Random Pace

[NewFlyerMCI]

1 hour ago, artthouwill said:

This makes me believe the mall  told Pace they can't stop at the mall entrance.   Its then up to Pace how to route their buses, so long as they don't stop at (or use the road to) the mall entrance. 

The 210 still has a stop at the McCormick entrance and the 290 (as well as the 82 and 96) all use that entrance (without stopping).

[artthouwill]

Finally got a chance to ride an Eldorado Axxess Suburban today.  It was bus 6486 on the 600.  The interior was nice.  There's only 35 seats, but there are 3 tiers.  The first tier is the low floor where the ADA seats are.  Then one small step up to tier 2 which goes to about where the rear doors would normally be on a regular configuration.  Then there's the final step up to tier 3.  Tier 2 has a large overhead luggage rack, but tier 3's luggage space is small.  Most of the seats recline, but not much.  The tinted windows are nice except if you get a window with the Pace Express logo on it.

The buses must be governed to a maximum speed of 55 to 60 mph.  The ride was better than the buses used on 877/888, but it's still an Eldorado.  For $2.25 it's a great ride.  For the 755/850/851/855, only highway coaches will do, especially for the fare.

NWTC protects you from rain and snow, but there are no heating lamps whatsoever and no protection from the wind. 

It was midday, and the Elgin and Buffalo Grove expresses were empty.  I did see the Woodfield Trolley  running around.

The 696 is one of the craziest routes I've ever seen.   This is the first time I have been on it since the 696/699 "merger" years ago.  I told the driver that this route was crazy and he agreed.   Unless there's a good load at Harper College,  this route can get away with the EZ Riders.

[chicagocubs6323]

7 hours ago, artthouwill said:

.

NWTC protects you from rain and snow, but there are no heating lamps whatsoever and no protection from the wind. 

 

I've taken the 600, 606, and 603 buses for fun.  When I've been to NWTC, all the shelters had heating lamps.  

[artthouwill]

4 hours ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

I've taken the 600, 606, and 603 buses for fun.  When I've been to NWTC, all the shelters had heating lamps.  

Maybe I overlooked them, but I went through bays 5 through 8.  Fortunately my wait wasn't long before the bus should up.  I waited about 5 minutes.

[strictures]

17 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Finally got a chance to ride an Eldorado Axxess Suburban today.  It was bus 6486 on the 600.  The interior was nice.  There's only 35 seats, but there are 3 tiers.  The first tier is the low floor where the ADA seats are.  Then one small step up to tier 2 which goes to about where the rear doors would normally be on a regular configuration.  Then there's the final step up to tier 3.  Tier 2 has a large overhead luggage rack, but tier 3's luggage space is small.  Most of the seats recline, but not much.  The tinted windows are nice except if you get a window with the Pace Express logo on it.

The buses must be governed to a maximum speed of 55 to 60 mph.  The ride was better than the buses used on 877/888, but it's still an Eldorado.  For $2.25 it's a great ride.  For the 755/850/851/855, only highway coaches will do, especially for the fare.

NWTC protects you from rain and snow, but there are no heating lamps whatsoever and no protection from the wind. 

It was midday, and the Elgin and Buffalo Grove expresses were empty.  I did see the Woodfield Trolley  running around.

The 699 is one of the craziest routes I've ever seen.   This is the first time I have been on it since the 696/699 "merger" years ago.  I told the driver that this route was crazy and he agreed.   Unless there's a good load at Harper College,  this route can get away with the EZ Riders.

I went to the Pace site & there isn't a 699 route.  Did you mean 696?

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, strictures said:

I went to the Pace site & there isn't a 699 route.  Did you mean 696?

I did mean 696.  It's still a crazy route since the part of the old 699 is now incorporated into the route.  My mistake for not proofreading more thoroughly.  The original post has been updated  with 696.

