Full Text of SR0795 97th General Assembly
SR0795 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Public transportation in urban areas is essential | 3 | | for the quality of life of residents; and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, The neighborhoods of Bronzeville, Bridgeport, | 5 | | Armour Square, McKinley Park, and Little Village within the | 6 | | City of Chicago are without a standard east-west bus route | 7 | | (from Cicero to the Lake Front) through their densely-populated | 8 | | communities, as there is no bus route between Cermak Avenue | 9 | | (22nd Street) and 47th Street, which leaves a 3 1/4-mile gap | 10 | | 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 Little Village Lawndale High School is the | 17 | | only Chicago public high school without Chicago Transit | 18 | | Authority Bus Services within 3 blocks of the school; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, The Chicago Transit Authority cut the 31st Street | 20 | | bus route in 1997, citing relatively low ridership on the bus |
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| 1 | | route; 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 federal grant with $1,067,659 of its own funds to | 19 | | operate the bus; therefore, be it
| 20 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL | 21 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we call upon the | 22 | | Chicago Transit Authority to prioritize the $1,067,659 of | 23 | | annual operating funds to relaunch the 31st Street bus from |
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| 1 | | Cicero to the Lake Front for 3 years to serve the people of the | 2 | | Chicago neighborhoods of Little Village, McKinley Park, Armour | 3 | | Square, Bridgeport, the Town of Cicero, and Bronzeville; and be | 4 | | it further
| 5 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 6 | | delivered to the Chicago Transit Authority.
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