Pace Garages and Scheduling

[Busjack]

I decided to move this to the proper category:

Pace has 10 garages and is affiliated with 10 different unions...If you are hired at Northwest, for example, that is who you work for, Pace Northwest. If you wanted to go to West Division, then you would have to resign from Northwest and get rehired at West.

Trainman, does it cause problems that as a result of restructuring, some routes (such as 210 and 423) were split among garages? Was this done to keep the work at the two garages the same as before, even though it results in some apparently wasteful deadheading, like a 210 run ending in Lincolnwood at McCormick Blvd. going back to DesPlaines, even though it is close to Evanston?

[trainman8119]

I am not sure exactly how it is decided which garage gets which routes. The separation comes mainly from the fact that each division at one time was a separate company. For example, I am sure you know that Northwest was at one time United Motor Coach, West Division was West Towns; Aurora, Joliet and Elgin were operated by the municipalities. When North Shore opened up, many of the drivers at Northwest jumped at the opportunity to go there because the working conditions were regarded as better (at the time) and there was a grace period which allowed drivers from Northwest to go there and hold seniority. some of Northwest's routes were moved there when that garage opened up.

I believe you would be correct when you say that 210 and 423 stayed at their original garages to keep the work load the same. I would think it be possible that there is some union language involved that would keep routes from moving garages as well as keeping a certain amount of work available.

[Busjack]

I believe you would be correct when you say that 210 and 423 stayed at their original garages to keep the work load the same.

That wasn't what I had said. 210 seemed to be pretty much Northwest before the restructuring; now it is 50/50. 423 is somewhat arguable, as the Wilmette portion was North Shore and 228 was Northwest. One of the North Shore runs starts and ends at Linden, which makes sense, but I don't think the other one does. Conversely, the Northbrook runs on 422 are now 2/3 North Shore and 1/3 Northwest, although 212 was Northwest. I don't know what currently runs on the short turn 422 (just Linden to Old Orchard), although one time a saw a Northwest bus on it.

One instance I know of a garage shift was in the 1997 cutbacks, where the Saturday (but not weekday) interline of 208 and 212 was cancelled, a few minutes were taken out of 212, and it was assigned to North Shore (and interlined with 213).

Some of this might have been compensation for Saturday service being cancelled on 204 and 254.

Another scheduling anomaly: it now appears that since 270s leave Golf Mill 10 minutes before the next one arrives, the manner in which they are interlined with the Glenbrook Hospital and 272 trips, and the breaking of the interline with 208, that one 270 Saturday bus just sits at Golf Mill for 50 minutes after each trip (the one that arrives as :08 and leaves at :58). I've seen some bus sitting there. Does that seem correct? Is it a wasteful use of platform time?

Finally, how does Pace schedule one UPS run at 2 a.m., from a garage that is otherwise closed at about 10 p.m.?

[trainman8119]

[ that one 270 Saturday bus just sits at Golf Mill for 50 minutes after each trip (the one that arrives as :08 and leaves at :58). I've seen some bus sitting there. Does that seem correct? Is it a wasteful use of platform time?

Finally, how does Pace schedule one UPS run at 2 a.m., from a garage that is otherwise closed at about 10 p.m.?

As for the 270, I am wondering if it is possible that it is meal time. Not sure, just a thought.

As for UPS....Pace doesn't schedule it UPS does. All of the UPS runs and routes are under the control of UPS. UPS pays for them and gets what they want, whether it makes transit sense or not. Pace has never had a backbone when it came to this and has always given the honchos at UPS whatever they want. How else would Northwest buses be operating an Elgin-Palatine route, as it did at one time (the late night trips, which, since,I believe, have become history). Some of the UPS runs lasted a lot longer than they should have, but UPS insisted they stick around, so they did.