[Wraysay84]

I just wanted to post to see if anyone is experiencing erratic late or early bus arrivals on some routes. Im in the west city-burbs area and take the 311 Oak Park Ave and 307 Harlem routes. I have been late to work multiple times because of delay after delay for the bus that always says its supposed to be there at its every day, predictable time. Sometimes it will either be early or just doesn't come at all. I get there a little bit early every time and I never know what I'm gonna get. I use the bus tracker on Maps and the Pace section of the Ride Chicago app. If you offer a service and set times for that service you should abide by them! Does anyone else feel the same? Is this just the name of the game for public transit?

[NewFlyerMCI]

54 minutes ago, Wraysay84 said:

I just wanted to post to see if anyone is experiencing erratic late or early bus arrivals on some routes. Im in the west city-burbs area and take the 311 Oak Park Ave and 307 Harlem routes. I have been late to work multiple times because of delay after delay for the bus that always says its supposed to be there at its every day, predictable time. Sometimes it will either be early or just doesn't come at all. I get there a little bit early every time and I never know what I'm gonna get. I use the bus tracker on Maps and the Pace section of the Ride Chicago app. If you offer a service and set times for that service you should abide by them! Does anyone else feel the same? Is this just the name of the game for public transit?

Use the app Transit (iPhone/Android), its the most reliable of any app I've used so far, and they also have schedule data for when real-time isn't available for whatever reason. When I'm in Chicago, the Pace routes I usually end up taking are the 213, 352, 353 & 381 and while the 213 & 352 (if infrequent with the 213) is usually fine, the 353 can be wildly off-base sometimes and the 381 can be really off. Just last week, a EB bus wasn't scheduled to come for 28 mins at 95th & Western and it was one there in 3 minutes. However, take my experience with a grain of salt, I usually only ride these services ~10 times a year. Also keep in mind that when using real-time tracking, its been my experience that a bus isn't "coming in 2 mins" but rather its "2 minutes away" and that's actually and important distinction. But ultimately, it can often be the name of the game for public transit. I suggest leaving for work much earlier.

 

In relation to your 307 and 311 routes, I'm assuming you live between Oak Park & Harlem? Depending on where you are in between those streets (because I'm also assuming you're taking these routes to the CTA train), it might be worth it finding an E/W route to use instead, like the 21, 302, 305 or 322, and seeing if those are more reliable instead to take to CTA. If you're in that section between North & Lake, you're probably better off going to Harlem all the time, as you have 3 buses along that route instead of just 1 on Oak Park

 

[artthouwill]

4 hours ago, Wraysay84 said:

I just wanted to post to see if anyone is experiencing erratic late or early bus arrivals on some routes. Im in the west city-burbs area and take the 311 Oak Park Ave and 307 Harlem routes. I have been late to work multiple times because of delay after delay for the bus that always says its supposed to be there at its every day, predictable time. Sometimes it will either be early or just doesn't come at all. I get there a little bit early every time and I never know what I'm gonna get. I use the bus tracker on Maps and the Pace section of the Ride Chicago app. If you offer a service and set times for that service you should abide by them! Does anyone else feel the same? Is this just the name of the game for public transit?

Yes.  There are a multitude of reasons. 

The route that irked me the most was the 301.  Somehow, certain buses scheduled to depart from the Forest Park Terminal never arrive.   So I wind up waiting for an hour for a route that has a 20 minute frequency.   There no RR crossings affecting the EB trips. so I wonder why these trips don't show up.  Some of the EB arrivals interline with something else, so either there are operational issues (accidents,  breakdowns), or thre are shortages ( driver and/or equipment).

Routes like 307. 311, and 353 can be affected RR crossings.  The 307 and 311 have to cross a very busy BNSF RR which is the busiest Metra line AND a very busy freight and Amtrak route.  The 353 crosses multiple freight tracks that intersect near a railyard near Riverdale and Dolton.  Once I was on bus that was caught by 3 freight trains.  Our follower,  who was scheduled a half hour later,  caught us at that crossing.   Not to mention that the Homewood trips have to cross those UP tracks a second time. 

