95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
State of Illinois
2007 and 2008
SB2178

 

Introduced 2/14/2008, by Sen. Michael W. Frerichs

 

SYNOPSIS AS INTRODUCED:
 
20 ILCS 2705/2705-355 new

    Amends the Department of Transportation Law. Authorizes the Department to enter into contracts to provide feeder services to and from rail terminals and intercity bus transportation and to provide service between non-urbanized communities and air terminals. Authorizes funding to Amtrak for contracted intercity transportation when combined with movement by rail.


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FISCAL NOTE ACT MAY APPLY

 

 

A BILL FOR

 

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1     AN ACT concerning transportation.
 
2     Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois,
3 represented in the General Assembly:
 
4     Section 5. The Department of Transportation Law of the
5 Civil Administrative Code of Illinois is amended by adding
6 Section 2705-355 as follows:
 
7     (20 ILCS 2705/2705-355 new)
8     Sec. 2705-355. Inter-modal transportation.
9     (a) The Department may enter into contracts with any common
10 carrier or with any corporation, partnership, or person to
11 provide feeder services to and from rail passenger terminals or
12 intercity bus transportation. In contracting for intercity bus
13 transportation, the Department may fund fixed route, scheduled
14 services that primarily provide service between non-urbanized
15 communities and passenger air terminals with volumes of
16 1,000,000 passengers or less. The Department may construct,
17 acquire or lease, improve, and operate bus passenger terminals
18 and related facilities that provide inter-modal passenger
19 services.
20     (b) To the extent permitted by federal law, the Department
21 shall encourage Amtrak and motor carriers of passengers to do
22 both of the following:
23         (1) Combine or package their respective services and

 

 

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1     facilities to the public as a means of improving services
2     to the public.
3         (2) Coordinate schedules, routes, rates, reservations,
4     and ticketing to provide for enhanced inter-modal surface
5     transportation.
6     (c) Except as authorized under subsection (f), the
7 Department may provide funding to Amtrak for the purpose of
8 entering into a contract with a motor carrier of passengers for
9 the intercity transportation of passengers by motor carrier
10 over regular routes only if all of the following conditions are
11 met:
12         (1) The motor carrier is not a public recipient of
13     governmental assistance, as defined in Section
14     13902(b)(8)(A) of Title 49 of the United States Code, other
15     than a recipient of funds under Section 5311(f) of that
16     title and code. This item (1) does not apply if a local
17     public motor carrier proposes to serve passengers only
18     within its service area.
19         (2) Service is provided only on schedules and routes
20     that are coordinated with scheduled intercity rail service
21     to facilitate mixed-mode feeder bus service.
22         (3) The motor carrier is registered with the United
23     States Department of Transportation (DOT), operates in
24     compliance with the federal motor carrier safety
25     regulations, and provides service that is accessible to
26     persons with disabilities in compliance with applicable

 

 

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1     DOT regulations pertaining to Amtrak services, in
2     accordance with the federal Americans with Disabilities
3     Act of 1990.
4         (4) The bus service provider and Amtrak issue joint
5     tickets and publish each other's Illinois schedules on
6     their respective websites and timetables and otherwise
7     integrate their operations and schedules to provide a
8     seamless transfer between modes for passengers.
9     (d) The Department shall incorporate the conditions
10 specified in subsection (c) into state-supported passenger
11 rail feeder bus service agreements between Amtrak and motor
12 carriers of passengers. The bus service agreements shall also
13 provide that a breach of those conditions shall be grounds for
14 termination of the agreements.
15     (e) The farebox recovery ratio for state-supported
16 mixed-mode feeder bus service must be at least 70% in Fiscal
17 Year 2009, 80% in Fiscal Year 2010, 90% in Fiscal Year 2011,
18 and 100% in Fiscal Year 2012 and thereafter.
19     (f) Notwithstanding subsections (c) and (d), the
20 Department may provide funding to Amtrak for the purpose of
21 entering into a contract with a motor carrier of passengers to
22 transport Amtrak passengers on buses operated on a route, if
23 the buses are operated by the motor carrier as part of a
24 regularly scheduled, daily bus service that has been operating
25 consecutively without an Amtrak contract for 12 months
26 immediately prior to contracting with Amtrak.

 

 

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1     (g) For purposes of this Section, the following terms have
2 the following meanings:
3     "Amtrak" means the National Railroad Passenger
4 Corporation.
5     "Common carrier" means any public or private provider of
6 transportation, whether by land, air, or water.
7     "Department" means the Illinois Department of
8 Transportation or the Department's successor with respect to
9 providing funds to subsidize Amtrak service.
10     "Farebox recovery ratio" means the percentage ratio
11 between the cost of providing intercity bus service as the
12 denominator and the revenues collected by the sale of bus and
13 rail tickets to passengers of mixed-mode feeder bus service as
14 the numerator.
15     "Motor carrier of passengers" means a person or entity
16 providing motor vehicle transportation of passengers for
17 compensation.
18     "Mixed-mode feeder bus service" means bus service carrying
19 both passengers connecting to or from a rail service and
20 passengers only using the bus service.
21     "Non-urbanized community" means any municipality or
22 territory that does not meet the criteria for an "urbanized
23 area" as defined by the United States Census Bureau.