600-series Proterra BE40/ZX5 - Updates

[Sam92]

5 hours ago, busfan2847 said:

I used to see these short workings. The first one headed empty downtown to take on another working (not the expressway), back in 2016 this was a 120 from Ogilvie. There was normally a full route 157 within minutes after the short working. The last stop for the short working was 900 W Taylor, the bus would then turn northbound onto Halsted. I assume the Proterra headed north on Halsted to Chicago then east to Navy Pier in service.

The proterra actually did Madison/Canal to Ogden then did a 66 from Troy to Navy Pier

[NewFlyerMCI]

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

12 westbound would get them to Central/Harrison, which is near the Chicago/Austin terminal, 124 wouldn't do that.

Question is how it gets to the east terminal (presumably 15th/Indiana).

Still seems harder than the 124 which shares a terminal and charger with the 66, and is less work to get to

Only reason I mentioned it is because the Chicagobus.org page mentions that the proterras are supposed to run on the 66 & 124

[Busjack]

5 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

...

Only reason I mentioned it is because the Chicagobus.org page mentions that the proterras are supposed to run on the 66 & 124

There was a map with 5 or 6 routes including 124, but it looks like CTA is running existing interlines with 66, as indicated by the block numbers on @maths22's tracker.

[Sam92]

8 hours ago, Busjack said:

There was a map with 5 or 6 routes including 124, but it looks like CTA is running existing interlines with 66, as indicated by the block numbers on @maths22's tracker.

I wonder if all those routes were interlined with 66 to begin with. To be honest outside of base service/block runs you're bound to see them outside of 66 due to them squeeze the same bus on multiple routes. what surprised me is the grand run the proterra popped up on are interlined with 66 considering Grand already terminates there where the charger is at. Midway I'm betting the same will happen with 63. You might see them on 165 and 63W. Maybe be even 47 (I've see late evening  buses running that set up)

[Policeman]

33 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

I wonder if all those routes were interlined with 66 to begin with. To be honest outside of base service/block runs you're bound to see them outside of 66 due to them squeeze the same bus on multiple routes. what surprised me is the grand run the proterra popped up on are interlined with 66 considering Grand already terminates there where the charger is at. Midway I'm betting the same will happen with 63. You might see them on 165 and 63W. Maybe be even 47 (I've see late evening  buses running that set up)

The one's that go to the 12 are 5610 and 5611 i think, so i guess the 157 is 5613 but I'm not sure

[Sam92]

11 minutes ago, Policeman said:

The one's that go to the 12 are 5610 and 5611 i think, so i guess the 157 is 5613 but I'm not sure

Technically they're coming from 12. Also depends if theres a part time run of full time for 157. 

[Sam92]

9 hours ago, Busjack said:

There was a map with 5 or 6 routes including 124, but it looks like CTA is running existing interlines with 66, as indicated by the block numbers on @maths22's tracker.

If 124 is included I wonder if  Chicago takes over since they have the charger, and the training. Yeah 124 is light enough to where you can probably just top off at Navy Pier but K only has experience with XE40s. 

[busfan2847]

19 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Interesting they're doing the 12 and not the 124

These are morning rush hour journeys before the 124 starts.

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, Sam92 said:

Technically they're coming from 12. Also depends if theres a part time run of full time for 157. 

If the run numbers start with 5 and not K, they are Chicago buses, and, as indicated, interlined with 66.

[Sam92]

7 minutes ago, Busjack said:

If the run numbers start with 5 and not K, they are Chicago buses, and, as indicated, interlined with 66.

Yeah Chicago has runs on 12 that go to 66 the same way K does. I think it started a few picks after Chicago gave up artics. Maybe the same pick that they took over 157 so the 157 trip may have been doing that for some time. I think midday the K runs end up back on Roosevelt. The interlined 12/66 runs end up on 120 or 121 I think I'm not too sure though 

[jackathan]

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to see another bus charging gantry at 103rd garage, as it was mentioned in the 2022 budget recommendations report. We could have some of these Proterras at that garage as well.

[NewFlyerMCI]

10 hours ago, jackathan said:

Heck, I wouldn't be surprised to see another bus charging gantry at 103rd garage, as it was mentioned in the 2022 budget recommendations report. We could have some of these Proterras at that garage as well.

