Random CTA

[Sam92]

4 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Yeah but lets get realistic all those cars drivers are not going to ride the bus unless it is a real quality service that saves tons of time. Now the I-55 express does those two things. Really nice buses and a hassle free commute. 

The city is getting nuts with the bicycles. Bike lanes now go against the traffic and do not enter signs are being replaced with do not enter except for bikes. Essentially they have no rules to be accounted for.  They are painting the bicycle green areas across the traffic lane and in front of it. So whats the logic cars have to wait for bikes? They are putting those on streets like laramie. Theres not enough bikes for that. Ive always been a fan of bike trails. They need to have all river trails and naybe some bike bridges or additional trails along freight lines. Mixing it with the traffic is just wrong. I may work in the city but I dont have to contribute to its economy. At least in the suburbs there is some sanity. 

Exactly. If people had more patience and awareness there wouldn’t be a need for so many bike lanes in these main artierials. I bike down stony and north Ave with no issues nor do cars seem too bothered cause I don’t do anything too crazy and my bike can keep up. It’s funny how some of these bike lanes popped up in areas that were supposed to have BRT before it got abandoned. 

[BusHunter]

6 hours ago, Sam92 said:

Exactly. If people had more patience and awareness there wouldn’t be a need for so many bike lanes in these main artierials. I bike down stony and north Ave with no issues nor do cars seem too bothered cause I don’t do anything too crazy and my bike can keep up. It’s funny how some of these bike lanes popped up in areas that were supposed to have BRT before it got abandoned. 

Thats a shame cause brt would serve the masses. I replly dont see the difference losing lanes to road diets for bikes versus for brt. I think it boils down to money. It takes more infrastructure for brt. Basically thats what I-55 express is. Pace is laughing all the way to the bank. They wouldnt be building a plainfield garage if that wasnt a smash success. I 90 would do better but it has additional lanes and runs like a dream even for auto traffic. We can hope 294 turns out like that. I think it will be a surprising success though. 

[NovaBusFan]

14 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

The lane on the bridge is so multiple buses can pull up without interference from cars, which is/was a common occurrence. Also, you're wrong that the other bridges don't have bus lanes, they're just not painted, but they're equally enforced. 95th has then in both directions, 87th has one EB, 69th has one EB, 47th has them in both directions and then ofc 79th with its EB lane. 5 mins of searching would've prevented you from making that post. All the stations with lanes have a high volume of buses coming through at any given time, which is why they're there.

Oh I almost completely forgot about 47th, 69th, 87th and 95th thanks for correcting me, I mostly pass down on 79th more often than the other streets which made me think 79th was the only one.

[NewFlyerMCI]

16 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Yeah but lets get realistic all those cars drivers are not going to ride the bus unless it is a real quality service that saves tons of time. Now the I-55 express does those two things. Really nice buses and a hassle free commute. 

And this is a valid point. Bus lanes help make that sort of quality service that draws people out of their cars

[NewFlyerMCI]

17 hours ago, Shannoncvpi said:

How do buses make it better ?? they are good the way they are they are starting to become like big lanes they messing up streets catering to us 

Every passenger on a bus (and public transit in general) is someone who might otherwise be in car, especially if said bus (or train, trolley, etc) is in area where the riders could actually afford to consistently drive. No car driver can complain about being in traffic, because they themselves are traffic and if they aren't carpooling, they aren't doing anything to reduce traffic, unlike what a bus (or any form of public transit) does.

[NewFlyerMCI]

6 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Thats a shame cause brt would serve the masses. I replly dont see the difference losing lanes to road diets for bikes versus for brt. I think it boils down to money. It takes more infrastructure for brt. Basically thats what I-55 express is. Pace is laughing all the way to the bank. They wouldnt be building a plainfield garage if that wasnt a smash success. I 90 would do better but it has additional lanes and runs like a dream even for auto traffic. We can hope 294 turns out like that. I think it will be a surprising success though. 

Road diets aren't always necessarily a 1:1 cars for bikes, just a way to calm cars. Bike amenities tend to be add-ons for those sort of projects. Additionally, Pace I-55 service is not BRT service, just regular commuter/express bus service, and Pace rightfully doesn't market it as such (unlike what they do with Pulse, which is closer to BRT creep rather than actual BRT)

[Shannoncvpi]

2 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Every passenger on a bus (and public transit in general) is someone who might otherwise be in car, especially if said bus (or train, trolley, etc) is in area where the riders could actually afford to consistently drive. No car driver can complain about being in traffic, because they themselves are traffic and if they aren't carpooling, they aren't doing anything to reduce traffic, unlike what a bus (or any form of public transit) does.

