Planning Programs and Projects

This project assessed the feasibility of the City's preferred transit station location and developed a conceptual station area plan for a potential transit station located within the City on the potential Milwaukee District West Line service extension to Marengo. See Metra Marengo Extension Commuter Rail Feasibility Study for more information: https://metrarail.com/sites/default/files/assets/about-metra/marengofeasibilitystudy_022410.pdf.

The station area plan includes transit-oriented development recommendations as well as transit facility recommendations and implementation strategies.

This project addressed two elements of public transportation within the Village. The first project component reviewed the current level of local public transportation service and identified connectivity, usage, and service area improvements to destinations within the Village and the region. The second component developed a station area plan for a proposed station within the Village on the proposed Metra STAR Line.

The Regional Transit Coordination Plan is an ongoing multi-year program aimed at enhancing regional mobility by facilitating seamless travel on public transportation.

As part of the Market Identification and Sensitivity Analysis components of the plan, a transfer Location Study was completed in March 2001 in order to prioritize inter-agency transfer locations for further evaluation. The Location Study identified and classified approximately 300 existing locations throughout the region where it is possible to transfer between two or more transit operators. The study also evaluated another 50 potential locations where transfers could occur based on new rail stations or extensions. Based on the results of this study, three conclusions were established by the project team to guide further coordination efforts. First, it appears that existing transit connections already serve most travel markets to some extent. Second, downtown transfer locations play an important role in regional transit mobility. And third, the project team recommended prioritizing investments in existing locations that either have high rates of transfer activity, or provide critical local or regional connections.

To supplement the Location Study, a survey instrument was developed by the RTA to gauge residents¿ awareness and opinions regarding various aspects of transit coordination. Telephone interviews were conducted by the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) Survey Research Laboratory during the second half of 2002. Responses were recorded from over 1000 residents, with approximately one-third each from the City of Chicago, suburban Cook County and the collar counties (DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry and Will).

This project produced a transit-oriented development plan for the three Berwyn Metra station areas along the Metra BNSF rail corridor between Harlem Avenue and Ridgeland Avenue: LaVergne, Berwyn and Harlem Ave.