Why Should You Care About Infrastructure?

May 18, 2016

[caption id="attachment_1865" align="alignnone" width="2224"] Metra will rehabilitate and replace trains to keep service safe and comfortable.[/caption]

 

You may have heard by now that it is National Infrastructure Week.  Sounds really exciting right? Like National Wildflower Week (which was the first week of May, but the way) or National Orange Juice Day. (Bummer! You missed it. It was May 4.)  This week is actually more serious and affects us all!  Although obvious problems like potholes and decaying bridges need to be addressed, infrastructure also includes our regional public transportation system. Our system needs a sustainable and reliable long term capital funding source. What could more capital investment in our region fund? Every billion dollars invested in public transportation supports and creates more than 50,000 jobs. For riders in our region, these dollars could fund:

 

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• The CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization program which will completely rebuild the northern portion of the red and purple lines, making all stations accessible and replacing century-old bridges and elevated tracks with a modern infrastructure that will increase capacity and improve service for generations to come.
  

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• Metra’s fleet modernization plan, which includes the replacement and rehabilitation of rail cars and locomotives.
  

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• Pace’s Pulse Arterial Rapid Transit, which will allow buses to increase speed and reduce travel times.