Buslover88 Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Forgive me for being such a cynic, but I believe that CTA will find a way NOT to give 74th the NFs. I agree with you when you say that because it seems to me that CTA doesn't want 74th to have any new equipment (anyone who's offended, please forgive me). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Put your money on Forest Glen. I say that simply because all over the FG area are new signs at bus stops hyping bus tracker (ugh !). The date on the signs for implementation is June 23, which would qualify for an end of the month placement of new equipment. This would allow for another silly transfer of 6000 series buses southward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordguy Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Put your money on Forest Glen. I say that simply because all over the FG area are new signs at bus stops hyping bus tracker (ugh !). The date on the signs for implementation is June 23, which would qualify for an end of the month placement of new equipment. This would allow for another silly transfer of 6000 series buses southward. ===It appears as if the FG 6000s are being equipped with BusTracker. The telltale metal plates with the bar codes are visible on many of these buses and look like they've been recently mounted. Also, the rest of the 6000s, all based at 74th, are already online. So I sorta doubt that there'll be any major changes at FG between now and June 23rd. My hunch is that everything will remain relatively intact there until some of the 6000s start to leave the roster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 ===It appears as if the FG 6000s are being equipped with BusTracker. The telltale metal plates with the bar codes are visible on many of these buses and look like they've been recently mounted. Also, the rest of the 6000s, all based at 74th, are already online. So I sorta doubt that there'll be any major changes at FG between now and June 23rd. My hunch is that everything will remain relatively intact there until some of the 6000s start to leave the roster. The statement was made that a garage that does not have New Flyers will have them by the end of the month. Although what you say may be correct, it would still allow 6000s to be sent south and keep that garage a single model garage. Although I agree with a lot of people that 74th should get some much needed new equipment, it seems as though there are those at CTA who don't see it that way. So, to keep 74th a single model garage, and give some insider the much needed overtime they probably need, it sets the stage to move some buses around, keep 74th status quo and put more new equipment where it really isn't needed. I guess we'll know in about 2 weeks, won't we !!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 The statement was made that a garage that does not have New Flyers will have them by the end of the month. Although what you say may be correct, it would still allow 6000s to be sent south and keep that garage a single model garage. Although I agree with a lot of people that 74th should get some much needed new equipment, it seems as though there are those at CTA who don't see it that way. So, to keep 74th a single model garage, and give some insider the much needed overtime they probably need, it sets the stage to move some buses around, keep 74th status quo and put more new equipment where it really isn't needed. I guess we'll know in about 2 weeks, won't we !!!! Yes we will see in 2 weeks. I saw the mentioned Bustracker signs attached to the bus stop signs on Inner Drive a block north of Addison. I figured it had to be for the 152 since NP has no routes shown on the Bustracker map and the 145 isn't on there yet. I'll have to say though that FG getting Bustracker doesn't automatically qualify it to be next for NFs. As has been noted before 74th is live with some routes on the Tracker and has 6000s. I still say FG having Novas should disqualify it from being next given what happened to Archer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nflyer22 Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 Yes we will see in 2 weeks. I saw the mentioned Bustracker signs attached to the bus stop signs on Inner Drive a block north of Addison. I figured it had to be for the 152 since NP has no routes shown on the Bustracker map and the 145 isn't on there yet. I'll have to say though that FG getting Bustracker doesn't automatically qualify it to be next for NFs. As has been noted before 74th is live with some routes on the Tracker and has 6000s. I still say FG having Novas should disqualify it from being next given what happened to Archer. The new New Flyers apparently might be getting Bus Tracker until later, seeing several weeks back, I rode 1673 on the 18, and the Clever Devices didn't have the antenna with the 'X' crossing it, seeing how all the Devices with the Tracker have the "updated" version with the antenna and the 'X'. This may have been just 1673, most likely not, but hey, why don't we all go check 'em out? ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CircleSeven Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 The statement was made that a garage that does not have New Flyers will have them by the end of the month. Although what you say may be correct, it would still allow 6000s to be sent south and keep that garage a single model garage. Although I agree with a lot of people that 74th should get some much needed new equipment, it seems as though there are those at CTA who don't see it that way. So, to keep 74th a single model garage, and give some insider the much needed overtime they probably need, it sets the stage to move some buses around, keep 74th status quo and put more new equipment where it really isn't needed. I guess we'll know in about 2 weeks, won't we !!!! I agree with everything trainman8119 has stated. I still put my chips on the Glen being next to get the New Flyers. Send all the rest of the 6000s to 103rd. That would kind of accellate the retirement of the older Flxs & TMCs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 I understand that a garage that does not currently have New Flyers will be getting them before the end of the month. I still stand by my earlier post. However, should it be true that the next garage getting Flyers doesn't currently have any, it would be nice if it were 74th, but I still believe it would defeat the purpose of making that garage all Flxibles to begin with. Unless CTA is willing to provide 74th with 200 New Flyers to replace all of the 6000s, and split the 6000s between 77th and 103rd, I believe FG would probably be the garage to get the next batch. Even under that scenario, it would be possible for 74th to get the last 200- 250, but I still have to believe that those 5800s at NP have to be replaced with New Flyers, thus making it very difficult for 74th to get any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted June 7, 2008 Report Share Posted June 7, 2008 I still stand by my earlier post. However, should it be true that the next garage getting Flyers doesn't currently have any, it would be nice if it were 74th, but I still believe it would defeat the purpose of making that garage all Flxibles to begin with. Unless CTA is willing to provide 74th with 200 New Flyers to replace all of the 6000s, and split the 6000s between 77th and 103rd, I believe FG would probably be the garage to get the next batch. Even under that scenario, it would be possible for 74th to get the last 200- 250, but I still have to believe that those 5800s at NP have to be replaced with New Flyers, thus making it very difficult for 74th to get any. I'm not even going to try to justify any logic in regards to the consolidation plan and 74th being all 6000s at the current moment, because the fact that at least 484 more buses needing to be placed along with the fact that half the 6000s and all the 5800s are set to be retired soon after the TMC and 5300 retirements throws a bit of a monkey wrench into consolidation any way. With the placement of almost 1200 buses from the beginning of the 1000s through their last deliveries and the completion of the artic hybrids, there's no way possible to stick to that plan for all garages to begin with. A perfect case in point is Archer. It didn't remain all Nova for very long. It now has the Optimas formerly at 103rd. So even though your is sound, who's to say that 74th must remain all 6000s? We should know by now, when it comes to CTA management and its decisions anything is possible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 Well theyre really pushing the next batch through, I drove out to Rockford today to attend the Airfest at the Rockford Airport. On the way there around 9:15 am I spotted CTA New Flyer #1715 inbound on the I-90 tollway near Belvidere. And at the Rockford Airport the only surviving exRMTD, Rockford Mass Transit District Neoplan 30ft #9504 was being used as a shuttle bus for Rockford Police and airport employees, you can see it has police lights installed topside and the RMTD logos removed, here are a couple of pics I shot. I almost had the chance to ride the Neoplan when myself and my party were leaving the airshow, it ended a bit early because of a line of thunderstorms moving through the Rockford area. We boarded school buses to shuttle us to the parking area which was over a mile away. The exRMTD bus was only two buses behind us. Had we stayed in our line we would have ridden back in the Neoplan bus. As for the New Flyer I spotted today, were up to #1715 so far. Im sure FG will have them soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kendo26 Posted June 8, 2008 Report Share Posted June 8, 2008 1707 and 1708 were working on Halsted yesterday. I though it was a bit funny, because I missed 1708 and then I got on 1707 :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted June 9, 2008 Report Share Posted June 9, 2008 Yes we will see in 2 weeks. I saw the mentioned Bustracker signs attached to the bus stop signs on Inner Drive a block north of Addison. I figured it had to be for the 152 since NP has no routes shown on the Bustracker map and the 145 isn't on there yet. I'll have to say though that FG getting Bustracker doesn't automatically qualify it to be next for NFs. As has been noted before 74th is live with some routes on the Tracker and has 6000s. I still say FG having Novas should disqualify it from being next given what happened to Archer. At least one thing is good about the next batch of New Flyers to be delivered. They will be on Bustracker, which will be excellent because we