on their home page, but it is named after the one time owner of the field, not some advertiser (which, BTW is also on a Wrigley Field roll sign). If, for instance, Wrigley Field were renamed for the "Cubs Water Efficiency Partner," I don't think Pace would put a trough wrap on its buses.

I see your point, but Pace already has a wrapped bus that says "Guaranteed Rate". It's at SW, I think it was 6525.

[mel bernero]

I have observed and photographed the following 6300/6400/6500 series wrapped buses.

6339, 6340, 6444, 6445, 6528 - Express to Events

6375, 6376, 6446, 6447, 6448 - Wrigley Field

6469, 6525, 6526 - Soldier Field

6522, 6523 - Guaranteed Rate Field

6524 - Toyota Park

 

[Pace831]

I-90 updates, Friday June 30

• The large message boards over the right shoulder are now working. They were displaying travel times and "Emergency stopping only on shoulder". The other signs over the lanes were not in use.
• At the Barrington Road bridge, they have installed most of the glass on the bridge and the north stairwell. They still have to do a few more panels on the south end of the bridge and all of the south stairwell.
• There were 40-50 cars at the Randall Road lot at about 2:00 PM.
• Northbound 604 that left Woodfield at 6:37 PM had 3 people on it.

[Pace831]

On ‎6‎/‎30‎/‎2017 at 10:13 PM, mel bernero said:

I have observed and photographed the following 6300/6400/6500 series wrapped buses.

6339, 6340, 6444, 6528 - Express to Events

6375, 6376, 6446, 6447, 6448 - Wrigley Field

6469, 6525, 6526 - Soldier Field

6522, 6523 - Guaranteed Rate Field

6524 - Toyota Park

 

I saw 6524 yesterday and I noticed the left side had the same crowd of people design that I saw on 6380, the only difference was it said "Toyota Park Direct". The right side did have the larger Toyota Park logo. I bet they are all a variation of that standard design.

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, Pace831 said:

it said "Toyota Park Direct"

Since you mentioned it, the official name has been changed to that. Would be consistent with the new terminology and distinguish it from 856, assuming that the destination signs on the bus conform.

222 now is also Allstate Arena Direct (but not changed on the ESPD page).

[Pace831]

On 6/17/2017 at 11:05 PM, Busjack said:

 Remember also when (while I-55 was short), a couple of 2760s were wrapped for BOS. That did not consign them to the junk heap when they were no longer so needed, and they ran on some local routes (such as 834) when they were wrapped.

I saw 2763 last night and it finally lost its wrap.  The others probably did too. At least one of them was still wrapped earlier this year.

[rotjohns]

8 hours ago, Pace831 said:

I saw 2763 last night and it finally lost its wrap.  The others probably did too. At least one of them was still wrapped earlier this year.

Last time I saw 2760 about 2 weeks ago, it was still wrapped, but I haven't seen it or 2764 lately in person.  Wonder if paint was peeling off when it was unwrapped?  

[Busjack]

50 minutes ago, rotjohns said:

Last time I saw 2760 about 2 weeks ago, it was still wrapped, but I haven't seen it or 2764 lately in person.  Wonder if paint was peeling off when it was unwrapped?  

In that bus bodies are now color impregnated composites and wraps are added and removed all the time (note, again, that the Axess buses do not have advertising frames, only wraps of various sizes) I doubt it.

[Pace831]

2763 looked really clean like the wrap was recently removed. The express wraps were starting to look bad with parts peeling off.

[Pace831]

On 6/17/2017 at 11:05 PM, Busjack said:

(how are the railroad viaducts on either side of the Dan Ryan?).

12'0" to the west and 13'2" east

[Busjack]

On 7/1/2017 at 11:24 PM, Pace831 said:

I-90 updates, Friday June 30

• The large message boards over the right shoulder are now working. They were displaying travel times and "Emergency stopping only on shoulder". The other signs over the lanes were not in use

One of several Daily Herald articles that the Smart Road features are supposed to be turned on Sept.5.

Note that it says "all Pace fixed route and express bus services will use the Flex Lanes.".

[Pace831]

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

One of several Daily Herald articles that the Smart Road features are supposed to be turned on Sept.5.

Note that it says "all Pace fixed route and express bus services will use the Flex Lanes.".

