Planning Programs and Projects

This project provides transportation support individuals with disabilities. The door-to-door transportation services are vital to allow persons enrolled at CTF greater access to their daily supports including community employment, day programs, social and recreational activities, and medical appointments. This award includes funding for operations. This is an existing Section 5310 funded project.

This project provides transportation support individuals with disabilities. The door-to-door transportation services are vital to allow persons enrolled at CTF greater access to their daily supports including community employment, day programs, social and recreational activities, and medical appointments. This award includes funding for a mobility manager. This is an existing Section 5310 funded project.

This project provides transportation support to children and adults with diverse disabilities. The door to door transportation supports are a vital service that allows persons enrolled at CTF greater access to their daily supports including vocational, community employment, educational, fine arts, and advocacy.

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 is assisting the CTA with developing a strategy for bus route enhancements that will address slow zones along CTA Bus Route #8 - Halsted Street. The strategies are being developed in coordination with other transportation analyses along the corridors. The improvements will work to speed bus operations in persistent congested areas and accommodate expected growth in the North Branch area with improved transit service.

The RTA partnered with the City of Crystal Lake to create a transit-oriented development plan for the areas surrounding the Crystal Lake and Pingree Road Metra stations. The project created a development strategy for increasing the density in these areas with the goals to strengthen pedestrian walkability and to expand mixed use and transit supportive land uses for increased travel efficiency.

The RTA led the Cook-DuPage Corridor study with the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) to examine a broad range of transportation system improvements to address the mobility needs in the western suburbs of Chicago. The Cook-DuPage Corridor covers a large portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is centrally located in the region. It extends approximately 30 miles from Cicero Avenue (IL50) in the city of Chicago/town of Cicero to the Kane/DuPage county line. Metra's Milwaukee District-West and Burlington Northern Santa-Fe commuter lines form the north and south boundaries respectively. The corridor spans all or portions of 51 municipalities in suburban Cook and DuPage counties and the Austin neighborhood of Chicago, an area that includes over 1 million residents and 750,000 jobs.

The Cook-DuPage Corridor is one of several corridors recommended for multi-modal analysis in the 2030 Regional Transportation Plan (CATS, October 2003). The Plan includes a number of major transit and highway proposals to address congestion and improve mobility in the western suburbs of Cook and DuPage counties. These are: High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes on the west end of the Eisenhower Expy. (I-290); Additional lanes on the East-West Tollway (I-88); Extension of the CTA Blue Line Congress branch to the western suburbs of DuPage County; Ogden Avenue transitway, from Navy Pier to North Riverside; Cermak Road bus rapid transit; DuPage County "J" bus rapid transit corridor, connecting Naperville, Oak Brook, O'Hare and Schaumburg; Inner Circumferential rail service (IHB/BRC) between O'Hare and Midway.

Mobility problems and potential solutions will be examined in three study phases spanning 2003-2010: 1) Travel Market Analysis, 2) Options Feasiblity, and 3) System Analysis. Locally led study components will be undertaken to formulate corridor planning standards and community development and land use plans/policies.