New Express Routes Coming Soon.

[Pace831]

616 has all 6600s tonight, and the 6569s are only running on 606.

[west towns]

Maybe the pole signs are temporary to get something in.  Could the overhead signs be a place holder for electronic display signs?   

[west towns]

59 minutes ago, Busjack said:

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.

Look at entire route.Goggle map shows high density apts and condos along bg road, dundee and rand.  The palatine area was the old 696 route which its route was too long to get schaumburg this is much faster.  Also lots of retail along dundee and small businesses and manufacturing neat ah road.     

[Pace831]

5 minutes ago, west towns said:

Maybe the pole signs are temporary to get something in.

Maybe, but not likely.

6 minutes ago, west towns said:

Could the overhead signs be a place holder for electronic display signs?

They look like the same sign frames that used to be there, but with the paper inserts replaced. They'd probably replace the whole thing if electronic signs were to be installed.

[Busjack]

3 minutes ago, west towns said:

Look at entire route.Goggle map shows high density apts and condos along bg road, dundee and rand.  The palatine area was the old 696 route which its route was too long to get schaumburg this is much faster.  Also lots of retail along dundee and small businesses and manufacturing neat ah road.     

But basically your theory is that a residential area that hasn't has bus service, at least for eons, is going to jump on this for local service. If 696 had enough ridership from apartments in Palatine, they could have put it on Ill. 53, but didn't do so. As I indicated, without park and rides for people apparently needing to get to Schaumburg or the I-90 network, I don't see it.

BTW, I don't need to Google [check your spelling] Map anything, I live about 10 minutes from the area. Also, it didn't look like anyone was shoveling the bus stops.

[Pace831]

7 minutes ago, west towns said:

Look at entire route.Goggle map shows high density apts and condos along bg road, dundee and rand.  The palatine area was the old 696 route which its route was too long to get schaumburg this is much faster.  Also lots of retail along dundee and small businesses and manufacturing neat ah road.     

I would tend to agree with @Busjack that those places won't be enough to fully support the type of bus service provided. A park-n-ride would be a bigger ridership draw, and everthing else is supplemental.

[Busjack]

16 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

616 has all 6600s tonight, and the 6569s are only running on 606.

I have the feeling that basically why a 606 schedule was not posted, and 616 is like this is that the River Div. runs stayed at S. Elgin and did not move to East Dundee. Hence, I'm not sure why until last week they were running express buses on 616, nor 6559-63 on 610, except to give them a workout.

BTW, 6377-8 and 6390-1 add 4 buses to the 25 new ones, but probably are on 610 because that route is also essentially unchanged.

[Pace831]

3 minutes ago, Busjack said:

I have the feeling that basically why a 606 schedule was not posted, and 616 is like this is that the River Div. runs stayed at S. Elgin and did not move to East Dundee.

That makes sense. The buses currently on Webwatch are still following the "old" schedule.

4 minutes ago, Busjack said:

I'm not sure why until last week they were running express buses on 616, nor 6559-63 on 610, except to give them a workout.

More likely, the 6559s hadn't arrived at River or weren't ready yet.

6 minutes ago, Busjack said:

BTW, 6377-8 and 6390-1 add 4 buses to the 25 new ones, but probably are on 610 because that route is also essentially unchanged.

I also see I failed to count 607, and consider interlining with 600. But there should still be an adequate number of spares.

[jajuan]

28 minutes ago, Busjack said:

But basically your theory is that a residential area that hasn't has bus service, at least for eons, is going to jump on this for local service. If 696 had enough ridership from apartments in Palatine, they could have put it on Ill. 53, but didn't do so. As I indicated, without park and rides for people apparently needing to get to Schaumburg or the I-90 network, I don't see it.

BTW, I don't need to Google [check your spelling] Map anything, I live about 10 minutes from the area. Also, it didn't look like anyone was shoveling the bus stops.

The handout seems to suggest that Pace counting the Northwest Transportation Center as a nearby transit facility close to the I-90  and a transfer point to routes that run on I-90 justifies the creation of the 604 despite it not serving a park and ride. They basically seem to be banking that folks will use it to get to the 607 and travel to the Randall Rd Park and Ride or to switch to the 600 or 606 to get to Rosemont though probably more for switching to 607. 

[Busjack]

14 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

More likely, the 6559s hadn't arrived at River or weren't ready yet.

You missed my point. The 6559s were on 610 last week, while it should have been operated by highway buses. Maybe the highway buses were too busy getting wrapped.

