New Express Routes Coming Soon.

[BusHunter]

They put up new overhead signs at rosemont blue where they would normally put the lit up route info if anyone's interested. They say stop a through stop g. I wonder why not just put the route info those signs are confusing and unnecessary 

[busfan2847]

None of the new routes are on Bustracker this morning.

Did note 6377 on the 610. Must have moved from Pace North Shore.

[BusHunter]

On 12/17/2016 at 5:27 AM, BusHunter said:

They put up new overhead signs at rosemont blue where they would normally put the lit up route info if anyone's interested. They say stop a through stop g. I wonder why not just put the route info those signs are confusing and unnecessary 

Here a pic of that. It's a little hazy but you can at least see what the signs are.

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Here a pic of that. It's a little hazy but you can at least see what the signs are.

The standard bus stop signs are kind of tacky.

The other thing I noted on WebWatch was that @Pace831 was correct that 6560s were going on 606, but there is the usual motley crew of NW and 6600s there, too.

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Here a pic ...

Blowing up the pic to 300%, I see that the CTA Tracker sign still has the worthless Pace arrivals. Maybe that is of some value, but not as much as if the 223 said East Elk Grove or West Elk Grove instead of Rosemont CTA.

[BusHunter]

I don't know. Those signs are kind of goofy to me. If you look at the blue sign attached to the pole it says stops A-G are directly ahead, but it doesn't state what is stop A or B for example. So I don't know what purpose the sign serves.

It would have made more sense to just put a map of the routes in the bay on there. Now you have a situation where a rider will say what is a #603? They might even ride it by mistake thinking it's a #606. Hopefully there are no blank destination signs today or A1 message signs, which might be a tipoff as to why they are not on the tracker. The only way to know is go out there and see what's up.

At least they did put the new Pace bus stop signs up showing the new routes in each bay so that's at least something to show what stops there. Trouble is it's at the far east end of the island so possibly a rider may not pick up that info so fast if they don't look there.

[Busjack]

2 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Those signs are kind of goofy to me. If you look at the blue sign attached to the pole it says stops A-G are directly ahead, but it doesn't state what is stop A or B for example. So I don't know what purpose the sign serves

That sign seems like the generic one at a train station that the bus stops are in one direction, the taxi stand is in another, etc. That doesn't bother me, What does bother me is that the overhead signs used to have route numbers and names, such as 223-Elk Grove, and now have nothing useful; the route numbers are on the conventional bus stop signs.

What usually is the case is that the overhead signs usually are glass covered with a paper sign under the glass, in which case they could have printed up the correct inserts for them.

Not having a map is a detriment, and again I can't tell (and I wasn't going to make an excursion there in below zero weather, so thumbs up for your guts), but it looks like the bus stop signs are the conventional ones, so they don't say that 600 goes to Schaumburg and 603 to Elgin. Hence, you are correct is saying:

11 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Now you have a situation where a rider will say what is a #603? They might even ride it by mistake thinking it's a #606.

 

11 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Hopefully there are no blank destination signs today or A1 message signs, which might be a tipoff as to why they are not on the tracker.

The two are separate issues. The reason the new routes are not on the tracker is the usual one that Pace didn't update the routes on its server. That should have been ready to go live Sunday morning--automatically. Still not there though.

[BusHunter]

14 minutes ago, Busjack said:

That sign seems like the generic one at a train station that the bus stops are in one direction, the taxi stand is in another, etc. That doesn't bother me, What does bother me is that the overhead signs used to have route numbers and names, such as 223-Elk Grove, and now have nothing useful; the route numbers are on the conventional bus stop signs.

What usually is the case is that the overhead signs usually are glass covered with a paper sign under the glass, in which case they could have printed up the correct inserts for them.

Not having a map is a detriment, and again I can't tell (and I wasn't going to make an excursion there in below zero weather, so thumbs up for your guts), but it looks like the bus stop signs are the conventional ones, so they don't say that 600 goes to Schaumburg and 603 to Elgin. Hence, you are correct

Yeah basically we are saying the same thing here with the signs. LOL, that shot was taken friday when I spotted they had put up those signs. But I'm thinking about going out there today anyway, cold or no cold. Maybe even get some pics. So again, I'm not nuts, I'm just a bus enthusiast!! (Besides it's almost 20 degrees now, but now -13 is where I draw the line or after sunset)

[BusHunter]

Hmm the #605 is showing up on the rosemont terminal bustracker signs. It must not be in the website system. Its not even selectable on the website

[BusHunter]

Got pics of #603 running with #6504.

Now to try out the flex lane....

[BusHunter]

The flex lane is not open yet. The #603 didnt have a rider. I thought though the operator said there was one maybe I missed them. The pace express buses have tinted windows so I can't see inside one. Hmm the #605 I saw on the terminal bustracker never showed. I'll be posting pics tonight.

[busfan2847]

Yes, lets start an entirely new bus network up on the coldest day of the year, at the beginning of winter, and expect passengers to risk catching a bus!

They should have waited until Spring. In 6 months we will go back to how things were before because no-one is using the new routes.

 

[Pace831]

46 minutes ago, busfan2847 said:

Yes, lets start an entirely new bus network up on the coldest day of the year, at the beginning of winter, and expect passengers to risk catching a bus!

They should have waited until Spring. In 6 months we will go back to how things were before because no-one is using the new routes.

 

You're exaggerating the effects of cold weather. Any new bus route isn't going to have many riders on the first day.