That 2nd paragraph seems like proof that what I've been saying since year is true; The 6 NovaBus LSFe's are going to 103rd (+ charging equipment).

[Sam92]

16 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

That 2nd paragraph seems like proof that what I've been saying since year is true; The 6 NovaBus LSFe's are going to 103rd (+ charging equipment).

No one said You were dead wrong, just saying until now it could've been any of the 3 since 63 was bought up a lot but if 103rd is in the mix, how much work can you get out of these things if it's strictly on a run that stays at 95th? A part time 34/119 interline? If you do a full time that does 29 then flips to a feeder you at least can top off at Navy Pier before finishing out south. Also 26 and 28 will be a chance to see how taxing express service is without dogging them out like NP. 

[busfan2847]

23 hours ago, Sam92 said:

Yeah Chicago has runs on 12 that go to 66 the same way K does. I think it started a few picks after Chicago gave up artics. Maybe the same pick that they took over 157 so the 157 trip may have been doing that for some time. I think midday the K runs end up back on Roosevelt. The interlined 12/66 runs end up on 120 or 121 I think I'm not too sure though 

Started 3/30/2014

[NewFlyerMCI]

1 hour ago, Sam92 said:

No one said You were dead wrong, just saying until now it could've been any of the 3 since 63 was bought up a lot but if 103rd is in the mix, how much work can you get out of these things if it's strictly on a run that stays at 95th? A part time 34/119 interline? If you do a full time that does 29 then flips to a feeder you at least can top off at Navy Pier before finishing out south. Also 26 and 28 will be a chance to see how taxing express service is without dogging them out like NP. 

That's semantics; I was met with opposition when I said they were going to 103rd, and the other garages didn't have a chance, that's basically saying that I was or was going to be wrong lmao. In fact, I feel like I remember @YoungBusLover saying they knew exactly where the buses were going and that it wasn't 103rd, which was then upvoted multiple times (although when asked for confirmation, they didn't respond). The 63 (specifically in relation to the grant + buses) was brought up by members of the forum, not by CTA 

I imagine the 15, 29, 106 & 111A would be the primary routes, the 29 for it's Navy Pier service, and the other three for running out of 103rd (particularly the 106 & 111A requiring a max of like 3-5 buses btwn them). Agreed on the 26 & 28. Ofc, this part's all speculation. If the battery life on this latest model of LSFe's is what is says, then pretty much any non-artic route is fair game.

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

That's semantics; I was met with opposition when I said they were going to 103rd, and the other garages didn't have a chance, that's basically saying that I was or was going to be wrong lmao. In fact, I feel like I remember @YoungBusLover saying they knew exactly where the buses were going and that it wasn't 103rd, which was then upvoted multiple times (although when asked for confirmation, they didn't respond). The 63 (specifically in relation to the grant + buses) was brought up by members of the forum, not by CTA 

I imagine the 15, 29, 106 & 111A would be the primary routes, the 29 for it's Navy Pier service, and the other three for running out of 103rd (particularly the 106 & 111A requiring a max of like 3-5 buses btwn them). Agreed on the 26 & 28. Ofc, this part's all speculation. If the battery life on this latest model of LSFe's is what is says, then pretty much any non-artic route is fair game.

The "environmental justice" angle would imply routes in South Chicago and South Deering. Other routes out of 95th/Red Line would make sense if a charger is built there. However, 6 buses is not going to get you much.

[artthouwill]

6 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

That's semantics; I was met with opposition when I said they were going to 103rd, and the other garages didn't have a chance, that's basically saying that I was or was going to be wrong lmao. In fact, I feel like I remember @YoungBusLover saying they knew exactly where the buses were going and that it wasn't 103rd, which was then upvoted multiple times (although when asked for confirmation, they didn't respond). The 63 (specifically in relation to the grant + buses) was brought up by members of the forum, not by CTA 

I imagine the 15, 29, 106 & 111A would be the primary routes, the 29 for it's Navy Pier service, and the other three for running out of 103rd (particularly the 106 & 111A requiring a max of like 3-5 buses btwn them). Agreed on the 26 & 28. Ofc, this part's all speculation. If the battery life on this latest model of LSFe's is what is says, then pretty much any non-artic route is fair game.