should know pretty quickly what's rolling around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nflyer22 Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Saw quite a lot of action today, I rode 1189 on the 8 Halsted today (just 20 minutes ago ) and on the route saw quite a few NFs, 1177, 1645, 1685, 1686, and a lot more, just forgot the numbers. Hey, don't forget 1712, also on 8 Halsted. (You heard me right, 1712 ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Saw quite a lot of action today, I rode 1189 on the 8 Halsted today (just 20 minutes ago ) and on the route saw quite a few NFs, 1177, 1645, 1685, 1686, and a lot more, just forgot the numbers. Hey, don't forget 1712, also on 8 Halsted. (You heard me right, 1712 ) CTA5750 did say he saw 1715 making its way to Chicago on Interstate 90 while he was driving on his way to Rockford this weekend, so I'm not surprised that you saw 1712 in action today. Also Halsted has been run with mostly Flyers since getting transferred to Kedzie. I've only seen TMCs twice at most on this route since 3/23. 7, 126 and the Kedzie operated 151 trips are also almost exclusively NFs. I haven't seen a TMC much on these three in almost a year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nflyer22 Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 CTA5750 did say he saw 1715 making its way to Chicago on Interstate 90 while he was driving on his way to Rockford this weekend, so I'm not surprised that you saw 1712 in action today. Also Halsted has been run with mostly Flyers since getting transferred to Kedzie. I've only seen TMCs twice at most on this route since 3/23. 7, 126 and the Kedzie operated 151 trips are also almost exclusively NFs. I haven't seen a TMC much on these three in almost a year. Ohh, ok... (I feel stupid now ) Yeah, most likely with all the New Flyers coming in to retire the TMCs, maybe we could say that Kedzie had only around 10 - 25 left. The March Spring Moves also changed how the TMCs work on the 8 Halsted, seeing they're so rare even on such busy routes. Also saw 1701 heading back to Kedzie with destination signs "Kedzie Garage" and run "K027" at roughly 5:40 PM today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Ohh, ok... (I feel stupid now ) Yeah, most likely with all the New Flyers coming in to retire the TMCs, maybe we could say that Kedzie had only around 10 - 25 left. The March Spring Moves also changed how the TMCs work on the 8 Halsted, seeing they're so rare even on such busy routes. Also saw 1701 heading back to Kedzie with destination signs "Kedzie Garage" and run "K027" at roughly 5:40 PM today. Interestingly enough, we're still more likely to see a Kedzie TMC on the 12, 38, 52 and 82 during various weekdays even with their small numbers of today. Those sightings are steadily decreasing in frequency though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwantae Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 CTA5750 did say he saw 1715 making its way to Chicago on Interstate 90 while he was driving on his way to Rockford this weekend, so I'm not surprised that you saw 1712 in action today. Also Halsted has been run with mostly Flyers since getting transferred to Kedzie. I've only seen TMCs twice at most on this route since 3/23. 7, 126 and the Kedzie operated 151 trips are also almost exclusively NFs. I haven't seen a TMC much on these three in almost a year. I was so much used to and loved seeing bunch of TMCs on 151, I thought it was the best route for them since early 90s. Most of TMCs 4400s- R.I.P :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rmadisonwi Posted June 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Interestingly enough, we're still more likely to see a Kedzie TMC on the 12, 38, 52 and 82 during various weekdays even with their small numbers of today. Those sightings are steadily decreasing in frequency though. Enjoy it while you can. You've only got a few days left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Interestingly enough, we're still more likely to see a Kedzie TMC on the 12, 38, 52 and 82 during various weekdays even with their small numbers of today. Those sightings are steadily decreasing in frequency though. Also there were a few on the #129 last week, it seems to be pretty dependable for a TMC sighting still out of Kedzie. To date I only know of two TMC's myself on the #8. #4701, a while back and #4415, which was on the #8 just last friday. The #8 seems to be more reliable for the newer Flyer sightings. BTW, I guess I'm getting my answer in part to what buses would retire first in totality. The #4400's (#4400 - #4499) are a few days away. Ironically there's still #5300's in the #5300's to #5700's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 Also there were a few on the #129 last week, it seems to be pretty dependable for a TMC sighting still out of Kedzie. To date I only know of two TMC's myself on the #8. #4701, a while back and #4415, which was on the #8 just last friday. The #8 seems to be more reliable for the newer Flyer sightings. BTW, I guess I'm getting my answer in part to what buses would retire first in totality. The #4400's (#4400 - #4499) are a few days away. Ironically there's still #5300's in the #5300's to #5700's. To be honest the two TMC sightings I mentioned for the 8 were both on 