Spring Pick Route Moves

[cta5658]

Run numbers for the 29 will be from 1301-1370.

A list of run numbers will be added to ChicagoBus.org around the time the route changes go into effect.

I thought the 103 and 106 has those run numbers

[jajuan]

I'm just as shocked about some of these changes as some of you. The most surprising is that Kedzie will be doing more downtown and express runs than I was expecting. I wasn't surprised about the 125 (welcome back after a few year stint at NP) and 143, but I was shocked to see that they picked up 145 and 148 as well. That's 4 north LSD express routes to be responsible for instead of the 2 I was only expecting to see operated from there.

The addition of the 8 was another big surprise. First the extension of the 52 to 63rd during all hours of operation and now the pickup of the 8. Kedzie is moving back further in the southside south of 49th during the day for the first time since the transfer of the 94 to Archer in 1994. That also means that Kedzie maintenance may have to work harder because there is the added issue of buses picking up graffiti from Englewood along with that that appears on westside runs. However, the bigger issue for Kedzie maintenance will be the extra wear and tear of even more Kedzie buses barreling up and down the Outer Drive.

The return of full operations of the 10 to Kedzie is interesting given the already larger workload for Kedzie on the North part of the Drive. Weekdays during the holidays and summers should be interesting at Kedzie with these moves, even if I wasn't too keen with 77th sharing operations of the 10 at first. Now I'm thinking Kedzie is going to continue to need help with this route. Kedzie is already working hard with its current assignment of downtown routes. After March 23rd, my birthday by the way, it's going to be working even harder.

While I wasn't surprised by the move of 52A to 74th, since it had operated at 69th before June 18, 1995, I was surprised to see 53A local and limited make that move as well.

95W to 103rd no big surprise, but the move of 29 there is a shock as well as morning operations of 108 to 74th.

[Busjack]

I thought the 103 and 106 has those run numbers

Doesn't mean they can't be changed. Probably most groups will be.

[Busjack]

After March 23rd, my birthday by the way,..

Mine too.

Getting to substance, you also have that Kedzie is losing 21, 50 and 60, and a.m. depot runs.

[CircleSeven]

Doesn't mean they can't be changed. Probably most groups will be.

Yeah, Busjack is correct. Remember Kedzie did that similar practice back in the Summer of 2006. Remember Roosevelt Run Number brackets were slightly Changed from starting at 241 to 201. And when Kimball-Homan runs started in the 600s bracket, they went with the 700s bracket. The 700s bracket use to be Sedgwick Ogden & Westchester runs. The 600s are now shared with the 38 & the 127 buses.

Also, the 74th's run number brackets use to coordinate very well. For the N-S routes, the 000s bracket were Halsted, The 200s were Racine, the 300s are Ashland, the mid 400s were Damen. Then going E-W, 500s were Garfiled, 600s were 59th, 700s were 63rd, 800s were 69th Street & the 900s were 75th Street. I know this will no longer coordinate any longer since they will acquire 4 more routes but losing Halsted.

I wouldn't be shocked if most of the entire system would have run number changes on March 23rd.

[jajuan]

Mine too.

Getting to substance, you also have that Kedzie is losing 21, 50 and 60, and a.m. depot runs.

Yes that's true. But from the drivers point of view, they could argue they'll be working harder picking up more downtown and express routes as well as picking up such a heavily used route as the 8.

[renardo870]

Well with all of this movement going around? will NP lose about 25 or 30 Nabis to Kedzie since they will pick up 125/143/45/148 routes and will NABI b used on the 8? man thats going 2 be a long route.

Well hold that thought. Phase 2 of the 3 track will be in effect that following week. Since the Brown will have 8car operations during rush hours, maybe they may be able 2 use those buses they were going to retire.

[Busjack]

Yes that's true. But from the drivers point of view, they could argue they'll be working harder picking up more downtown and express routes as well as picking up such a heavily used route as the 8.

That raises a good question only a driver can answer. Besides the swaps involving K and A, obviously someone is going to have to move to 74th, and, unless something else is going on (like increased frequency), somebody is going to have to move from 77 and P.

Thus, with the next system pick, would you, as a driver, rather stay with the garage or the route, or is seniority going to force your choice?

[trainman8119]

Thus, with the next system pick, would you, as a driver, rather stay with the garage or the route, or is seniority going to force your choice?

