Random CTA

[Shannoncvpi]

Just saw a new flyer & nova racing down king driveafter dropping my girl off they took off from the light pushing it with the new flyer taking off dusting the nova not dropping the bus numbers to keep anybody from going back snitching but it was funny af

[Mr.NewFlyer1051]

managed to catch 4127 and 4172 today both have new turntables @YoungBusLoveris every #4000’s getting these new tables?

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

1 hour ago, Mr.NewFlyer1051 said:

managed to catch 4127 and 4172 today both have new turntables @YoungBusLoveris every #4000’s getting these new tables?

nice i saw both of them while i was downtown today i even took a ride on 4127 this afternoon too

[rl12383]

Anyone able to read this article regarding CTA train and bus service? Sounds like its about the shortage of staff and missed runs occurring througout the system:

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-cta-train-bus-schedule-wait-20211209-dd5aketifnefhnrtw6lsucleeq-story.html

 

[Mr.NewFlyer1051]

14 hours ago, Erin Mishkin Jr. said:

nice i saw both of them while i was downtown today i even took a ride on 4127 this afternoon too

probably saw each other lol

[Shannoncvpi]

1454 is sitting over at C just like old times lol  back in 14-15

[Mr.NewFlyer1051]

32 minutes ago, Shannoncvpi said:

1454 is sitting over at C just like old times lol  back in 14-15

they gave 1449 back to get 1454?

[NewFlyerMCI]

3 hours ago, rl12383 said:

Anyone able to read this article regarding CTA train and bus service? Sounds like its about the shortage of staff and missed runs occurring througout the system:

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-cta-train-bus-schedule-wait-20211209-dd5aketifnefhnrtw6lsucleeq-story.html

 

Ah, news paywalls, bane of my existence

[Sam92]

3 hours ago, rl12383 said:

Anyone able to read this article regarding CTA train and bus service? Sounds like its about the shortage of staff and missed runs occurring througout the system:

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-cta-train-bus-schedule-wait-20211209-dd5aketifnefhnrtw6lsucleeq-story.html

 

 

24 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Ah, news paywalls, bane of my existence

I got in. Basically what you said, missed runs. A lot of people left in the pandemic and the hiring isn’t keeping up. Brown, orange, red and Blue lines are only getting 70% of their scheduled runs filled. Some of the other lines aren’t as bad but that’s pretty much the gist

[NewFlyerMCI]

6 minutes ago, Sam92 said:

 

I got in. Basically what you said, missed runs. A lot of people left in the pandemic and the hiring isn’t keeping up. Brown, orange, red and Blue lines are only getting 70% of their scheduled runs filled. Some of the other lines aren’t as bad but that’s pretty much the gist

Honestly, it hasn't really shown from what I've seen, although I can't speak for the Blue Line and that line always seems to draw a lot of ire lol.

I can't think of a single big agency across the country who isn't experiencing a worker shortage, except maybe WMATA, who ironically, had to reduce rail service for an entirely different reason lol

[Sam92]

4 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

Honestly, it hasn't really shown from what I've seen, although I can't speak for the Blue Line and that line always seems to draw a lot of ire lol.

I can't think of a single big agency across the country who isn't experiencing a worker shortage, except maybe WMATA, who ironically, had to reduce rail service for an entirely different reason lol

Might be harder to notice on frequent lines but I definitely feel it over east between 6, J14 and 26 constantly having 30 min waits before a next bus even shows up, big gaps on 28

[strictures]

1 hour ago, Sam92 said:

Might be harder to notice on frequent lines but I definitely feel it over east between 6, J14 and 26 constantly having 30 min waits before a next bus even shows up, big gaps on 28

I now sit at home watching Bustracker for the 22 just north of Devon.  On two occasions in the last month, I've had to wait an hour for an SB Clark bus.  There are numerous waits for Clark in both directions of over 20 minutes & 30-40 minute waits aren't unusual anymore.   Clark was always bad after a Cub game, but this has become absurd. 

