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Projects Updates for Support the MTD Bus System

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  1. This Week in Research

    Associated Project(s): 
    Solar Farm 2.0
    Agrivoltaics: Crop Production and Solar Panels on the Same Land
    Geothermal on Campus
    Biomass Boiler at the Energy Farm
    Support the MTD Bus System
    iCAP 2020: Illinois Climate Action Plan

    What do giant grasses, micro grids, deep wells, and hydrogen-powered buses all have in common? They are all part of a clean energy future that is being imagined, created, and tested here at UIUC. The breadth of our energy research portfolio, across all of the campus and the broader C-U community, is truly impressive. Here are just a few examples:

    Solar Farm 2.0 will soon be home to a newly awarded, $10M project led by Madhu Khanna to optimize the design of "Agrivoltaics," or fields with both crops and solar panels to maintain crop production, produce renewable energy, and increase farm profitability. A few miles to the east, the Energy Farm boasts extensive test plots to study how to grow and use plants as biofuel. The farm is using a biomass boiler to replace propane as the fuel source for its main research greenhouse. The Energy Farm is also home to one of dozens of geothermal wells on campus that are helping scientists like Yu-Feng Lin develop better geothermal systems, while on the north side of campus, the new Campus Instructional Facility is heated and cooled with a state-of-the art geothermal system. Nuclear power is expected to play an important role in meeting our campus ICAP goals, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hosted a hearing last week to seek input on our plans to site a next-generation, micronuclear reactor near the Abbott Power Plant. Integrating renewable energy sources into the power grid presents unique challenges, and Illinois power system researchers, including Alejandro Domínguez-García, are working to develop microgrid technology to address issues of reliability and resilience. Meanwhile, researchers such as Petros Sofronis are working on a bold new vision for national leadership in the emerging hydrogen economy. (It might sound like the stuff of science fiction, but the CUMTD just launched two hydrogen-powered, zero-emission buses—the first in the state!) 

    There is only one way I can wrap up a message about our campus energy research: The future looks bright, indeed!

    Sincerely,

    Susan

  3. Update on MTD's transition to clean energy vehicles

    Associated Project(s): 
    Support the MTD Bus System

    We currently have 94 hybrids in our fleet of 111 vehicles, which makes us 85% hybrid. However, we have 11 more hybrids being made right now as replacement vehicles that are supposed to start arriving in the next week. At that point, we’ll have 105 hybrids, making up 95% of the fleet. I know that’s starting now and will certainly be done by the end of the year, but I don’t the exact timeline (I would imagine within a few months we’ll have them all, though).

    We did order the two hydrogen buses that will be arriving later this year and then go into service in 2021. We did design that fueling station to be scalable, because we feel really good about this technology and think it holds a lot of promise for us, so if it does work out, the station was designed to be modified and go from accommodating two buses to six or ten or twelve as easily as possible. So, if funding allows, I would be on the look-out for those. - MTD representative to F&S inquiry in April 2020

  4. Near Far Without a Car Flyer

    Associated Project(s): 
    Encourage Active Transportation
    Bike Sharing
    Support the MTD Bus System
    Bike at Illinois Website and Campaign
    Encourage Ride-Sharing
    Encourage Bicycle Use
    Encourage Walking

    Facilities & Services (F&S) updated the Near Far Without a Car flyer (or CarFree Flyer) in August 2019. This flyer lists the alternative modes of transportation available at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It also consists of essential safety information, such as SafeRides, SafeWalks, DRES shuttles, Bicycle Safety Tips, Bike Registration, etc.

    F&S has partnered with several departments across the University to distribute the information in this flyer to thousands of old and new students. For example, this flyer will be distributed to more than 3,000 incoming international students during their mandatory check-in at the International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS). F&S has also partnered with MTD to distribute this flyer to students at the Quad Day.

     

    Attached Files: 

  7. MTD Newsletter for August 2017

    Associated Project(s): 
    Support the MTD Bus System
    Multimodal Corridor Enhancement Project (MCORE)

    Welcome to MTD's Fall 2017 Service Year

    MTD’s 2017-18 service year began yesterday and new Maps & Schedules books are now available on our buses and at Illinois Terminal. Pick up yours today & let us know if you have any questions-just call 217.384.8188 or email us.

    In addition to a few timetable and routing adjustments, our passengers and the public should be aware of several larger changes this year: MTD has moved to a Designated Stops system, Round Barn Road in Champaign is now the main transfer point for routes in west Champaign, and MCORE project work will continue to cause reroutes in and around Campustown.
     
    School trips for Unit 4 and District 116 middle and high schoolers will begin this Wednesday, August 16, and just prior to University of Illinois classes beginning Monday, August 28, all summer service reductions will end on Friday, August 25. 

    See you soon on the bus, trail, sidewalk or at Illinois Terminal!

    Introducing Designated Stops

    MTD's Fall 2017 Service Year began on Sunday, August 13, 2017, the same day our new Maps & Schedules book went into effect. 

    One major change this fall is the introduction of system-wide designated stops. Several Open Houses were held to solicit input from the public, and MTD staff compiled and incorporated the comments into our planning process. A full list of designated stops locations and maps are available at cumtd.com in our "Documents" section under Designated Stops Fall 2017.

