Commission debates Elgin-Aurora bus rapid transit

A newly formed commission met Friday in Elgin to discuss how to create rapid bus transit along Randall Road between Elgin and Aurora, despite the fact that Kane County officials say they consider that a long-term project.

According to members of the Randall Road Rapid Bus Transit Commission, such a service would benefit communities along the corridor and the tens of thousands of workers and commuters who drive it every day. The theory is that with a speedy route, taking the bus could be cheaper alternative that’s better for the environment.

Commission co-chairman state Sen. Michael Noland, an Elgin Democrat, said he hopes federal funding can be secured for the lion’s share of the project’s funding, which could entail Pace buses serving the corridor with dedicated lanes or priority or both. State money could be freed up by already completed projects included in the state’s $33 billion capital bill, Noland said.

Elgin Mayor Dave Kaptain, who co-chairs the commission, said communities along the corridor should look for opportunities to kick in local funding. “We will look at our own cost for the city of Elgin, like (bus) terminals and shelters. Each city will need to do that,” he said.

Big-box stores and large banks along Randall Road also might be interested in taking on expenses such as the maintenance of bus shelters, Kaptain and Noland said.

But according to Kane County Division of Transportation officials, rapid bus transit is a long-term proposition — think by 2040 — for the Randall/Orchard Road corridor, because current conditions make it difficult to even support fixed bus routes.

For the last 18 months or so, the county has been studying the long-term feasibility and benefits of creating rapid bus transit, said Heidi Files, KDOT’s senior executive planner. “The conditions that we are suggesting (for rapid bus transit) involve a much higher density and mixed uses” along Randall Road.

The county’s study is expected to be completed sometime this spring and will include final cost estimates, Files said. Rough, preliminary estimates call for about $6.4 million per year in operational costs with 20 buses. In addition, each bus would cost $750,000 to $1 million, and infrastructure improvements would be needed, she said.

Bus rapid transit has been successfully implemented in urban areas, but there aren’t many, if any, examples in less dense areas like the Randall Road corridor, said Josh Ellis, of the Chicago-based Metropolitan Planning Council. He is not a member of the commission and was not at the meeting.

However, Ellis said, after communities like Cleveland have invested in the project, the private sector has responded by building residences and businesses around bus terminals, he said. “I believe that bus rapid transit is sort of like the baseball field in (the movie) ‘Field of Dreams” — if you build it they will come,” he said.

Noland said Kane County Board Chairman Karen McConnaughay was invited to the meeting. She was not present, but a representative of the Kane County Department of Transportation sat in the audience.

Rich Jacobs, district director for Noland, said all the members of the commission, which also include representatives of the city of Aurora, Pace, the Illinois State Toll Highway Authority and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and others, support the bus rapid transit project.

Commission member David Tomzik, Pace long range planning section manager, said the agency is in favor of a gradual approach to establishing rapid bus transit over time along the Randall/Orchard corridor. For example, the agency recently improved its service between South Elgin and St. Charles, he said.

“We have to analyze what the goals are, what is realistic in the time frame, what has to happen for an incremental approach,” he said.

Batavia Mayor Jeff Schielke said he supports the bus rapid transit project, but expressed skepticism about the likelihood of getting funding any time soon. “We’re sitting here as a region not knowing what we can and cannot do with transportation in future,” he said.

The commission next meets on April 13. In the meantime, members will be looking for funding.