Yesterday the red X over the flex lane was working, and some of the boards over the right (exit) lanes were displaying four purple dots.

[BusHunter]

2 hours ago, Pace831 said:

Yesterday the red X over the flex lane was working, and some of the boards over the right (exit) lanes were displaying four purple dots.

Last week the red x was working. I took a trip out to Randall road. Surprisingly small was the parking lot. About 1/2 the size of nwtc. I took some pictures I should upload as I was curious about it. The Barrington rd bridge looks virtually done with its tinted windows. Didn't get a shot of that though.

[Busjack]

On 10/20/2016 at 2:27 PM, Pace831 said:

Also, the 361 Harvey-Joliet express will be starting, which is basically for the Amazon.com warehouse. Maybe Amazon is subsidizing it, otherwise this route doesn't make much sense.

A Passenger Notice that there will also be a 360 Harvey-Amazon Monee bus.Map here.

BTW, I wonder how I just got something from Amazon tax free, but it was from an independent merchant.

[Pace831]

4 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Last week the red x was working. I took a trip out to Randall road. Surprisingly small was the parking lot. About 1/2 the size of nwtc. I took some pictures I should upload as I was curious about it. The Barrington rd bridge looks virtually done with its tinted windows. Didn't get a shot of that though.

Before they finished the glass about two weeks ago, the steel staircase was visible. They probably are now finishing up interior lighting and tile floors on the bridge. So the bridge itself should be nearly done. I think they still have to do the concrete walkways leading to it. I don't know if they started on the park n ride lots yet.

I was also surprised to see the Randall Rd lot about 70% full on weekday afternoons. I wonder if the midday trips are getting any riders or if it's mostly rush hour.

[Pace831]

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

A Passenger Notice that there will also be a 360 Harvey-Amazon Monee bus.Map here.

BTW, I wonder how I just got something from Amazon tax free, but it was from an independent merchant.

They seem to have mixed up "northbound" and "southbound", which threw me off at first. Unlike 361, this route is bidirectional. I guess the two shifts are generally 7 to 5 at this location as well.

[Busjack]

12 hours ago, Pace831 said:

They seem to have mixed up "northbound" and "southbound", which threw me off at first. Unlike 361, this route is bidirectional. I guess the two shifts are generally 7 to 5 at this location as well.

The schedule on the Passenger Notice is a bit messed up format-wise, but the actual one is posted. It's hard for me to figure out what kind of shifts Amazon has, as the morning trip starts at Amazon.So. I guess you are saying that the bus serves a 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. night shift.

My other offhand observation is that Amazon is willing to build all over Will County and bus people from Cook County, but not build there.

[Pace831]

4 hours ago, Busjack said:

The schedule on the Passenger Notice is a bit messed up format-wise, but the actual one is posted. It's hard for me to figure out what kind of shifts Amazon has, as the morning trip starts at Amazon.So. I guess you are saying that the bus serves a 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. night shift.

My other offhand observation is that Amazon is willing to build all over Will County and bus people from Cook County, but not build there.

I noticed that too.

my understanding of Amazon shifts is that there are two "standard" shifts from 7AM-5PM and 7PM-5AM. But some employees work 8 or 12 hour shifts, plus there are part time workers with various hours, so the warehouse operations do not completely stop during the 2-hour "shift change". Routes 360 and 361 seem intended for the 7-5 workers, although the afternoon departures are after 6 PM.

@qwantae Can you clarify this, since you said you work(ed) at MDW4?

[BusHunter]

17 hours ago, Pace831 said:

Before they finished the glass about two weeks ago, the steel staircase was visible. They probably are now finishing up interior lighting and tile floors on the bridge. So the bridge itself should be nearly done. I think they still have to do the concrete walkways leading to it. I don't know if they started on the park n ride lots yet.

I was also surprised to see the Randall Rd lot about 70% full on weekday afternoons. I wonder if the midday trips are getting any riders or if it's mostly rush hour.

There were about 5 with me going out there on the #605. 2 groups though. Coming back on the #607 it was just me and someone else. I was on the 2pm trip. 3pm on the #607. Yes the lot seemed pretty full but it is small so looks can be deceiving. Couldn't be more than a 40-50 car lot. Maybe you can see it on my pictures if I ever find time to upload them.

[busfreak]

It is actually a 154 space lot.