Seniority will have a say. Discussions with drivers through the years indicate that drivers will stay with the garage (when possible) and not the route, even if they like one. You could have high seniority at one garage but not as much at another one, so therefore, it is possible you may not get the route you would want on a pick, or at least the time of day of preference, if you swap garages. Once a driver is familiar with a garage, they will know the routes and know which ones they prefer and which ones they would stay away from. There will always be runs that will be picked last because of schools, or traffic conditions, or just the route itself and where it goes. A lot of drivers will pick their runs based on what they pay, no matter what the route may be. Plus, with the constant interlining these days, picking a route (per se), doesn't necessarily mean you will work it all day like the old days. I am sure there is some grumbling going on at Kedzie and Archer right now.

[trainman8119]

500s seem to make sense in Evanston, other than on school runs. The justification for Archer was previously mentioned.

Gobs and gobs of 500's in Evanston yesterday (Friday) in the PM rush. I saw about 5 different ones, mainly on the 205, with one on the 201.

[Guest]

Gobs and gobs of 500's in Evanston yesterday (Friday) in the PM rush. I saw about 5 different ones, mainly on the 205, with one on the 201.

I drove the 4000 MANs in Evanston years ago and needless to to say they were waste of fuel and wear. These Evanston routes should be eliminated. There arent enough riders except for the ETHS trips. My buses I remember went mostly empty. The only heavy ridership were for the Pace 215 Crawford Route.

[renardo870]

I thought the 103 and 106 has those run numbers

Currently 106 has 1281-1320, 103 has 1321-1370 and 111 thas 1371-1420. It is safe to assume that run numbers will change for the majority of the routes.

Maybe 6 will be 7001-7080. Wonder what 8 will be?

[rmadisonwi]

Halsted will be K801-K900. This means the #134/156 will move over to the 200s.

To address some of the comments/questions raised in this thread:

Assigning a route to a garage isn't as simple as drawing a line from the garage to the end of the route and seeing where it is closest. Lots of factors come into play, especially when designing route moves this significant.

The initial purpose of the route moves was to see that no garage would have a fleet allocation over 300 buses. Since North Park is currently at 345 (and was as high as 370-380 or so, back during the height of three-track and prior to the arrival of the 1400s), that means moving a lot of work out.

There was some speculation that the Evanston routes might move to Forest Glen. The reason that was not done for these moves is because there is no convenient way to get an operator to a relief point (which would pretty much have to be Howard Station). The operator would have to take two buses plus the Red Line to get out there. Therefore, most runs would have to pull in/out at the end of the shift, which significantly increases non-revenue mileage, and therefore, vehicle expenses. Sometimes, such deadheading can't be avoided (referred to as "the cost of doing business"), but with the number of routes and buses involved (you'd have to throw #97 Skokie into the mix, due to the amount of interlining done between the Skokie and Evanston routes), you would be greatly adding to the cost as buses head back and forth, with pull-outs replacing pull-ins.

Again, it can't always be avoided (because sometimes the desire to limit deadheading and pull-ins/pull-outs is outweighed by some other factor which is more important), but if it can be minimized, that is the preference. Moving the #206 completely to North Park was done to simplify the operation. It only represents 3-4 peak vehicles, and thus would not be a strain on the now much-reduced North Park operation.

All North Park service operating only south of Belmont (meaning the #125, #143, and those #151 trips to/from Belmont & Sheridan or Belmont & Halsted that had been run by North Park) will move to Kedzie, as it is actually cheaper to operate. The #145/148 combination was moved in order to transfer some articulated buses to Kedzie from North Park. Maintenance would be better if one garage wasn't so artic-heavy (given that these artics have been a problem, which is not a secret to anyone).

Additional moves were to shift work around to prevent any garage from going over 300 buses, which meant moving routes south.

The second part of the plan was to attempt to balance a garage's AM and PM peak as much as possible. Garages such as Archer and 74th were very PM-heavy, while other garages (103rd and Kedzie, for example) were very AM-heavy. By taking AM peak service away from an AM-heavy garage, you reduce the number of buses that garage needs to meet schedule. By putting AM peak service into a PM-heavy garage, you actually don't increase the number of buses that garage needs to meet schedule (since the buses are sitting idle in the AM rush). This is why the 108 was split AM/PM, as well as why the 120s were split. Fleet requirements system-wide will be reduced by 10-20 buses just on those changes alone. This means that a comparable number of Flxibles or TMCs can be retired sooner (or, rather, in the short-term, enough buses will be available for the next round of three-track). Retiring old buses sooner means less spent on maintenance costs. Reducing fleet requirements long-term means less money that has to be spent buying buses (or, alternatively, it means that you now have more buses available to provide additional peak-hour capacity where it may be needed...in any event, it's a good thing).

