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7900-series Nova LFS - Updates


South Shop 7

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Whatever they said or didn't say, if federal funds were involved, CTA would have had to comply with federal bidding guidelines. Regardless of whether the money eventually came from the feds, the solicitation states that it must meet federal requirements (Section 5, paragraphs FR1 and following). There is also a protest procedure.

Sure, CTA is going to encourage others to bid, but isn't going to telegraph in advance that it wants a particular vendor. That wouldn't be any different than the protest to the FTA with regard to the single source MAN 4400 series spec.in the late 1980s. The 4400s didn't turn out to be MANs, did they?

I agree with you that off course CTA is going to encourage other manufacturers to bid because they didn't want another protest to the FTA like what happened that kept Americanas from going beyond 4361 in the orders that came after the original order of 362 MAN 4000s. I wonder if that's why CTA's first wheelchair accessible buses were split between TMC and Flxible back in 1991. After all they could have easily had those 946 wheelchair buses all come from one manufacturer as they did the 1000s when those started coming in 2006.

Cta5658 said reported 7933 as a J14 how bout that!!! Lol

Yeah I saw that post too. :P

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.... I wonder if that's why CTA's first wheelchair accessible buses were split between TMC and Flxible back in 1991. After all they could have easily had those 946 wheelchair buses all come from one manufacturer as they did the 1000s when those started coming in 2006.

....

I don't know, but with the MAN 4400s order falling through, all the sudden they needed the 960 buses pretty quickly. We are now sitting around arguing about whether Nova can get 100 buses out, and 300 in 2 years, but I don't think anyone has inside knowledge about the production schedule at TMC, which, at that time, was just getting going.

Didn't it take NF about 3 or 4 years to complete deliveries? Also, by that time, apparently the low bid NABI posted it submitted was rejected and Nova was out of the market, so Orion might have been the only competitor available.

As I noted, it was somewhat surprising that Nova reentered the U.S. transit market.

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I wonder if the CTA might add onto the order of Novas, that or the board is exaggerating the number expected. The 2015 budget page mentions about the new buses expected as "approximately 500". Now 450 is close to that figure, so why does the board say 500 rather than approximately 450? Does the CTA plan on extending the contract for an additional 50 Novas to be delivered in 2015 along with the option for the additional 150?

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I wonder if the CTA might add onto the order of Novas, that or the board is exaggerating the number expected. The 2015 budget page mentions about the new buses expected as "approximately 500". Now 450 is close to that figure, so why does the board say 500 rather than approximately 450? Does the CTA plan on extending the contract for an additional 50 Novas to be delivered in 2015 along with the option for the additional 150?

The context of that is the discussion of capital funds flow, which does not hit me as being as exact as the references elsewhere to delivery of 450 buses and "CTA also plans to issue a contract to purchase up to 150 additional buses in 2015."

The only thing outstanding is if CTA were to award a contract on the 50-150 articulated buses, but nothing in the budget indicates that.

Also if you look at the 5 year plan (page 61), the $193 million pays for about 390 buses at $488K each (and probably the option for 150 is subject to an inflation factor). 153 buses of that are in FY 2015.

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The context of that is the discussion of capital funds flow, which does not hit me as being as exact as the references elsewhere to delivery of 450 buses and "CTA also plans to issue a contract to purchase up to 150 additional buses in 2015."

The only thing outstanding is if CTA were to award a contract on the 50-150 articulated buses, but nothing in the budget indicates that.

Also if you look at the 5 year plan (page 61), the $193 million pays for about 390 buses at $488K each (and probably the option for 150 is subject to an inflation factor). 153 buses of that are in FY 2015.

I have to ask about the last sentence I highlighted....

You have 150 Novas still to be optioned, built and delivered(150)

You have 2 New Flyer XE40's delivered and being tested(2)

So where/what is that other bus to make 153 in FY 2015? Is that one other bus a set amount of money aside for a planned prototype for what I would guess is a artic for the 50-150 contract sitting on the CTA shelves right now.

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I have to ask about the last sentence I highlighted....

You have 150 Novas still to be optioned, built and delivered(150)

You have 2 New Flyer XE40's delivered and being tested(2)

So where/what is that other bus to make 153 in FY 2015?

None of the above.

If you had read the budget, it said on page 60: "CTA is to complete the delivery of 300 new clean diesel buses in 2015 and through the spring of 2016."

They are paying for somewhat fewer than 100 in 2014, so some payments of the base order will be in 2015 and apparently some in 2016.

Maybe the option of 150 shows up in 2017, at least for budget purposes.

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1. I'm pretty sure the CTA of the past had the same thing in mind when they put #301, #9799 and #1606 out to pasture(the only difference is CTA didn't want #1606 running like #301 and #9799 were, they purposely seized the motor, making the bus a paperweight). I'm sure all of these were sold with a scrap title when their series was retired from revenue service.

301 is still around, currently at S Shops. 9799 was sold "across the counter" as an operable bus to Loren Joplin in California for historical preservation. It later returned to Chicago, and is currently at Illinois Ry Museum. It was in excellent condition, and in fact was driven to Los Angeles. It had been retired due to a leaky door operator valve.
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Yes! It should be down to 5-6 left before the end of this month.

Maybe by next week, they are still doing 6 a week. Should be done by Thanksgiving and we might see an #8000 at South Shops by then but it probably won't go into service until December. Either that or there's going to be a slowdown.

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Maybe by next week, they are still doing 6 a week. Should be done by Thanksgiving and we might see an #8000 at South Shops by then but it probably won't go into service until December. Either that or there's going to be a slowdown.

Next week will probably be the last full week of operations at NovaBus until 11/24/14. Buses still on property the week of Thanksgiving will just get touch-ups(if necessary) and start being shipped out to their respective Transit Authorities starting after the week mentioned above. I'm sure any transit of buses by drivers that week will be considered Holiday Pay(OT or Time + 1/2 Pay) since the trip takes a day or two depending on traffic for a driver.

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Next week will probably be the last full week of operations at NovaBus until 11/24/14. Buses still on property the week of Thanksgiving will just get touch-ups(if necessary) and start being shipped out to their respective Transit Authorities starting after the week mentioned above. I'm sure any transit of buses by drivers that week will be considered Holiday Pay(OT or Time + 1/2 Pay) since the trip takes a day or two depending on traffic for a driver.

If they do 6 this week and do 6-7 next week they will be done with the #7900's, but I wouldn't doubt an #8000 might sneak in under the radar.

Here's a shot of #7938

post-304-0-85881100-1415857286_thumb.png

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Has anyone heard of a 7900 being destroyed? I was talking to a driver the other day who told me that a 7900 atwas wrecked by a part timer going down the wrong side of the street. The driver couldn't give me a number I was just wondering if anyone has seen that down by south shops.

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