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Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District

From Biocrawler, the free encyclopedia.

The Illinois Terminal, MTD Transit Hub for Champaign

The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District refers both to the greater Champaign-Urbana area surrounding Champaign and Urbana, Illinois, and to the entity which provides transportation services and facilities to that area. Locally know as CUMTD, or simply MTD, the Mass Transit District traces its history back to 1854 with the inception of local railroad lines, and to the birth of Champaign as a city.

Today the MTD serves the area with a combination of bus, taxi, train, and airline service that is largely subsidized by city and county taxes. The system also serves the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where students pay a transit fee every semester in exchange for unlimited use.

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History of 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 nightime "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 & 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 inablity 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 & 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. 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 1999 the Illinois Terminal was created in downtown Champaign which serves as both a transit hub for the MTD and a connection between the MTD and national rail systems. The MTD also offers connections to Willard Airport, the airport owned and operated by the University of Illinois.

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The MTD Today

Today the MTD services over 10,000,000 passengers per year, and has been named the best small transit system in America, as well as receiving other awards which recognize its accomplishments when compared to even larger transit systems.

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Awards and Honors

In 1984 MTD received national recognition when it was chosen as the 7th best transportation system in America, outranking the systems provided by many larger cities across the country. In 1986 and 1994 it was the recipient of the American Public Transit Associations Outstanding Achievement Award.

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