Moving the U of C routes to Archer will enable the Optima fleet to be consolidated from three garages to two. Archer has other light routes where Optimas could be used when not needed for U of C. Archer also has space constraints which are more limiting than other garages, and therefore putting 30-foot buses at Archer increases the number of buses you can fit (4 Optimas for every 3 Novas). Since Archer's fleet will be increasing with the changes, that move was beneficial. I don't know what the ultimate fleet distribution will be, but I'd imagine that it will probably amount to approximately 30/15 Archer/Forest Glen.

One additional consideration was the quality of the work at various garages. For example, 103rd Garage had the highest percentage of swing runs in the system, by far (due to the amount of rush-hour work being done). As a result, lots of rush-hour work was moved out, and the 29 and 95W were moved in. This enabled additional straight runs to be added to 103rd while reducing their swing percentage. The rush-hour work was dispersed throughout the system, so as not to dramatically increase any other garage's swing percentage.

Finally, we're going to see how the #8 Halsted route works out of Kedzie, to improve the quality of the runs on that route as well. As has been noted on this forum before, the revised work rules set minimum standards for the number of hours a run must have in order for it to be picked, as well as the minimum number of hours of work an operator must pick in a week in order to be guaranteed 40 hours of pay. We're also limited by a contractual rule that limits the maximum amount of time an operator can work without a break. The unfortunate result on a long, lopsided route like Halsted (with a relief point at one end of the route) is that you often couldn't meet one minimum without exceeding the other maximum. That meant a lot of work had to be either part-time or on the extraboard (which leads to inconsistent service and reliability issues), or interlined with other routes (which many operators tend not to like).

Trust me. Lots of thought and planning went into these moves. Some may seem odd on the surface, but there are many behind-the-scenes reasons why one move was chosen over another. Changing conditions may require additional tweaks, but the bulk of these route moves will actually save money compared to the current operation.

And no, none of these moves are a precursor to any garage closings or rebuilds or anything like that.

[FatMan123]

That raises a good question only a driver can answer. Besides the swaps involving K and A, obviously someone is going to have to move to 74th, and, unless something else is going on (like increased frequency), somebody is going to have to move from 77 and P.

Thus, with the next system pick, would you, as a driver, rather stay with the garage or the route, or is seniority going to force your choice?

First of all, senority is systemwide. However, that might not play out the way you'd think. Say that you've been driving for 32 years. At NP, you've got completely priority. You're the highest. But you go to 77th for one reason or another. You still have priority because you've been driving 32 years; you don't, however, top the list. The reason is that, while you might not have known this, there are fifteen drivers at 77th that've been working longer than you.

For me, I'm staying at NP. I love the 145 dearly, but I really don't want to switch garages.

[Busjack]

To address some of the comments/questions raised in this thread:

Thanks for the explanations. A few observations:

One would think that the work rules problem would be worse on 9 Ashland. I previously noted that the Owl and X9 coverage only seemed to make sense if the predominant late night travel was southbound. However, I suppose that there is nothing that can be done about that, since nothing is going to bring back Limits, despite John Kass still complaining about that land deal, 10 years later.

This also shows how the fleet will be reduced. 20 here, 21 according to the maintenance plan (page 15), and three track will be done sometime in 2009. Instead of having 185 buses or so for which there is not a replacement plan (assuming 200 will be replaced by the hybrid articulateds, not knowing a big a leap that is), maybe that goes down to 125.

[BusHunter]

To add to what RMadison said, perhaps one of the smarter moves of the 3/23 pick is the transfer of at least 30 buses (If not more) from NP to Kedzie. If there having big problems up at NP with garage capacity what better way to clear up some room than to transfer 30 or so artics to Kedzie. Np is too artic heavy with close to 100 there now. Plus you have to think in the long term, what will happen when the hybrid artics come in. They'll be so many more where would you put them? Something is telling me that the #5800's will change places with these in the long term anyway, and NP will be back to 100 artics again. It beats 130 artics, if you get my point. The only thing I wonder is can Kedzie have a place to put 30 more artics? Maybe if you retire 3 5300's for every 2 artics transferred, but that would mean even more artics are going to be swapped. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out!!

[qwantae]

Something is telling me that the #5800's will change places with these in the long term anyway

Where would they transfer the 5800s to?

[rmadisonwi]

Where would they transfer the 5800s to?

Probably the scrap heap.