15 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

I also see I failed to count 607, and consider interlining with 600. But there should still be an adequate number of spares.

Again my point wasn't a lack of spares (seems like an overabundance), but if we assume that only 6485-6509 have USB ports, they weren't promised on a route that wasn't changed yesterday.

[Busjack]

16 minutes ago, jajuan said:

The handout seems to suggest that Pace counting the Northwest Transportation Center as a nearby transit facility close to the I-90  and a transfer point to routes that run on I-90 justifies the creation of the 604 despite it not serving a park and ride. They basically seem to be banking that folks will use it to get to the 607 and travel to the Randall Rd Park and Ride or to switch to the 600 or 606 to get to Rosemont though probably more for switching to 607. There's also the option to switch to the 616 to either Itasca or Rosemont. 

This just seems to be confusing what if any purpose 604 has. If it is to get people from Wheeling or Palatine to say the Randall Road area, it needs a park and ride; otherwise people will drive to the NWTC.

On the other hand, if the point is to get people from the Randall Road or Schaumburg area to jobs in Wheeling, it conveniently avoids the industrial area, unless the theory is that a transfer is available to a sporadic 234 bus on Buffalo Grove Road.

Obviously, the NWTC provides a park and ride for those going from Schaumburg to somewhere else.

[jajuan]

2 minutes ago, Busjack said:

This just seems to be confusing what if any purpose 604 has. If it is to get people from Wheeling or Palatine to say the Randall Road area, it needs a park and ride; otherwise people will drive to the NWTC.

On the other hand, if the point is to get people from the Randall Road or Schaumburg area to jobs in Wheeling, it conveniently avoids the industrial area, unless the theory is that a transfer is available to a sporadic 234 bus on Buffalo Grove Road.

Obviously, the NWTC provides a park and ride for those going from Schaumburg to somewhere else.

Not really. They come right out and say that the 604's purpose is to be a local connector route to I-90 express routes just like the 608 and 611. Plus they seem to be trying to entice people from driving to NWTC by giving it a 20 min headway in rush hour. 

[Pace831]

13 minutes ago, Busjack said:

You missed my point. The 6559s were on 610 last week, while it should have been operated by highway buses. Maybe the highway buses were too busy getting wrapped.

Got it. In that case I agree that garage assignments were the major factor here.

25 minutes ago, jajuan said:

They basically seem to be banking that folks will use it to get to the 607 and travel to the Randall Rd Park and Ride or to switch to the 600 or 606 to get to Rosemont though probably more for switching to 607.

What is there to serve at Randall Rd other than the park and ride itself? Anyone commuting there would have to transfer again to the 550, or else they better install sidewalks or bike paths along Randall Rd. Most people who work out there and live around Wheeling would still choose to drive.

[Busjack]

9 minutes ago, jajuan said:

Not really. They come right out and say that the 604's purpose is to be a local connector route to I-90 express routes just like the 608 and 611. Plus they seem to be trying to entice people from driving to NWTC by giving it a 20 min headway in rush hour. 

But to what are they connecting, and does it justify running a 40 foot bus every 20 minutes during the rush hour and 40 minutes at other times?

This seems to be a more focused instance of the ambiguity in some Pace materials whether the object is getting drivers to Chicago off the tollway or that the job generators are out on the I-90 corridor (even though Sears and Motorola Solutions have become duds). I can see, for instance, how 603 is now the preferable way to go to and from Elgin (only real alternative is Metra to downtown), the Ill. 25 station to come connects with several local Elgin-Dundee routes, and there is an office area served by 611, but I don't get the 604 routing.

[BusHunter]

3 hours ago, Busjack said:

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.

Yeah I saw a bus with the infamous A1 message at the nwtc yesterday. Couldn't tell what route it was for. Plus all the bus stop bays are screwed up at the nwtc. Where 600 was at the east end its now at the west end or at least that's where my bus stopped. Signs still reflect it should stop at the east end so the riders need to be aware of this or the bus just might pass right by them!!

 

[BusHunter]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

But to what are they connecting, and does it justify running a 40 foot bus every 20 minutes during the rush hour and 40 minutes at other times?

This seems to be a more focused instance of the ambiguity in some Pace materials whether the object is getting drivers to Chicago off the tollway or that the job generators are out on the I-90 corridor (even though Sears and Motorola Solutions have become duds). I can see, for instance, how 603 is now the preferable way to go to and from Elgin (only real alternative is Metra to downtown), the Ill. 25 station to come connects with several local Elgin-Dundee routes, and there is an office area served by 611, but I don't get the 604 routing.

