Busjack Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 Nice to see some new equipment on the 600 and the 606. The hand -me-downs days are disappearing from these routes. I don't think those routes got anything different from NW than what the rest of NW gets, given that Colonial operation has been over for quite a while now. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted December 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 I don't think those routes got anything different from NW than what the rest of NW gets, given that Colonial operation has been over for quite a while now. Historically, while under contractors from CW to Mayflower, Keeshin to Academy (Colonial) all buses were pretty much retreads from other Pace divisions or contractors. Even the Orions (though not from any other division) are at least 10 years old. This is really the first time brand new equipment has been on these routes. It doesn't hurt to have brand new equipment on a route that passes directly by Pace HQ. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 ... It doesn't hurt to have brand new equipment on a route that passes directly by Pace HQ. Basically, I saw a certain incongruity in HQs being served by a contractor route. But, as Heather Armstrong pointed out two years ago, she didn't care for route 606 being served by then new 2700s out of River. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 Basically, I saw a certain incongruity in HQs being served by a contractor route. But, as Heather Armstrong pointed out two years ago, she didn't care for route 606 being served by then new 2700s out of River. I'm still not a fan of the NABI's on that route either, never mind the 2700's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted December 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 I'm actually surprised River does any 600/606. A 2600 series Eldo on these routes is just plain wrong. I suppose NW may have capacity issues, but I still see Pace West as a better alternative to River, considering West's 757 also ends in Schaumburg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 I'm actually surprised River does any 600/606. A 2600 series Eldo on these routes is just plain wrong. I suppose NW may have capacity issues, but I still see Pace West as a better alternative to River, considering West's 757 also ends in Schaumburg. But it appears that River has maybe 66% between 600, 606, 610 and 616, now of course beefed up by having the 6385s on 610. The deadhead from Itasca or Prairie Stone is also less to River. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted December 19, 2013 Author Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 But it appears that River has maybe 66% between 600, 606, 610 and 616, now of course beefed up by having the 6385s on 610. The deadhead from Itasca or Prairie Stone is also less to River. I never questioned 610. According to Googlemaps, the deadhead from the River garage to Itasca Metra is 24.6 miles. The same deadhead from Pace West garage to Itasca Metra is only 10 miles. It's 19 miles from Pace River to Higgins/Martingale, and 15 miles from Pace West to Higgins/Martinggale. Other than the 610, there is no real advantage River has over West. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 I never questioned 610. According to Googlemaps, the deadhead from the River garage to Itasca Metra is 24.6 miles. The same deadhead from Pace West garage to Itasca Metra is only 10 miles. It's 19 miles from Pace River to Higgins/Martingale, and 15 miles from Pace West to Higgins/Martinggale. Other than the 610, there is no real advantage River has over West. It seems like both deadheads I mentioned go straight via US 20, and then dip down to get to the garage in South Elgin. Hence, Google routings are not dispositive. When I had to pick up someone at Prairie Stone Sears. the impression I got was that it was a whole lot closer to Elgin than it was to even Hoffman Estates. I realize that my comparison was to NW, but still it seems like West Garage is more crowded than River, especially since the 35 foot buses were replaced with 30 foot ones. Pace isn't running the I-55 buses out of SW, either, even though the Heritage garage is antiquated and small. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesi2282 Posted December 19, 2013 Report Share Posted December 19, 2013 Busjack is right, West is already at capacity; if they took on River's 600/606/610/616 runs they would have to start parking buses outside of the garage, which is something I don't think they want to do... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twyztdmynd Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Seeing some new Eldo's at North Shore Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Seeing some new Eldo's at North Shore Actually that's NW. There is a NW run northbound at the Glen Town Center at about 5:10 p.m. that used to be 2700s, but now is either the 6392s or a 6000. However, I have only seen a 6392 series bus once (southbound trip on the same run at about 6:45 p.m.) and it was too dark to pick up its number, but WebWatch said it was 6394. In the afternoon (after school), 423 is run with 3 NW and 2 NS. The NS buses used to be 2600s, but now are pretty consistently 6600s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted March 14, 2014 Report Share Posted March 14, 2014 Here's some pictures of #6399. I wonder what happened to the #6400's? I noticed the benches are breaking at Jeff. Pk. , there's another broke across from the one pictured. They've been having a few problems out at Harlem/Higgins Blue line as well. When it was really cold they had some pipe burst by the platform mezzanine doors and half the platform was roped off there. Now they completely removed a door to the mezzanine/bus bay area. That must be nice when it's cold. I'll see if I can get a picture of that. I tell you these your New Blue crews couldn't get out here soon enough!