Random CTA

[strictures]

17 hours ago, Busjack said:

It got new tracks and most of the stations were upgraded. The structure wasn't replaced because it was built for steam engines, while Douglas wasn't and CTA said it was on the verge of collapse.

See the following on chicago-l.org:

Green Line SSM

Pink Line Douglas Branch

 

I remember the original line, it went up & down between stations, including stations that no longer existed, because the first runs were with steam engines in 1893 & that gave the engines a bit of help getting started & then helped them stop, because the incline going up slowed them down.

Now it's no longer up & down, they got rid of that when it was rebuilt in the 1990s, but for some insane reason, they kept the tracks at that high level over the no longer extant railroad at Indiana & 41st.  Why they didn't lower the tracks is baffling, as is why they didn't make it a double 45 degree turn there, since the land was open all around there, so no demolition would've been necessary?

[ajm522]

I think it’s safe to say 77th is done with farebox instillation as 74th now has many busses equipped with new ones. 

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

4 hours ago, ajm522 said:

I think it’s safe to say 77th is done with farebox instillation as 74th now has many busses equipped with new ones. 

That is correct. 77th buses that did not have a new farebox have went to 74th for their installation.

[FarNWSider773]

These are signs that I created for CTA stations that were once proposed for the far northwest side of the city.

https://imgur.com/a/signs-far-northwest-side-cta-stations-that-were-once-proposed-h4hrnq7

The following map inspired me to create these signs.

https://i.imgur.com/oPIR375.jpeg 

It was used as a figure in the CTA's "Northwest Chicago Corridor Transportation Study: Engineering Report" from 1962.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015023095105&seq=7 

The report proposed building stations at Lawrence, Foster/Central, Nagle, and Canfield (along what is now the Blue Line).

[Bus1883]

I knew the 900s were completely odd compared to both the 800s and the 1000s as u can spot the differences. The compartment door as well as the black cover is more towards the rear on the 900s. Were they actually 40 foot long???

[Busjack]

18 hours ago, Bus1883 said:

I knew the 900s were completely odd compared to both the 800s and the 1000s as u can spot the differences. The compartment door as well as the black cover is more towards the rear on the 900s. Were they actually 40 foot long???

They were 40', and the placement of the doors is only incidental to the real distinction, which was that the 900s were series hybrids, meaning that the engine was only used to charge the batteries, and there were separate electric motors to power the wheels. The 800s and artics were parallel hybrids, where the engine was connected to the powertrain. In effect, there wasn't a transmission, so no need for access to.one. The distinction is explained in this more recent Car and Driver article, which now refers to the series hybrid as a "battery truck with a generator," giving rise to confusion by some readers that this "new hybrid" somehow complies with electric bus mandates. I don't remember which company manufactured the system in the 900s, but BAE was the only big supplier of them.

Both the 800s and 900s were experimental, and CTA must have preferred the parallel hybrids, but I don't see why this hulk is still in the yard maybe 13 years after it went OOS.

 

 

[Bus1883]

6 hours ago, Busjack said:

They were 40', and the placement of the doors is only incidental to the real distinction, which was that the 900s were series hybrids, meaning that the engine was only used to charge the batteries, and there were separate electric motors to power the wheels. The 800s and artics were parallel hybrids, where the engine was connected to the powertrain. In effect, there wasn't a transmission, so no need for access to.one. The distinction is explained in this more recent Car and Driver article, which now refers to the series hybrid as a "battery truck with a generator," giving rise to confusion by some readers that this "new hybrid" somehow complies with electric bus mandates. I don't remember which company manufactured the system in the 900s, but BAE was the only big supplier of them.

Both the 800s and 900s were experimental, and CTA must have preferred the parallel hybrids, but I don't see why this hulk is still in the yard maybe 13 years after it went OOS.

 

 

I’m curious because the 900s looked shorter while the 800s and the 1000s appear to look longer in length. Here’s a screenshot I took of 905 in the boneyard on maps sitting next to the 800s or 1000s nearby, the 900s were shorter.

