CTA Bus Customers Should Allow Extra Travel Time During Rush Periods
Acting CTA President Dorval Carter said that the CTA’s fleet of NABI articulated buses will remain parked next week while the CTA and its inspectors gather more information on the structural safety of the buses. The 226 accordion-style buses manufactured by North American Bus Industries were removed from service on Thursday due to a significant crack found in the structure of one of the buses.
Bus customers who travel during rush periods are advised to allow additional travel time.
For the evening rush and Monday morning, CTA will continue to deploy information specialists at select bus stops to assist customers. 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, Brown and Green lines.
“We thank our customers for their patience and cooperation while we address this problem. We believe it is in their best interest not to continue using these buses until we do some further analysis of their structural integrity and the likelihood of failure,” said Dorval Carter.
An independent structural expert hired by the CTA has inspected the incident bus and is evaluating the location and nature of the break in order to provide CTA with an assessment of the likelihood of a similar break on other buses.
The CTA purchased 226 of the accordion-style buses from NABI beginning in 2003.
The buses have a warranty for 500,000 miles or 12 years. The bus that failed was approximately five years old and has 152,000 miles.
NABI is just one manufacturer of articulated buses used in the CTA’s fleet. The CTA recently began procuring articulated buses from New Flyer of America, Inc. and currently has 94 of its buses in the fleet. The New Flyer buses remain in service.
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