CTA Bus Priority Zones Plan - Halsted Street
The RTA assisted the CTA with developing a strategy for bus route enhancements that will address slow zones, referred to as Bus Priority Zones (BPZs) along CTA Bus Route #8 - Halsted Street. The strategies being developed are in coordination with other transportation analyses along the corridors. Future improvements will work to speed bus operations in persistent congested areas and accommodate expected growth in the North Branch area with improved transit service.
The existing conditions analysis has been completed; based on metrics such as slow speeds, ridership, existing infrastructure opportunities and constraints, and overlapping projects from other agencies, multiple potential BPZ candidates were identified along the Halsted corridor. High-level cost estimates were done for the potential Halsted BPZs, and will be part of a prioritization matrix along with potential BPZs on other corridors that were identified through other funding sources. Given that the amount of construction funding will necessitate that potential BPZ locations be prioritized for advancement, the cost estimates serve as a new data point for making that determination, in addition to expected level of benefit, geographic and corridor coverage, and potential efficiencies with overlapping infrastructure projects, among other data points. As a next step, the narrowed-down list of potential BPZ locations will be submitted to FTA for their determination of expected class of action of environmental analysis for each location. Environmental work and community outreach will be performed as needed. Subsequently, concepts will be refined, and some locations will continue to advance to Phase II design and construction, both of which will be managed by CDOT in collaboration with CTA for input.
| Source | Amount |
|---|---|
| RTA | $150,000 |
| Local | $150,000 |