 

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

But to what are they connecting, and does it justify running a 40 foot bus every 20 minutes during the rush hour and 40 minutes at other times?

This seems to be a more focused instance of the ambiguity in some Pace materials whether the object is getting drivers to Chicago off the tollway or that the job generators are out on the I-90 corridor (even though Sears and Motorola Solutions have become duds). I can see, for instance, how 603 is now the preferable way to go to and from Elgin (only real alternative is Metra to downtown), the Ill. 25 station to come connects with several local Elgin-Dundee routes, and there is an office area served by 611, but I don't get the 604 routing.

Looks like they want to tap into the dundee crowd with a fast bus up rt 53 but who would want to go to Schaumburg and then head towards the city. Seems counter productive. 

 

[jajuan]

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

But to what are they connecting, and does it justify running a 40 foot bus every 20 minutes during the rush hour and 40 minutes at other times?

This seems to be a more focused instance of the ambiguity in some Pace materials whether the object is getting drivers to Chicago off the tollway or that the job generators are out on the I-90 corridor (even though Sears and Motorola Solutions have become duds). I can see, for instance, how 603 is now the preferable way to go to and from Elgin (only real alternative is Metra to downtown), the Ill. 25 station to come connects with several local Elgin-Dundee routes, and there is an office area served by 611, but I don't get the 604 routing.

 

23 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

 

Looks like they want to tap into the dundee crowd with a fast bus up rt 53 but who would want to go to Schaumburg and then head towards the city. Seems counter productive. 

 

Well the pamphlet does state that one big reason for even doing the I-90 project as a whole in the first place is because job growth along the I-90 corridor over the next 25 years is projected to be large enough to bring total job opportunities along the corridor up to the same number of what would be in the Loop. So the target market they're focusing on isn't so much those traveling into the city BH though there may be some of that in play among certain riders. They're marketing this more to suburb to suburb commuters. Also don't forget the park and rides along the corridor not yet opening until 2017. So in the case of the 604 and connections at NWTC, commuting between Randall Rd in Elgin and Dundee Rd in Wheeling is only a starting point. Come on guys, all the pieces aren't yet in place. This is just Phase Two of the project. Some things may not appear to make total sense now, but they obviously have an overall plan of how they hope all the pieces will fit together once everything is complete and operating. 

[west towns]

Whats so wrong with adding service in a market and yes this is not focused on yhe stagnet downtown chicago markwt but the nw suburban market

[Busjack]

On 12/20/2016 at 9:23 PM, west towns said:

Whats so wrong with adding service in a market ...

Nobody said anything was  wrong. I asked what is the market, given the lack of a park and ride and apparently a destination only chosen because a bus could go around a triangle, as opposed to serving an existing park and ride, the village center, or more importantly, the industrial area.

The real question is (as again pointed out in numerous contexts), what market was this supposed to serve? Do you know?

On 12/20/2016 at 8:34 PM, BusHunter said:

 

Looks like they want to tap into the dundee crowd with a fast bus up rt 53 but who would want to go to Schaumburg and then head towards the city. Seems counter productive.

Jajuan indicates they might be going the other way, using Schaumburg as a hub. There is 272/270 to get to the city, if that's their intent, and they are going to get Pulse in about 6 months. As I indicated, though, my question is about the routing at the Wheeling end. At least 608 goes from the Roselle station and downtown area.

[BusHunter]

So how does 611 show up on pace bustracker if it's ran with paratransits?

[Busjack]

4 hours ago, BusHunter said:

So how does 611 show up on pace bustracker if it's ran with paratransits?

It seems the same as 511. The map is there, but after looking, I haven't seen a bus on it. Has anyone seen anything else?

[Pace831]

48 minutes ago, Busjack said:

It seems the same as 511. The map is there, but after looking, I haven't seen a bus on it. Has anyone seen anything else?

I haven't seen anything either, so I agree it's like 511 and (briefly) 807.

[Busjack]

12 hours ago, Busjack said:

It seems the same as 511. The map is there, but after looking, I haven't seen a bus on it. Has anyone seen anything else?

 

11 hours ago, Pace831 said:

I haven't seen anything either, so I agree it's like 511 and (briefly) 807.

As I indicated--only timepoints and scheduled times, no vehicle:

 

[Busjack]

6377 on 603 and 6378 on 607, which appears to indicate that there isn't any distinction on how the highway buses are used (throw out mine re 610):

[west towns]

Did anyone find where the usb ports are located?