5000s contract revisions

[Busjack]

On the rail side of things, there's a chance longitudinal seating may not be around in the post-prototype 5000s. The main proponent of longitudinal seating is no longer working for the Authority and there's a new guy in charge of the design who may make some changes. (If anyone is a fan of the faux wood paneling, you might be disappointed...)

At least CTA announced that it was making changes to the security system and seat fabric, and left itself open to additional enhancements. Maybe they will even figure out the suggestion made here that color LEDs should be used for the destination signs.

[Kevin]

The President's Report has been posted. The presentation includes several design options for the new cars, ranging from a minor modification to some radically different options. Also shown are renderings of rail cars from other systems around the world.

[Busjack]

The President's Report has been posted. The presentation includes several design options for the new cars, ranging from a minor modification to some radically different options. Also shown are renderings of rail cars from other systems around the world.

Interesting. The seats on pages 21-33 look too hard to me (unless they are leather or the like, and then would be a maintenance problem). The interiors on pages 34 and following look better. The one on page 35, which is not otherwise labeled, looks like the Toronto example that Gene King mentioned. It also looks like on pages 41 and 42 that they are thinking about headlights similar to the ones on buses. However, the orange Forest Park signs are not a good sign, considering the remark that the signs should use colors.

I don't understand the excursion into maglev, light rail, and the like.