If the route you take is interlinked with a route notorious for delays, all bets are off.  Sometimes Pace doesn't run the trips.

Pace West still runs NABI buses from 2003 and 2005 which constitutes half of its fleet.  Thus routes from that garage are more susceptible to maintenance issues, not to mention that Pace West also has the oldest of the Eldorado Axxess buses also.  The arrival of New Flyers later this year will hopefully help.

[Shannon CVPI]

Idk what pace file to put this ? In but the old Greyhound buses that pace brought to run on the 755 do they still have the bathroom in them or did pace take that out I have been wondering about that Everytime I see those buses 

[NewFlyerMCI]

31 minutes ago, Shannon CVPI said:

Idk what pace file to put this ? In but the old Greyhound buses that pace brought to run on the 755 do they still have the bathroom in them or did pace take that out I have been wondering about that Everytime I see those buses 

When did Pace buy buses from Greyhound? The CPTDB rosters seem to indicate all buses came straight from MCI

[artthouwill]

31 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

When did Pace buy buses from Greyhound? The CPTDB rosters seem to indicate all buses came straight from MCI

 I think that he is referring to the used MCIs Pace leased from MCI.  I never rode any of those leased buses,  but it is possible. though not likely,  those buses came from Greyhound.   Greyhound has traded or sold some of its buses to MCI or ABC Companies (seller of VanHools).   Most buses Pace purchases do not have lavatories.   Pace also doesn't have facilities for proper disposal of chemicals and excrement, so even if buses had lavatories,  Pace would have to lock them to prevent usage.  This makes me wonder how Metra does it, though railroads have always had lavatories.

[Shannon CVPI]

1 hour ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

When did Pace buy buses from Greyhound? The CPTDB rosters seem to indicate all buses came straight from MCI

Yea those buses where once Greyhound buses running all across the country but they eventually ended up in pace hands 

[Shannon CVPI]

43 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

 I think that he is referring to the used MCIs Pace leased from MCI.  I never rode any of those leased buses,  but it is possible. though not likely,  those buses came from Greyhound.   Greyhound has traded or sold some of its buses to MCI or ABC Companies (seller of VanHools).   Most buses Pace purchases do not have lavatories.   Pace also doesn't have facilities for proper disposal of chemicals and excrement, so even if buses had lavatories,  Pace would have to lock them to prevent usage.  This makes me wonder how Metra does it, though railroads have always had lavatories.

Aw ok see I was just wondering if they still had em 

[NewFlyerMCI]

1 minute ago, Shannon CVPI said:

Yea those buses where once Greyhound buses running all across the country but they eventually ended up in pace hands 

Are you saying every single MCI bus Pace has used to be Greyhound's?

46 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

 I think that he is referring to the used MCIs Pace leased from MCI.  I never rode any of those leased buses,  but it is possible. though not likely,  those buses came from Greyhound.   Greyhound has traded or sold some of its buses to MCI or ABC Companies (seller of VanHools).   Most buses Pace purchases do not have lavatories.   Pace also doesn't have facilities for proper disposal of chemicals and excrement, so even if buses had lavatories,  Pace would have to lock them to prevent usage.  This makes me wonder how Metra does it, though railroads have always had lavatories.

What are the series numbers for those?

[artthouwill]

1 minute ago, Shannon CVPI said:

Aw ok see I was just wondering if they still had em 

Not any more.   At the time,  Pace needed more buses but didn't have the resources to purchase new buses.  The lease was cheap and a temporary stopgap until they could get new buses.  BTW,  how do you know those buses came from Greyhound?

[artthouwill]

8 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Are you saying every single MCI bus Pace has used to be Greyhound's?

What are the series numbers for those?

All of the MCI buses were in the 6900 series.  I have to look for the exact numbers. 

No every single Pace MCI bus didnt come from Greyhound.   Most came from MCI  new.

