Public Hearing

Proposed Changes for the 2024– 2025 Service Year

MTD's Planning team reviews system schedules annually and offers suggestions to improve service. Public meetings are scheduled every spring to present the recommendations and solicit public feedback on the proposed changes. This page will be updated regularly to provide important information to keep our customers informed throughout the process.

Save the Dates

Community Feedback

MTD has scheduled two live opportunities, virtual and in-person (listed above), for the community to learn about the proposed changes and actively engage to provide feedback to MTD Staff. 

In addition to the live engagement opportunities, community comments can be submitted in four ways:

Web: Contact Us form

Email: mtdweb@mtd.org

Phone: 217.384.8188

By Mail: Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District, 1101 E. University Ave., Urbana, IL 61802; Attn. Karl Gnadt

Comments will be accepted through Saturday, May 18. All questions and comments submitted, along with MTD’s responses, will be documented on this public hearing page. After the feedback period, MTD prepares a final plan for service changes to be implemented in the Fall for the new service year, which will begin on Sunday, August 11 this year.  Final service changes will be published on MTD’s website, social media, and in the upcoming 2024 - 2025 edition of the Maps & Schedules Book.

Summary of Proposed Service Changes for the 2024 – 2025 Service Year

MTD is pleased to share with the public a summary of our proposed service changes to the upcoming 2024-2025 Service Year, which will begin on Sunday, August 11.

New Northeast Connect Van Service Proposed for Northeast Urbana

In order to provide a more robust and consistent service to residents of Northeast Urbana, MTD is excited to announce the proposal of a new, on-demand van service, Northeast Connect. This new Weekday Daytime van service would replace MTD’s current Weekday Daytime 11 Ruby fixed route service, and allow us to enhance our current 10 Gold service in this area.

As proposed, this van service will allow riders within a defined Northeast Urbana service boundary to use the MTD Connect app to request a trip to a point within the Northeast Connect service boundary, or to the Lincoln Square transfer point, where riders can connect with a robust selection of MTD fixed-route service.

The new Northeast Connect service will improve service to areas currently served by the Weekday Daytime 11 Ruby by providing service throughout the day, generally between the 6AM hour and the 7PM hour, rather than only between the peak hours of 7AM and 9AM, and 4PM and 7PM. Another notable benefit to the proposed Northeast Connect service is that 10 Gold service will be optimized to operate along a single route consistently throughout the service day. This will have a positive impact on on-time performance, and removes current confusion surrounding differing routing during Morning, Midday, and Afternoon service.

Northeast Connect will provide riders with curb-to-curb service to points within the Northeast Connect service boundary, or to the Lincoln Square transfer point, for a $1 fare for each one-way trip. The Northeast Connect service will be available during weekday daytime hours, generally between the 6AM hour and the 7PM hour. MTD plans to launch this new service with the start of the 2024-2025 service year (Fall 2024). Once the service launches, passengers book a ride by downloading and using the MTD Connect app for free, or by calling 217.384.8188 to book a trip over the phone.

The Northeast Connect service area, as proposed, includes the neighborhoods of Liberty Commons, Ivanhoe Estates, Powell’s, Wood’s Edge, and Northwood Estates. The service area is generally bound by Airport Rd. to the north, Highcross Rd. to the east, Perkins Rd. to the south, and the Wood’s Edge neighborhood and GH Baker Dr. to the west, as shown in the map below.

Northeast Connect will operate as an express route to Lincoln Square south of Country Club/Perkins Rd. Northeast Connect will not board or alight passengers outside of the Northeast Connect boundary except at the Lincoln Square location.

Enhanced 10 Gold Routing & Improved Schedule Adherence

Currently, the 10 Gold operates on a morning and afternoon routing (before 10:32AM and after 2:32PM) serving Brownfield to Airport to High Cross to Perkins, and a different, midday routing. With the proposed Northeast Connect service covering the area north of Perkins Rd., the current 10 Gold morning and afternoon routing will no longer operate. Kerr Ave. between Cunningham and Broadway will also no longer be served. The solid gold line shown in the map below is the new proposed 10 Gold routing that would go into effect in August. Areas shown with the dashed gold line will be removed.

Passengers who use 10 Gold service in the Brownfield, Airport Rd., High Cross Rd. and Perkins Rd. areas would instead use Northeast Connect to transfer to a fixed-route bus at Lincoln Square.​

This modification will make the route more efficient, and improve schedule adherence for the entirety of the 10 Gold.​

Progress Toward Service Restoration

Since late 2023, MTD has been fortunate to benefit from a positive trending stabilization of MTD’s Bus Operator workforce. As a result, MTD began to restore some of our previously reduced service in mid-December of last year. We began this service restoration cautiously, in smaller amounts so that we knew we could consistently provide it to our passengers. In the run up to spring, we restored approximately 72 hours of service each weekday.

