CTA Service Adjustments

[jajuan]

More than likely garage rumor.

The 16th hook would correspond to what jajuan and others said that more artics are probably needed to run the reconfigured north LSD express routes.

Anyway, there probably are 90 of this order to be assigned.

And from the looks of how it went yesterday and this morning, for the time being on weekdays artics will be seen doing heavy coverage on the north express routes, as far as the 140s go, more midday and PM rush while 40 foot standards are used more on those in the AM rush. A lot of the 146 short trips and a few of the 147 short trips showed this pattern. The 146 full trips and 147 full trips appear to remain artic run during the full time of service on a weekday. Though 147 has a history of placing 40 foot buses on off peak weekday evening trips. The 130s or LaSalle expresses appear to still have their artic vs 40 foot standard ratios of before.

[CURRENTZ_09]

Could the 11 Lincoln/Segdwick be revived until June 2013 from the additional surcharge at O'Hare effective Monday January 14, 2013, here's what CTA told the Chicago Tribune Today

" The $750,000 the CTA will lose by delaying for six months the $2.75 surcharge on the $2.25 base rail fare is enough money to cover the cost of bringing back the popular No. 145 Wilson/Michigan Express bus route for a year, or restoring the No. 11 Lincoln/Sedgwick bus to its full route for about six months, according to figures the CTA provided related to operating each of the lines.

The CTA eliminated the No. 145 and scaled back the No. 11 this week to cut costs. The agency reinvested the money in a crowding-reduction program aimed at adding service on other bus routes and rail lines with higher ridership.

[Busjack]

Could the 11 Lincoln/Segdwick be revived until June 2013 from the additional surcharge at O'Hare effective Monday January 14, 2013, here's what CTA told the Chicago Tribune Today

" The $750,000 the CTA will lose by delaying for six months the $2.75 surcharge on the $2.25 base rail fare is enough money to cover the cost of bringing back the popular No. 145 Wilson/Michigan Express bus route for a year, or restoring the No. 11 Lincoln/Sedgwick bus to its full route for about six months, according to figures the CTA provided related to operating each of the lines.

The CTA eliminated the No. 145 and scaled back the No. 11 this week to cut costs. The agency reinvested the money in a crowding-reduction program aimed at adding service on other bus routes and rail lines with higher ridership.

Surprisingly, the Board listened to the Department of Aviation, but your man Claypool has continually indicated that he isn't listening on Lincoln. Your "you have until Dec. 16 to write" sure didn't work, even though Pawar futilely tried.

There was the stuff in the Sun-Times, where CTA people said, in effect, "it's impossible, the pick happened several months ago."

The real question is how the CTA is going to convince the RTA in one day that it has a balanced budget, when it took out a chunk of revenue, but the RTA only consists of lackeys, too, and has passed CTA budgets before that had a bunch of "we'll find some way to balance it." Like for 2012.

Also: You misread the quote. If they are eliminating the surcharge for 6 months, and also reinstated the lines, they would be losing twice as much. I added the emphasis to your quote.

[Busjack]

Really BTW, today's Dilbert looks relevant to this topic.

[sw4400]

Really BTW, today's Dilbert looks relevant to this topic.

I'm not familiar with Dilbert, but I'll go along for the role play since it looks so much like the CTA over the past few months...

Bald-headed boss guy: Forrest Claypool

Dilbert: #11 Lincoln/Sedgwick riders & Ald. Pawar

Hair standing up guy: Rahm Emanuel

[Busjack]

I'm not familiar with Dilbert, but I'll go along for the role play since it looks so much like the CTA over the past few months...

...

I was going with it more in the sense of that the whole point of Dilbert is showing how corporate culture doesn't work, and nobody more typifies corporate speak and "we don't have to listen to nobody" than Claypool.

[renardo870]

Will we get an updated run number list soon?

[jajuan]

Will we get an updated run number list soon?

Maybe not until folks have had enough time to observe what the new number ranges are. It's only been three days since the changes became effective.

[artthouwill]

I guess the Kedzie operators are still learning the 35 31st/35th route.

Last night I rode a WB 35th bus. While going west on 36th Pl, the driver continued all the way to Kedzie when the route actually goes north on Albany to 36th St, then west to Kedzie. I know its only a block, but the route is the route, and fortunately, there was no one at the bus stop located ON 36th St. at Kedzie.

Near 35th and State, there are two right turn lanes just before the Green Line tracks and station. There is a barrier and island that separate the one westbound lane that continues west on 35th from the two lanes that will turn northbound on State. My driver this morning drops off passengers right in front of the train station, which puts him in the turning lanes. So what does he do? He gets to the light where the lanes curve to go north on State, and he turns LEFT into the northbound lanes (there is an island on State north of 35th that separates NB and SB traffic) then turns right back onto 35th St. Fortunately for us, it was 5:20 a.m. as opposed to say, 3p.m.

