Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District

Champaign-Urbana
Mass Transit District

Illinois Terminal, transit hub for Champaign
Service area	Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area
Service type	bus service, paratransit
Web site	cumtd.com

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District is a mass transit system that is part of the Champaign-Urbana Metropolitan Area in which property taxes are levied to support a local transit system operating buses and the Illinois Terminal intermodal facility in downtown Champaign. Known locally as "MTD," the term also applies to the Board of Trustees or to the administration and operations supported both by these taxes as well as other revenues, such as bus fares. At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, which lies within the District, all 38,000 students pay a $46 transportation fee every semester in exchange for unlimited use of the bus services. The District currently levies about 25 cents of property taxes per $100 of assessed valuation. The seven members of the Board of Trustees are appointed by the Champaign County Board. Although Willard Airport lies outside the boundaries of the district, MTD offers District residents bus service to and from the airport on routes funded by the University. Buses are produced by the Canadian company New Flyer, Eldorado, and Gillig. MTD introduced hybrid buses to its fleet in Fall 2009.

Public transit before the MTD

In 1854 the first rail lines in the region were laid 2 miles west of Urbana by the Illinois Central Railroad. The city of Urbana initially wanted nothing to do with the new railroad economy, so a new city, originally named West Urbana, was created to help serve the needs of the railroad. In 1860 West Urbana was renamed Champaign, and subsequently developed into an important railroad town. The station served as a stopover on the way from New Orleans to Chicago, and vice versa. In 1909 this was expanded to also include service from Chicago to Jacksonville, Florida.

The first trolley service in the area was established in 1863, when the Urbana Railroad Company was created to link Urbana and Champaign. These first trolleys were drawn by horses or mules. By 1890, work had begun on an electrified trolley system under the auspices of William B. McKinley. At its peak, this system had as many as 20 routes, including a nighttime "Owl Service" linking Champaign and Urbana.

Interurban streetcar service was also supplied to the area (and indeed to much of Illinois) by the Illinois Terminal Railroad Company, another brainchild of William McKinley. McKinley's scheme of selling electricity from the interurban system to the surrounding towns led to the founding of the Illinois Power and Light Company.

In 1901 the Illinois Motor Transit Company introduced a city bus system to the region, but they went bankrupt within the year. However, the inability of the trolley system to lay enough track to fully serve the area prompted the 1925 addition of another bus system by National City Bus Lines, a subsidiary of General Motors. In 1936, as was happening in other places across the nation, National City Bus Lines purchased the trolley system from the Illinois Power and Light Company and dismantled it. The last trolley operated on 10 November 1936. Within one month bus lines had become the dominant form of transportation in the city under the new name "Champaign-Urbana City Lines".

Ridership on the Champaign-Urbana City Lines was high, reaching 1,000,000 passengers served in 1958. Like most of America however, buses in Champaign-Urbana became less popular with the advent of affordable automobiles. On November 17, 1970, P.E. Cherry, the manager of Champaign-Urbana City Lines, published an article in the Courier stating that declining ridership, aging buses, and a rising deficit would force the line to close. The Illinois Commerce Commission conducted a hearing on the petition to close the city lines and suggested that rather than close the lines, a referendum should be drafted to create a mass transit district.

History of the modern MTD

60-foot articulated bus on Route 26 Pack

On November 24, 1970, a mere week after the lines looked to be closing, the referendum was approved and Thomas Evans was appointed the director of the new mass transit district. The new MTD began operation on August 2, 1971 for a fee of $0.30 per ride with free transfers on buses which allowed one to navigate the area using several different bus lines. On May 13, 1971 a federal grant was procured to help this both fledging and historic transit district rework its fleet of buses, purchasing fifteen new buses, and ten used buses from Peoria, Illinois. In 1973 the MTD expanded its routes to include the University, offering routes around the University and to the graduate housing complex. Fees for University students were at a reduced rate, paying only $0.10 per ride, or purchasing a $20 semester pass for unlimited rides.

