Transit

State lawmakers are spending this spring’s legislative session debating how to solve a $771 million funding gap the Chicago area’s public transportation agencies face in 2026. But downstate public transit agencies are also facing a similar plight as costs rise beyond the state’s longstanding funding commitment.

A Bloomington business owner said Monday the downtown post office will move into a portion of his building in the 300 block of Main Street downtown.

The Uptown Station Amtrak stop in Normal is the second busiest in the state with 10 passenger trains a day coming through on the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Eric Sorensen said a bipartisan bill he's co-sponsoring to reduce fentanyl smuggling at the southern border would also help suppress gun smuggling.

It was standing room only in a downtown Chicago committee hearing Tuesday as activists, transit experts and lobbyists hung on the words of the region’s transit agency chiefs.

Connect Transit may change how much it charges for rides on the Bloomington-Normal bus system and modernize its fare boxes. A proposal will go board members at their February meeting. If approved, the draft package would be put out for the public to offer input before any formal adoption.

The Federal Railroad Administration is giving Illinois $95.1 million for passenger train service. Some of that will go toward the Chicago-to-St. Louis corridor that includes Bloomington-Normal, Pontiac and Lincoln in central Illinois.

Gov. JB Pritzker recently voiced support for the Chicago Hub Improvement Program (CHIP), a plan that also holds promise for Amtrak service through Bloomington-Normal. The investment in transportation infrastructure would fix several problems at Union Station and connect it to two potential passenger-focused main lines.

Normal Mayor Chris Koos is conditionally endorsing doing away with bus fares in the Twin Cities, but says he still wants to see a concrete proposal before fully committing.

The head of Bloomington-Normal's bus system said his organization will forgo nearly $1.4 million in funding from the City of Bloomington and Town of Normal next budget year. Those are dollars for capital projects David Braun said Connect Transit doesn't need right now.