[Busjack]

10 hours ago, Bus1883 said:

Here’s a screenshot I took of 905 in the boneyard on maps

Doesn't prove anything other than a wrecker is needed.

[Bus1883]

15 hours ago, Busjack said:

Doesn't prove anything other than a wrecker is needed.

I was comparing it lengthwise with the other new flyers

[Busjack]

8 hours ago, Bus1883 said:

I was comparing it lengthwise with the other new flyers

 

And I still said the satellite picture doesn't prove anything. If you got into the yard to take the picture of the right rear hatch, get a tape measure or a laser and measure it bumper to bumper. Instead of doing that, or even using Google Satellite, magnifying the image shows a low res  picture grabbed from social media site, without attribution. It's so low res that Icannot make out the fleet numbers.

By specificattions, a 40' bus is 39'-42-. A Nova Bus is 2' shorter than a NF Xcelsior. You can look it up. Unless you are trying to convince us it is a DE35 or DE30, it's a DE40.

Otherwise, instead of saying "it looks smaller" from space, use what tools you have to give us an exact bumper to bumper measurement.

[curiousgent31385]

I recently came across these screenshots from CTA's "Meeting the Moment" dashboard from 2022. They show groupings for the agency's bus routes.

• https://imgur.com/a/ukhLjsB 
• https://www.transitchicago.com/meetingthemoment/scorecard 

I've never seen these groupings before. Are they used by the CTA for any other purposes? Does anyone know where I can find more information about them?

To make it easier to view, I've also transcribed the information into a Google Sheet. Here’s a link to that table.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WQ7mLVTpp15qHVXY63ZGabN9O_MRo4fbaMpA___wLm4 

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, curiousgent31385 said:

I recently came across these screenshots from CTA's "Meeting the Moment" dashboard from 2022. They show groupings for the agency's bus routes.

• https://imgur.com/a/ukhLjsB 
• https://www.transitchicago.com/meetingthemoment/scorecard 

I've never seen these groupings before. Are they used by the CTA for any other purposes? Does anyone know where I can find more information about them?

To make it easier to view, I've also transcribed the information into a Google Sheet. Here’s a link to that table.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WQ7mLVTpp15qHVXY63ZGabN9O_MRo4fbaMpA___wLm4 

They're as old as Methuselah. For the second time today, the official explanation is here.

[ajm522]

On 2/13/2025 at 10:33 PM, Erin Mishkin Jr. said:

That is correct. 77th buses that did not have a new farebox have went to 74th for their installation.

I think 74th is now done as I’m on 8512 and it has new farebox. 103rd is last. They are fast with this. 

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

14 minutes ago, ajm522 said:

I think 74th is now done as I’m on 8512 and it has new farebox. 103rd is last. They are fast with this. 

They should be, I haven’t seen a 74th bus with an older farebox for a few days. I also expect 74th to fix 1495’s tracker this month as it has not been tracking since last spring. I feel like i see more 103rd buses with new fareboxes rather than old ones now.

[sht6131]

Have not seen any activity on this site since Tuesday. Do I have issues on my end?

[artthouwill]

1 hour ago, sht6131 said:

Have not seen any activity on this site since Tuesday. Do I have issues on my end?

Today is just Thursday.   Relax.

[Sam92]

4 hours ago, sht6131 said:

Have not seen any activity on this site since Tuesday. Do I have issues on my end?

 

2 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Today is just Thursday.   Relax.

Yeah plus we're all waiting to see what's about to shake with this system pick 🤭

[Shannon tahoeppv]

1488 broke down somewhere it was being towen back to 6

[MetroShadow]

On 3/7/2025 at 5:03 AM, curiousgent31385 said:

I recently came across these screenshots from CTA's "Meeting the Moment" dashboard from 2022. They show groupings for the agency's bus routes.

• https://imgur.com/a/ukhLjsB 
• https://www.transitchicago.com/meetingthemoment/scorecard 

I've never seen these groupings before. Are they used by the CTA for any other purposes? Does anyone know where I can find more information about them?

