Transportation

Bloomington-Normal's public bus system said Thursday it has to reduce service because it doesn't have enough drivers. Connect Transit General Manager David Braun said weekday bus service on certain routes will come less frequently.

When school began in Unit 5 this fall, a lot of school buses were getting kids to class late. Too many, according to Chris Coyle, the area general manager for First Student, the company that has the Unit 5 bus contract.

Of all the many shifts and twists in U.S. society since the twin towers fell 20 years ago, none may be quite as profound as in the aviation industry. Now 35 years into his career, Central Illinois Regional Airport Director Carl Olson was an airport director on 9/11 as well, in upstate New York.

The McLean County Regional Planning Commission has a lofty goal to get to zero fatal traffic collisions and zero life-changing injuries per year in the county. It's based on a program that emerged in Sweden and has spread worldwide.

The Central Illinois Regional Airport in Bloomington will get almost $2.9 million in pandemic relief money from the federal government, U.S. Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Dick Durbin announced Thursday.

The largest auto insurer in Illinois is sounding a warning about thefts of catalytic converters from autos. Bloomington-based State Farm Insurance says nationally, thefts of that car part have tripled in the last year.

Normal Town Council member Kathleen Lorenz keeps expressing reservations about a $24 million Uptown underpass project and yet keeps voting for it over a period of years. She said during a WGLT Sound Ideas interview, she is taking a leap of faith.

Connect Transit is set to bring in a new general manager at a key time in the Bloomington-Normal transit agency's history.

A flood warning is in effect for McLean County until Saturday afternoon, after a downpour brought 4 to 7 inches of rain and quickly flooded area roads, according to the National Weather Service.

Rivian has now hired 1,000 people in four months at its plant in Normal. Plant Spokesperson Zach Dietmeier said the current number of workers is about 1,900 and hiring continues.