We continued to add service incrementally throughout the spring, providing an estimated 31 hours of additional weekend service.

As our next step, MTD plans to restore pre-pandemic non-UI service levels this summer at the conclusion of the semester. Beginning with the start of our Summer Service on May 12, we will add an estimated 65 additional hours of Weekday service, 40 hours of Saturday service, and 18 hours of Sunday service.

MTD is optimistic about this additional service restoration and have plans in place to work progressively toward the ultimate goal of full service restoration this fall. The final addition of approximately 102 hours of combined Weekday and Weekend service will restore increased frequencies on all routes throughout the community.

New Saturday Service to Apollo Drive

In reviews of the customer feedback MTD has received over the past year, we’ve identified an increase in requests for service to Apollo Drive on Saturdays to serve employees of local businesses. Currently, the 2 Red route serves this area during Weekday Daytime service and the 100 Yellow route serves this area during Weekday Evening service. ​MTD is proposing adding some trips to the 100 Yellow Saturday route to serve this area.

Adding service to the Apollo area will add approximately seven minutes to the 100 Yellow. As a result, the 100S Yellow Saturday will leave Champaign Walmart two minutes earlier on Saturdays. The 100S Yellow Saturday will no longer have a layover at Market Place Mall, and will also arrive and depart two minutes earlier. Departures from Illinois Terminal and points to the south are not affected by this change.

West Connect Service Area Expansion

In response to feedback received during outreach at The Landing on January 11, MTD is pleased to propose expanding our West Connect service area. ​

The proposed expansion would cover the area between Windsor Rd. and Curtis Rd. from Staley Rd. to I-57. This boundary extension allows passengers to directly access Carle at The Fields, Christie Clinic, Hampton Inn Champaign Southwest, and Windsor West Apartments.​

 New Plastipak Bus Stop Location

To accommodate a change of facility entrance for Plastipak employees, MTD proposes moving the main bus stop at Plastipak to the North entrance.​ This change to the bus stop location will add about five minutes to most routes serving Plastipak. Arrival and departure times at Plastipak are proposed to change as follows:

WEEKDAY AM​

• The 6 Orange will arrive and depart at 6:52AM instead of a 6:50AM arrival & 6:53AM departure.​
• There is no change to the 6 Orange arriving at 7:08AM and departing at 7:15AM.

WEEKDAY PM​

• There is no change to the 6 Orange arriving at 6:35PM & 7:10PM, and departing at 6:40PM & 7:15PM.

WEEKDAY LATE NIGHT​

• The Lime A will arrive and depart at 11:20PM instead of 11:18PM.​
• The Lime B will arrive and depart at 10:57PM instead of 10:55PM.​

SATURDAY AM​

• There is no change to the 50 Green arriving at 6:51AM and departing as a 180B Lime at 6:56AM. change. ​
• There is no change to the 50 Green arriving and departing at 7:15AM.

SATURDAY PM​

• The 180B Lime will arrive and depart at 6:59PM instead of 6:56PM.​
• The 180B Lime will arrive and depart at 7:38PM instead of 7:36PM.​

SUNDAY PM​

• The 180B Lime will serve Plastipak if there are transfers from the 70W Grey due at Round Barn Rd. at 5:59PM.​

110 Ruby Weekday Evening Schedule Changes to Facilitate Transfers

Currently, the Weekday Evening 110S Ruby arrives at Lincoln Square hourly at :23 after the hour. This means passengers may miss transfers to 70W Grey and 50E Green that arrive at :20 after the hour. We propose moving all 110 Weekday Evening Ruby timepoints back by three minutes to accommodate these transfers. Other potential transfers at Lincoln Square should not be affected.

Improved 6:35AM Universal Transfer Flow at Illinois Terminal

To improve the flow of buses exiting Illinois Terminal onto Market St., the 6:35AM Universal Transfer will now be staged in the same order that is used at the 7:40AM Universal Transfer.​

Staging in the same order for both Universal Transfers at Illinois Terminal helps passengers and Operators navigate the platforms during high traffic times.​ This reordering will not affect bus arrival or departure times.​

Elimination of Early Morning Layover at Illini Union for 5W Green

Finally, early weekday mornings, the 5W Green holds at the Illini Union from 6:40-45AM, a remnant of the 6:40AM Green & Wright Universal Transfer that was removed in August, 2014. We are proposing that this layover at the Illini Union be removed, as it has been removed for all other routes that served it. ​

Removing the layover will help this specific 5W Green trip stay on time throughout the rest of the westbound trip and during the return eastbound trip. Currently, this bus tends to run late when arriving at Illinois Terminal for the 7:40AM Universal Transfer.​