It appears that this route is completely covered by the extra board and no one 'picked" this route. I am also surprised that the routing around the Orange Line (between 35th/ARcher and 35th/Leavitt) hasn't been screwed up yet). At least when 77th took over the route, I've heard the 77th drivers talk with each other about the route during driver change at the REd Line. There was no such conversation when we had a driver switch at 31st & Kedzie.

[jajuan]

I guess the Kedzie operators are still learning the 35 31st/35th route.

Last night I rode a WB 35th bus. While going west on 36th Pl, the driver continued all the way to Kedzie when the route actually goes north on Albany to 36th St, then west to Kedzie. I know its only a block, but the route is the route, and fortunately, there was no one at the bus stop located ON 36th St. at Kedzie.

Near 35th and State, there are two right turn lanes just before the Green Line tracks and station. There is a barrier and island that separate the one westbound lane that continues west on 35th from the two lanes that will turn northbound on State. My driver this morning drops off passengers right in front of the train station, which puts him in the turning lanes. So what does he do? He gets to the light where the lanes curve to go north on State, and he turns LEFT into the northbound lanes (there is an island on State north of 35th that separates NB and SB traffic) then turns right back onto 35th St. Fortunately for us, it was 5:20 a.m. as opposed to say, 3p.m.

It appears that this route is completely covered by the extra board and no one 'picked" this route. I am also surprised that the routing around the Orange Line (between 35th/ARcher and 35th/Leavitt) hasn't been screwed up yet). At least when 77th took over the route, I've heard the 77th drivers talk with each other about the route during driver change at the REd Line. There was no such conversation when we had a driver switch at 31st & Kedzie.

Sounds like your driver had to do more than learn the route. Sounds like he needs traffic school as well. I haven't been near 35th and State in quite a while but I know that lane configuration you were talking about and those right turn lanes from 35th are clearly marked. Not only that, he should have been able to merge back into that left lane going straight before he got close enough to State to pull that little risky maneuver that could have been big trouble if it were a busier part of the day as you point out.

[mkohut]

Thursday should be interesting to see how good Claypool plan is if the weather forecast is right.

[Sam92]

Maybe not until folks have had enough time to observe what the new number ranges are. It's only been three days since the changes became effective.

Off hand I know:

**N5 South Shore Night Bus/95E 93rd 95th - 1900

6 Jackson Park Express - 1500

9 Ashland - 6000

12 Roosevelt - K200

J14 Jeffery Jump -1400 or 1700 (maybe that was a 192 interline)

15 Jeffery Local - 1400/1500

18 16th/18th - K600?

29 State - 1000?

37 Sedwick- K300

111 111th King Drive/ 115 Pullman/115th- 1100

146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express - P600

I know this isn't much or perfect. This is based on consistent observations I've seen and other posts as well. Let me know what you guys see and I'll edit this post so we can get a full list that's as accurate as we can make it so Kevin can update the garages page.

**N5 and 95E are counted as the same route for some reason according to RTAMS when it comes to reports

[Busjack]

Off hand I know:

...

J14 Jeffery Jump -1400 or 1700 (maybe that was a 192 interline)

...

**N5 and 95E are counted as the same route for some reason according to RTAMS when it comes to reports

An interline usually takes the run number of the main route, but the Garages Page indicates that all U of C work was in the 1700s, so that could be. I wonder if CTA charges U of C the whole service hours for that bus?

The Ridership Report has a separate line for 5, so you wonder where the RTA got its numbers.

I was wondering about J14 and 15 being in the same block, but the Garages Page indicates that they were prior to the Dec. 16 changes (1401-1600). So, in both of the cases, there doesn't appear to be any change.

[jajuan]

Off hand I know:

**N5 South Shore Night Bus/95E 93rd 95th - 1900

6 Jackson Park Express - 1500

9 Ashland - 6000

12 Roosevelt - K200

J14 Jeffery Jump -1400 or 1700 (maybe that was a 192 interline)

15 Jeffery Local - 1400/1500

18 16th/18th - K600?

29 State - 1000?

37 Sedwick- K300

111 111th King Drive/ 115 Pullman/115th- 1100

146 Inner Drive/Michigan Express - P600

I know this isn't much or perfect. This is based on consistent observations I've seen and other posts as well. Let me know what you guys see and I'll edit this post so we can get a full list that's as accurate as we can make it so Kevin can update the garages page.