[jajuan]

To add to what RMadison said, perhaps one of the smarter moves of the 3/23 pick is the transfer of at least 30 buses (If not more) from NP to Kedzie. If there having big problems up at NP with garage capacity what better way to clear up some room than to transfer 30 or so artics to Kedzie. Np is too artic heavy with close to 100 there now. Plus you have to think in the long term, what will happen when the hybrid artics come in. They'll be so many more where would you put them? Something is telling me that the #5800's will change places with these in the long term anyway, and NP will be back to 100 artics again. It beats 130 artics, if you get my point. The only thing I wonder is can Kedzie have a place to put 30 more artics? Maybe if you retire 3 5300's for every 2 artics transferred, but that would mean even more artics are going to be swapped. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out!!

Well as stated in Kevin's article about the spring picks, all the remaining 5300s remaining at Kedzie are supposed to retired by March 23 so the info you and Rmadisonwi gave about the arctics answers my question about what would replace them since they're getting retired and not swapped. Plus rimadison's explanation about the reason behind the AM and PM rush work splits to even out AM and PM heavy garages to free up more buses helped to explain how all of Kedzie's 5300s can be retired so soon in the first place. His explanation of the switch of 8 Halsted to Kedzie made a lot of sense. It fell in line with what I was thinking about relief points for this route as well as being able to pull in and out in the middle of the route instead of at the southern end. It's pretty much why I think Archer getting the 50 makes sense. That would be the garage that makes sense to get it if it's not staying at Kedzie.

Thanks guys for the great information. You guys really helped make some the upcoming changes make even more sense even though I understood most of them from the beginning. You both helped to fill in the few blanks I had about how some of this would work out.

[rmadisonwi]

Actually, it's doubtful if all of Kedzie's 5300s will be retired (and the home page doesn't say they'll all be retired, it says they'll be retired or transferred). There will be some swapping. Most likely is that Kedzie will their 5300s to Chicago (who will be taking on some extra three-track work, as well as a couple of rush-hour routes), and Kedzie will take some of North Park's 4400s and NABIs.

This will allow Kedzie to be rid of one more type of bus (Flxible), and further the fleet type consolidation (as much as that fact sucks for bus fans).

Beyond that, I don't have any other information on exactly which buses are going where. I probably won't find out until the Friday before the changes.

[jajuan]

Actually, it's doubtful if all of Kedzie's 5300s will be retired (and the home page doesn't say they'll all be retired, it says they'll be retired or transferred).

Ok that makes even more sense to me. Although with NP still receiving shipments of new buses I could see how it could be done without as much swapping as far as Flxibles go.

[renardo870]

So how many New Flyers will NP and 103rd recieve? Will they get buses from option #3 1630 and go into the 1700's? With the 3 track Part 2 starting 3/30 will TMC be used as supplemental service as well as the remaining 5300's? It seems the TMCs are in somewhat better conditions until all of the New Flyers come in.

When the New Flyer Artics will arrive sometimes late 08, will they rehab the NABIs that arent in good condition or is that a separate project?

[jajuan]

Halsted will be K801-K900. This means the #134/156 will move over to the 200s.

Which of course supports what was previously said about most routes in the system having to change run numbers since the 200s at Kedzie currently specify 12 Roosevelt. With so many changes coming in the coming three weeks, a big reorganization of the run numbers will definitely be needed.

From a busfan's point of view, there will be some who will not be happy to see some of their routes go from being served by newer equipment to being served by older equipment, for example the transfer of routes from Archer (all Nova) to 74th (all 6000s). Though maybe those who are fans of 5300s can take comfort in seeing a Flxible model serving those routes again.

[Busjack]

From a busfan's point of view, there will be some who will not be happy to see some of their routes go from being served by newer equipment to being served by older equipment, for example the transfer of routes from Archer (all Nova) to 74th (all 6000s). ...

Of course, the real issue, as discussed previously, is whether service in some neighborhoods is being degraded.

[jajuan]

Of course, the real issue, as discussed previously, is whether service in some neighborhoods is being degraded.

Considering the number of times I had to worry about a breakdown on certain routes from Kedzie because there would be days that those routes were heavy with TMCs and 5300s, I would say it's a strong possibility if 74th remains 100% 6000s for too long and the upper management of bus operations doesn't steer some of the 1000s from the next options to 74th. It wouldn't bode well from a legal standpoint if someone decided to file suit on that premise. In the very slim chance of that happening, how will you explain to a judge that you are degrading service in one section of the city in the name of consolidating bus models in a questionable move to cut maintenance costs. A move that is yet to be proven in reducing maintenance cost.