When I got off a 155 on Tuesday, I checked the Ventra App & it showed a 23 minute wait for a NB 22, so I walked it home & no bus passed me.  On top of that, the EB 155 I got on, was just 5 minutes behind its leader, so it ran almost empty, with maybe five of us on board!

[artthouwill]

5 hours ago, rl12383 said:

Anyone able to read this article regarding CTA train and bus service? Sounds like its about the shortage of staff and missed runs occurring througout the system:

 

https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-biz-cta-train-bus-schedule-wait-20211209-dd5aketifnefhnrtw6lsucleeq-story.html

 

Payroll 

 

The other day I showed up in Oak Park 15 minutes early to catch a 313.  A bus came at the scheduled time, but it was headed " To Garage."  It was the bus I had caught earlier that day on the 313.   About 10 minutes later, a woman walking west on Lake Street asks me if I was waiting for the 313.  She started walking when that To Garage bus passed her stop.  Around 20 minutes Katerina, I wound up catching the eastbound 313 and rode around.   It's terrible when the bus runs an hour apart and a bus doesn't show.  

[NewFlyerMCI]

To clarify, I was only speaking from a rail perspective, since that's what was mentioned. I'm sure the situation is far worse with buses, as evidenced.

1 hour ago, Sam92 said:

Might be harder to notice on frequent lines but I definitely feel it over east between 6, J14 and 26 constantly having 30 min waits before a next bus even shows up, big gaps on 28

Now, I rarely take the 6 or 26, but I haven't really seen this on the J14. Not saying you're wrong, it's just interesting the differing perspective. You're probably more of a regular rider than me tho, since I'm only in the city for weeks at a time every other month or so.

26 minutes ago, strictures said:

I now sit at home watching Bustracker for the 22 just north of Devon.  On two occasions in the last month, I've had to wait an hour for an SB Clark bus.  There are numerous waits for Clark in both directions of over 20 minutes & 30-40 minute waits aren't unusual anymore.   Clark was always bad after a Cub game, but this has become absurd. 

When I got off a 155 on Tuesday, I checked the Ventra App & it showed a 23 minute wait for a NB 22, so I walked it home & no bus passed me.  On top of that, the EB 155 I got on, was just 5 minutes behind its leader, so it ran almost empty, with maybe five of us on board!

The 155 is so short, it's amazing how buses can bunch. Pretty sure there are only max 6 buses on the route at a time too.

[Sam92]

25 minutes ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

To clarify, I was only speaking from a rail perspective, since that's what was mentioned. I'm sure the situation is far worse with buses, as evidenced.

Now, I rarely take the 6 or 26, but I haven't really seen this on the J14. Not saying you're wrong, it's just interesting the differing perspective. You're probably more of a regular rider than me tho, since I'm only in the city for weeks at a time every other month or so.

The 155 is so short, it's amazing how buses can bunch. Pretty sure there are only max 6 buses on the route at a time too.

The LSD route situation is a toss up. One day they can run like butter the next the are garbage I’m pretty sure that’s how it is across the whole system so it’s like you say it depends on the day. As far as 155 bunching you’d be surprised when it comes to the money side they’re really cheap with the layover and recovery time so on shorter routes the schedule can get really unrealistic and become a chase your tail operation. Similar things used to happen on the 95E before the combination with 95W. Operators only had 10 min of recovery time at the red line but on the way to Buffalo you’d fall 5-10 behind at stony then again around south chicago so you’d basically get back to the Red line anywhere from barely on time to 10-20 late for your next trip so with 10 min headways at some point all 6 buses would catch up together at the eastern end and all come back to the red line in a group ?. That’s why 74th is such a gem for drivers as well as halsted as @Mr.cta85 and @YoungBusLoverpointed out cause longer routes get a bit more padding. 

