Update September 20, 2011 Prepared for: County of DuPage Prepared by: DuPage Area Transit Plan Update TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary......................................................................................................................... ES-1 1.0 Plan Objectives and Focus ..................................................................................................... 1-1 2.0 Existing Transit Service and Demand in DuPage County ..................................................... 2-1 2.1 Existing/Baseline Network ......................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1.1 Commuter Rail Service............................................................................................................................ 2-1 2.1.2 Fixed Route Bus Service ......................................................................................................................... 2-1 2.1.3 Demand Response Service ..................................................................................................................... 2-4 2.2 Recent Service Changes ........................................................................................................... 2-8 2.2.1 New and/or Enhanced Services ............................................................................................................... 2-8 2.2.2 Eliminated and/or Reduced Services...................................................................................................... 2-14 2.3 Ridership Trends..................................................................................................................... 2-17 2.3.1 Metra Rail Ridership .............................................................................................................................. 2-18 2.3.2 Pace Bus Ridership ............................................................................................................................... 2-18 2.4 Technical Market Assessment Findings................................................................................... 2-20 2.4.1 Congruency Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 2-20 2.4.2 Demographic Analysis ........................................................................................................................... 2-32 2.4.3 Overview of Travel Patterns................................................................................................................... 2-41 2.4.4 Mismatches and Unmet Service Needs .................................................................................................. 2-51 2.5 Stakeholder and Public Input ................................................................................................... 2-52 2.5.1 Strategies for Public Outreach and Information Sharing .......................................................................... 2-52 2.5.2 Online Survey Results ........................................................................................................................... 2-55 3.0 Near-Term Transit Options and Opportunities ...................................................................... 3-1 3.1 Conceptual Near-Term Scenario ............................................................................................... 3-1 3.2 Near-Term Transit Services ...................................................................................................... 3-4 3.2.1 Commuter Rail ........................................................................................................................................ 3-4 3.2.2 Arterial Bus Rapid Transit (ART) http://www.pacebus.com/sub/vision2020/brt_video.asp........................... 3-5 3.2.3 Express Bus............................................................................................................................................ 3-7 3.2.4 Local Circulators ..................................................................................................................................... 3-8 3.2.5 ADA Paratransit and Dial-a-Ride.............................................................................................................. 3-9 3.2.6 Multimodal Stations, etc. ........................................................................................................................ 3-10 3.3 Transit Supportive System Features and Amenities ................................................................. 3-11 3.3.1 Integration with Regional Transit Services .............................................................................................. 3-11 3.3.2 Transit Centers and Stations.................................................................................................................. 3-11 3.3.3 Transit Stops......................................................................................................................................... 3-12 3.3.4 Park-and-Ride ....................................................................................................................................... 3-13 3.3.5 Pedestrian Facilities/Environment .......................................................................................................... 3-14 3.3.6 System Information ............................................................................................................................... 3-14 3.3.7 Fares .................................................................................................................................................... 3-15 3.3.8 Safety/Security ...................................................................................................................................... 3-16 3.3.9 Marketing .............................................................................................................................................. 3-16 3.3.10 Transit Supportive Land Use ............................................................................................................. 3-17 3.4 Conceptual Near-Term Order-of-Magnitude Cost and Ridership Estimates .............................. 3-18 4.0 Long-Range Transit Projects.................................................................................................. 4-1 4.1 Overview and Context ............................................................................................................... 4-2 4.2 Inventory and Status of Projects ................................................................................................ 4-4 4.2.1 Elgin-O’Hare West Bypass (EO-WB)........................................................................................................ 4-4 4.2.2 Commuter Rail ........................................................................................................................................ 4-5 4.2.3 High Speed Corridor................................................................................................................................ 4-6 4.2.4 Arterial Bus Rapid Transit (ART) http://www.pacebus.com/sub/vision2020/brt_video.asp........................... 4-7 4.2.5 Express Bus............................................................................................................................................ 4-8 4.3 Additional Studies ................................................................................................................... 4-10 5.0 Implementation, Funding and Key Challenges ...................................................................... 5-1 DuPage County, Illinois Division of Transportation DuPage Area Transit Plan Update – Contract #S15637 i DuPage Area Transit Plan Update 5.1 Funding for Transit Operations .................................................................................................. 5-1 5.2 Funding for Transit Capital Investments .................................................................................... 5-1 5.3 Funding Sources ....................................................................................................................... 5-2 5.3.1 Federal Funding ...................................................................................................................................... 5-2 5.3.2 State and Local Funding .......................................................................................................................... 5-3 5.4 Key Challenges ......................................................................................................................... 5-3 5.4.1 Sustainable Services ............................................................................................................................... 5-3 5.4.2 Multi-Modal Planning ............................................................................................................................... 5-4 5.4.3 Transit-Land Use Connections ................................................................................................................. 5-4 5.4.4 Improving the Transit Experience ............................................................................................................. 5-5 5.4.5 Continued Evaluation of Transit Performance ........................................................................................... 5-6 5.4.6 Building a Long-Term Vision ...................................................................................................................