In 1984 MTD received national recognition when it was chosen as the worst transportation system in America because of its very winding routes unlike Valley Metro in Phoenix, Arizona.^{[citation needed]}

In 1999 Illinois Terminal was created in downtown Champaign which serves as both a transit hub for the MTD and a connection between the MTD, Amtrak and intercity bus lines.

Bus 0320

Today the MTD provides over 10,000,000 rides per year.^[1] The current one-way bus fare is $1.00. Transfers are free and may be used to connect with another route at transfer points to complete a one-way trip. An annual bus pass can be purchased for $60. The annual pass allows unlimited rides.^[2] All University of Illinois students, faculty, and staff have unlimited access to all routes and services.

Fatal accidents

Prior to 2004, MTD never had an accident involving a fatality. Since 2004, there have been two fatal accidents involving pedestrians and MTD buses. Both cases involved University of Illinois students on campus:

• October 27, 2004: Carolyn B. Jeffers, a pedestrian, was struck and killed by a 26 Pack bus at the intersection of S Goodwin Ave and Gregory Dr, Urbana.
• September 29, 2005: Sarah Channick, a pedestrian, was struck and killed by a 22 Illini bus at the intersection of S 6th St and E Chalmers St, Champaign. A lawsuit was filed.^[3]

Drivers have been re-trained, strobe lights for turning movements installed on the entire fleet, and audible signals are sounded during right-turn movements on 60-foot buses operated on campus. A campaign encouraging University of Illinois students to use crosswalks and look both ways before crossing the street was also implemented.

Facilities

Illinois Terminal

45 East University Avenue, Champaign, IL. 40°06′57″N 88°14′27″W / 40.11583°N 88.24083°W / 40.11583; -88.24083

Administration and Operations Offices

1101 E. University Avenue, Urbana, IL. 40°06′55″N 88°11′43″W / 40.11528°N 88.19528°W / 40.11528; -88.19528

Maintenance Department and Bus Garage

803 E. University Avenue, Urbana, IL. 40°06′57″N 88°11′53″W / 40.11583°N 88.19806°W / 40.11583; -88.19806

Wright Street Transit Plaza

University of Illinois Campus on S. Wright Street, between Daniel and John.40°06′31″N 88°13′44″W / 40.10861°N 88.22889°W / 40.10861; -88.22889

Downtown Urbana Transfer Point

Broadway Avenue just north of Lincoln Square, between Main and Elm.40°06′43″N 88°12′27″W / 40.11194°N 88.2075°W / 40.11194; -88.2075

Bus routes

Bold - Main portion of route
Hopper interval - Including regular service, for example, 30 minute of yellow and 10 minute of YELLOWHopper means the first 10 and 20 buses are YELLOWHopper and then 30 bus is yellow.
Weekday Daytime Routes

