2016 South Side Service Changes

[Sam92]

Well. Did a check on maths 22 and looks like one of the runs of N5 now comes from 34 south Michigan. I see it tagged as run N95-193

[andrethebusman]

4 hours ago, Brandon93 said:

I finally rode 31st today and it has potential in becoming a permanent route. I rode from The Red Line to 31st and Rhodes. I hope I'm wrong about the 95 because there is a reason why they split up the original 95th route because if they get caught by a train at the church or Vincennes the operator(s) are screwed.

The reason 95 was split in the first place was that at the time the west end (Ryan to Western) was much, much busier than the east end. During the Christmas rush there were as many extras as regular runs on the west end, thanks to Evergreen Plaza. Well, Evergreen Plaza is gone, and it seems WalMart and Meijer don't generate nearly as much business as EP used to. Now the east end is carrying twice the load the west end is.

By the way, from experience this week, now that there is recovery time at 92/Buffalo, this has brought to an end the "chase-your-tail" operation 95E had become, where eastbound buses would get to Buffalo 3-4 minutes late because of 92nd detour and getting past Commercial Av and because there was no recovery time leave 3-4 minutes late. The lights in South Chicago are totally uncoordinated, and it is not unusual to spend 5 minutes from Houston to Anthony. So add detour, plus the perennial backup at 95/Stony and you get back to Ryan 10 late, just in time to leave again. New schedule is 1000% better.

[andrethebusman]

1 hour ago, Busjack said:

At least the RI is not primarily a freight route, and the way stuff was interlined at the Red Line station, they would have been screwed anyway.

RI at Vincennes might see only a couple of freights a day (Chicago Rail-Link between 104th/Torrence yard and Blue Island yard) but they are a doozy. Usually close to 100 cars, almost all tank cars of ethanol coming off Iowa Interstate or empties going back to Iowa. Where it really is a problem is at 119th. Blue Island yard has quite short tracks, only 30 some cars, so when IAIS comes in about 5pm with their train from the west, they have to put it on two, often three tracks. Later, when CRL comes to pick it up about midnight, they have to reassemble it. This back and forth switching can and does regularly tie up 119 for half hour to almost an hour. And note that IAIS come in during the PM rush, so you can imagine how that messes everything up in the area.

Old CWI at Stewart has been relatively quiet recently. But then, business is down on all the Class 1 railroads this year. Fewer, longer, slower trains.

[andrethebusman]

44 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

Well. Did a check on maths 22 and looks like one of the runs of N5 now comes from 34 south Michigan. I see it tagged as run N95-193

Here is what the 103rd nightcars do:

1339 does two trips on 119 then goes to 34 after fallback

1340 is on 34 all day

1937, 1939, 1940 are on 95, running Buffalo to 87/Damen to 69/Red Line to 95/Red Line then N5

1938 does two trips on 34 then goes on N5 at 69/Ryan

Traditionally, there of the four 95th owls have been on 95/N5 only, while the fourth has varied from pick to pick, sometimes making a trip on State, sometimes two in Stony Island.

 

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, Sam92 said:

Well. Did a check on maths 22 and looks like one of the runs of N5 now comes from 34 south Michigan. I see it tagged as run N95-193

Actually, maths tracker quit pulling at 11:40 p.m. However N95 appears to be a 95 night car pull out, so the N95-193 must have been designated as a 95 now on 34.

But I see Andre beat me while I was typing, and had something more authoritative. The bus to which you referred must have been run 1938, mentioned by Andre.

By the colors, official Bus Tracker has 2 N5s as 95s (blue).

The one on 67th is labelled to 92/Commercial, even though the next stop is 69-Red Line.

So, something is still messed up.

My suggestion (of course to be rejected by See). Dump the N5 designation, have N71 run between 69 Red Line and 92 Commercial and N95 run between 95 Red Line and 92 Commercial, and have a note on each schedule that one continues as the other.

[artthouwill]

12 hours ago, Busjack said:

Actually, maths tracker quit pulling at 11:40 p.m. However N95 appears to be a 95 night car pull out, so the N95-193 must have been designated as a 95 now on 34.

But I see Andre beat me while I was typing, and had something more authoritative. The bus to which you referred must have been run 1938, mentioned by Andre.

By the colors, official Bus Tracker has 2 N5s as 95s (blue).

The one on 67th is labelled to 92/Commercial, even though the next stop is 69-Red Line.

So, something is still messed up.

My suggestion (of course to be rejected by See). Dump the N5 designation, have N71 run between 69 Red Line and 92 Commercial and N95 run between 95 Red Line and 92 Commercial, and have a note on each schedule that one continues as the other.

I think that is a great idea.  Or if someone is just so in love with N5, just run the route via 71st as you suggested. 

[Busjack]

52 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

I think that is a great idea.  Or if someone is just so in love with N5, just run the route via 71st as you suggested. 

• Someone could run N5 between 69th and 92nd, instead of using the N71 designation.
• Nothing says that the N route has to have the same route as the underlying route. For instance N9 runs on 95th (which made an N95W bus  or now whatever N95 night car unnecessary on that segment).

What essentially got me to that point, is that these are essentially Commercial Ave, buses, but back to CSL times, nobody wanted to call the lines that. There were Windsor Park and South Deering lines, and the various "South Shore" ones N5, 26, and 71 are on Commercial Ave. although they do go down South Shore Dr. to its end at 83rd.

 

[jajuan]

21 hours ago, Busjack said:

That's what I was implying, but jajuan apparently receded from that theory, so it is moot.

I never implied the extension costed anything extra so I don't know where you got that I posed that theory. 

 

21 hours ago, Busjack said:

Well, have any individual riders answered your question?

Not as of yet, but there is time for that still. But thank you for your sarcasm. At any rate, I leave the question open to an actual rider or operator of the route to give some insight. 

[jajuan]

As would probably be no surprise given when fall pick changes tend to occur on the rail side, per a CTA alert the Green Line portion of the south side changes announced this past summer will kick in on this coming Monday (Oct. 3rd) as those changes effect weekday service on the Green Line.

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, jajuan said:

As would probably be no surprise given when fall pick changes tend to occur on the rail side, per a CTA alert the Green Line portion of the south side changes announced this past summer will kick in on this coming Monday (Oct. 3rd) as those changes effect weekday service on the Green Line.

Updated timetable page.

As previously indicated, rush hour on Green Line goes from every 10 minutes, 20 to Ashland and Cottage Grove, to every 7 to 8 minutes, 15 to Ashland and Cottage Grove.