8350-series Nova LFS - Updates

[Shannoncvpi]

On 9/1/2022 at 2:12 PM, Javi75 said:

Overall how do bus operators feel about the 1000s? I remember on another thread from when the 1000s first entered service operators had horror stories about the 4400s, 5300s, 5800s and 6000s and ironically there’s horror stories about the 7900s. Would you say that the 1000s are great quality for how abundant the series is. The 1000s are the most interesting bus order and series to me because looking back no one series was ever that big.

I like the NF better I rather have those over the novas 

[Mr.NewFlyer1051]

1 hour ago, Shannoncvpi said:

I like the NF better I rather have those over the novas 

all day any day??

[Shannoncvpi]

14 hours ago, Mr.NewFlyer1051 said:

all day any day??

Hell yea I be trying to avoid the novas but the only time I can't is when I relive a driver & they pull up with a nova

[Mr.cta85]

21 hours ago, Shannoncvpi said:

I like the NF better I rather have those over the novas 

Agreed indeed lol although I do wanna drive the newest novas just to say I drove em.

[BusHunter]

#8426 is out for it's maiden voyage. Wasn't that out at 95th/red line in the pictures on here or was that #8428. 

BTW no proterras are out right now.

[pudgym29]

I was on #8363 on route #77 Belmont heading downtown (to pick up my repaired camera). Its internal LCD screens are non-functional. "Mr. CTA" is announcing however.

[Shannoncvpi]

3 hours ago, Mr.cta85 said:

Agreed indeed lol although I do wanna drive the newest novas just to say I drove em.

True 

[BusHunter]

#8379 is finally showing up on the tracker. #8356 showed up yesterday so there should be no more ghost buses at fg at least #8350's. 

Still no proterras and it's rush hour...

[Erin Mishkin Jr.]

30 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

#8379 is finally showing up on the tracker. #8356 showed up yesterday so there should be no more ghost buses at fg at least #8350's. 

Still no proterras and it's rush hour...

8364 only ghost bus left

[Policeman]

23 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

#8379 is finally showing up on the tracker. #8356 showed up yesterday so there should be no more ghost buses at fg at least #8350's. 

Still no proterras and it's rush hour...

8364 is still untrackable 

[Busjack]

On 6/19/2022 at 12:40 AM, YoungBusLover said:

#8418,#8419, & #8429 are at SS. They were delivered during the past week. #8402 should be somewhere around that herd of buses on the westside of the shops.

8429 was on the Elk Grove Migrant  Express according to a channel 5 report.

[YoungBusLover]

5 hours ago, Busjack said:

8429 was on the Elk Grove Migrant  Express according to a channel 5 report.

Yeah that's one way to use new buses for new migrants.  Rather than using #6400s lets use brand new buses.....

[Shannoncvpi]

14 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

Yeah that's one way to use new buses for new migrants.  Rather than using #6400s lets use brand new buses.....

Lmfao I wouldn't really care what they use just get em somewhere so they can start their life

[artthouwill]

On 9/11/2022 at 4:34 PM, BusHunter said:

Hey this way if they quit in service, the migrants can't say anything cause they can't speak English. Should've let them use the Proterras. Some of those I'm really starting to wonder about!!

Does it really matter what buses they use?  Given little to zero notice.the city has to scramble to get equipment for this type of shuttle.   It's easier and probably cheaper and faster to get CTA buses rather than trying to contact a Charter company for 2 to 5 buses on short notice.  These buses were probably pulled from routes or ending their assigned shifts when sent on this assignment    if the 6400s are retired,  then they are retired.

[YoungBusLover]

50 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

Does it really matter what buses they use?  Given little to zero notice.the city has to scramble to get equipment for this type of shuttle.   It's easier and probably cheaper and faster to get CTA buses rather than trying to contact a Charter company for 2 to 5 buses on short notice.  These buses were probably pulled from routes or ending their assigned shifts when sent on this assignment    if the 6400s are retired,  then they are retired.

Aries Charter isn't that far away and was a much better option, its not like the City was caught off guard they were well aware of what was coming.

[artthouwill]

19 minutes ago, YoungBusLover said:

Aries Charter isn't that far away and was a much better option, its not like the City was caught off guard they were well aware of what was coming.

They only have so much equipment and so many drivers.  They may or may not have availability depending on what they have between their charter and contracts.  CTA would have quicker and easier access as they can pull from buses ending service or even pull a bus or two off a route if necessary.   They have practice with this when emergency shuttles have to be put in place for disruptions in rail service which usually require more buses than used to shuttle the migrants.   Why gamble with maybe from Aries or any other charter service when VTA is the sure thing?

[YoungBusLover]

13 hours ago, artthouwill said:

They only have so much equipment and so many drivers.  They may or may not have availability depending on what they have between their charter and contracts.  CTA would have quicker and easier access as they can pull from buses ending service or even pull a bus or two off a route if necessary.   They have practice with this when emergency shuttles have to be put in place for disruptions in rail service which usually require more buses than used to shuttle the migrants.   Why gamble with maybe from Aries or any other charter service when VTA is the sure thing?