Route		Terminals			Major streets traveled	Interval
		North/West		South/East
1	Yellow	Illinois Terminal	↔	Wal-Mart Savoy	White St Wright St via Transit Plaza Gregory Dr First St Fox Dr, Lyndhurst Dr Woodfield Dr via Savoy Plaza	30 minutes
	YELLOWHopper		↔	Lot E-14 or Research Park		10 minutes (Northbound before 3:00pm and southbound after 2:30pm) Every other bus terminates at either lot E-14 or Research Park. 20 minutes (Other) Terminates only at Research Park
2	Red	Wal-Mart Champaign	↔	Lincoln Square	Town Center Blvd via Market Place Neil St Main St via Illinois Terminal White St Green St via Illini Union Goodwin Ave via south Urbana Philo Rd via Meijer Urbana and Sunnycrest Cottage Grove Ave	30 minutes
	Red Express		↔	Illini Union		1 hour: 2-5pm U of I days Does not serve Market Place
3	Lavender	Meijer Champaign	↔	Illinois Terminal	Boardwalk Dr (northbound) / Prospect Ave (southbound) Anthony Dr, Queens Way Mattis Ave, Paula Dr, Bloomington Rd Harris Ave, Vine St Randolph St (northbound) / State St (southbound) Main St via Illinois Terminal White St Wright St via Transit Plaza Gregory Dr	30 minutes
	Lavender Express		↔	Stadium Dr & Oak St		2 southbound am-trips 3 southbound pm-trips (Do not serve U of I campus) 3 northbound pm-trips
4	Blue	Country Fair	↔	Market Place	Crescent Dr, Mattis Ave John St Randolph St (westbound) / State St (westbound) Stadium Dr, Peabody Dr Wright St via Transit Plaza White St via Illinois Terminal Columbia Ave, Bradley Ave' Market St	30 minutes
5	Green	Maplepark Dr & Lawndale Dr	↔	Main St & Brady Ln	Kenwood Td, Westfield Dr (westbound) Maplepark Dr, John St (eastbound) Springfield Ave via Country Fair Randolph St (westbound) / State St (westbound) Nail St via Illinois Terminal Green St via Illini Union Vine St via Lincoln Square Fairlawn Dr, Pennsylvania Ave Florida Ave via Sunnycrest Knich St, Country Squire Dr Lierman Ave, Main St Brady Ln, Washington St	30 minutes Buses operate in Washington St & Lierman Ave Loop as follow: Before noon, clockwise After noon, counterclockwise
	GREENhopper	State St & John St	↔	Washington St & Lierman Ave		15 minutes U of I days
5X	Green Express	Curtis Rd & Wynstone Dr	↔	Sixth St & Pennsylvania Ave	Cherry Hills Dr, Maynard Dr Kirby Ave, Kenwood Rd Springfiled Ave via Country Fair Nail St Green St via Illini Union Goodwin Ave Gregory via Main Library Fourth St	Does not serve Illinois Terminal Limited Service eastbound am-trips (6:30-8:30am) westbound pm-trips (2:20-5:30pm)
6	Orange	Country Fair or Plastipak	↔	Wal-Mart Urbana	Springfield Ave via Country Fair Country Fair Dr Church St (westbound) / West University Ave (eastbound) East University Ave via Illinois Terminal Park St, Church St Broadway Ave via Lincoln Square Main St via Urbana post office and Wal-Mart Urbana	30 minutes Only the first and last two trip serve Plastipak.
	ORANGEhopper	Illinois Terminal	↔	Lincoln Square		15 minutes
7	Grey	Parkland College	↔	Dodson East Dr & Slayback Rd or Lierman Ave & Butzow Dr	Bradley Ave, Williamsburg Dr McKinley Ave, Prospect Ave Church St (westbound) / University (eastbound) via Illinois Terminal Second St, Fifth St Rommie St, Wright St Park St, Fairview Ave, Church St Broadway St, Vine St via Lincoln Square University Ave via Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District	30 minutes Only before 9am and after 2:30pm, buses serve Slayback Rd and do not serve Butzow Dr. Other times, buses terminate at Lierman Ave & Butzow Dr.
8	Bronze	Transit Plaza	↔	Lincoln Square	Westbound Pennsylvania Ave Fourth St Wright St via Transit Plaza Eastbound Goodwin Ave via Illini Union Orchard St Vine St Race St	40-60 minutes
9A	Brown	Parkland College	via	Clockwise Illinois Terminal Transit Plaza Country Fair	Bradley Ave State St via Illinois Terminal White St Wright St via Transit Plaza St Mary's Rd, Fox Dr, Devonshire Dr Galen Dr Windsor Rd Winchester Dr, Crescent Dr via Country Fair Duncan Rd, Clayton Blvd	30 minutes
9B			via	Counterclockwise Country Fair Transit Plaza Illinois Terminal
10	Gold	Broadmoor Dr & Mayfair Rd	↔	Richardson Estates or Cunningham Ave	Mattis Ave Kirby Ave First St via Lot E-14 Gregory Dr via Main Library Goodwin Ave Spring Field Ave via Lincoln Square Broadway Ave Brownfield Rd High Cross Rd	30 minutes Before 11am buses operate counterclockwise to Richardson Estates. At noon buses terminate at Cunningham Ave. After 2pm buses operate clockwise to Richardson Estates.
	GOLDhopper	Lot E-14	↔	Lincoln Square		10 minutes
12	Teal	Illinois Terminal	↔	FAR-PAR or Orchard Downs	White St Green St via Illini Union Goodwin Ave via FAR-PAR Orchard St	10 minutes U of I days Every other bus terminates at either PAR or Orchard Downs.
	Teal Limited		↔	Orchard Downs		20 minutes Non U of I days
13	Silver	Lincoln Square	↔	FAR-PAR or Vet-Med	Springfield Ave Green St via Illini Union Wright St via Transit Plaza Gregory Dr via Main Library and FAR-PAR Lincoln Ave	Two buses (:40 and :00 at FAR) terminate at Vet-Med. Others terminate at PAR. 10 minutes (U of I days) 20 minutes (Non U of I days)
14	Navy	Mullikin Dr & Kirby Ave or Lot E-14	↔	Transit Plaza	Mullikin Dr Windsor Rd Fox Dr, St Mary's Rd via Lot E-14 Fourth St, Sixth St	This is a limited service which consists of 50-60 minutes (to/from Mullikin Dr) 4 eastbound am-trips (7-9am,9:22am) 3 westbound pm-trips (4-6pm) 20 minutes (from Lot E-14) 5 eastbound am-trips (7:20,7:45-9:05am)
22	Illini	North Lincoln	↔	FAR-PAR	North Lincoln Ave North Goodwin Ave via Engineer Green St via Illini Union Wright St via Transit Plaza Armory Ave (northbound) / Chalmers St (southbound) First St via ARC Gregory Dr via Main Library South Goodwin Ave via ISR South Lincoln Ave	10 minutes U of I days
	Illini Limited		↔	Transit Plaza		30 minutes Non U of I days
27	Air Bus	Illinois Terminal	↔	Willard Airport	University Ave Goodwin Ave via Illini Union Wright St via Transit Plaza Gregory Dr First St via Lot E-14 Dunlap St	50-70 minutes U of I days Some northbound buses run express and do not serve U of I campus. Two southbound trips serve PAR at 5:31 and 7:26am.
331	Weekday Northeast Direct					6:55-9:06am, 4:06-6:06pm
334	Weekday West Direct					6:40-9:00am, 4:00,6:30pm

