Pace New Flyer buses

[BusHunter]

Hard to believe they scooped the CTA. But Pace has been doing better in recent years. They now have more Xcelsiors than CTA and will for at least a year. Nice to see an assortment of buses in Chicago. The Proterras should be cool too when they get here. When the NF's retire the NABI's Pace will have I believe the newest bus fleet it's ever had. The oldest buses now will be the #2600's and they are slated for replacement.

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

20402 and 20406 are also in service, I hope 20404 comes this week!

 

Edit: 20404 is already in service too.

[WCR]

Got 20401 on the 322 now. No stop request cords, only buttons.

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, WCR said:

Got 20401 on the 322 now. No stop request cords, only buttons.

Any other passengers?  What was their reaction?  Was the seating layout similar to the Axxesses  or the CTA New Flyers?  How did the driver react?

Hopefully we will see about 5 new buses per week.   With COVID-19, we may start seeing the NABI retirement swing into full effect.  Nice pics.

[WCR]

35 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

Any other passengers?  What was their reaction?  Was the seating layout similar to the Axxesses  or the CTA New Flyers?  How did the driver react?

Hopefully we will see about 5 new buses per week.   With COVID-19, we may start seeing the NABI retirement swing into full effect.  Nice pics.

There were a couple other passengers who I overheard mentioning that the bus was new. The driver didn't really seem fazed. Here's a couple snaps of the rear portion seating. Every other seat was "intentionally not in use" for obvious reasons.

[TaylorTank1229]

New Flyer 20406 northbound on #330 at Rosemont CTA Blue Line.

[BusHunter]

At least some buses signs were working. Might have to work on the font size. The route number blends in with the route. Interesting they have a tv screen behind the driver. What is it for? Security. Surprised it doesnt have a bus tracker sign inside the bus. The bus looks alot like a cta bus inside. Since when does the #330 go to Rosemont? 

[jesi2282]

They look really good overall, the rear window with a full destination sign is something I'll have to get used too. I'm glad Pace finally installed driver shields, I wonder if thats why they were pressed into service.

[TaylorTank1229]

8 hours ago, BusHunter said:

At least some buses signs were working. Might have to work on the font size. The route number blends in with the route. Interesting they have a tv screen behind the driver. What is it for? Security. Surprised it doesnt have a bus tracker sign inside the bus. The bus looks alot like a cta bus inside. Since when does the #330 go to Rosemont? 

#330 been serving Rosemont since August last year, when the #326 route was discontinued.

[chicagocubs6323]

20403 was on the 305, 314, and 316 routes today.  Here's a video showing the interior and exterior of the bus.  After riding this, I can tell they have a faster acceleration than the El Dorado Axess buses.  They seem to be well built quality buses and can see them lasting a long time.

 

[artthouwill]

50 minutes ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

20403 was on the 305, 314, and 316 routes today.  Here's a video showing the interior and exterior of the bus.  After riding this, I can tell they have a faster acceleration than the El Dorado Axess buses.  They seem to be well built quality buses and can see them lasting a long time.

 

A few observations. 

1.  Nicely manicured hands with the Ventra card.

2.  Nice touch with the rear window.   What a pleasant surprise. 

3.  Annoying turn signals and flashers, but at least no annoying "bus is turning" and "look both ways " announcements. 

4.  Perhaps having the request stop buttons instead of the cord will cur cut down on passengers requesting a stop before the stop they actually want.

5.  Quiet engine but bus seems to rattle a bit, at least to me.

6.  Nice security additions, especially the driver shield.  Pace South drivers will be jealous.  Don't think cameras deter crime since they aren't monitored in real time.   7. Pretty similar to a CTA bus.  

8.  Yet to be seen is how good the a/c will be.

Great video!

[geneking7320]

Pardon me if I missed it but how many seats are on this bus?

[RJL6000]

1 hour ago, geneking7320 said:

Pardon me if I missed it but how many seats are on this bus?

There are 37 seats in the Pace Xcelsiors.

[geneking7320]

Thanks RJL6000!

