twyztdmynd Posted January 9, 2012 Report Share Posted January 9, 2012 New 895 routing. It will now use the Balmoral access to serve more of Rosemont. http://www.pacebus.com/sub/schedules/route_notice_detail.asp?Notice_ID=3056 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xlesleex Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 I thought I would add a few comments here as a rider of the 895 route. I cannot speak to the Schaumburg route since I don't take that but I do ride the Chicago Ridge to Rosemont route and LOVE IT. There are a number of southwest suburb people who commute to Rosemont specifically for work, and this route allows us to take pubic transit without having to first head into the city and then back out west again - or take a series of buses, taking nearly 2 hours. With the rise in gas and tolls, those of us who ride really appreciate the savings and convenience. There is a group of about 15 regular riders for the Chicago Ridge to Rosemont ride, we all take different morning buses but the first bus out at 4:30 is the most popular return. AM Service is always on time and completes the ride in 30-40 minutes, PM service is usually on time, sometimes running about 7 minutes behind schedule due to traffic coming out of Schaumburg. I don't have any confirmed details on the driver situation. They are not pace employees but are contracted specifically for this route. They drive trolleys for Chicago Trolley Company (maybe affiliated with Coach USA?). There is not an electronic fare reader on the buses so those who pay in cash can do so, those who have monthly passes have them pre-activated with the 30day expiration and show that to the driver. The driver marks down how each rider paid. The mall does not mind us parking in their lot - in fact a number of pace ride share people have been doing it for years - as long as we don't stay overnight. Some people connect from the 381 too. We do agree it wasn't really pubicized, most of us heard about it through the pace car pool/ride share site or just simply seeing the bus on I-294 and looking into it. We are trying to spread by word of mouth in our buildings. About the bus, yes - its a small bus and not the smoothest ride, but 1) I thought it was smart to start the route with a smaller bus until ridership picked up and 2) we are just happy to have an express route from Chicago Ridge to Schaumburg that we aren't picky! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted January 20, 2012 Report Share Posted January 20, 2012 I thought I would add a few comments here as a rider of the 895 route.... Thanks for clarifying the situation, including re park and ride, and that "Coach USA Chicago" (as indicated on the Pace website) is Chicago Trolley and Double Decker, which is a Coach USA company, even though Coach USA-Keeshin Charter Service is apparently no longer around. I agree that starting small makes sense, but as my prior comments indicated, it didn't hit me as this was the way to attract ridership. Apparently it has, though, at least better than 889 did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted March 16, 2012 Report Share Posted March 16, 2012 Today's Moving Forward says: New Pace service includes Route 895 95th St.— Rosemont—Schaumburg Express, which began in late November, 2011 and quickly jumped from an average of 11 riders per day when it debuted to 86 riders per day in February. So, despite my skepticism, the test is apparently working. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twyztdmynd Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Pace has issued a new service memo about modifying the schedule to alleviate overcrouding. This strikes my funny that the notice was issued first on the Pace Facebook page. Second... Why not just throw a larger bus on the route. :huh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 30, 2012 Report Share Posted April 30, 2012 Pace has issued a new service memo about modifying the schedule to alleviate overcrouding. This strikes my funny that the notice was issued first on the Pace Facebook page. Second... Why not just throw a larger bus on the route. For that matter, it isn't in the Pace Passenger Notices on pacebus.com at this moment. You might be a "friend" of Pace, but I doubt that they have many friends. In any event, if you click on and enlarge the Passenger Notice, in the morning it is that one trip that used to be via I-355 is now via Rosemont, and while a trip is added, many trips in the afternoon are either rescheduled or eliminated. Update: There are some indications that what might really be needed is a reverse route 600, but the statements about the 7:20 trip are inconsistent. So, the cause does not seem to be that a number of trips need a bigger bus, just that the schedule needed some tweaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 At least the notice is now up where it should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted July 31, 2012 Report Share Posted July 31, 2012 Moving Forward said that this route started with 11 riders but now has 132 per day. So it must be working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted August 17, 2012 Report Share Posted August 17, 2012 Since BusExpert got me to the RTAMS JARC site, it indicates that 895 is a restart of the South Suburban Express Bus Network grant, after 889 failed and was canceled apparently early. Again, Pace had to put up $1 million in local match. So, I guess we know what Pace meant when it said that "hopefully they would get to use the money elsewhere." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 They are using larger buses to cover this route. While they aren't 40 footers, supposedly they're larger than the 5700 series. Cutaways, perhaps. 1951 and 1955 were seen at Rosemont this morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 They are using larger buses to cover this route. While they aren't 40 footers, supposedly they're larger than the 5700 series. Cutaways, perhaps. 1951 and 1955 were seen at Rosemont this morning. Velly interesting. Could they have been repurposed Downers Grove buses?* They could have been disguised by the wraps. I'll have to check it out when I have the time. _________ *Courtesy of twy. Note that I saw 3 of them at South Holland, and guessed this before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 Probably not universal, since the 5740's can be found dead heading back to Chicago with the same wraps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 Probably not universal, since the 5740's can be found dead heading back to Chicago with the same wraps. If my guess is right, 5 buses wouldn't be enough to cover the schedule. And I guess you are confirming that the 1950s were wrapped. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroShadow Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 If my guess is right, 5 buses wouldn't be enough to cover the schedule. And I guess you are confirming that the 1950s were wrapped. 895 express livery with a Wi-Fi logo by the engine hood. Correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busfan2847 Posted December 6, 2012 Report Share Posted December 6, 2012 Velly interesting. Could they have been repurposed Downers Grove buses?* They could have been disguised by the wraps. I'll have to check it out when I have the time. _________ *Courtesy of twy. Note that I saw 3 of them at South Holland, and guessed this before. I saw 1954 as well this morning parked behind a shorter 5700 on the shoulder of I-290. I am pretty sure they are longer Ford/ El Dorado and not the ex Downers Grove IC Corp vehicles. The cowl appeared to be the same as on the shorter vehicle. It did have a Route 895 wrap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel bernero Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 I am posting two photos, one of Pace 0002 from Downers Grove and one of 1952 wrapped for Route 895. They both appear to be the same bus. They have the same license plate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 10, 2013 Report Share Posted April 10, 2013 I am posting two photos, one of Pace 0002 from Downers Grove and one of 1952 wrapped for Route 895. They both appear to be the same bus. They have the same license plate. So I guessed correctly, after all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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