Planning Programs and Projects

This program provides transportation and mobility management services for persons with disabilities and older adults residing in eastern Will County townships. The award funds the County’s Mobility Manager position. This is an existing Section 5310 project.

This project will construct bicycle facilities along 124th Street to better facilitate safe access between bus transit services along Halsted Street to the Ashland Metra station at Ashland Avenue. Additional improvements include completing a sidewalk gap on 124th Street between Laflin and Bishop Streets and pedestrian improvements to the intersection of 124th Street and Laflin Street.

The Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app is a two-year pilot project designed to support customer access to one click real-time trip planning throughout Pace's six-county service area for Pace's Fixed Route, On-Demand and Paratransit family of services. Pace partnered with "Transit App "a readily available transit information app to launch a two-year MaaS Pilot project. This award will fund the dial-a-ride and paratransit elements of the project, which primarily serve seniors and people with disabilities.

This project will construct a new off-road shared-use path on the north side of Central Road from the existing Paul Douglas Forest Preserve path system to the Pace Park-n-Ride at Barrington Road. The path will be 10 feet wide located generally along the right of way on the north side of Central Road. Destination and distance signing along with traffic controls for intersection and driveway crossings are included. Signal upgrades and modifications at the Central Road / Huntington Boulevard intersection will be made for bicycle and pedestrian users.

his project will install tactile signs at all bus stop poles where CTA public information signs are currently posted to provide information about the exact bus stop location to customers who are blind or have visual or cognitive disabilities. Tactile Signage encourages individuals who currently rely on paratransit services to use fixed-route transit, even for trips where fixed-route service may have been available and at greater service span, frequency, and lower cost to operate than paratransit service.

The RTA provided assistance to the Village in soliciting guidance and advice from development experts through a half-day discussion panel. This panel discussed the development climate and potential strategies to prepare for and attract development to specific parcels near the Cary Metra station. The Final Report is attached.

Kendall Area Transit is a demand responsive dial-a-ride service that serves primarily senior citizens and persons with disabilities in the urban portions of Kendall County. The service is also open to general public. Service is provided Monday-Friday from 6:00 AM -7:00 PM except certain holidays. Operating portion of the award. This is an existing program.

The RTA assisted the Village of Homewood to prepare a transit-oriented development plan for downtown Homewood and areas surrounding the Homewood Metra and Amtrak station. Leveraging the ongoing station renovations, the goals of the planning study included identifying strategies to attract investment and development, retaining existing character/historic preservation, and increasing access to transit services in the downtown. With a locally-driven planning vision, the plan presents strategies and projects to foster Downtown population growth, identify new uses for vacant buildings, increase transit ridership, and increase the number of people visiting and spending time in Downtown Homewood. 

The Ride in Kane project coordinates dial-a-ride services in Kane County for older adults and persons with disabilities. The sponsors of this project include multiple private non-profit organizations and local units of government. The award includes funding to support a position to lead mobility management efforts for Ride in Kane. This is an existing Section 5310 funded project.

The RTA is assisting Pace to prepare a corridor study examining South Halsted St. between the Pace/Metra Harvey Transportation Center and the Pace Chicago Heights Terminal. Goals of the study are to increase transportation resilience, encourage transit-oriented development (TOD), and improve pedestrian accessibility, sidewalks, crosswalks, access to developments, and connectivity. The study will include coordination with Harvey, South Holland, East Hazel Crest, Homewood, Glenwood, and Chicago Heights.  The study will also offer strategies to prepare the corridor for Pace Pulse service and will identify future high frequency service station locations.