[Shannon CVPI]

8 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

Not any more.   At the time,  Pace needed more buses but didn't have the resources to purchase new buses.  The lease was cheap and a temporary stopgap until they could get new buses.  BTW,  how do you know those buses came from Greyhound?

Pair them to Greyhound buses they look exactly the same but they could have came from a charter bus company or any bus company besides Greyhound & it's 69 series I seen 1 bus this morning with 69 could make out the rest due to the tree blocking the rest 

[NewFlyerMCI]

1 minute ago, artthouwill said:

All of the MCI buses were in the 6900 series.  I have to look for the exact numbers. 

I think I found it, possibly? When you said "lease", I realized those buses probably count as "retired" now. A look back at CPTDB's roster, but in the retired section leads me to a single J4500, designated 6923, built in 2007 and 3 D4505's, designated 6920-6922, built in 2009, and all leased from 2013-2014, all from a Hausman, which a google search reveals to be a Hausman Bus Sales (click on 1972) in Des Plaines

[NewFlyerMCI]

Just now, Shannon CVPI said:

Come pair then to Greyhound buses they look exactly the same but they could have came from a charter bus company or any bus company besides Greyhound & it's 69 series I seen 1 bus this morning with 69 could make out the rest due to the tree blocking the rest 

The only visible difference btwn a MCI bus for Greyhound and transit agency anywhere is the livery to me.

[Shannon CVPI]

Just now, NewFlyerMCI said:

The only visible difference btwn a MCI bus for Greyhound and transit agency anywhere is the livery to me.

Naw I was talking about body style but I could be wrong they could have came from any charter bus company they just put me in mind if Greyhound buses

[artthouwill]

2 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

I think I found it, possibly? When you said "lease", I realized those buses probably count as "retired" now. A look back at CPTDB's roster, but in the retired section leads me to a single J4500, designated 6923, built in 2007 and 3 D4505's, designated 6920-6922, built in 2009, and all leased from 2013-2014, all from a Hausman, which a google search reveals to be a Hausman Bus Sales (click on 1972) in Des Plaines

I believe the buses were 6910 thru 6919.  Those were 1997 MCI 102DL3s, the only 45' buses Pace has had.

[NewFlyerMCI]

Just now, Shannon CVPI said:

Naw I was talking about body style but I could be wrong they could have came from any charter bus company they just put me in mind if Greyhound buses

Oh, I didn't know there were body style differences on a single model? I'm assuming wheelchair lifts, undercarriage storage, etc?

[artthouwill]

5 minutes ago, Shannon CVPI said:

Naw I was talking about body style but I could be wrong they could have came from any charter bus company they just put me in mind if Greyhound buses

The body style originated in 1985 as the MCI 96s and 102s.  The 96s were 96inches wide.  The 102s were 96 inches wide in the front and 102inches in the rear.   Both came in A models .  The 102s most popular model became the C model.  Around 1992 MCI introduced the D model.  The D3 was the 40' model  and the DL3 was the 45' model.  Around 2000, the models were renamed the D4000 (40') and the D4500 (45') to align with the renamed Renaissance EL3 which became the E4500.  MCI also introduced a J4500 and a G4500 (which was built primarily for Greyhound).  However. Greyhound seemed to prefer the Ds over the Gs. 

Since some charter companies and some transit agencies used the buses as commuters,  MCI  made some D4500s D4500CTs.  The only difference is the entrance doors, overhead signage, and lack of restroom.  

Minor tweaks have been made to the headlights, flushmounted windows, taillights,  but the base design has not changed for the D series buses,  excluding the D4500 CRTe commuter.

The only highway coach companies are MCI, Prevost ( which also builds the Volvo 9700), VanHool. and Setra.  Prevost also has commuter coaches based on its X3 -45 model.  NYMTA has a bunch of those.

[Shannon CVPI]

1 hour ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Oh, I didn't know there were body style differences on a single model? I'm assuming wheelchair lifts, undercarriage storage, etc?

I'm just saying it reminds me of a greyhound bus that's all