**N5 and 95E are counted as the same route for some reason according to RTAMS when it comes to reports

Well from some of my own observations 12 Roosevelt also has some in the K930s block as I saw 2 or 3 buses in succession Thursday morning going eastbound with run numbers K93x. For the 49 Western I've seen P800s for NP runs and 6400s for 74th runs a change from P400s and 6600s respectively. 49B also uses P800 continuing NP's use of the same block for 49 and 49B. For the 157 Streeterville/Taylor I've seen two blocks, K750s for regular service into downtown and K850s for mostly runs that are short turns that terminate at Taylor/Halsted on eastbound trips. 11 Lincoln is still P100s. Given that 148 is now the morning interline with 22 now that 144 is gone, we can infer that some of those morning runs are P200s since the 22 Clark hasn't changed.l And if I'm not too faulty in my memory, I believe the 81 Lawrence changed from F200s to F100s. I'll have to look at that one again on my next commute between work and home.

[ArcherRider]

Well from some of my own observations 12 Roosevelt also has some in the K930s block as I saw 2 or 3 buses in succession Thursday morning going eastbound with run numbers K93x. For the 49 Western I've seen P800s for NP runs and 6400s for 74th runs a change from P400s and 6600s respectively. 49B also uses P800 continuing NP's use of the same block for 49 and 49B. For the 157 Streeterville/Taylor I've seen two blocks, K750s for regular service into downtown and K850s for mostly runs that are short turns that terminate at Taylor/Halsted on eastbound trips. 11 Lincoln is still P100s. Given that 148 is now the morning interline with 22 now that 144 is gone, we can infer that some of those morning runs are P200s since the 22 Clark hasn't changed.l And if I'm not too faulty in my memory, I believe the 81 Lawrence changed from F200s to F100s. I'll have to look at that one again on my next commute between work and home.

Kedzie K93x is 39 Pershing and 35 is K35x and the 62 Archer now is 62xx and 151 short turn out of Kedzie is K4xx

[artthouwill]

The 132 & 169 have been spared from cuts with new contracts. Will Avon, the MuseumOf Science & Industr, amd University of Chicago follow suit? For Pace, will they decide to go to UPS and demand more money ?

[Busjack]

The 132 & 169 have been spared from cuts with new contracts. Will Avon, the MuseumOf Science & Industr, amd University of Chicago follow suit? For Pace, will they decide to go to UPS and demand more money ?

There are numerous references above (based on links on the home page; the link to the Maroon is repeated here) that the U of C has agreed to $83/hour through Aug. 31, 2013, but will be looking elsewhere, as they won't be paying $106/hour. The ordinance to that effect is here, and passed the same day as the crowd reduction plan.

X98 Avon depends on Harborquest Foundation subsidizing that route, but the reports on the so called "hearing" on Sept. 4 indicted that those riders might lose their jobs.

That leaves Metra for 33 and whether it is worth it to the Museum for 10. Update: Note that the current 10 schedule says that it is effective only through Jan. 6, 2013.

Pace says its budget is balanced, and also since about 20% of its business is with UPS, I bet they don't mess with it.

[See Tea Eh]

Update: Note that the current 10 schedule says that it is effective only through Jan. 6, 2013.

Nothing special. CTA regularly has short-term schedules on the 10 for periods when the museum hours are different, or when tourist traffic is high. The weekday service is only for the holiday season, hence the timetable is only valid through New Years week.

Been that way for years. Nothing more to read into it this time.

[jajuan]

Kedzie K93x is 39 Pershing and 35 is K35x and the 62 Archer now is 62xx and 151 short turn out of Kedzie is K4xx

Maybe those 12 Roosevelt runs with K93x were split runs where the drivers started with 39 and were finishing their shifts on Roosevelt. It's odd though that it would be a few of them in succession. I just know I observed those run numbers on more than one 12 Roosevelt bus Thursday morning. At any rate, I can state that the 155 Devon has gone back to P000s from years back more specifically P05x was used during the evenings. From the looks of it the 155 took over the run numbers that had been used by the North Park runs of the 82 Kimball/Homan. Its previous set was the P800s used now for the North Park share of 49 runs and the 49B. The 93 California/Dodge also uses run numbers out of the P000 blocks, but they tend to be in the lower end a lot of P00x and P01x. And when I was on the new 148 this morning, I observed P31x used. My bus had P311. That's in addition to some with P200s since 148 now interlines with the 22 in the morning now that the 144 is discontinued. So would the P31x point to an additional interline with the 36 Broadway since that route is still P300s?