A better reason to postpone the start until spring would be that the tollway infrastructure will be complete by then.

[jajuan]

7 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Here a pic of that. It's a little hazy but you can at least see what the signs are.

Looks like the standard RTA intermodal signs like the set up at the Davis Station on the Purple Line and the Metra UP-North Line. The complete setup, if it's done like at Davis, is supposed to include a list of the routes stopping at the station that's hung on the wall of the station house. That list would give the service days and times or if there's room a compressed form of the service schedule of each route and include a map of the routes together showing their different service areas in relation to each other. The respective assigned bays A, B, C, etc. are then supposed to shown next to each route entry on that list of service times/schedules. For example, your picture shows that Bay A is assigned to Routes 223 and 811. So the entry for 223 and 811 should show something like "Bus Stop A" next to the route name of each on the before mentioned route service list. 

1 hour ago, busfan2847 said:

Yes, lets start an entirely new bus network up on the coldest day of the year, at the beginning of winter, and expect passengers to risk catching a bus!

They should have waited until Spring. In 6 months we will go back to how things were before because no-one is using the new routes.

 

This launch was months in the planning, so Pace wouldn't have known December 19th of 2016 would decide unfold with temps that nosedived to 15 to 20 degrees lower than normal with extreme subzero wind chill factors. That's just part of the normal risk that Pace runs with being a suburban TA for a cold winter metro area. Not all service launches can be presented in the warm weather picks. 

[BusHunter]

He is right though. #607 and #608 out at the nwtc each had no riders. The #607's seem to interline with the #600. The first afternoon #600 becomes one out of rosemont. I saw 3 #607's all highway buses. The #608 was running with standard axess'. Couldn't tell if it was a #606 interline. Also I saw #2766 out here at the nwtc wrapped as a Woodfield trolley. There still seems to be #6600's on the #606 but I only saw one.

[BusHunter]

So these rosemont bays are not going to be a problem....

I just saw a #895 have to back out of its bay cause it couldn't get through.

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, BusHunter said:

The flex lane is not open yet.

It wasn't scheduled to open until some point in 2017

 

1 hour ago, BusHunter said:

The #608 was running with standard axess'. Couldn't tell if it was a #606 interline

That's supposed to be a West Division route, so it would be one of its buses, and if it interlined with anything, would be 757. However, the schedule doesn't look like it interlines with anything, just 2 buses needed to cover the schedule.

On the consistent "nobody is riding point," this is a CMAQ project, and if like most of them (272, 714), has 3 years to develop ridership and prove itself..

[Busjack]

Routes now on WebWatch, although the lines are not on the map.

Main things it confirms this morning is that 6377-8 are on 610, 604 is 4 NW Axess bueses and 608 is 2 W Axess buses.

[BusHunter]

Here's my shots from yesterday.

A couple shots of the #603

#605 on station tracker

They put up signs for the bus bays and removed the overhead signs on the canopy

Then i did see the station signs, so I shot those. While this may be the way they want to do this with letters if one doesn't stop to look at the sign they won't know about the letters or guide they have, so it's kind of pointless but that's just my opinion.

[Busjack]

30 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

so it's kind of pointless but that's just my opinion.

Real problem is that someone has to look at 3 places when one overhead sign used to do. Also, makes one wonder which agency was in charge of signage,

[jajuan]

6 minutes ago, Busjack said:

Real problem is that someone has to look at 3 places when one overhead sign used to do. Also, makes one wonder which agency was in charge of signage,

Well given it looks like RTA did these signs since this is their same footprint at Union Station and the Davis Purple Line and Metra UP-N stations, it's not much of a surprise that it's a bit more complicated than the prior simplicity. Even though some of us can follow how it all fits together, RTA does seem to forget that it's better more often than not to just keep it simple. 

[Busjack]

11 minutes ago, jajuan said:

Well given it looks like RTA did these signs since this is their same footprint at Union Station and the Davis Purple Line and Metra UP-N stations, it's not much of a surprise that it's a bit more complicated than the prior simplicity. Even though some of us can follow how it all fits together, RTA does seem to forget that it's better more often than not to just keep it simple. 

The strip of logos indicates that, but it also looked to me too much like CTA font or graphics standard, which is why I raised the question.

[Busjack]

4 hours ago, Busjack said:

Routes now on WebWatch, although the lines are not on the map.

As of noon, lines now on maps.

[Busjack]

On 12/19/2016 at 0:42 PM, BusHunter said:

Hopefully there are no blank destination signs today or A1 message signs, which might be a tipoff as to why they are not on the tracker.

Half prophetic. I was checking out 604, and 6470 showed up on time, but with "A1 MESSAGE" and "A1 ME" in the run box. At the corner of Hinz and Buffalo Grove Rd., there was a short blink and it flipped to "A1 MESSAGE." So, the IBS was working. Also, no way that was a park and ride, as it wasn't plowed. There were some 604 signs on Dundee Rd., but without some park and rides, I'm not sure what the route accomplishes.

[Pace831]

7 hours ago, Busjack said:

The strip of logos indicates that, but it also looked to me too much like CTA font or graphics standard, which is why I raised the question.

The new signs are part of an RTA project to standardize signage systemwide. Similar signs exist downtown at Union and Van Buren stations, Davis St in Evanston, and Joliet.

I do agree it would be better to display the route name or destination somewhere on the signs. Instead of the regular blue Pace signs, they should have used something like the example below. This style sign is what exists in Joliet: