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Proposed FY2025 budget and work plan approved
Every day, CMAP serves our region in an effort to make northeastern Illinois a stronger, more resilient place to live. Our work is strategically planned in the region’s long-range plan and in its annual budget and work plan.
The CMAP Board recently approved the proposed FY2025 Budget and Work Plan for the next fiscal year starting July 1, 2024.
Watch this 7-minute video that highlights our work to strengthen the region’s transportation system, economy, and resiliency to climate impacts.
And read our informative budget document to understand who we are, what we do, how we serve the region, where the money comes from and where it goes, our governance structure, and more.
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Transportation projects awarded funding from federal government
Our region continues to benefit greatly from a variety of funding programs in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). Last month, Kane County received $25 million for safety improvements to Randall Road in Elgin through the Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) program. Additionally, our friends at Indiana’s Department of Transportation facilitated an application that was awarded $127 million to reduce congestion and increase efficiency on I-80/94 from Gary, Indiana to Lansing, Illinois through the National Infrastructure Project Assistance (Mega) program.
We're excited by these generationally significant investments in our region's transportation infrastructure. They forward the mobility principles in ON TO 2050, our region's long-range plan, to help us achieve a safe and reliable transportation system for tomorrow.
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2024 northeastern Illinois priority transportation investments
CMAP recently released Northeastern Illinois Priority Investments, a blueprint documenting the highest-priority projects across the region for 2024. It reflects collaboration between CMAP and our partners at the Illinois Department of Transportation, the Chicago Department of Transportation, the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA), the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, Pace, the region’s seven counties, and the CREATE Program partners.
Our region has a vision, reflected in ON TO 2050, the long-range plan for northeastern Illinois. As a legacy transportation system, implementers are working to maintain historic infrastructure while meeting current challenges with innovative and sustainable solutions. The projects described in this booklet reflect efforts to improve the lives of those who live, work, travel, and conduct business in northeastern Illinois.
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Federal Safe Streets and Roads for All grant application opening soon
The U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) anticipates opening applications for the next round of Safe Streets and Roads for All (SS4A) grant funding this month. The SS4A program funds regional, local, and Tribal initiatives through grants to prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries, including CMAP’s Safe Travel for All Roadmap.
Need help understanding USDOT grants?
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Cook County announces call for transportation and community grant program applications
For the eighth year in a row, Cook County's Department of Transportation and Highways is offering $8.5 million in Invest in Cook infrastructure grants to help prioritize transit and other transportation alternatives, support the region’s role as North America’s freight capital, promote equal access to opportunities, maintain and modernize what already exists and increase investments in transportation.
Invest in Cook is an initiative of Connecting Cook County, the County’s first long-range transportation plan in 75 years. Connecting Cook County lays the groundwork for how the County invests in transportation to attract and retain businesses, people, capital and talent. In its first seven years, Invest in Cook awarded $56.4 million to 243 projects.
In addition to funding projects, Invest in Cook provides technical and grant writing expertise through staff support to help communities tap into new funding sources and accelerate the completion of projects that may have languished.
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2024 technical assistance call for projects opens February 26
Mark your calendars! CMAP and the RTA are partnering to host this year’s call for projects to receive planning support to make roads safer, increase accessibility, and improve connections for all users. The online application covers the different program offerings and asks interested applicants a series of questions to identify their project goals and strategies. Communities will be able to submit applications beginning Monday, February 26, until noon Friday, March 22. For questions about the application process, please email applications@cmap.illinois.gov.
The planning assistance opportunities offered through the call are meant to support communities as they continue to collaborate, innovate, and plan for a more prosperous future post-pandemic. Communities selected for projects will have opportunities to strengthen planning capacity, cultivate innovative transportation approaches, and better prepare for the many funding opportunities available under the IIJA.
Visit the call for projects web page to learn more about last year’s call, and what you might expect this year.
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Registration is open for spring 2024 accessibility trainings
Registration is open for CMAP’s free spring accessibility trainings! Topics include: Public Right-of-Way Accessibility Guidelines (PROWAG), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ADA self-evaluations and transition plans, and the Illinois Accessibility Code. At this point, CMAP does not plan to offer future trainings on these topics, so we encourage your community take this opportunity to learn about improving accessibility.
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CMAP's executive director addresses mileage-based user fees at National Conference of Regions in D.C.
CMAP's Executive Director Erin Aleman led a panel discussion on mileage-based user fees and the future of federal transportation funding at the National Association of Regional Council's (NARC) National Conference of the Regions earlier this week. It was a fruitful conversation about how regional governments and state DOTs can explore innovative funding solutions that support multi-modal transportation systems, and how we ensure that all modes work together to move people safely, fairly, and with equity, into the future. Erin was joined by Barb Rohde, executive director, Mileage-Based User Fee Alliance, on a panel moderated by Bob Stevenson, member of NARC's Board of Directors and Commissioner of Davis County, Utah.
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Regional transit ridership reached post-pandemic highs in 2023
Ridership across the Chicago region’s transit system continued to increase throughout 2023, according to the latest data from the CTA, Metra, and Pace. The region’s fixed route system finished out the year with a total of 326.6 million rides, marking the first time since the pandemic that ridership cracked 300 million. Adding 45 million rides over 2022 represents an increase that is equal to the annual transit ridership of Dallas.
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Pace's first electric bus enters service
On Friday, January 19, Pace Suburban Bus debuted its inaugural battery-electric bus. The state-of-the-art GILLIG bus is now operational on Route 381 95th Street serving riders in the southwest suburbs, including Evergreen Park, Oak Lawn, Chicago Ridge, Bridgeview, Hickory Hills, and Palos Hills, and providing connections between the CTA Red Line and Moraine Valley College.
Pace, with its commitment to environmental stewardship as a key priority of the agency’s Driving Innovation strategic vision plan, is actively working to reduce its carbon footprint and enhance air quality. Pace’s ambitious initiative, Project Zero, aims to convert its entire fleet of over 700 buses to zero-emission vehicles by 2040.
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USDOT climate change center 2024 webinar series
The USDOT Climate Change Center is hosting a webinar series on climate change and transportation topics, ranging from greenhouse gas reduction strategies to climate resilience activities to research and technology advancements. Register for all webinars below and learn more about the USDOT Climate Change Center.
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