Transportation

Heartland Community College and Connect Transit have partnered on a new bus line that will stop along the I-55 corridor from Normal to Pontiac. The line will be free for Heartland students.

Connect Transit began a rollout phase for new fare collection equipment Monday. Riders will be able to pay a fare using a credit card, mobile device or a reloadable prepay card when fully implemented by the end of July.

Brady Lange had been serving as active director since December, following David Braun’s resignation.

The Central Illinois Regional Airport is giving a big thank-you to Congressman Darin LaHood for coming through with $1.5 million in grant money.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin doesn't think the current version of the Farm Bill will fly. During a news conference in Normal, he said the House version will not get his vote.

A Bloomington-Normal historian says bicycles were once a top export from the state of Illinois. Manufacturing centers in the state, including Peoria and Chicago, made two-thirds of all bicycles sold in the country in 1898.

Winter weather complicates an already scarce parking situation in Downtown Bloomington. The Market Street parking deck has closed. And the Front and Center block has yet to finish demolition and become surface parking. That’s likely to become available sometime next spring.

Electric automaker Rivian has unveiled new technology it says will put it at the forefront of autonomous vehicles.

“We are less looking for … a community hub. We are more sticking to the knitting and providing top-notch transportation services at that nice location right in the buckle,” said Connect Transit board chair Julie Hile.

The McLean County Farm Bureau is expressing disappointment with the redesigned intersection of College Avenue and Rivian Motorway, also also known as Route 150. Under construction, it will be a roundabout.