The STAR Line Business Alliance is a group of concerned corporate citizens who have experienced the effects of increasing highway congestion on their ability to do business in the Chicago region, and have partnered to support Metra's proposed Suburban Transit Access Route (STAR) Line as a critical piece of addressing regional transportation issues. This newsletter will serve as a medium to keep all of the members of the Alliance informed and up-to-date on the project as it moves closer to fruition. We anticipate this newsletter to be distributed quarterly, and the most recent version of the newsletter will be sent to all Business Alliance members.
The talking points below articulate what the STAR Line is and The Business Alliance's importance in building support for this revolutionary initiative which is vital to the continued success of the Northeastern Illinois Region. When you run into someone in the elevator, at lunch, or on your way out to the parking lot, this is your chance to help spread the word about the STAR Line.
- The 55-mile STAR Line will be the first suburb-to-suburb commuter rail line in the country, initially linking nearly 100 communities, and extending from Joliet to O'Hare International Airport. The line will generate economic growth and new transit opportunities for employers and employees throughout the region.
- The STAR Line will benefit the entire region by taking cars off the road, thereby lowering emissions and mitigating traffic congestion. For the 1.6 million residents who live in this area of high traffic congestion, this means approximately 750 fewer traffic accidents annually. The STAR Line will also provide $12.6 million in savings annually due to highway congestion cost avoidance.
- The STAR Line Business Alliance is a group of concerned corporate citizens who have experienced the effects of increasing highway congestion on their ability to do business in the Chicago region. The Business Alliance has partnered with Metra to build the legislative support necessary to receive critical state and federal funding to bring the STAR Line to fruition.
Artist renderings of proposed Metra STAR Line station
- Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital
- Arlington Park
- AT&T
- Bell, Boyd & Lloyd
- Carol Stream Chamber of Commerce
- Chicago Marriott NW
- Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce
- Coldwell Banker
- DuPage Airport Authority
- Edward Hospital
- Elk Grove Chamber of Commerce
- Embassy Suites-Schaumburg
- Exelon
- Greater Aurora Chamber of Commerce
- Greater O'Hare Assoc. of Industry & Commerce
- Greater Woodfield Conv. & Visitors Bureau
- Harper College
- Hyatt Regency Woodfield
- IKEA Home Furnishings
- Illinois Chamber of Commerce
- Jackson Moving & Storage
- Metropolitan Planning Council
- Motorola
- MRH & Associates
- Naperville Area Chamber of Commerce
- Naperville Area Humane Society
- Northern Illinois University
- Northwest Municipal Conference
- NSACI
- Office & Commercial Real Estate Magazine
- Olson Transportation
- Phoenix Closures
- Prairie Stone
- Prairie Stone TMA
- Quality Float Works, Inc.
- Resolute Consulting
- Roosevelt University
- Schaumburg Business Association
- Sears Centre
- Sears Holdings Corporation
- ServiceStar Development Company
- Siemens
- Spinnaker Real Estate Ventures, LLC
- St. Alexius Medical Center
- The Ethos Workshop, Ltd.
- Verizon Wireless
- Walgreens Co.
- Woodfield Mall
Before Metra can implement any new service, or expand existing service, projects must undergo several feasibility and environmental studies to ensure all federal and state guidelines are met. Metra must comply with the federal New Start process which requires documentation and rigorous studies to justify that these commuter rail alternatives best address the transportation needs and issues within the corridors. This process is called Alternatives Analysis (AA).
The STAR Line is progressing through the AA phase. In the AA phase, the project study area (shown at right)is defined, and the transportation problems in the corridor are identified. Next, a series of alternatives areproposed to solve the transportation problems in a designated corridor. In the STAR Line AA phase, these options included local and express bus, bus rapid transit and commuter rail. Through a number of screenings, the list of alternatives is narrowed down to a single Locally Preferred Alternative (
In order to gain feedback from key stakeholders, Metra has formed a Technical Advisory Committee that has met several times to give feedback to the process. Over the summer, Metra held a series of public meetings to inform the public about the AA process with the help of a presentation and display boards. The meetings also served to gather feedback from the general public on the proposed project. As a result of the meetings, Metra has reduced the number of build alternatives to six that will be carried forward into the ridership modeling stage.
This fall and winter, Metra will be modeling the alternatives and reporting the results at a second round of publicmeetings tentatively slated for January 2007. At that point, a proposed Locally Preferred Alternative will be presented for consideration.
Survey Deployment
In order to better inform Metra's efforts to predict ridership, there is a need to survey people who live and work in the corridor about their current and future travel patterns. At the STAR Line Business Alliance Steering Committee meeting several months ago, Metra gained valuable insight on the target audience for such a survey. After conversations with the STAR Line AA consultants, it was determined that surveying employees or students who make trips in the corridor at least 100 days per year would be the most valuable. We will be utilizing other resources to gather information from infrequent corridor travelers such as shoppers, conventioneers, and concert/sporting event attendees.
In order to deploy this survey in the most efficient and economical manner, Metra has secured the services of a surveyresearch firm. The survey will be available on the Web in the near future and we will let you know soon, via email, where it can be accessed. If your employees or students do not have access to the Web, paper surveys are also available. Please contact David Kralik at 312-322-8035 or dkralik@metrarr.com to request paper surveys for your location. We will need your assistance in collecting the surveys and returning them to us. The surveys will be released in November and will be deployed for approximately six weeks. We need to make sure the data can be calculated by January 2007, so we will rely on your support in getting the word out to all of your employees or students.
In addition to the survey, Metra is developing an introductory video that will be available in early 2007 to talk in more detail about the project. We are currently assessing delivery options for the video including kiosks and web-deployment.
If you haven't done so already, please consider adding your name to the list of STAR Line Business Alliance members by clicking here.