3/23 when I was out hanging with friends for my birthday. I haven't had another sighting since then. It's been all New Flyer sightings for this route since then. And like you say Halsted is a good spot to see the newer Flyers as they've been coming in the last couple months. These past couple weeks I've been seeing or hearing about 1690s and 1700s on Halsted. Rmadison's statement about the TMCs being gone from Kedzie after this week is confirmed by a conversation I heard this morning between two bus operators from Kedzie. They both were talking about how they've been getting rid of a lot of TMCs and the newer Flyers had really been coming in fast the past few weeks. They both said that the last TMCs they have will be gone by this weekend. The only part of the conversation that I didn't believe is when one operator said that she heard Kedzie was getting 35 more buses numbered in the 1700s. I don't really see deliveries going past 1729 there or continuing past this week or next week at the latest. It's soon time to find out if the next garage after Kedzie will be FG or 74th. Regardless of wishful thinking from other busfans, it really needs to be 74th because every piece of equipment there is up to 13 years old, beyond the federal recommended useful bus life of 12 years. FG can get by without receiving new buses for now because it, Archer, 77th, and Chicago got picked over Kedzie, NP, 103rd and 74th to get the Novas even though the latter four operated Americanas which were getting replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted June 10, 2008 Report Share Posted June 10, 2008 On compulsory service downtown, today, I observed that routes such as 7, 124, and 126 seemed completely NF, as well as 151 to Belmont. It also appeared that the various LaSalle routes (primarily 135 and 156) were exclusively NABIs. Hence, I would concur with jajuan that there can't be many NFs left to be delivered to K. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qwantae Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Also there were a few on the #129 last week, it seems to be pretty dependable for a TMC sighting still out of Kedzie. To date I only know of two TMC's myself on the #8. #4701, a while back and #4415, which was on the #8 just last friday. Wow, I was thought that They'll never put TMCs back on #8 after 74th 4400s got transferred, I've never saw any Kedzie TMC on the #8 yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 To be honest the two TMC sightings I mentioned for the 8 were both on 3/23 when I was out hanging with friends for my birthday. I haven't had another sighting since then. It's been all New Flyer sightings for this route since then. And like you say Halsted is a good spot to see the newer Flyers as they've been coming in the last couple months. These past couple weeks I've been seeing or hearing about 1690s and 1700s on Halsted. Rmadison's statement about the TMCs being gone from Kedzie after this week is confirmed by a conversation I heard this morning between two bus operators from Kedzie. They both were talking about how they've been getting rid of a lot of TMCs and the newer Flyers had really been coming in fast the past few weeks. They both said that the last TMCs they have will be gone by this weekend. The only part of the conversation that I didn't believe is when one operator said that she heard Kedzie was getting 35 more buses numbered in the 1700s. I don't really see deliveries going past 1729 there or continuing past this week or next week at the latest. It's soon time to find out if the next garage after Kedzie will be FG or 74th. Regardless of wishful thinking from other busfans, it really needs to be 74th because every piece of equipment there is up to 13 years old, beyond the federal recommended useful bus life of 12 years. FG can get by without receiving new buses for now because it, Archer, 77th, and Chicago got picked over Kedzie, NP, 103rd and 74th to get the Novas even though the latter four operated Americanas which were getting replaced. Based on this group's homepage, it looks like FG will get the NFs cinciding with the launch of bustracker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wordguy Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 On compulsory service downtown, today, I observed that routes such as 7, 124, and 126 seemed completely NF, as well as 151 to Belmont. It also appeared that the various LaSalle routes (primarily 135 and 156) were exclusively NABIs. Hence, I would concur with jajuan that there can't be many NFs left to be delivered to K. ===Agreed as well. Once the school year ends, my hunch is that there'll be a temporary fleet shrinkage which would accelerate the retirement of the remaining 4400s and 5300s. As NF deliveries continue, the size of the fleet will gradually increase again, so that by the time schools reopen there'll be as many buses as there are now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted June 11, 2008 Report Share Posted June 11, 2008 Based on this group's homepage, it looks like FG will get the NFs cinciding with the launch of bustracker. Forest Glen's entire fleet is currently ready for Bus Tracker. So, I wouldn't necessarily draw that conclusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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