Mundelein Metra Station, Advocate Condell Hospital, Lake County Center for
Independent Living, and the Libertyville Sports Complex.
The LCCTSC Northwest Demonstration Project Steering Committee, which acts as the
service’s advisory committee, is comprised of the six township supervisors and two
nonprofit organizations. Lake County and Pace staff work closely with the steering
committee and provide technical support in order to offer flexible local and accessible
transit for the residents in lower-density areas of the county. To date, the Northwest
Demonstration Project has proved successful and is working to identify long-term
financial sustainability.
According to data from the Lake County Division of
Transportation, the Northwest Demo provided 15,779 one-way trips in 2013. Of these,
1,502 were school trips (about 10%) and 7,638 were work trips (about 48%).
The LCCTSC hopes to establish a similar coordinated project in the southeastern
portion of the county and to increase connectivity for seniors and persons with
disabilities with Pace fixed-route bus and Metra rail services in that area. The LCCTSC
continues in collaboration with Lake County to advance its mission to facilitate the
implementation of coordinated, efficient, reliable, and affordable public transportation
throughout Lake County, especially paratransit that will serve the needs of persons with
disabilities or medical challenges, the elderly, low-income residents, and those in need
of transportation for access to employment.
Increasing Opportunity through Access to Jobs
By intentionally providing connections to members of protected classes from their
homes to desired jobs and services that fit their needs, the County can work to
affirmatively further fair housing. Specifically, access to jobs would help low-income
households—a significant number of which are minority and disabled persons—to
increase housing stability, maintain a home, and/or grow household income.
The Transportation Market Analysis identified that “transit service that links residents of
districts with high unemployment rates to employment centers in Lake County may be
appealing to transit dependent populations in Waukegan, Zion, Newport (Township),
Fox Lake and Greater Round Lake districts.”28 To this list, North Chicago should be
added, due to the issues outlined in the “Employment” section, above.
Consortium member cities of North Chicago and Waukegan have unique transportation
challenges. As explored in the “Employment” section, the number of people who enter
either city for work far surpasses the number of residents who stay in either city to work.
According to the Transportation Market Analysis, “the profile of Waukegan residents
and Waukegan transit users underscores the value of current transit service and the
potential for future service enhancements in this part of Lake County. The higher
population and employment densities coupled with the expected continued growth
suggest the need to closely examine the sub-markets for transit in this part of Lake
28
“Transportation Market Analysis,” Final Report, p. 7-3.
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APPLIED REAL ESTATE ANALYSIS, INC.
LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS