In some respects, the two-year transportation reauthorization bill, Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21 st Century ( MAP-21 ), represents a significant departure from previous federal transportation bills and does more to recognize freight needs than the law’s antecedents. Since the adoption of SAFETEA-LU, the last major transportation reauthorization bill, stakeholders across the country... Read More

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) has garnered growing recognition as a flexible, cost-effective solution for addressing transit needs and providing a commute alternative in congested areas. Today the region faces significant mobility challenges as evidenced by increasing congestion, cuts to public transit, and deferred maintenance of critical transportation infrastructure. To address this, CMAP’s GO... Read More

On August 7, 2012, the Governor amended the Illinois Enterprise Zone Act by signing Senate Bill 3616 into law (Public Act 97-0905).  Many of the oldest enterprise zones will expire in 2014 at the end of their 30-year life cycle.  Since 1984, the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity (DCEO) has created a total of 97 enterprise zones . This post serves as... Read More

On Friday, July 27, 2012, U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that up to $1.75 billion would be available under the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act ( TIFIA ) program.  The TIFIA program provides low-interest, flexible financing options to major transportation projects via direct loans, loan guarantees, and standby lines of credit.  The... Read More

Note:  This is the third in a three-part Policy Updates series on  Metropolitan Chicago’s Freight Cluster:  A Drill-Down Report on Infrastructure, Innovation, and Workforce: Metropolitan Chicago's Freight Cluster Part 1, Infrastructure Metropolitan Chicago's Freight Cluser Part 2, Innovation Metropolitan Chicago's Freight Cluster Part 3, Workforce In 2011... Read More