[Policeman]

3 hours ago, Sam92 said:

Might be harder to notice on frequent lines but I definitely feel it over east between 6, J14 and 26 constantly having 30 min waits before a next bus even shows up, big gaps on 28

Gotta love the 28, had to wait 30 for one yesterday. 6, 14 and 26 are fine fot me at least

[strictures]

3 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

To clarify, I was only speaking from a rail perspective, since that's what was mentioned. I'm sure the situation is far worse with buses, as evidenced.

Now, I rarely take the 6 or 26, but I haven't really seen this on the J14. Not saying you're wrong, it's just interesting the differing perspective. You're probably more of a regular rider than me tho, since I'm only in the city for weeks at a time every other month or so.

The 155 is so short, it's amazing how buses can bunch. Pretty sure there are only max 6 buses on the route at a time too.

About 15 years ago, I was waiting for an EB 155 at Albany, just one block from the terminal. After a wait of over 30 minutes, all five buses assigned to the 155 came running together.  Why this occurred, I don't know.

Now why the CTA control center didn't order at least one to express to Devon/Kedzie, by going west on Pratt to Kedzie & start the route & then another to express the same way, but to go to just Western & then head back east.

[YoungBusLover]

4 hours ago, strictures said:

I now sit at home watching Bustracker for the 22 just north of Devon.  On two occasions in the last month, I've had to wait an hour for an SB Clark bus.  There are numerous waits for Clark in both directions of over 20 minutes & 30-40 minute waits aren't unusual anymore.   Clark was always bad after a Cub game, but this has become absurd. 

When I got off a 155 on Tuesday, I checked the Ventra App & it showed a 23 minute wait for a NB 22, so I walked it home & no bus passed me.  On top of that, the EB 155 I got on, was just 5 minutes behind its leader, so it ran almost empty, with maybe five of us on board!

4 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

To clarify, I was only speaking from a rail perspective, since that's what was mentioned. I'm sure the situation is far worse with buses, as evidenced.

Now, I rarely take the 6 or 26, but I haven't really seen this on the J14. Not saying you're wrong, it's just interesting the differing perspective. You're probably more of a regular rider than me tho, since I'm only in the city for weeks at a time every other month or so.

The 155 is so short, it's amazing how buses can bunch. Pretty sure there are only max 6 buses on the route at a time too.

 

I remember seeing two 6s leaving 79th and South shore at 5:30 am on a Saturday morning a few weeks ago which was funny to me because I didn't understand the reason behind it. I also remember seeing 5 buses total on the 6 one time last month during a rush hour weekday. Manpower is the main issue that the CTA won't address publicly but other outlets are starting to highlight it though. The winter pick is cancelled which means the intervals we have been experiencing since the fall pick started will only get worse as the months progress. A lot of operators at my garage aren't to happy about that either.  

3 hours ago, Sam92 said:

The LSD route situation is a toss up. One day they can run like butter the next the are garbage I’m pretty sure that’s how it is across the whole system so it’s like you say it depends on the day. As far as 155 bunching you’d be surprised when it comes to the money side they’re really cheap with the layover and recovery time so on shorter routes the schedule can get really unrealistic and become a chase your tail operation. Similar things used to happen on the 95E before the combination with 95W. Operators only had 10 min of recovery time at the red line but on the way to Buffalo you’d fall 5-10 behind at stony then again around south chicago so you’d basically get back to the Red line anywhere from barely on time to 10-20 late for your next trip so with 10 min headways at some point all 6 buses would catch up together at the eastern end and all come back to the red line in a group ?. That’s why 74th is such a gem for drivers as well as halsted as @Mr.cta85 and @YoungBusLoverpointed out cause longer routes get a bit more padding. 

