SCHAUMBURG READY TO BE SITE OF PERSONAL RAPID TRANSIT PROTOTYPE

Village of Schaumburg officials are confident their proposal to the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) for the Demonstration Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) system will win the highly contested competition.

"Schaumburg needs this project if we are to maintain our economic vitality," said Mayor Al Larson. "The businesses, retail developments and restaurants that located here to be near O'Hare Airport and Woodfield have made Schaumburg the hub of the northwest suburbs. This system is a perfect match for our community."

The RTA is proposing to build a fully-automated transit system that could significantly reduce traffic congestion. The Demonstration PRT will be funded by a public/private partnership.

The PRT system employs individual cars that seat up to five people — providing the same flexibility and privacy of the automobile — and move along one-way guideways directly to the destination specified by the cars' passengers.

The waiting time for the PRT cars will be no more than three minutes and the system will be constantly monitored to ensure safety. The Demonstration PRT will include a two-mile track with a design that is capable of expanding to four to six miles.

"Traffic is the number one issue in Schaumburg," said Tom Dabareiner, Schaumburg transportation planner. "Our research shows this project will ease our traffic problem and offer services not yet available anywhere else." Of those towns expected to apply for the prototype PRT, Schaumburg is the only one to have a full-time transportation planner on staff.

"Due in part to its proximity to O'Hare International Airport, Schaumburg has become the home of numerous corporate offices. Already about 50,000 people work within the village borders," Dabareiner said. That figure is expected to grow to about 80,000 people within the next 15 years.

"The growth of Schaumburg has been according to plan," Dabareiner said. "Now we're looking for further,

April 1991 / Illinois Municipal Review / Page 23

more efficient ways to handle the traffic this growth will bring."

In addition to workers, the fully developed PRT will also be targeted at shoppers using Woodfield Shopping Center.

The village is proposing a route that would run from an area north of Golf Road along the western edge of Woodfield Shopping Center to the Schaumburg Corporate Center north of Higgins Road.

This route would be most convenient to business people and shoppers who are looking for the spontaneity and privacy of the automobile without the traffic and delays. The proposed route would be complemented by Pace bus systems, according to the Schaumburg proposal.

"About 12,000 people work along the route proposed by the village, and about 16,000 are within a quarter-mile walk," Dabareiner said. In 15 years, about 40,000 jobs are expected to be within a quarter-mile of the route.

"This system has the potential to remove at least ten percent of the roadway traffic in the area, and probably more than ten percent," Dabareiner said. "That may not seem like much on paper, but drivers would notice it right away."

Schaumburg is one of up to 22 towns expected to submit proposals by the RTA's March 15 deadline. The 13-member RTA board will tour the proposed sites in April and May and will narrow the list to about three finalists. The competition's winner will be announced in about one year.

If, after its design and testing phases of the project, the RTA gives the go-ahead to build the demonstration project, construction could begin in 1994. •

Page 24 / Illinois Municipal Review / April 1991