Weekday Evening Routes

Route		Terminals			Major streets traveled	Interval
		North/West		South/East
50	Green	Parkland College	↔	Orchard Downs	Bradley Ave, Country Fair Dr Springfield Ave via Country Fair Randolph St (westbound) / State St (westbound) Nail St via Illinois Terminal Green St via Illini Union Vine St via Lincoln Square Fairlawn Dr, Pennsylvania Ave Florida Ave via Sunnycrest Philo Rd via Meijer Urbana Windsor Rd Orchard Downs Dr	30 minutes
	GREENhopper	Prospect Ave & John St	↔	Colorado Ave & PhiloRd		15 minutes U of I days
60	Orange	Lincoln Square	↔	Wal-Mart Urbana	Main St Lierman Ave Washington St Brady Ln	30 minutes
70	Grey	Parkland College	↔	Lincoln Square	Bradley Ave, Bloomington Rd Randolph St (northbound) / State St (southbound) Main St via Illinois Terminal Second St, Fifth St Rommie St, Wright St Park St, Fairview Ave, Church St Broadway St, Vine St	30 minutes
100	Yellow	Wal-Mart Champaign	↔	Wal-Mart Savoy	Town Center Blvd via Market Place Market St Bradley Ave, Columbia Ave' Main St via Illinois Terminal White St Wright St via Transit Plaza Gregory Dr, Hessel St State St, First St Woodfield Dr via Savoy Plaza	30 minutes
120	Teal	Illinois Terminal	↔	Orchard Downs	Refer 12 Teal	20 minutes
130	Silver	Lincoln Square	↔	FAR-PAR or Vet-Med	Refer 13 Silver	20 minutes U of I days Every other bus terminates at either PAR or Vet-Med.
	Silver Limited		↔	Transit Plaza		20 minutes Non U of I days
220	Illini	North Lincoln	↔	FAR-PAR	Refer 22 Illini	10 minutes U of I days
	Illini Limited		↔	Transit Plaza		30 minutes Non U of I days
331	Weeknight Northeast Direct					6:06-11:30pm
333	Weeknight Southwest Direct					7:48-11:25pm
335	SafeRides				Fixed Portion (Begins at 9pm) (Pick-up time) Armory via Main Library (:27, :57) Wright St via Transit Plaza Green St via Illini Union (:00,:30) Illinois St via ISR (:27,57)	U of I days Begins at 5pm (When day light saving is observed) 7pm

