New Eldorados?

[Pace831]

This week's visit to Chandler brings us up to 6564:

[Pace831]

Here are more pictures of the new Eldorados. First I stopped by Chandler but most of the buses were parked where you can't read the numbers. 6565 is visible which increases the total by 1 from last week.

Then I went to Orland Square where I took this picture of 6529. Go Cubs Go!

I tried to artfully incorporate the tree into this shot of 6535:

These buses have the new blue seats so it looks like that change is here to stay.

Finally, here is 6524 with "Illegal to Follow Bus On Shoulder" decals. Did we ever determine the reason some buses only have the bumper decals instead of full wraps?

Up to 6542 are roaming the streets of SW Division:

[BusHunter]

LoL!! You had me laughing there. Since when does the south side root for the cubs!! Nice shots very impressive work!! Its like your doing my old job but I'm still out here mostly working the north side.

[Pace831]

27 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Since when does the south side root for the cubs!!

All the buses systemwide are displaying "Go Cubs Go! (flip) Congratulations". I was afraid of boarding the wrong bus the other day because the Cubs displays don't show the route number!

[artthouwill]

3 hours ago, Pace831 said:

All the buses systemwide are displaying "Go Cubs Go! (flip) Congratulations". I was afraid of boarding the wrong bus the other day because the Cubs displays don't show the route number!

And right now the Cubs Are IN Danger Of Going As losers.  Tied at 6 bottom of 9th with a tired Aroldis Chapman.   

In the end.  Cubs won

 

[Busjack]

11 hours ago, Pace831 said:

All the buses systemwide are displaying "Go Cubs Go! (flip) Congratulations". I was afraid of boarding the wrong bus the other day because the Cubs displays don't show the route number!

I saw the sign on a 272 Friday night when they were about to blow that game. Bit premature, but it worked out in the end.

[Busjack]

20 hours ago, Pace831 said:

Did we ever determine the reason some buses only have the bumper decals instead of full wraps?

Not really. The wraps are a State Police mandate, while one of the board members wanted the bumper decals. On the SW front, the question essentially was whether there was any intent for a bus lane on I-294, although I suppose it might be needed for the portion of route 895 on I-90, once the bus lane opens there.

[pudgym29]

On Sunday, we taped another Chic-A-Go-Go! dance show at The Promontory. When it ended; since I was on the south side, I opted to go to the Beverly neighborhood's brewpub, Horse Thief Hollow near 104th and Western.
When I got to 79th and Western, look at what class of motor coach I had on route #349: One of Pace south's compressed natural gas buses.
It was a pretty swift ride. I did not catch a CNG bus on my return north, though.

[Pace831]

33 minutes ago, Busjack said:

Not really. The wraps are a State Police mandate, while one of the board members wanted the bumper decals. On the SW front, the question essentially was whether there was any intent for a bus lane on I-294, although I suppose it might be needed for the portion of route 895 on I-90, once the bus lane opens there.

It just doesn't make sense for a bus to have bumper decals only. Even if we suppose they are for 895, that route uses 30 foot buses, so 6524 probably won't be running there. 856 is confirmed to have wrapped buses, so that possibility is also unlikely. You said you saw 2824 with the decals, which makes a little more sense if they're for 895. But that still doesn't solve the mystery of why some 30 foot buses at Heritage have the decals when they were never used on I-55.

The answer probably has to do with spares. Even if the bus can't run on the shoulder because it's not wrapped, the decals still serve as a reminder to motorists.

This got me to thinking: Will the "flex lane" on I-90 be considered a "shoulder" to the extent Pace is concerned? The renderings of the buses are wrapped, but it's not clear whether the wraps are required by law or if they are a marketing technique.

[Busjack]

9 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

This got me to thinking: Will the "flex lane" on I-90 be considered a "shoulder" to the extent Pace is concerned? The renderings of the buses are wrapped, but it's not clear whether the wraps are required by law or if they are a marketing technique.

Seems the latter, as the layout for I-90 indicates buses will be on "smart lanes" rather than on the shoulder. However, I suppose we'll have to wait until December (or whenever the Smart Road goes into effect).

[Pace831]

8 minutes ago, Busjack said:

Seems the latter, as the layout for I-90 indicates buses will be on "smart lanes" rather than on the shoulder. However, I suppose we'll have to wait until December (or whenever the Smart Road goes into effect).

That's what I'm thinking too, because the whole idea of the flex lane is that it isn't just for Pace.

[west towns]

I doubt the bumper stickers are to remind drivers buses can run on shoulder.  are we sure the wraps are still mandated by state police?  the statements  were made before the trial period which is now over.  could there have been changes in the agreent since  the demo  test  to allow non  wrapped buses on shoulder with the stickers?