[garmon757]

[John7]

13 minutes ago, garmon757 said:

More NF are starting to pop up. Up to 20411

[rotjohns]

Given Pace's history, it might take a bit before all of the Nabi buses are gone.  Only 20402 is doing a night route as of this moment.  Now if this virus situation results in more Pace cutbacks, then the retirements will become more elevated, especially as mentioned the driver's shields protecting them.  

It looks really nice, haven't seen one yet in person, but I'm sure I'll see them in the Oak Brook area.  

[RJL6000]

None of these new buses appeared to be out this past weekend - the first weekend since the buses were officially placed into revenue service. A few Eldos were out, but a lot of the old NABIs were.

Pace appears to be holding back the new buses during the first few weekends or so, ironing out the kinks.

[artthouwill]

3 hours ago, RJL6000 said:

None of these new buses appeared to be out this past weekend - the first weekend since the buses were officially placed into revenue service. A few Eldos were out, but a lot of the old NABIs were.

Pace appears to be holding back the new buses during the first few weekends or so, ironing out the kinks.

Another possibility is the lack of experienced drivers on the road on weekends.   Eventually they will be driving those buses when the fleet increases, but usually new buses go to the most veteran drivers first.

[BusHunter]

When the then new CTA novas came out I heard a story at a relief point that operators would shy away from the new buses because they are new and to drive them is a new experience that has to be learned about what it does, how it handles, how it performs on turns, what is your clearance. So alot of operators would shy away. Also there may be restrictions from the mechanics as they learn about the new equipment. You can't really know what it does until it goes out on the street. The more that goes out the more you learn. It's like a new bus route once everyone is comfortable they run just like the other buses. Besides do you want to be the first operator to have an accident in the new bus? Right now that's the pride of the agency.

[artthouwill]

6 hours ago, BusHunter said:

When the then new CTA novas came out I heard a story at a relief point that operators would shy away from the new buses because they are new and to drive them is a new experience that has to be learned about what it does, how it handles, how it performs on turns, what is your clearance. So alot of operators would shy away. Also there may be restrictions from the mechanics as they learn about the new equipment. You can't really know what it does until it goes out on the street. The more that goes out the more you learn. It's like a new bus route once everyone is comfortable they run just like the other buses. Besides do you want to be the first operator to have an accident in the new bus? Right now that's the pride of the agency.

No operator wants to be the first to have an accident with a new bus.  History has shown that newbies tend to be more likely to have those accidents.   This is why most agencies and companies will assign the new buses to veteran drivers.  There are times when newbies wind up with a new bus due to driver reliefs, call offs, and breakdowns.  Also, with a large agency like CTA  newbies are more likely to get a new bus if they are st a garage that has them.

The way Pace West seems to be set up. most buses are pull outside and pull ins.  Most street reliefs are for lunches, though there on street reliefs to start or end a day.  Like I said before,  once a garage gets a bunch of new buses, the newer drivers will get their chance to drive them.

[BusHunter]

Where I work what the mechanics say is gospel. They have the power to keep a bus off the street. No manager can override them. What you say is true art. By me the new buses go to the veterans. 

On your other point, any subsidized route like the ups of course should have overnight service. It just gets so alarmingly dead out there at night. 10pm looks like 3am. 

Kind of strange, I'm always on the street but out of all the CPD I've seen only 1 person was wearing a mask. We need to protect ourselves or we may be off of work longer than we think.  You know not only are you protecting yourself your protecting everyone you get in contact with if you are sick and dont know it. The virus cant survive if it has no where to reside. Maybe it will tone down in the next week its gonna be warm. UV light kills the germs. 

[artthouwill]

Today I spotted 20406 on the 307 and 20404 on the 318.  I also spotted 20408 enroute to the garage.  That might've been coming from the 307 that terminated at the Green Line.   That bus was a New Flyer.  

Those buses are quiet, similar sound to the CTA Novas.  Hope to ride one soon.

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

So far, everything from 20400 to 20411 are in service, and 20415 and 20416 entered service today. I hope 20412 and 20414 are seen this afternoon or on Monday!

[John7]

13 hours ago, Erin Mishkin Jr. said:

So far, everything from 20400 to 20411 are in service, and 20415 and 20416 entered service today. I hope 20412 and 20414 are seen this afternoon or on Monday!

20416 was in service yesterday on route 332 i think.