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Seeing some new Eldo's at North Shore On a related note, I saw 6397 on Skokie Road in Wilmette. Again, though, it appeared to be on the 422 short run to Old Orchard, which, in the afternoon, is NW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted March 22, 2014 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 Here's some pictures of #6399. I wonder what happened to the #6400's? I noticed the benches are breaking at Jeff. Pk. , there's another broke across from the one pictured. pace 6399.png pace 6399a.png They've been having a few problems out at Harlem/Higgins Blue line as well. When it was really cold they had some pipe burst by the platform mezzanine doors and half the platform was roped off there. Now they completely removed a door to the mezzanine/bus bay area. That must be nice when it's cold. I'll see if I can get a picture of that. I tell you these your New Blue crews couldn't get out here soon enough!! What happened to the 6400s is the million dollar question. At first I thought the bad weather delayed the transporting of buses from California here, but relatively speaking the weather has been better these last couple of weeks. So I suppose the question goes back to the number of buses we are supposed to get and how many options are to be exercised and when those deliveries are supposed to start. At some point, there are suppose to be deliveries for: 1 ART buses for Milwaukee Ave 2. CNG buses for Pace South Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted March 22, 2014 Report Share Posted March 22, 2014 What happened to the 6400s is the million dollar question. At first I thought the bad weather delayed the transporting of buses from California here, but relatively speaking the weather has been better these last couple of weeks. So I suppose the question goes back to the number of buses we are supposed to get and how many options are to be exercised and when those deliveries are supposed to start. At some point, there are suppose to be deliveries for: 1 ART buses for Milwaukee Ave 2. CNG buses for Pace South On the CNG ones, the contract award has not yet been posted, and, as I noted earlier, Pace literature indicates at least a 7 month delay. There also hasn't been anything posted in the minutes regarding hiring bond counsel and selling bonds, which would be required for the garage upgrades needed to house CNG buses. I don't know if it is attributable to the bad weather or the Illinois General Assembly, but it seems like all the service boards have taken the winter off, except to make excuses. On ART, Moving Forward of March 7 says: Pace also received $9.5 million of Congestion Mitigation Air Quality funding for infrastructure improvements to the portion of Milwaukee Avenue between the Jefferson Park CTA Station and Golf Mill Mall in Niles. Station and bus stop upgrades, real-time information signage and designated lanes and traffic signal optimization to boost speed of service are among the uses of funds. I don't think anything was said about a separate fleet or a date to get it, other than by us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted March 28, 2014 Report Share Posted March 28, 2014 Shots of #6377 idle for #755 @ Jefferson/Taylor. Notice how the front door opens outward as the white letters say. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rotjohns Posted April 23, 2014 Report Share Posted April 23, 2014 Driving down I-55 this afternoon towards the city, #6377 was broken down on the side (around 1pm) and was in the process of being towed away. Wonder what happened? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted June 12, 2014 Report Share Posted June 12, 2014 While going by Rosemont today, I noticed a illuminated blue light underneath the fleet number under the run box on the right hand side of the bus. What is this....Signal Priority active or something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesi2282 Posted June 13, 2014 Report Share Posted June 13, 2014 While going by Rosemont today, I noticed a illuminated blue light underneath the fleet number under the run box on the right hand side of the bus. What is this....Signal Priority active or something else. It means the driver turned off the retarder. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Seen at the ol' HQ today: The new CNG ElDorko's… (I'll create a new thread for this later, but I'd figure I would prefer to tease you all. Good night ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted September 11, 2014 Report Share Posted September 11, 2014 Seen at the ol' HQ today: The new CNG ElDorko's… (I'll create a new thread for this later, but I'd figure I would prefer to tease you all. Good night ) Somewhat surprising, in that the award wasn't posted. However: The July 2014 minutes indicate something about buying "The bus." Yesterday's agenda had an item "CNG Bus procurement status." So did you sit through the meeting and find out anything? Based on the one time I did, I didn't think it was worth the effort. However, that one bus may be it (in more than one sense, like the one and only). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 Somewhat surprising, in that the award wasn't posted. However: The July 2014 minutes indicate something about buying "The bus." Yesterday's agenda had an item "CNG Bus procurement status." So did you sit through the meeting and find out anything? Based on the one time I did, I didn't think it was worth the effort. However, that one bus may be it (in more than one sense, like the one and only). It's a Demo. For now, the bus is finished with the needed Altoona testing. Should hear more in the Spring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted September 12, 2014 Report Share Posted September 12, 2014 It's a Demo. For now, the bus is finished with the needed Altoona testing. Should hear more in the Spring. Moving Forward just said that "Board members had the opportunity to look several months into the agency’s future when a bus powered by compressed natural gas was available for viewing." Said South should be converted by the end of next year, but no explanation of why this project is a year behind schedule. Also, no picture, although there was a picture of kissing the you know what of some legislator. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
west towns Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Are these the new I 90 and art buses? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted September 13, 2014 Report Share Posted September 13, 2014 Note to self: make better use of uploading pictures here from my phone. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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