More On That CTA Bus Crack

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Feb 20, 2009 3:40PM

The fall-out has begun from the CTA's decision to pull around 200 buses from service. So what exactly happened to these accordion buses? It seems a bus driver noticed a crack in the actual accordion section of the bus that attaches the front end to the rear. The bus in which the crack was discovered was five years old and had 152,000 miles on it.

According to a CTA press release:

Today’s action will result in more crowding during the peak rush hour periods because the CTA will have the equivalent of 90 fewer buses available for service at those times. The most significant impact to customers is expected to be between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m. on weekday mornings and from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekday evenings. These buses represent 6 percent of CTA’s bus fleet and have generally been assigned to routes that operate along the Lakefront. CTA is deploying information specialists at select downtown bus stops this afternoon to advise customers who travel on buses during these times to allow extra travel time and expect more crowded conditions. Where possible, CTA is also recommending that riders consider adjusting their travel time or switching to rail service instead. Additional rush period trains have been added on the Red, Blue, Brown, Green and Pink lines.

“We deeply regret the inconvenience that this will cause our customers, but we believe it is best not to continue using these buses for service until we have an assessment from the experts,” said Acting CTA President Dorval Carter. “The safety of bus riders has to be our priority.”

The CTA claims that the as a result of this, there will be "the equivalent of 90 fewer buses" available for service during peak rush periods.