Tbh bro if that's so the case then why are we still slow as he'll if bus lanes speed up service then why do people in other parts of the city still gotta wait 20+ mins for a bus bro we are slow I tell people that all the time when they get on my bus & be like man ive been waiting a minute for the bus to come I be like yea we slow as hell

[Shannoncvpi]

I wonder do these if pace buses still got the bathroom in em 

[BusHunter]

3 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Road diets aren't always necessarily a 1:1 cars for bikes, just a way to calm cars. Bike amenities tend to be add-ons for those sort of projects. Additionally, Pace I-55 service is not BRT service, just regular commuter/express bus service, and Pace rightfully doesn't market it as such (unlike what they do with Pulse, which is closer to BRT creep rather than actual BRT)

Yeah but road diets happen on mostly 4 lane streets which makes them 2 lane. What really is bad is that in winter the lanes are barely used and the space is lost to cars. I wonder how do plow trucks keep from burying or damaging the lane? 

[NewFlyerMCI]

1 hour ago, Shannoncvpi said:

I wonder do these if pace buses still got the bathroom in em 

I don't think they do, the ones with bathrooms were leased. These are the same model NJTransit has, and none of them have bathrooms. Personally, considering some of the routes these buses run  (PHL-AC, AC-NYC, etc) and how long a single one-way run can be, that's a mistake.

[NewFlyerMCI]

2 hours ago, Shannoncvpi said:

Tbh bro if that's so the case then why are we still slow as he'll if bus lanes speed up service then why do people in other parts of the city still gotta wait 20+ mins for a bus bro we are slow I tell people that all the time when they get on my bus & be like man ive been waiting a minute for the bus to come I be like yea we slow as hell

Bus lanes aren't present all over the city. Outside the BPZ's (which aren't true lanes) the only bus lanes I know of are the Loop Link & the ones of Jeffery, both of which work. On top of that, you could have the fastest express bus, it wouldn't matter if the headways are trash, which is what leads to long waits for a bus

[Shannoncvpi]

29 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

I don't think they do, the ones with bathrooms were leased. These are the same model NJTransit has, and none of them have bathrooms. Personally, considering some of the routes these buses run  (PHL-AC, AC-NYC, etc) and how long a single one-way run can be, that's a mistake.

Naw I was just wondering since they use to be road trip buses

[Shannoncvpi]

4 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Bus lanes aren't present all over the city. Outside the BPZ's (which aren't true lanes) the only bus lanes I know of are the Loop Link & the ones of Jeffery, both of which work. On top of that, you could have the fastest express bus, it wouldn't matter if the headways are trash, which is what leads to long waits for a bus

Yes express buses are fsster I give that cuz they only stop at main streets like j14 & x49 & 9 but other then that bus lanes are a waste just helps clog up traffic

[NewFlyerMCI]

1 minute ago, Shannoncvpi said:

Yes express buses are fsster I give that cuz they only stop at main streets like j14 & x49 & 9 but other then that bus lanes are a waste just helps clog up traffic

You're saying this like they're everywhere. Bus lanes are typically only present where there are a high volume of buses moving through and might often have restrictions for when that isn't the case. For instance, the Loop Link is full time bus lanes, but there are no less than 4 bus routes running through there during daytime hours. The Jeffery lanes are only active during peak in the corresponding direction. And after the implementation of lanes in both locations, cars adapted and continued to move unimpeded. 

Consider this excerpt from page 7 of a study on speeding up Chicago's buses: 

Quote

Critics of bus lanes typically predict huge increases in congestion for people driving, but the data shows that’s not generally the case when analyzing before and after travel times. On a street grid like Chicago’s, usually many alternative routes exist. Traffic is also more organized on streets with bus lanes; buses don’t need to weave in and out of a travel lane to access stops, so other traffic can move more smoothly. Most importantly, public buses carry exponentially more people (46 people per trip on average) than private vehicles and therefore deserve priority on our streets. Dedicated lanes have the potential to attract new and more frequent riders to busy routes. By giving transit riders an advantage and making it clear that the city prioritizes transit, bus lanes are a more efficient use of public space than streets filled with all general purpose lanes that are constantly clogged with cars.

 

[chicagocubs6323]

3 hours ago, Shannoncvpi said:

I wonder do these if pace buses still got the bathroom in em 

They don't have bathrooms unfortunately.   I rode on one two days ago.

