Pace Roster

[andrethebusman]

Pace active fleet assignments 1/5/26

Fleet as of 1-5-26.xlsx

[busfan2847]

On 1/9/2026 at 3:35 PM, andrethebusman said:

Pace active fleet assignments 1/5/26

Fleet as of 1-5-26.xlsx 51.42 kB · 25 downloads

Thanks.

[rotjohns]

On 1/11/2026 at 12:35 PM, busfan2847 said:

Thanks.

I was wondering why some oddball 2600s were in FV, but now I see they lost 2826 and 2828 so it makes sense.  

[andrethebusman]

Any ideas how many 26000 series Phoenix paratransit vans are on order? Up to 26021, with several missing. Budget documents seem to suggest 30?

[jadetoffee]

On 1/18/2026 at 6:25 AM, andrethebusman said:

Any ideas how many 26000 series Phoenix paratransit vans are on order? Up to 26021, with several missing. Budget documents seem to suggest 30?

I saw 26023 in St Charles yesterday, no idea whos operating it

[Busjack]

5 minutes ago, 5745-5764 said:

Just for that, we will leave the livery as is and mimic the Pace lease look from the 700 series GM fishbowls

That bus must have more coats of paint than ..... Between South Suburban Safeway, RTA,this white with a Pace belt rail to this.

[RJL6000]

1 hour ago, Gil said:

New bus check

We got #26510 On Route 540 

Yipes! Fox Valley is getting those 35-foot 26500s! What haapens next with their 20300s?

[artthouwill]

4 minutes ago, RJL6000 said:

Yipes! Fox Valley is getting those 35-foot 26500s! What haapens next with their 20300s?

Maybe nothing.  They still have 27xxs.  Maybe those go away first

 

[Bus1807]

1 hour ago, artthouwill said:

Maybe nothing.  They still have 27xxs.  Maybe those go away first

 

About time.

[rotjohns]

4 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Maybe nothing.  They still have 27xxs.  Maybe those go away first

 

Looks like they all started this past Monday.  26501 is out now.  At the moment, it doesn't go past 26510, but I would suspect that'll change soon.  The 2600s are 20 years old, I'd have to believe across Pace, they'll all be retired soon except for the non-Pace facilities like Batavia.  It's due, some of them are running really rough.

As far as the 20300s, I do think they'll stay put.  If more 26500s come, I think they could end up where existing 2600s are right now, like Bridgeview and NW.  We know Pace isn't afraid to keep two different types of buses at the same facility, like Heritage has now.

[Bus1807]

10 minutes ago, rotjohns said:

Looks like they all started this past Monday.  26501 is out now.  At the moment, it doesn't go past 26510, but I would suspect that'll change soon.  The 2600s are 20 years old, I'd have to believe across Pace, they'll all be retired soon except for the non-Pace facilities like Batavia.  It's due, some of them are running really rough.

As far as the 20300s, I do think they'll stay put.  If more 26500s come, I think they could end up where existing 2600s are right now, like Bridgeview and NW.  We know Pace isn't afraid to keep two different types of buses at the same facility, like Heritage has now.

I miss when the 2600’s were at North Shore.

[Busjack]

10 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Maybe nothing.  They still have 27xxs.  Maybe those go away first

 

 

5 hours ago, rotjohns said:

Looks like they all started this past Monday.  26501 is out now.  At the moment, it doesn't go past 26510, but I would suspect that'll change soon.  The 2600s are 20 years old, I'd have to believe across Pace, they'll all be retired soon except for the non-Pace facilities like Batavia.  It's due, some of them are running really rough.

As far as the 20300s, I do think they'll stay put.  If more 26500s come, I think they could end up where existing 2600s are right now, like Bridgeview and NW.  We know Pace isn't afraid to keep two different types of buses at the same facility, like Heritage has now.

Note: @Gil's original post was moved to the Gillig hybrids topic.

But since the ensuing discussion deals with moving other stuff...

The buses noted by @rotjohns  (@maths22's tracker now says 26501, 26504, 26506, 26507, 26508, 26510) have been on routes 524, 540, and 559, and this consistent pattern, especially 559, is where the 32 foot buses 2826-2829, ran. Those buses are now off the tracker. So the surmise that FV needed a slightly larger bus seems correct.

Buses 25514-25537 (24 buses) should have been enough to get 22300-22322 out of H, but 22304 and 22314-22322 are still there (22318 is not tracking). So, H must be up to 32 local buses.

Pace still has to do something about the remaining 2600s at R and MV (routes 711 and 715). Only indication is that R is supposed to get the trifling base order of the 250 bus contract.

As planning at NW is based on the eventuality of the Wheeling garage, and SW on electrification,  I don't personally believe that those two garages will get any more short buses. Of course, Metzger hasn't told me anything.

 

 

[rotjohns]

13 hours ago, Busjack said:

Pace still has to do something about the remaining 2600s at R and MV (routes 711 and 715). Only indication is that R is supposed to get the trifling base order of the 250 bus contract.

