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              Transportation
from 2008, which had an increase of 3 percent
from 2007, as higher fuel prices and highway
congestion issues influenced more people to use
public transportation. Ridership continued to
increase even after the decline in gas prices.
There were 25 million additional riders on CTA
and Metra systems in 2008 compared to 2006.
• Increased ridership in public transportation.
Overall public transit riders on buses downstate
increased by more than 13.7 percent in 2008, as
more than 32.3 million riders used public
transportation compared to about 28.3 million in
both 2006 and 2007. IDOT has been working
with downstate transit providers for several years
to help coordinate and plan ways to increase
ridership through improved service and access in
downstate counties.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
NEW APPROPRIATIONS
State Improvements - $1.5 billion
Public transportation infrastructure for Northeast
Illinois and Downstate Illinois will receive $1.5 billion
for state improvements, through the Illinois Jobs
Now!
Chicago Transit Authority
Preliminary engineering on the Chicago Transit
Authority’s planned Circle Line – adding a
circumferential loop and connecting all CTA and
Metra rail lines in Chicago. Modernizing and
replacing Chicago Transit Authority railcars.
Metra’s STAR
Preliminary engineering on Metra’s STAR line
connecting four Metra rail lines and providing direct
access to O’Hare airport.
MetroLink
Funding for MetroLink light rail system expansion in
St. Clair County.
New transit facilities
New transit facilities in various downstate public
transit districts.
New buses
New buses in various downstate public transit
districts.
RAIL
OVERVIEW
IDOT plays an integral
role in planning statewide
passenger and freight rail
projects by: mitigating the
negative impacts of rail
abandonment, attracting
more riders to Amtrak, and
supporting the
development of high-speed
rail.
FEDERAL RECOVERY
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
(ARRA) of 2009 contains funding for rail programs.
Rail
• $8 billion is available for the development of
intercity passenger rail service and for high-speed
passenger rail service projects in
designated high-speed rail corridors.
• The Intercity Passenger Rail Service program
provides grants on a discretionary basis to states
to fund necessary capital improvements to
improve intercity passenger rail service as well as
maintaining existing passenger rail corridors.
These grants also make funding available for
AMTRAK and the Chicago Region Environmental
and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE)
program.
MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
• Doubled riders on Amtrak. Amtrak passenger
rail ridership on the four Illinois routes more than
doubled from about 644,000 riders in 2002 to
1.47 million riders in 2008. This included a nearly
25 percent increase in overall ridership from 2007
to 2008. Through second quarter 2009, more
than 850,000 riders used Amtrak, up from
733,000 riders in the same quarter of 2008, a
16.3 percent increase for the quarter.
The state sponsors 20
passenger train routes
between Chicago and
Springfield,
Champaign and
Urbana, and Quincy
and Milwaukee.
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