[artthouwill]

5 hours ago, Shannoncvpi said:

I wonder do these if pace buses still got the bathroom in em 

These are considered Commuter Coaches.  The majority of Pace's 6900 series bases don't have lavatories.  There might have been a few that Pace leased that might have had lavatories.   However,  Pace doesn't have any facilities to service buses with lavatories, as special permits are necessary to properly catch and dispose of waste from those lavatories.  So even if the buses did have restrooms,  they would have to lock them to keep passengers from using them.

Basically,  a Commuter Coach is a Highway coach without lavatories.  

When Pace used to contract out the 855, the charter companies used their own coaches which did have lavatories.   It was easier and cheaper to do that as opposed to buying a fleet of Commuter buses 

[Shannoncvpi]

1 hour ago, artthouwill said:

These are considered Commuter Coaches.  The majority of Pace's 6900 series bases don't have lavatories.  There might have been a few that Pace leased that might have had lavatories.   However,  Pace doesn't have any facilities to service buses with lavatories, as special permits are necessary to properly catch and dispose of waste from those lavatories.  So even if the buses did have restrooms,  they would have to lock them to keep passengers from using them.

Basically,  a Commuter Coach is a Highway coach without lavatories.  

When Pace used to contract out the 855, the charter companies used their own coaches which did have lavatories.   It was easier and cheaper to do that as opposed to buying a fleet of Commuter buses 

Aw ok so basically pace locked them up or another company drives that route for pace 

[Shannoncvpi]

2 hours ago, chicagocubs6323 said:

They don't have bathrooms unfortunately.   I rode on one two days ago.

Aw ok they had to take em out then 

[Shannoncvpi]

3 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

You're saying this like they're everywhere. Bus lanes are typically only present where there are a high volume of buses moving through and might often have restrictions for when that isn't the case. For instance, the Loop Link is full time bus lanes, but there are no less than 4 bus routes running through there during daytime hours. The Jeffery lanes are only active during peak in the corresponding direction. And after the implementation of lanes in both locations, cars adapted and continued to move unimpeded. 

Consider this excerpt from page 7 of a study on speeding up Chicago's buses: 

 

Like I drive down Chicago ave all the time & it just messes up traffic its already a 2 lane going each way & they wanted to make it a 1 lane like traffic just be balled up even worst now so we all still treat it like how it was before the bus lane 

[artthouwill]

9 minutes ago, Shannoncvpi said:

Aw ok so basically pace locked them up or another company drives that route for pace 

Pace operates the service.   Pace buses do not have lavs.  Prior to the 850/851/855 expansion with Bus On Shoulder service , different private carriers operated the service for Pace.  Companies included Greyhound,  Keeshin/Coach USA, Neal's, and MidAmerica.  Their coaches all had lavs.  

Pace initially used coaches on the 877 and the 888 routes. 

[Shannoncvpi]

24 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

Pace operates the service.   Pace buses do not have lavs.  Prior to the 850/851/855 expansion with Bus On Shoulder service , different private carriers operated the service for Pace.  Companies included Greyhound,  Keeshin/Coach USA, Neal's, and MidAmerica.  Their coaches all had lavs.  

Pace initially used coaches on the 877 and the 888 routes. 

Yea thats what I'm saying I see they took them out after being buses own by greyhound or other motor coach companies

[busfan2847]

11 hours ago, Shannoncvpi said:

Aw ok they had to take em out then 

The ones new to Pace were built without toilets (6900-7, 6950-79). Coaches leased from Hausman in 2012 (6910-25) probably had toilets which were locked out of use after 855 was taken over by Pace Heritage. They were returned by 2/14 when 6950-62 were delivered.

[artthouwill]

14 hours ago, Shannoncvpi said:

Yea thats what I'm saying I see they took them out after being buses own by greyhound or other motor coach companies

Actually the majority of the 6900s were purchased new by Pace and wasn't in service for anyone else  There were a handful of leased buses that had restrooms.   I don't know if they were former Greyhounds or came from other charter companies. 

Again,  commuter coaches are built without lavatories whereas regular motorcoach are built with lavatories..

[Shannoncvpi]

4 hours ago, busfan2847 said:

The ones new to Pace were built without toilets (6900-7, 6950-79). Coaches leased from Hausman in 2012 (6910-25) probably had toilets which were locked out of use after 855 was taken over by Pace Heritage. They were returned by 2/14 when 6950-62 were delivered.

Aw ok

[Shannoncvpi]

51 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

Actually the majority of the 6900s were purchased new by Pace and wasn't in service for anyone else  There were a handful of leased buses that had restrooms.   I don't know if they were former Greyhounds or came from other charter companies. 

Again,  commuter coaches are built without lavatories whereas regular motorcoach are built with lavatories..

Yea I just aint know where they came from just put me in mind of greyhound buses