It's all fun and games until the street becomes a double/triple street with 2-3 buses missing in front of you and that 10-12 min layover turns into 5-15 mins being down by the time you reach either end of the terminal. Almost every Sunday  for the last several weeks when I start my shift around 6 pm there's one bus heading SB and I'm the only one heading NB on Halsted and you'd think the demand wouldn't be as high if more buses were out there but when its just me I'm picking up everyone and some are shocked that they see me after a two hour wait time. When Ashland has triple the amount of service than Halsted does its a problem. For weeks I've been telling my passengers to take Ashland because of how bad its been. I took this screenshot a few weeks ago before my run that Sunday and I could believe what I saw. Then once I got out there after pulling a bus out I picked up sea of people at the terminal then 79th street and it went downhill from there to the point where I had to run 5 mins ahead of schedule once I got the orange line because there was more passengers there waiting to head NB and SB. Some even asked are you the only bus out here because I haven't seen a bus in almost 2 hours. I felt bad for them having to wait that long so I told most of them to take Ashland down or Racine.

[YoungBusLover]

1 hour ago, Policeman said:

Gotta love the 28, had to wait 30 for one yesterday. 6, 14 and 26 are fine fot me at least

The 28 isn't what it use to be I remember when that route was the go to express for me back when I went to HS. I'd always wait on average 10 minutes for a SB bus but then again this was 2012-2016 which wasn't as bad compared to things now. The 15 and 26 seems to be doing better as far as service is concerned. The 26 does seem to bunch a lot on portions of the route though from what I've notice.

[NewFlyerMCI]

3 minutes ago, YoungBusLover said:

The 28 isn't what it use to be I remember when that route was the go to express for me back when I went to HS. I'd always wait on average 10 minutes for a SB bus but then again this was 2012-2016 which wasn't as bad compared to things now. The 15 and 26 seems to be doing better as far as service is concerned. The 26 does seem to bunch a lot on portions of the route though from what I've notice.

My mother told me this when I was a child, and I think there’s still truth to it today: “No 26 leaves downtown on time” ?

[Policeman]

40 minutes ago, YoungBusLover said:

The 28 isn't what it use to be I remember when that route was the go to express for me back when I went to HS. I'd always wait on average 10 minutes for a SB bus but then again this was 2012-2016 which wasn't as bad compared to things now. The 15 and 26 seems to be doing better as far as service is concerned. The 26 does seem to bunch a lot on portions of the route though from what I've notice.

It's usually around 5 pm when the 15/28 start to get horrible. There can be some 40 minute wait

[YoungBusLover]

1 hour ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

My mother told me this when I was a child, and I think there’s still truth to it today: “No 26 leaves downtown on time” ?

When I had the 3 during the summer I'd always see a boat load of them sitting at Fairbanks and Chicago waiting to depart and usually one would magically pop up behind out of no where by the time I reached Randolph and Michigan and then another would come a few minutes out of no where by the time I reached Balbo. 

[Shannoncvpi]

10 hours ago, Mr.NewFlyer1051 said:

they gave 1449 back to get 1454?

I guess so ???

[YoungBusLover]

51 minutes ago, Policeman said:

It's usually around 5 pm when the 15/28 start to get horrible. There can be some 40 minute wait

Well lets look at the past week of service and see then because today 6 buses during off peak was the normal average for the 28 and then during peak rush was around 9-10 buses. The drop-off didn't occur until after 7:30 tonight. Now most of the trips on the 28 are pull-ins so it does throw off the balance for overall headways for NB service but usually the 28 has 12-16 min headways that gradually increase after peak rush service has concluded same goes for the 15 as well in some aspects. The J14 does help compliment the lack of service up to 67th Street which eventually gets turned over to the 6. now I know most riders are trying go northwest bound towards Woodlawn, Washington Park and Hyde Park so I see where the major gaps occur after that point but even then who wants to transfer to multiple bus lines just to get to the same location without waiting a long period of time. Makes me wish CTA could restructure routes out of 103rd in and around the South Shore/Hyde Park corridors.

[Mr.NewFlyer1051]

3 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

The winter pick is cancelled which means the intervals we have been experiencing since the fall pick started will only get worse as the months progress.

so no moves will happen?