Starting in December, the #X9 Ashland Express and #X49 Western Express bus routes will run during the morning and afternoon rush periods. The express service will reduce travel times for passengers on these heavily traveled corridors. Express buses will make stops roughly every half-mile and at all bus and rail transfer points. RTA ICE funds will provide for contributed share of annual service operation costs. The annual costs which include bus operators, fuel, and maintenance are estimated to total from $3 - $3.5 million. When route scheduling is final cost projection will be refined, but with each schedule seasonal labor pick costs will vary to some extent.

Funding:
2016 ICE: $1,091,000

Funding for this project will provide the engineering field staff with electronic data collection devices for reporting incidents and conditions of the system. It will streamline data collection from paper to electronic.

Funding:
2015 ICE: $3,500,000

Funding will allow for a new electronic crew calling system which will help Metra better comply with Passenger Hours of Service (PHOS) regulation hours of service reporting requirements. would also enable crew members to electronically sign their hours of service logs. In addition, the crew callers will be able to assign jobs based on the entries from the crew members and under the strict guidance of PHOS. The current crew calling system does have PHOS built in, but does not allow for crew members to log their time. The regulation has a set of guidelines that govern the ability for employees to mark up for an assignments based on previous assignments worked. The current employee logs are done on paper, cumbersome, and are more difficult to audit. A new system should allow for assignment alerts and/or not allow employees to be assigned to an assignment that could possibly violate the PHOS regulation.

Funding:
2015 ICE: $1,913,356

This project involves adding extra Metra service for Special Events that occur in the City of Chicago such as the St. Patrick¿s Day Parade, the Air and Water Show, the Magnificent Mile Festival of Light, etc.

Funding:
2015 ICE: $356,581

Funding represents Pace's share of the project being undertaken jointly with CTA, Metra and Cubic to develop a mobile application. This project covers cost for development and will allow customers to manage their Ventra Accounts, purchase Ventra fare products, receive account alerts and information as well as gain scheduling and trip planning information.

Funding:
2015 ICE: $300,000