Chicago receives grant to ease transit

Two new bus projects aimed at expediting travel throughout downtown Chicago will soon be underway thanks to federal grants totaling about $35 million. The projects will aid meeting attendees traveling to and from Navy Pier and McCormick Place to off-site venues, hotels and other parts of downtown.

An express bus service will operate as a downtown circular in designated bus-priority lanes connecting Union Station and Navy Pier with selected stops in between and will eventually expand to connect all of the West Loop with North Michigan Avenue, Illinois Center, the Museum Campus and McCormick Place. The second project is an expedited bus service on Jeffery Boulevard from 103rd Street and Stony Island Avenue to Jefferson and Washington streets west of the Loop, with more routes to come in the future.

The announcement comes on the heels of new legislation in Illinois that aims to place Chicago back on par with major meeting destinations. The law eases rules for exhibitors at McCormick Place, the city’s convention center. The bill came in response to the loss of a few high-profile and high-revenue association events that relocated to competing cities. The new legislation cuts labor costs for meetings and conventions that choose Chicago.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is expected to award a total of almost $300 million in federal funding for dozens of bus, streetcar and trolley projects nationwide, federal officials said.