Chicago Transit Authority
MID-LIFE OVERHAUL PROJECT PROFILE
In early 2013, the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) awarded contracts to perform turnkey mid-life overhauls of 629 transit buses. By the Summer of 2013 the mid-life overhaul work began on CTA's 1000 series New Flyer buses that had been in service for seven years and had more than 275,000 miles of demanding operation in the Chicago area.
The average life of an urban transit bus, according to the Federal Transit Administration, is 12 years. The objective of the midlife overhaul is to improve bus reliability, reduce unscheduled repairs, reduce engine emissions and ensure safe operations for CTA passengers. In addition, 430 of these buses received a retrofit ThermaCat-e Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) that dramatically reduces certain engine emissions beyond what is required.
As part of CTA's mid-life overhaul program, each bus received the following:
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Rebuilt engine
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430 buses retrofitted with ThermaCat-e DPF system
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New transmission
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Rebuilt suspension
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New heating and air conditioning systems
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Exterior body work & paint
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Updated telematics system & LED lighting
To support this innovative project, ESW's ThermaCat-e product engineers worked closely with their local Chicago distributor, Cummins NPower, and CTA to develop a number of custom
features:
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Custom ThermaCat-e installation kit
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AVM certification (first retrofit DPF to receive AVM certification)
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CANbus validation