Bill Text: IL HR0816 | 2023-2024 | 103rd General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Congratulates Pace, its Board of Directors, and its employees on providing 40 years of safe, equitable, efficient, and environmentally responsible transportation in the six-county region of northeastern Illinois. Wishes the suburban transit provider continued success in the decades ahead.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Passed) 2024-05-22 - Resolution Adopted [HR0816 Detail]
Download: Illinois-2023-HR0816-Introduced.html
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1 | HOUSE RESOLUTION | ||||||
2 | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois House of | ||||||
3 | Representatives wish to congratulate Pace, the Suburban Bus | ||||||
4 | Division of the Regional Transportation Authority, on the | ||||||
5 | occasion of its 40th anniversary; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Pace was formed by legislation passed by the | ||||||
7 | Illinois General Assembly in 1983, and it officially began | ||||||
8 | operations on July 1, 1984; and
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9 | WHEREAS, At its founding, Pace's new leadership inherited | ||||||
10 | responsibility for operating hundreds of suburban bus routes | ||||||
11 | that had previously been operated by financially struggling | ||||||
12 | municipal and private bus companies throughout northeastern | ||||||
13 | Illinois; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Pace consolidated and modernized those various | ||||||
15 | operations into a unified, streamlined, and efficient transit | ||||||
16 | agency while also closely coordinating with its partner | ||||||
17 | agencies Metra and the Chicago Transit Authority under the | ||||||
18 | oversight of the Regional Transportation Authority; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Pace became responsible for operating ADA | ||||||
20 | Paratransit services in Chicago as well as the suburbs after a | ||||||
21 | change in State law in 2005, leading to vast improvements in |
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1 | customer satisfaction and greater ridership on that service; | ||||||
2 | and
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3 | WHEREAS, Pace buses were authorized to use the shoulder of | ||||||
4 | Interstate 55 in the southwest suburbs due to a change in State | ||||||
5 | law in 2011, resulting in tremendous improvements in travel | ||||||
6 | time and on-time performance on that corridor and a subsequent | ||||||
7 | 600% ridership increase in the first seven years of the law's | ||||||
8 | enactment; and
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9 | WHEREAS, Pace launched its Pulse rapid transit program | ||||||
10 | with an initial line on Milwaukee Avenue in 2019 and a second | ||||||
11 | line on Dempster Street in 2023, with three more lines now in | ||||||
12 | development, leading to faster travel times and greater | ||||||
13 | ridership on those corridors; and
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14 | WHEREAS, Pace, as the operator of a fleet of more than 700 | ||||||
15 | buses, recognized its responsibility for pollution reduction | ||||||
16 | and committed itself to converting its entire fleet to | ||||||
17 | zero-emission vehicles by 2040, a goal that they are on | ||||||
18 | schedule to meet; and
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19 | WHEREAS, Pace has proven to be a consistent reformer, | ||||||
20 | ensuring its services meet the needs of the commuting public, | ||||||
21 | as evidenced by the Vision2020 program of 2001, during the | ||||||
22 | COVID-19 pandemic, and this year's ReVision project; amidst |
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1 | the COVID-19 pandemic, the suburban transit provider | ||||||
2 | especially demonstrated both how essential it was to | ||||||
3 | transit-dependent commuters in northeastern Illinois and how | ||||||
4 | compassionate its leadership was while navigating the evolving | ||||||
5 | crisis to ensure public health and safety; and
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6 | WHEREAS, Pace has emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic with | ||||||
7 | a renewed spirit of reform by implementing many new programs, | ||||||
8 | including VanGo, a reservation-based service providing public | ||||||
9 | transit where and when it is needed, while also ensuring | ||||||
10 | taxpayer funding is utilized efficiently; and
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11 | WHEREAS, Over its 40-year history, Pace has been a | ||||||
12 | national leader in innovation and technology through | ||||||
13 | implementing a number of initiatives, including the Vanpool | ||||||
14 | program, the Intelligent Bus System (IBS) for real-time | ||||||
15 | tracking of buses, the On Demand service, the TripCheck | ||||||
16 | tracking system for paratransit customers, the Mobility as a | ||||||
17 | Service (MaaS) program on the Transit mobile app, and the new | ||||||
18 | Rideshare Access Program; and
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19 | WHEREAS, In a recent study concerning the future of public | ||||||
20 | transportation in northeastern Illinois, Pace remains more | ||||||
21 | efficient when compared to peer agencies across the country; | ||||||
22 | and
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1 | WHEREAS, Pace's responsiveness to its stakeholders in | ||||||
2 | northeastern Illinois continues to ensure that public transit | ||||||
3 | riders in the six-county region will be well served for the | ||||||
4 | next 40 years; therefore, be it
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5 | RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE ONE | ||||||
6 | HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | ||||||
7 | we congratulate Pace, its Board of Directors, and its | ||||||
8 | employees on providing 40 years of safe, equitable, efficient, | ||||||
9 | and environmentally responsible transportation in the | ||||||
10 | six-county region of northeastern Illinois, and we wish the | ||||||
11 | suburban transit provider continued success in the decades | ||||||
12 | ahead; and be it further
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