 

I often wonder if Pace would consider larger buses at MV.  Can't speak on 711, but ridership on 715 seems to be increasing rapidly at least on the south end.  I often see the Argonne runs with passengers standing.

[MetroShadow]

On 10/16/2026 at 7:21 AM, rotjohns said:

I often wonder if Pace would consider larger buses at MV.  Can't speak on 711, but ridership on 715 seems to be increasing rapidly at least on the south end.  I often see the Argonne runs with passengers standing.

They did have 35' Orions and NABIs back in the day, so I wouldn't rule it out. 

[Busjack]

13 minutes ago, MetroShadow said:

They did have 35' Orions and NABIs back in the day, so I wouldn't rule it out. 

I'm  not sure MV did,  but they were on various DuPage feeder routes until supplanted by 2600s.

BTW, @rotjohns, is 12402 still around?

[rotjohns]

21 hours ago, Busjack said:

I'm  not sure MV did,  but they were on various DuPage feeder routes until supplanted by 2600s.

BTW, @rotjohns, is 12402 still around?

@Busjack Nope, haven't seen that bus in well over a year running, although I wonder if it's sitting at Batavia's garage.  

[Busjack]

54 minutes ago, rotjohns said:

@Busjack Nope, haven't seen that bus in well over a year running, although I wonder if it's sitting at Batavia's garage.  

If it really is a 12, and since the deal was to let DeKalb get around the FTA 12-year service life requirement, I guess that Pace can chuck it.

I also wonder if the ReVision proposal to cut 715 to the southern portion and assign the north portion to 333 affects this, but we can leave that to the ReVision topic.

 

[Gil]

On 10/15/2026 at 9:00 AM, RJL6000 said:

Yipes! Fox Valley is getting those 35-foot 26500s! What haapens next with their 20300s?

Some #20300s- 20323 will go to either Village of Highland Park or McHenry or MV Transportation Batavia or to the bus depot at Markham,IL

[Busjack]

37 minutes ago, Gil said:

Some #20300s- 20323 will go to either Village of Highland Park or McHenry or MV Transportation Batavia or to the bus depot at Markham,IL

Kalshi says the only one on which you have a chance is MV Under ReVision, Highland Park will need only one bus. Markham is either the acceptance facility or South Division, which uses only CNGs.

[rotjohns]

On 10/24/2026 at 5:06 PM, Busjack said:

Kalshi says the only one on which you have a chance is MV Under ReVision, Highland Park will need only one bus. Markham is either the acceptance facility or South Division, which uses only CNGs.

Agreed, none of the 20300s are going to Highland Park or Markham.  In fact, I doubt they're going anywhere immediately unless FV converts completely to 26500s, which history shows that seems unlikely.  Once Pace gets rid of the remaining 2600s, which I'd suspect will be by the end of this year, we could see 20300s on the move at that point.  Crazy as this sounds, could a handful end up at West?  There are some routes that probably could work well with short buses (302 and 317 come to mind immediately).  I'd also wonder what ridership is like at Waukegan and see if they truly need all those 6700s up there?  Those of us remember they had all short buses (6600 Nabis for example) before switching to 40-footers.  

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, rotjohns said:

Crazy as this sounds, could a handful end up at West?  There are some routes that probably could work well with short buses (302 and 317 come to mind immediately).  I'd also wonder what ridership is like at Waukegan and see if they truly need all those 6700s up there?  Those of us remember they had all short buses (6600 Nabis for example) before switching to 40-footers.

ReVision plans to cancel 317, saying one can use other routes in the area; Madison would be covered by 303 and 310.

The only time W got 2600s was when it ran Elmhurst feeders.

If Waukegan is getting anything, it's clearly BEBs. Waukegan's need is for school trips. Also, historically, North had a mix of 35' and 40' buses, including 8600 Gilligs and 2230 Orion Is.

I thought the 25514s would clear out H, but apparently only partially.

[Sam92]

2 hours ago, rotjohns said:

 I'd also wonder what ridership is like at Waukegan and see if they truly need all those 6700s up there?  Those of us remember they had all short buses (6600 Nabis for example) before switching to 40-footers.  

568, 565, 572 and 571 seem to be the ones that justify 40ft buses.... It's probably all 40fts just to allow more flexibility in the amount of interlining going on at the metra station 🤔

[jtrussel]

5 hours ago, Sam92 said:

568, 565, 572 and 571 seem to be the ones that justify 40ft buses.... It's probably all 40fts just to allow more flexibility in the amount of interlining going on at the metra station 🤔

I say more 565 and 568 I live in north territory and I always see a few passengers on the 571 a very small handful

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

The new Gilligs in service on Pulse Milwaukee line have given buses 6563-6573 to be unwrapped from the Pulse livery and are now in service as regular buses

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, Erin Mishkin Jr. said:

The new Gilligs in service on Pulse Milwaukee line have given buses 6563-6573 to be unwrapped from the Pulse livery and are now in service as regular buses

Notwithstanding that, most of them have shown up on the tracker as 101 (Dempster Pulse) most of today, although they have also had trips on other routes.