Bloomington-Normal transit facilities keep economy, people moving

This weekend, Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff was in Illinois' Twin Cities to visit two projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Now, I’ve seen a lot of ink lately devoted to criticizing the stimulus, but you simply can’t deny that the Recovery Act is creating jobs and preserving other jobs that would have been lost without it. Those jobs are real, and you can bet those workers' families are happy to have them.

On Saturday in Normal, Administrator Rogoff signed a $22 million TIGER grant and helped break ground for the new Multimodal Transportation Center. Construction of the center will create nearly 300 sorely needed jobs, generate $86 million in economic activity for the community, and encourage business expansion in Normal for years to come.

It is exactly the kind of project President Obama had in mind when he signed the Recovery Act.

Artist's rendering of Normal's Multimodal Transportation Center and City Hall

The center will serve transit buses, inter-city buses, taxis, and airport shuttles. It will offer park-and-ride options and pedestrian and bicycle connections to downtown Normal and Illinois State University. It will also house a passenger train station, replacing an older Amtrak station and positioning Bloomington-Normal for high-speed rail access on the Chicago-St. Louis route.

And all of this is in Normal's central business district, so you can imagine the growth it will stimulate as businesses gravitate to the convenience of the center's many transportation options.

As Amtrak Board Chairman Thomas Carper said at Saturday's ceremony, "As a former mayor, I know stations are engines of economic growth."

FTA Administrator Rogoff (second from right) turns a shovel with US Senator Richard Durbin (center)

But, in addition to stimulating economic development, the Multimodal Transportation Center will also foster a more livable community. As Thomas Carper pointed out, studies show that 81% of American families preferred living near transit access. That's why this project is such an important part of the Uptown Normal redevelopment effort.

And if you need proof of the shovel-readiness of the center, the Bloomington Pantagraph reports that test pilings have already been completed and work on the actual pilings begins today.

Touring the new Bloomington facility with worker happy to be on the job thanks to the Recovery Act

On Friday in nearby Bloomington, Administrator Rogoff toured the new Bloomington-Normal Public Transit System Terminal.

This 75,000 square foot, $8.5 million facility is nearing completion thanks in part to $2.5 million in Recovery Act money. It doubles the bus storage capacity of the current facility to 48 40-foot buses and features expanded maintenance space to keep those buses in a state of good repair.

Officials touring the new site rode to it by bus from the old site. And US Rep. Debbie Halvorson and Administrator Rogoff noticed the difference. Congresswoman Halvorson said, "When you are at the other site and come here, you can't help but see how impressive it is."

Administrator Rogoff noted that far-sightedness of the new terminal: "Some facilities are at capacity the day they open; the plan here is more insightful."

Riding to the new transit terminal

He also observed that 36% of Bloomington-Normal transit riders are area college students."Those students," he said, "leave and relocate, but they will have learned the lesson that transit can work."

These two projects demonstrate not only that transit can work, but that it does work. And--through the construction work it requires and the growth it attracts--transit creates the jobs this economy needs.

Comments

[Michael E. Bailey]

Transit does work and is an important part of the infrastructure. But it is not yet working everywhere. In rural areas of the country, transit is still poor to non-existant in many places. But we can't put just anything out there and call it rural public transportation, especially not when it is supposed to be accessible transportation for seniors and disabled, many of whom need to use wheelchairs. I have heard about one case in rural West Texas of a disabled person having to rely on private wheelchair transportation providers who lead you to believe they are ADA compliant but when you look at some of the sites for such operations you see they are not regulated by any one. One site says it is an unregulated industry with little money needed to start up; that old equipment can be used because it cost less, that there are no requirements for driver background checks or training in such basics as first aid and CPR although they are transporting disabled and seniors in wheelchairs; and the amount that can be charged is from $30.00 to over $100.00 a trip each way per person. People in West Texas have said "The disabled consumer must be assured they can access safe, compliant transportation, and not have their lives jeopardized; many of us have been terrorized by such transit groups." Rural public transortation must be safe, reliable, accessible and ADA compliant. A great model of a rural public transportation system that meets all these requirements is the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation Public Bus Service that serves the reservation, the small rural communities and counties of Northeastern Oregon and crosses the Washington State/Oregon border to connect the reservation and rural areas to the cities of Walla Walla, Pasco and Kennewick. The Tribal Government's buses are timed to meet Valley Transit buses and the Grapeline buses at the Walla Walla Transit Center for travel in the city and to the Greyhound Regional Terminal in Pasco. The Tribal Government"s buses are also timed to meet the Ben Franklin Bus Systems buses at Tansfer Centers in Kennewick and Pasco. And there is a demand response component using taxis and a taxi voucher program. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.

[Austin Movers]

Where would we be w/out transit systems?

[ACLS Classes]

It is a great idea, but I agree with Michael that it these people should have CPR training.

[Movers Austin]

Michael told it right about these people. People in West Texas have said "The disabled consumer must be assured they can access safe, compliant transportation, and not have their lives jeopardized, they need CPR training.

[health insurance nc]

In agree with Peter that For Economic Recovery grant more dollars are takes.

[DeniseM]

Great post. Thanks for giving nice information.