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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, Public transportation in urban areas is essential
3for the quality of life of residents; and
 
4    WHEREAS, The neighborhoods of Bronzeville, Bridgeport,
5Armour Square, McKinley Park, and Little Village within the
6City of Chicago are without a standard east-west bus route
7(from Cicero to the Lake Front) through their densely-populated
8communities, as there is no bus route between Cermak Avenue
9(22nd Street) and 47th Street, which leaves a 3 1/4-mile gap
10between east-west bus routes; and
 
11    WHEREAS, This 3 1/4-mile gap in service is particularly
12problematic because these neighborhoods have a very high
13percentage of residents who do not have automobiles; and
 
14    WHEREAS, There are approximately 300,000 people in this
15"bus desert" area without any east-west bus service; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The Little Village Lawndale High School is the
17only Chicago public high school without Chicago Transit
18Authority Bus Services within 3 blocks of the school; and
 
19    WHEREAS, The Chicago Transit Authority cut the 31st Street
20bus route in 1997, citing relatively low ridership on the bus

 

 

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1route; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Since 1997, the population in these neighborhoods
3has risen dramatically and several new anchor institutions have
4been built, including the Little Village High School and the
5New 31st Street Harbor, to join existing anchor institutions,
6including U.S. Cellular Field, the Illinois Institute of
7Technology, the De La Salle Institute, Arturo Velasquez West
8Side Tech, McCormick Place, Hyatt Hotel McCormick Place,
9Soldier Field, the Field Museum, the Aquarium, the Planetarium,
1012th St. Beach, and Northerly Island; these new developments
11would make the 31st Street bus a successful route; and
 
12    WHEREAS, In 2009, the CTA, through the Regional
13Transportation Authority (RTA), successfully applied for and
14received $1,067,659 in Job Access Reverse Commute (JARC) Funds
15through the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) to
16operate the bus route for 3 years to assist Chicago area
17residents to find and get to jobs, but, to date, has not
18matched the federal grant with $1,067,659 of its own funds to
19operate the bus; therefore, be it
 
20    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL
21ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call upon the
22Chicago Transit Authority to prioritize the $1,067,659 of
23annual operating funds to relaunch the 31st Street bus from

 

 

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1Cicero to the Lake Front for 3 years to serve the people of the
2Chicago neighborhoods of Little Village, McKinley Park, Armour
3Square, Bridgeport, the Town of Cicero, and Bronzeville; and be
4it further
 
5    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
6delivered to the Chicago Transit Authority.