To make it easier to view, I've also transcribed the information into a Google Sheet. Here’s a link to that table.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1WQ7mLVTpp15qHVXY63ZGabN9O_MRo4fbaMpA___wLm4 

 

On 3/7/2025 at 7:44 AM, Busjack said:

They're as old as Methuselah. For the second time today, the official explanation is here.

Unsure if I answered this, but they're subsets that are grouped by subregion.

When I was rewriting Pace's (and a little bit on SamTrans) standards back in 2015, the classifications were all over the place (and outdated to 2002-03). The objective was to make sure the routes (overall) are correctly/accurately/equitably compared to each other.

[strictures]

9 hours ago, MetroShadow said:

 

Unsure if I answered this, but they're subsets that are grouped by subregion.

When I was rewriting Pace's (and a little bit on SamTrans) standards back in 2015, the classifications were all over the place (and outdated to 2002-03). The objective was to make sure the routes (overall) are correctly/accurately/equitably compared to each other.

49B is a key route?  That must be a joke, since I've waited for 30 minutes or more for one of those many, many times.  And the same for the 22, easily the single most abused route the CTA has, especially when the Cubs play!  45 minute waits are not uncommon!

[Sam92]

2 hours ago, strictures said:

49B is a key route?  

Anything on a main street and scheduled at least till midnight/headways usually never more than 20 min is usually key not counting delays. Some changes were made at some point cause 3 and 6 became support routes while 14 is now a key route. 

[NewFlyerMCI]

Quote

Routes in the Key Route network are typically spaced one mile apart, which allows for approximately a one-half mile journey to reach a route in this network.

I feel like "typically" means exceptions can be made, but they aren't lol. The 3 being a "support" route seems kind of irregular and like it only happened b/c it's less than a mile from the 4, but it's consistently in the mid-range of the top 10 busiest routes. Stuff like the 146 & 147 I can understand more since it's easier to make the argument that they're support for the 151/Red. Similarly, the 6 feels like it's being penalized for basically not being as straight of a line as other CTA routes

Quote

The Key Route bus network was established to ensure that customers across the more densely populated parts of the service area with high transit usage can readily access bus routes meeting more stringent frequency standards.

This, for instance, is not how I'd describe the 84, with 20 min wknd headways, or the 90 & 91 with the same (granted, the 90 does have that 2.5mi overlap with 307). None of these routes see particularly high transit usage either

[Sam92]

19 hours ago, NewFlyerMCI said:

I feel like "typically" means exceptions can be made, but they aren't lol. The 3 being a "support" route seems kind of irregular and like it only happened b/c it's less than a mile from the 4, but it's consistently in the mid-range of the top 10 busiest routes. Stuff like the 146 & 147 I can understand more since it's easier to make the argument that they're support for the 151/Red. Similarly, the 6 feels like it's being penalized for basically not being as straight of a line as other CTA routes

This, for instance, is not how I'd describe the 84, with 20 min wknd headways, or the 90 & 91 with the same (granted, the 90 does have that 2.5mi overlap with 307). None of these routes see particularly high transit usage either

There are actually a few exceptions made(Jeffery, King Drive before being switched, 52, 54B). I look at it as key routes and rail system being the skeleton providing basic coverage throughout the city. Support routes are the rest of the body, you got stuff like 3, 50 and other long routes that are blood vessels; 96, 201 etc doing localized roles and the expresses outside of 14 are supporting a train or key route like you said. 6 Jeffery was a key, then for a while Jackson park exp was key till it switched roles with 14. I guess the argument can be that Jeffery is so far from the red line it has to basically be a whole key corridor itself since many depend on it vs a long ride to state. 6 being a support doesn't really make sense to me either but I guess it can be argued that it has alternatives nearby (14/26 south of 67th, 15 to the red/green from Hyde park). Back when 6 was still a key route during the 2007 doomsday threats 14 was cut while 6 and 15 would have stayed (downtown riders would have had to take 15 and transfer to 6 or 14 since 14 as a support route was close to 6 and 15 which were key routes. 3 being support makes sense to me cause its close to the green, 4 and 29 and it wasn't until mid 2000's were it started putting in more work. Before that only alternate trips went downtown and it had a pretty late start time particularly on the weekends.