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

Seems the latter, as the layout for I-90 indicates buses will be on "smart lanes" rather than on the shoulder. However, I suppose we'll have to wait until December (or whenever the Smart Road goes into effect).

I could be wrong,  but I think all of the travel lanes including the shoulder will be smart lanes,  with the shoulder possibly serving as a flex lane during peak times. I don't know what conditions,  if any,  will trigger the shoulder to be open as a flex lane. 

[west towns]

Isnt that what the hov on i55 supposed to do?

[west towns]

Are all three bos buses at sw wrapped?

[Pace831]

1 hour ago, artthouwill said:

I could be wrong,  but I think all of the travel lanes including the shoulder will be smart lanes,  with the shoulder possibly serving as a flex lane during peak times. I don't know what conditions,  if any,  will trigger the shoulder to be open as a flex lane. 

Generally the flex lane will be for buses only during the rush hour, but will be open to all traffic during off-peak times. It can also be opened to all traffic if, for example, an accident is blocking other lanes.

1 hour ago, west towns said:

Isnt that what the hov on i55 supposed to do?

Not quite, because the proposed HOV lane on I-55 will require a toll which varies based on how congested the other lanes are, but can be accessed at all times. The I-90 flex lane will not require additional tolls when open to all traffic, and will be restricted to buses only during rush hours.

19 minutes ago, west towns said:

Are all three bos buses at sw wrapped?

We have a picture of 6387 wrapped, so why wouldn't the others be?

[west towns]

If they are not all wrapped them it makes point wrapped buses are not required to run bos only the bumper markings

[west towns]

Where is the i formatiom the flex lane is beimg used by general traffic off peak?   i was under impression its pace only 

[Busjack]

4 hours ago, west towns said:

I doubt the bumper stickers are to remind drivers buses can run on shoulder.  are we sure the wraps are still mandated by state police?  the statements  were made before the trial period which is now over.  could there have been changes in the agreent since  the demo  test  to allow non  wrapped buses on shoulder with the stickers?

The Pace board sure hasn't said anything different since the meeting where I was and heard them say it. If you were at any later board meeting, let us know.

Notably, there hasn't been any report of a bus with only the bumper decal riding the shoulder on I-55. Of course, the 6950 series of buses have full decals instead of a wrap.

[west towns]

If pace can use flex lane only in rush hr this is worse than the i55 bos system 

So if midday congestion there is no bus advantage ?   makes no sense  why do a flex lane when regular shoulder is better  

[west towns]

6 hours ago, Busjack said:

The Pace board sure hasn't said anything different since the meeting where I was and heard them say it. If you were at any later board meeting, let us know.

Notably, there hasn't been any report of a bus with only the bumper decal riding the shoulder on I-55. Of course, the 6950 series of buses have full decals instead of a wrap.

Dont know if sw operates a non wrapped express bos  bus theres the answer

[Pace831]

2 hours ago, west towns said:

If pace can use flex lane only in rush hr this is worse than the i55 bos system 

So if midday congestion there is no bus advantage ?   makes no sense  why do a flex lane when regular shoulder is better  

The flex lane is supposed to be dynamic, opening and closing in response to real-time traffic conditions. There aren't specific times when the lane will be for Pace only.

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, west towns said:

So if midday congestion there is no bus advantage ?

There wouldn't be any advantage midday on BOS, either, since, if you had read the BOS materials, the Pace home page says:

Buses are permitted to use select sections of the I-55 shoulder when regular traffic flows at 35 miles per hour or less. Buses in the shoulder are limited to travelling 15 miles per hour faster than the flow of traffic with a maximum speed in the shoulder of 35 miles per hour.

The bus doesn't get to go 70 mph when traffic is doing 55.

That's similar to when someone pointed out that SW was doing the Boiingbrook-Soldier Field Express with Orion VIs, and I realized "they wouldn't be allowed to run on the shoulder on Sunday, anyway."

The difference between Smart Road and BOS is that the control center can change the digital sign over each lane. How they do it, we will have to wait until mid 2017.

[west towns]

At least it's  moving.  they removed rush hour restrictions yrs ago look at the highway signs its based on congrstion not time of day

[Busjack]

4 hours ago, west towns said:

Dont know if sw operates a non wrapped express bos  bus theres the answer

I don't know if I was explicit enough. By full decals, I meant that the "Pace Express" and "Bus Authorized to Use the Shoulder" were applied by MCI.

Also,the "Illegal to follow he bus on shoulder" doesn't convey anything to someone ahead of the bus on the shoulder. The reverse legend on the front of the bus does.

But to get to this topic, that is to be compared to the Axess buses, which only have the fleet numbers and wrench logos applied by the factory, and thus have to be wrapped as shown on the Pace home page to run as BOS.