[BusHunter]

The #152 is now mostly F200 runs. (It was 300's) There is a stray F04? that comes off another route, among others I haven't seen yet. BTW yesterday, I took a tour of the NW side to see how the cuts are affecting ridership. I noticed alot of people maybe 10 or 15 standing around the #90N/64 bays at the Harlem Blue line. At first I thought they were just waiting for the #90N that's been axed, but they were all waiting for the #423. They all looked disgusted. I learned that there is a petition to save the #90N along with a Facebook page discussing the cuts. (They have 172 signatures out of 1000.) They give contact numbers to call and voice your concern over the cuts. So not only is the #11 being fought the #90N is too. I have to say I'm impressed with the lower minority of #90N riders voicing there concerns. At least it shows someone cares about the line being cut in the first place. I couldn't google anything on the #81w or #64. Anyway I noticed they really messed up the #81W now. It takes 15 minutes to travel from Cumberland Blue line to Cumberland/Lawrence. The bus practically makes every stop to East River/Lawrence, also when they enter The Pavilion the driveway is so narrow, two buses cannot fit side by side and one has to wait for the other. (This is with Optimas, which there's going to be alot of now because of this) I see now why it's better to have a circulator route versus this over there. The best part about it is they seemed to not have gained anything by doing that cut. The bus still passes two buses by the time it gets to Oriole/Lawrence, which was normal before if you figure the other bus was a #69. Because of the time it takes to travel from Cumberland, it's now more worth it too approach from Jeff PK if your stop is east of Harlem. Listening to the riders all CTA has seemed to accomplish is they made them angry/disgusted. I can't say I blame them.

[See Tea Eh]

Run number blocks don't mean a heck of a lot. The way runs are cut, drivers may wind up doing four or five routes in a run. Buses can move between routes over the course of the day as well.

Splitting run number series by route is a legacy that really doesn't have that much use anymore. The only reason it's still done is a lack of any compelling reason to change it to something else.

For what it's worth, CTA is the only system I can think of that uses the duty number (operator daily assignment) rather than the block number (vehicle daily assignment) as the run number.

[Busjack]

... I learned that there is a petition to save the #90N along with a Facebook page discussing the cuts. (They have 172 signatures out of 1000.) They give contact numbers to call and voice your concern over the cuts. So not only is the #11 being fought the #90N is too....

The problem here is that the Pace minutes reflect that the ridership numbers CTA gave them didn't justify doing anything to 423, as opposed to adding the additional trip to 270. 90N apparently wasn't totally superfluous, but not worth bringing back.

[BusHunter]

The problem here is that the Pace minutes reflect that the ridership numbers CTA gave them didn't justify doing anything to 423, as opposed to adding the additional trip to 270. 90N apparently wasn't totally superfluous, but not worth bringing back.

Yes, I understand, but it's nice to root for the underdog sometimes. Even if you look at 270, there adding one bus to handle 800 riders displaced. That's how rational these cuts are. If CTA doesn't want to do the service and Pace gets stuck with there crowd, then it's only fair to raise Pace's budget and lower CTA's. You have to hand it to Pace, there accepting all these extras, yet there not talking service cut/fare increases. In time if they continue on this path I believe Pace will be doing the rim of the city anyway and CTA will do the inner city.

[Busjack]

... then it's only fair to raise Pace's budget and lower CTA's. You have to hand it to Pace, there accepting all these extras, yet there not talking service cut/fare increases. In time if they continue on this path I believe Pace will be doing the rim of the city anyway and CTA will do the inner city.

The minutes also indicted questioning by the Pace Board, to which staff indicated that the additional ridership should cover the cost, and the board said to report back on that.

Other than the one 270 trip, the other net effect seems to be that 2 buses get shifted from 353 to 349, but Pace doesn't face CTA "supplementation" or "competition" (however one wants to put it). The one interesting point is that since 49A started in Blue Island, Pace could have restricted the new service from north of 135th, but instead is running from Harvey.

The other change is that Pace is responsible for all of 317, but that's entirely within the suburbs, which brings up the point I made 8 years ago--CTA should get out of Evanston and Skokie and the RTA should give that money to Pace.

Other than that, I don't know how much more of the periphery CTA can drop, except for 54B south of Midway, and 63W entirely. Other than to the nearest L station, Pace has pretty much dropped service in the city.

[jajuan]

The other change is that Pace is responsible for all of 317, but that's entirely within the suburbs, which brings up the point I made 8 years ago--CTA should get out of Evanston and Skokie and the RTA should give that money to Pace.

It's easy to make that point but does Pace want to take over the service? I remember someone making a point someone that the reason there is still CTA bus service in both today is because suburban carriers weren't trying to pick up those services when you look at the history of those routes.