    We're here to help you with this new system. To find or verify your nearest designated stop, give us a call at 217.384.8188 or send us an email. 

    State of the (Illini) Union

    MCORE Project work in front of the Illini Union is progressing and reroutes are ongoing. Follow MTD on Facebook or Twitter for reroute information & updates, like this drone footage from Overhead Ag.

    Illinois Terminal Expansion Announced

    Developer Hans Grotelueschen’s major downtown Champaign project once sited at Washington and Walnut streets will move several blocks south and east to merge with a planned expansion of Illinois Terminal by the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD).

    As part of a new vision for this development, Grotelueschen and MTD officials are also evaluating a hockey arena and athletics event center for approximately 5000 spectators. In so doing, they hope to partner with the University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics (DIA), which recently announced that it was studying the feasibility of adding Division I ice hockey. Read More>

    In the News

    Did you happen to catch MTD Grant Manager Jane Sullivan's Getting Personal piece in yesterday's News-Gazette or WCIA's recent story on Operator Goodrich? We're proud of our people! Take a few minutes to learn more about who drives MTD. 

  8. November 4th, 2016 Meeting

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Support the MTD Bus System

    Meeting minutes 11/04/16

    -          Ankit showed us a video showing how some cities like Singapore are using tracking systems ( using cards) to track when people are getting on and getting off. This may improve the bus schedule. We could possibly using cards to track.

    o   MTD would have to put systems of the busses. Would require funds to implement this idea.

    o   Yangfeng mentioned some problems that could be associated with it. We must be careful if changing the bus schedule. Will MTD be open to the idea? It is quite some change.

    -          What we will talk to Ben about: one proposal on campus fleet, proposal on air travel to understand behavior, and parking proposal to change behavior. We will ask him what’s next, what’s on the agenda, and about further tasks to do. We need some more guidance.

  9. Update from Ben McCall

    Associated Project(s): 
    Transportation iCAP Team
    Parking Master Plan
    F&S Sustainable Fleet Plan
    Install Public Use Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Stations
    Support the MTD Bus System

    Dear Transportation SWATeam,  [Sorry for the barrage of emails...this is the last one for this morning!]

    I met with Michelle Wahl from Parking late last week, and she had some very useful comments on the iCAP draft that I thought I should share with you:

    1) She mentioned that in years past, she used to receive "idling reports" on her vehicles, which must have been equipped with some sort of system that tracked when the vehicles were idling.  This raised the question of whether such technology could be deployed widely on our fleet, rather than focusing only on "class 6 and above trucks" (neither of us knew exactly what that means).

    2) She was concerned about the financial aspects of providing additional opportunities for people to purchase less than full-time parking privileges in lots with wait lists...this is probably something that deserves further discussion.  If Parking allows someone to drop their full-time parking pass for a particular lot and instead purchase less than full-time for the same spot, their revenue will decrease.  This is concerning because Parking is legally required to be self-supporting -- they cannot receive any subsidy from campus, nor can they make a profit.

    3) She recommended adding a recommendation that parking rates be increased to provide a dis-incentive for single-occupancy vehicle use. 

    This would also be essential if the number of parking permits sold were to decrease, as Parking's costs are essentially fixed. Raising rates would be a challenge because they are subject to collective bargaining, but it has been successfully done on other campuses (including UIC). 

    Having an explicit call for this in the iCAP might help provide ammunition for such efforts.

    4) She recommended some investigation of the subsidy that Parking currently provides to MTD.  At present, Parking pays over $500K per year for this, ostensibly to support the buses that run to the "shuttle lot" (E-14, I think).  But this amount greatly exceeds the total revenue that Parking receives from selling permits in the shuttle lot.  She thought it was worth making sure that the amount Parking is contributing towards the MTD is the appropriate amount, because any funds that could be "saved" there could be directed towards other sustainability-related initiatives within Parking.

    5) She pointed out that there are now 18 "Level 1" charging stations for electric vehicles on campus, and Parking has plans to install some "Level 2" charging stations in 2015.  She thought it might be worth showcasing this work on page 29 of the current draft, and I am inclined to agree.

    Cheers,

    Ben

  10. MTD solar array article

    Associated Project(s): 
    Support the MTD Bus System

    "This summer, the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD) maintenance facility got something cool to go on top of its roof — a big photovoltaic system — 1,212 panels.

    According to Jane Sullivan, whose title at CUMTD is grant manager and sustainability planner (and who is a 2012 graduate of the UI School of Earth, Society, and Environment, where I teach), it's the biggest solar array operating in central Illinois.

    It generates 350,000-kilowatt hours of electricity over the course of the year, which translates to one quarter of the electricity used there. (The maintenance facility is a busy place, operating 24/7 when the UI is in session and providing full service maintenance for the district's 102-bus fleet.)

    Sullivan said the investment in solar is in keeping with the broader environmental mission of the district. "We're interested in finding as many ways as we can to reduce our environmental impact, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions is an important part of that."" - Rob Kanter, http://www.news-gazette.com/living/2014-09-28/environmental-almanac-loca...

     

  14. Transit analysis

    Associated Project(s): 
    Support the MTD Bus System

    In FY08, the UI funded a Transit Analysis for the University District by MAB.   The study reviewed options for Bus Rapid Tramsit lines and methods for reducing bus traffic on Wright Street.