ChicagoBus.org - News Briefs

CTA Service Cuts Would Reduce Fleet, Close Archer Garage

Kevin Zolkiewicz — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:49:00 -0500

The Chicago Transit Authority today announced its plan for filling a $178 million shortfall in its 2010 budget. The plan would raise fares to as high as $3.00, eliminate several express bus routes, and reduce frequency and service hours on other routes. The agency blamed a 30% loss of public funding resulting from the weak economy as the reason for the large budget gap.

Under the CTA’s plan, the agency would eliminate nine “X” express routes which provide limited stops on corridors already served by local routes. Bus fares would rise from $2.25 to $2.50 for most routes, but would climb to $3.00 for remaining express routes. Rail fares would also rise to $3.00. Frequency would be reduced on bus and rail routes, while also reducing hours of operation on 41 bus routes. The cuts and increases would take effect February 7, 2010.

The decreased service levels would allow the CTA to retire all 287 remaining Flxible Metro buses which were first delivered in 1995. The cuts would also lead to the closure of Archer Garage, a 102-year-old facility that was originally designed for streetcars. The CTA would be left with seven bus garages and a rolling stock consisting entirely of low floor buses.

In detailing its capital budget for 2010-2014, the CTA outlined plans to begin mid-life overhauls in 2011 for its Optima Opus and New Flyer D40LFs buses. Overhaul of the Nova LFS buses delivered during 2001 and 2002 has been ongoing and will continue to take place.

Delay in CTA Bus Order Leads to Layoffs at New Flyer

Kevin Zolkiewicz — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:35:00 -0500

Bus manufacture New Flyer Industries will lay off approximately 13% of its workforce by the end of the year, the company announced today. The layoffs are being blamed on the deferral of an order for 140 hybrid articulated buses from the Chicago Transit Authority.

Last month, New Flyer announced a production decrease resulting from deferral of the CTA order. The cause of the delay was pinned on delays in the CTA receiving state funding. New Flyer planned to commence production of the order in late July.

New Flyer will be forced to lay off 270 unionized employees and 50 managers from its plants in the United States and Canada.

According to a report from the Winnipeg Sun, the CTA said that talks with New Flyer were ongoing and the transit agency hopes to sign the contract in a month or two.

The contract, which included options for up to 900 hybrid articulated buses, was originally awarded to New Flyer last December.

New Flyer is the manufacture of a majority of CTA’s bus fleet. The agency is currently accepting delivery of 58 New Flyer hybrid articulated buses which were purchased with federal stimulus funds. Delivery of the order is scheduled for completion by fall.

First Articulated Hybrid Bus Purchased with Stimulus Funds Arrives

Kevin Zolkiewicz — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 19:48:00 -0500

The Chicago Transit Authority today announced the arrival of the first of 58 New Flyer articulated hybrid buses purchased with federal stimulus funds. The new buses, purchased at a cost of $50 million, will continue the 4000-series numbering that began with the lease of 150 buses of the same model last year.

The buses are mostly identical in design and mechanics to the earlier deliveries, with the exception of the seating. Rather than the InSight seat from American Seating present in previous deliveries, the CTA opted to install the Aries 4MA seat from USSC. This same seat design was previously tested in Nova LFS #6462.

All 58 buses are scheduled to arrive by fall and will bring the total number of articulated hybrid buses in CTA’s fleet to 208. CTA estimates that the hybrid technology will save over $7 million a year in parts, fuel, and labor.

The buses will mostly fill the articulated bus fleet shortage following the early retirement of the NABI articulated buses. The NABI buses were pulled in February following the failure of a buses’ articulation joint.

NABI Buses Face Permanent Retirement

Kevin Zolkiewicz — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:06:00 -0500

The CTA’s fleet of over 220 North American Bus Industries articulated buses will not return to service, the Chicago Tribune reported today. The CTA will return the buses to NABI, which has now issued a voluntary recall. The CTA is the sole operator of the 60LFW model in question.

The NABI buses were originally sidelined last February after an out of service bus experienced a complete structural failure in its articulation joint.

According to the Tribune, the CTA is working with the Federal Transit Administration to “preserve federal interest” in the remaining value of the buses. The FTA typically requires that buses purchased with federal funds remain in service for at least 12 years. Eighty percent, or about $55 million, of the $102.1 million contract was paid with federal funds.

The Tribune also revealed that the CTA had plans to prematurely retire the NABI buses as early as September 2008. In a letter to the FTA, then CTA president Ron Huberman wrote that it was “no longer prudent to continue to operate these buses in revenue service.” Huberman requested the FTA’s permission “to remove the buses from service and dispose of them as quickly as possible.”

Aside from structural flaws in the frames, the NABI buses had long been prone to numerous mechanical defects related to the suspension, rear doors, and other areas. This often resulted in the buses experiencing a failure rate higher than that of buses three times their age.

The CTA is currently involved in ongoing litigation with NABI, sparked after the agency stopped payment on the bus contract in 2004.

While the removal of the NABI buses in February initially led to a major fleet shortage, the gap has been largely filled by ongoing deliveries of the 4000-series New Flyer articulated buses. Nearly all of the 150 buses in that order have been received, with an additional 58 new articulated buses expected to begin arriving in July.

CTA Orders 58 Articulated Hybrid Buses

Kevin Zolkiewicz — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:30:00 -0500

The CTA will receive 58 articulated hybrid buses from New Flyer of America, CTA President Richard Rodriguez announced this morning at the monthly meeting of the Chicago Transit Board. The $49 million purchase was made possible through federal stimulus funding.

The additional 60-foot buses will help fill the gap left by the sudden pulling of the NABI articulated bus fleet in February. The NABI buses, which totaled approximately 220 at the time, were parked after a bus experienced a structural failure in its articulation joint. The fate of the NABI buses continues to remain unknown as the CTA awaits an independent consultant’s report.

Delivery of the newly purchased buses is scheduled to begin in June. The CTA will possess a total of 208 New Flyer articulated hybrid buses following completion of the delivery in October. Last year, the CTA agreed to lease 150 articulated hybrid buses from New Flyer at a cost of $13.4 million per year. Delivery of those buses, numbered 4000 to 4149, is currently nearing completion. Today’s order is expected to continue the 4000-series numbering, running from 4150 to 4207.

New Flyer had already announced last October that CTA exercised options for 58 articulated hybrid buses. The manufacture later announced the awarding of a contract for up to 900 articulated hybrid buses, with a base order of 145 buses. The CTA has yet to make any announcements regarding the 900 bus contract. Initial funding for the contract could be provided through the recently-passed state capital program, which allocates approximately $172 million for the purchase of new buses.