October 12, 2011

Durbin Announces $51 Million DOT Investment to Improve Transit in Illinois

Chicago and Rock Island among recipients of funding

[WASHINGTON, DC] – U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) announced today that several Illinois transit projects have been awarded a total of $51,657,400 in grants through the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). The DOT grants include funding to upgrade transit facilities, study new transit routes and replace aging buses and equipment with new fuel-efficient vehicles and cost-saving materials.

 

“Bringing new buses with more capacity and cleaner emissions to cities throughout Illinois, improves the quality of life for all residents – even those that don’t rely on public transportation,” Durbin said. “Investing in this infrastructure today will contribute to the long-term economic growth of these areas in the future.”

 

The following investments in Illinois’ transit infrastructure were made under this announcement:

 

  • Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Chicago: $30,000,000 in funding for the purchase of sixty-foot hybrid diesel-electric public transit buses to replace a like amount of forty-foot conventional diesel powered buses that are beyond their useful lives.  Hybrid diesel-electric buses achieve at least 20 percent greater fuel efficiency than standard diesel buses, which save fuel dollars while promoting cleaner air.  Each sixty-foot bus replaces an average of 78 passenger cars, helping to ease traffic congestion in neighborhoods served by the CTA.  This project was selected on a competitive basis through the 2011 State of Good Repair Program.  

 

  • Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Chicago: $6,000,000 in funding to make accessibility improvements at the Wilson Red Line Station which is served by four bus routes that together they provide direct service to 55,275 people.  The project includes a new elevator control room and rail maintenance room, a new elevator inside the main station house at street level, as well as street modifications and exterior rehabilitation. This project was selected on a competitive basis through the 2011 Bus Livability Program.  

 

  • Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Chicago: $2,000,000 in funding to conduct a study along the Chicago Lakefront Corridor to determine the feasibility and appropriate level of investment for high capacity transit connections in the 24-mile corridor from Howard Street to 103rd Street. The route is currently served by 18 CTA bus routes carrying 109,000 weekday passengers on congested roadways.  Along with a need to address congestion in the corridor Communities in the study area need rapid and reliable transit service to provide convenient access to Central Business District as well as job centers outside of the central area.  This project was selected on a competitive basis through the 2011 Alternatives Analysis Program. 

 

  • Pace – Suburban Bus Division of the RTA, Arlington Heights: $5,075,000 in funding to replace obsolete emergency generators for its garage facilities. The current generators are between 17 and 26 years old and are obsolete. This project was selected on a competitive basis through the 2011 State of Good Repair Program.  

 

  • Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District, Rock Island: $2,082,400 in funding to build a transportation hub in downtown Rock Island.  The proposed 1,600 square-foot building will accommodate 10 buses at any given time and will include a lobby and restrooms. The current transfer hub is much smaller and has no bus berths for transferring passengers outside traffic lanes, greatly impeding traffic flow.  This project was selected on a competitive basis through the 2011 Bus Livability Program.  

 

  • Rock Island County Metropolitan Mass Transit District, Moline: $3,000,000 in funding to replace buses in the MetroLINK fleet that are beyond their useful lives with clean-diesel and compressed natural gas buses.  This project was selected on a competitive basis through the 2011 State of Good Repair Program. 

 

  • Illinois Department of Transportation, Statewide: $3,500,000 in funding for the Illinois Department of Transportation to replace vehicles in rural transit agency fleets that are beyond their useful lives.  This project was selected on a competitive basis through the FY 2011 State of Good Repair Program.