Bus 7507
CTA Bus 7507 was manufactured by North American Bus Industries (NABI) in 2003 as a NABI 60-LFW Series. It was part of the 7500-7725 series of 226 air conditioned, handicapped accessible, articulated buses. The buses were 60 ft. long and 102 inches wide. The 7500-7725 buses were removed from service in early 2009 due to structural problems. It was first delivered to the the CTA's North Park garage at 3112 W. Foster Ave.
History
(edited, adapted, and Wiki-coded from Chicago Bus Organization's website: http://chicagobus.org/bus/7500)
In 2003, the CTA began receiving an order of 226 new articulated buses from North American Bus Industries (NABI). The $102.1 million contract was the CTA’s first order of new articulated vehicles since 1983. They replaced the rapidly deteriorating CTA 7300-series MAN-SE (Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg) articulated buses, which were purchased used from Seattle in 2001. The used bus purchase was meant to temporarily fill the need for articulated buses, as the 7100-series MAN articulated buses delivered to the CTA in 1983 were no longer suitable for operation, yet could not be immediately replaced with new buses.
The NABI buses came equipped with virtually the same modern amenities including wheelchair ramps, air conditioning, security cameras, bike racks, and automated announcement systems as the MAN buses.
Shortly after the NABI buses went into service, several manufacturing defects became apparent. These included poor suspension systems, faulty rear doors, and the appearance of cracks in the articulation joint. In 2004, the ongoing issues led the CTA to stop payment on the contract. In May 2007, CTA Chairman Carole Brown stated on her blog that the CTA was still working with NABI to correct ongoing suspension problems, calling it a “serious issue” that “must be fixed.”
Despite the assertion from Chairman Brown, the buses continued to exhibit a failure rate higher than that of buses three times their age. In January 2009, a number of NABI buses began to drop off CTA’s roster, indicating possible plans for early retirement of the fleet. It would later be revealed that the CTA had plans to stop operating the NABI buses as early as September 2008. In a letter to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), then CTA president Ron Huberman wrote that it was no longer prudent to continue to operate these buses in revenue service. Huberman requested FTA’s permission to remove the buses from service and dispose of them as quickly as possible. (Buses purchased with federal funds are typically required to remain in service for at least 12 years.)
On February 19, 2009, the CTA abruptly pulled all NABI buses from service citing safety reasons after an out-of-service bus experienced a structural failure related to the questionable articulation joint. On April 23, 2009, the Chicago Tribune reported that the buses were unlikely to resume service.
Photos
RPWRHS photo C036-0112 shows a southbound CTA 147 Outer Drive Express bus #7507 avoiding stalled cars during the 1979 Snow at the corner of Howard Street, Rogers Avenue, and Greenview Avenue.