I certainly brought up 74th,  especially as it relates to 63 being the route getting a charger at Midway.  But that was more related to the Proterras and I didn't (or don't) think that would be bypassed for 103rd.   I actually thought 77th would get the Novas since it already has charging infrastructure.   However if CTA IS aiming for an all electric fleet by 2040, getting them in each garage as quickly as possible would be the plan  and 103rd certainly fits.  I would assume 74th has a chance station but I don't know that to be fact. 

[BusHunter]

5 hours ago, Busjack said:

The "environmental justice" angle would imply routes in South Chicago and South Deering. Other routes out of 95th/Red Line would make sense if a charger is built there. However, 6 buses is not going to get you much.

You would almost have to put all of these on the 95th red line feeders. Theres not enough of them to do anything with them. Then unlike what we have seen with yards in the middle of town, this will be segregated to the far se side. Im sure many will never even see the buses. 

I understand a few sounds good at each garage but what do the outdoor garages do? They might have to rebuild those to indoor garages. They are going to need lots of infrastruture. 

[NewFlyerMCI]

3 hours ago, artthouwill said:

I certainly brought up 74th,  especially as it relates to 63 being the route getting a charger at Midway.  But that was more related to the Proterras and I didn't (or don't) think that would be bypassed for 103rd.   I actually thought 77th would get the Novas since it already has charging infrastructure.   However if CTA IS aiming for an all electric fleet by 2040, getting them in each garage as quickly as possible would be the plan  and 103rd certainly fits.  I would assume 74th has a chance station but I don't know that to be fact. 

To your last point, every garage except for NP & FG has a charger currently

[artthouwill]

11 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

To your last point, every garage except for NP & FG has a charger currently

I figured those 2 didn't. 

[Sam92]

33 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

I figured those 2 didn't. 

 

44 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

To your last point, every garage except for NP & FG has a charger currently

Well those are also the oldest so I wouldn't be surprised if they were completely rebuilt or replaced by then since those are outdoor which is bas for batteries when winter is concerned. I think someone else said NP has room to be rebuilt on the spot. FG might just get mothballed and relocated as a new garage since it's in an awkward spot as far as being surrounded by residents. 

[Policeman]

601 is on the 66

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

32 minutes ago, Policeman said:

601 is on the 66

finally it returned after only seeing service just once in may

[Busjack]

13 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

To your last point, every garage except for NP & FG has a charger currently

At least at one time, NP had chargers to top off plug in hybrids. I don't know if they are still there.

12 hours ago, Sam92 said:

 

Well those are also the oldest so I wouldn't be surprised if they were completely rebuilt or replaced by then since those are outdoor which is bas for batteries when winter is concerned. I think someone else said NP has room to be rebuilt on the spot. FG might just get mothballed and relocated as a new garage since it's in an awkward spot as far as being surrounded by residents. 

The oldest is 77th (only one left going back to trolley days, it is 115 years old).  A capital budget about 15 years ago said 77, FG, and NP were due for replacement, but that was before the lift replacement project, and there was a recent project to rebuild a wall and sewers at 77th. So, I don't think there is going to be a new garage anytime soon, and since the chargers work outside, as they do at Navy Pier, do not see a need for inside storage. However, as Pace and CTA have both indicated, a facilities study will be needed before converting to all electric.

[busfan2847]

5 minutes ago, Busjack said:

At least at one time, NP had chargers to top off plug in hybrids. I don't know if they are still there.

The oldest is 77th (only one left going back to trolley days, it is 115 years old).  A capital budget about 15 years ago said 77, FG, and NP were due for replacement, but that was before the lift replacement project, and there was a recent project to rebuild a wall and sewers at 77th. So, I don't think there is going to be a new garage anytime soon, and since the chargers work outside, as they do at Navy Pier, do not see a need for inside storage. However, as Pace and CTA have both indicated, a facilities study will be needed before converting to all electric.

More importantly if all buses at a garage are electric there must be an adequate power supply. If any garages are rebuilt I can see them being built adjacent to major power transmission lines. It is rapidly becoming a problem in London where there are a lot of unused battery buses at present as there is not enough supply to fuel them.