The point I'm making is they had advance awareness of what was coming, you can only hope you have a few operators willing to do some overtime for a couple of hours for so long.  The first night of the migrants coming I get it but after the past several days I would be looking elsewhere, service is bad enough as it is already with the lack of manpower we have. In response to the other point about the #6800s they were still active going into late August which means they're still capable of running I'd get it if they were down for a year or two but most haven't been active since late august. 

[Policeman]

8423 on the 72

8429/8433 on the 20

[Ghoul]

Chicago is gonna mess up those 8350s so bad ??

[artthouwill]

26 minutes ago, Policeman said:

8423 on the 72

8429/8433 on the 20

Very interesting.   Are these loaners or a sign that C is or will be soon getting 8350s?

[artthouwill]

8 hours ago, YoungBusLover said:

The point I'm making is they had advance awareness of what was coming, you can only hope you have a few operators willing to do some overtime for a couple of hours for so long.  The first night of the migrants coming I get it but after the past several days I would be looking elsewhere, service is bad enough as it is already with the lack of manpower we have. In response to the other point about the #6800s they were still active going into late August which means they're still capable of running I'd get it if they were down for a year or two but most haven't been active since late august. 

It is easier for a driver ending his shift and gets asked to do extra for the migrant shuttle or any extra short work to have that driver keep his bus rather than go back to the garage and get another bus, especially if that bus wasn't in service or was a spare.  There are seven garages to choose from if necessary,  though the obvious three choices are K, C, and P.  K And C are closest to downtown and have routes that either finish downtown or deadhead through downtown.   6, 7, and 1 are probably last resorts but 1 and 7 can use the Ryan to get downtown pretty quickly.  

The only time I would consider outsourcing or farming out is if I'm maxed out.  As an example there's a Thursday night game at Soldier Field and a major disruption of Red Line service that requires shuttle service and a shut down of Purple Line Express service and maybe even a Thursday night game at Wrigley to boot 

The only time I remember  CTA farming out to charter companies was about 1999 when the Blue Line had a rail car shortage due to snow and salt causing undercarriage problems with the Blue line 2600s.  Service was curtailed to Jefferson Park and charter companies provided daytime shuttles from Jefferson Park to O'Hare.  CTA may have had shuttles between Jefferson Park and Harlem,  Cumberland and Rosemont.   The charter companies may have assisted with that too, but CTA provided the supervision.   But that was pretty large scale.

Also when the ATS was down in 2018, I reported CTA byses from F and artics from North Park were doing shuttles between the terminals at O'Hare until they found a private provider to take over.  Again that was large scale and continuous.   

No need to farm out a one trip move for a handful of buses.

[Policeman]

53 minutes ago, artthouwill said:

Very interesting.   Are these loaners or a sign that C is or will be soon getting 8350s?

Probably a loan, those 3 buses were migrant buses

[YoungBusLover]

1 hour ago, artthouwill said:

It is easier for a driver ending his shift and gets asked to do extra for the migrant shuttle or any extra short work to have that driver keep his bus rather than go back to the garage and get another bus, especially if that bus wasn't in service or was a spare.  There are seven garages to choose from if necessary,  though the obvious three choices are K, C, and P.  K And C are closest to downtown and have routes that either finish downtown or deadhead through downtown.   6, 7, and 1 are probably last resorts but 1 and 7 can use the Ryan to get downtown pretty quickly.  

The only time I would consider outsourcing or farming out is if I'm maxed out.  As an example there's a Thursday night game at Soldier Field and a major disruption of Red Line service that requires shuttle service and a shut down of Purple Line Express service and maybe even a Thursday night game at Wrigley to boot 

The only time I remember  CTA farming out to charter companies was about 1999 when the Blue Line had a rail car shortage due to snow and salt causing undercarriage problems with the Blue line 2600s.  Service was curtailed to Jefferson Park and charter companies provided daytime shuttles from Jefferson Park to O'Hare.  CTA may have had shuttles between Jefferson Park and Harlem,  Cumberland and Rosemont.   The charter companies may have assisted with that too, but CTA provided the supervision.   But that was pretty large scale.

Also when the ATS was down in 2018, I reported CTA byses from F and artics from North Park were doing shuttles between the terminals at O'Hare until they found a private provider to take over.  Again that was large scale and continuous.   

No need to farm out a one trip move for a handful of buses.

Oh trust me I get where you're coming from and I agree with everything you stated. I'm just looking at it from an operators lense I guess. There's always operators at the garage that may get asked to do extra work as well and that's where I was going with my stance on the matter. 

[Busjack]

2 hours ago, Policeman said:

Probably a loan, those 3 buses were migrant buses

Probably not. C and K were doing the trips, and apparently these buses were from C rather than SS.

[Shannoncvpi]

9 hours ago, Ghoul said:

Chicago is gonna mess up those 8350s so bad ??

How C gone mess em up badly the novas we got from C was in pretty good shape compared to the 79's we had go from 7