Weekday Late Night Routes U of I days only

Route		Terminals			Major streets traveled	Interval
		North/West		South/East
50	Green	Illinois Terminal	↔	Lincoln Square	Refer 50 Green	15 minutes (before 3am) 30 minutes (until 5am of Friday night)
100	Yellow	Wal-Mart Champaign or Illinois Terminal	↔	Lot E-14	Refer 100 Yellow Does not serve Market Place	30 minutes Buses northbound terminate at Wal-Mart Champaign (before 3am) Illinois Terminal (until 5am of Friday night)
120	Teal	Illinois Terminal	↔	Orchard Downs	Refer 12 Teal	20 minutes (until 3am)
130	Silver	Lincoln Square	↔	FAR-PAR	Refer 13 Silver	20 minutes (until 3am except Friday night 5am)
220	Illini	North Lincoln	↔	FAR-PAR	Refer 22 Illini	10 minutes (until 3am except Friday night 5am)
335	SafeRides				Fixed Portion (until 3am) Refer 335 SafeRides	until 6:30am

Saturday Daytime Routes

Route		Terminals			Major streets traveled	Interval
		North/West		South/East
20	Red	Wal-Mart Champaign	↔	Sunnycrest	Refer 2 Red Does not serve south Urbana and Meijer Urbana	30 minutes
30	Lavender	Meijer Champaign	↔	Illinois Terminal	Refer 3 Lavender Does not serve Harris Ave, Vine St, Randolph St, and State St Serves Prospect Ave and Church St (northbound) / University Ave (southbound)	30 minutes
50	Green	Country Fair	↔	Orchard Downs	Refer 50 Green	30 minutes
60	Orange	Lincoln Square	↔	Wal-Mart Urbana	Refer 60 Orange Serves Urbana post office	30 minutes
70	Grey	Country Fair	↔	Lincoln Square	Refer 70 Grey Does not serve Parkland College	30 minutes
100	Yellow	Wal-Mart Champaign	↔	Wal-Mart Savoy	Refer 100 Yellow	30 minutes
120	Teal	Illinois Terminal	↔	Orchard Downs	Refer 12 Teal	20 minutes
130	Silver	Lincoln Square	↔	FAR-PAR or Vet-Med	Refer 13 Silver	20 minutes U of I days Two buses (:40 and :00 at FAR) terminate at Vet-Med. Others terminate at PAR.
	Silver Limited		↔	Transit Plaza		20 minutes Non U of I days
220	Illini Limited	North Lincoln	↔	Transit Plaza	Refer 22 Illini	30 minutes
270	Air Bus	Illinois Terminal	↔	Willard Airport	Refer 27 Air Bus	50-70 minutes U of I days Some northbound buses run express and do not serve U of I campus. Two southbound trips serve PAR at 5:31 and 7:26am.
280	tranSPORT	U of I Campus	↔	Memorial Stadium	Goodwin Ave Gregory Dr Fourth St
331	Saturday Northeast Direct					7:05am-11:30pm
334	Satyrday West Direct					7:00am-11:25pm

Sunday Daytime & Late Night Routes

• 50 Green
• 60 Orange
• 70 Grey
• 100 Yellow
• 120 Teal
• 130 Silver
• 220 Illini
• 270 Air Bus
• 331 Northeast Direct (flex service)
• 333 Southwest Direct (flex service)
• 335 SafeRides (flex service)

References

1. ^ CUMTD : About Us
2. ^ CUMTD : Riding MTD
3. ^ lawsuit

External links

• Official website
• All routes, schedules, and maps
• Champaign-Urbana streetcar history — A work in progress