Smart Gates

This map shows the location of the project. For projects that do not have a specific location but affect a line/route or the entire system, either the affected lines/routes are shown, or an entire service area map is shown.

If you select the option to “toggle the benefit layer,” you will see an approximation of the area that will benefit from the project.

Each capital project is measured on 15 evaluation metrics to better understand its impact on the region. Learn more about the metrics and see a legend for all measures here.

Click the circled (i) information button to read a definition of each metric and hover over the image to see more about each measure.

The degree to which a project improves regional access to the region’s key destinations. Including jobs, retail, healthcare, recreation, and education.

The project improvements to existing assets to make them partially or fully accessible. Including station/stop and area improvements, vehicle accessibility, and accessible communications.

The project impact to ratings from the FTA Transit Economic Requirements Model (TERM).

The project’s minor or major benefits to riders and what proportion of the agency’s riders will benefit from it.

The project impact on overall capacity, reflecting current and planned levels of utilization.

The project impact on reductions or offsets to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated from transit operations.

Project impacts on land use and development, construction, and long-term jobs.

The distribution of project benefits to location(s) identified under the USDOT Justice40 Program.

The project impact to maintenance or improvement of exposure to risk for riders/employees and the project impact to security enhancement.

The project impact on operating costs.

The project impact to maintenance or improvement of exposure to risk for riders/employees and the project impact to security enhancement.

Project impact on maintenance or improvement of service speed and reliability, considering both direct and indirect impacts.

If required, whether or not the project complies with federal, state, local, or other regulatory mandates.

The project impact to climate benefits, such as a reduction in emissions, generated from mode shift to transit and away from private auto-use.

The project impact to average vehicle ages, compared with Service board benchmarks to prioritize replacing vehicles that are beyond their useful life.

Evaluation Metric Measure
Access to Key Destinations i
One green up arrow

Moderately improves Access to Key Destinations

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Accessibility Improvement(s) i
Not applicable symbol

Project is not related to accessibility

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Asset Condition (FTA TERM Rating) i
Yellow gear

Asset(s) rated 2-3

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Benefit to Riders i
Black line with arrows on each end

Helps to maintain current benefits to riders

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Capacity Benefit and Need i
Not applicable symbol

Not related to capacity of transit operations or facilities

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Climate Agency Operating Impacts i
Not applicable symbol

Project does not effect GHG emissions

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Economic Impact i
Two green up arrows

Moderate impact on economic development

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Equity Based on Residential Geography i
Not applicable symbol

Project is not location specific or benefits entire service area

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Impact on Customer and Employee Safety i
Two green up arrows

Project directly provides safety benefit/improvement

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Impact on Operating Cost i
One green down arrow

Decreases operating cost

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Impact on System Security i
Not applicable symbol

Project does not impact security

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Impact to Service Speed/Reliability i
Black line with arrows on each end

Needed to maintain current speek/reliability

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Regulatory Requirements i
Green check mark

Project Meets Regulatory Requirements

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Ridership/Mode Shift Impacts i
Black line with arrows on each end

Maintains assets necessary for transit ridership

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Vehicle Useful Life i
Not applicable symbol

Asset is not a vehicle with a useful life

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Project Description

This project involves upgrades to protected grade crossings to improve the safety and reliability of grade crossing protections. Metra has approximately 300 active grade crossings with warning devices. This project will fund upgrades of circuitry at these grade crossings to the latest technology. Metra will install monitors to check the condition of the grade crossing protection system. When a monitor detects an anomaly, the system will send a notice to the back office and dispatch a signal maintainer to perform repairs. PTC Wireless crossings are being added to the scope in 2025 and beyond.