Full Text of HJR0029 98th General Assembly
HJ0029 98TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Public transportation in urban areas is essential | 3 | | for the quality of life of
residents; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The neighborhoods of Little Village, McKinley | 5 | | Park, Armour Square,
Bridgeport, the Town of Cicero, South | 6 | | Loop, and Bronzeville within the City of Chicago
are without a | 7 | | standard east-west bus route (from Cicero to the Lake Front) | 8 | | through their
densely-populated communities, as there is no bus | 9 | | route between Cermak Avenue (22nd
Street) and 47th Street, | 10 | | which leaves a 3 1/4-mile gap between east-west bus routes; and | 11 | | WHEREAS, This 3 1/4-mile gap in service is particularly | 12 | | problematic because these
neighborhoods have a very high | 13 | | percentage 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 Chicago Transit Authority cut the 31st Street | 17 | | bus route in 1997,
citing relatively low ridership on the bus | 18 | | route; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The population within a one-half mile zone of the | 20 | | 31st street proposed bus
route between Cicero
Avenue and the |
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| 1 | | lakefront has grown to 201,047 people; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Since 1997, the population in these neighborhoods | 3 | | has risen dramatically
and several new anchor institutions have | 4 | | been built, including the Little Village High
School and the | 5 | | New 31st Street Harbor, to join existing anchor institutions, | 6 | | including
U.S. Cellular Field, the Illinois Institute of | 7 | | Technology, the De La Salle Institute, Arturo
Velasquez West | 8 | | Side Tech, McCormick Place, Hyatt Hotel-McCormick Place, | 9 | | Soldier
Field, the Field Museum, the Aquarium, the Planetarium, | 10 | | 12th St. Beach, and Northerly
Island; these new developments | 11 | | would make the 31st Street bus a successful route; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, In 2009, the CTA, through the Regional | 13 | | Transportation Authority (RTA),
successfully applied for and | 14 | | received $1,067,659 in Job Access Reverse Commute
(JARC) Funds | 15 | | through the Federal Transportation Administration (FTA) to | 16 | | operate the
bus route for 3 years to assist Chicago area | 17 | | residents to find and get to jobs, but, to date,
has not | 18 | | matched the entire federal grant with $1,067,659 of its own | 19 | | funds to operate the
bus for 3 years; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 21 | | NINETY-EIGHTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE | 22 | | SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that we call upon the Chicago Transit
| 23 | | Authority to relaunch the 31st Street bus from Cicero to the |
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| 1 | | Lake Front for 3 years to
serve the people of the Chicago | 2 | | neighborhoods of Little Village, McKinley Park, Armour
Square, | 3 | | Bridgeport, the Town of Cicero, South Loop, and Bronzeville; | 4 | | and be it further
| 5 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 6 | | presented to the Chicago Transit Authority.
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