UIC Innovation Center

CityTech Collaborative Incubator

Hub & Spoke

Public Multimodal Solution to Reduce Transit
Deserts in South Chicagoland
Bila l Othma n

B y streamlining the trip from transit-deserts located in the outer ring neighborhoods
and inner-ring suburbs of Chicago to the Loop and nearby neighborhoods through
a multimodal, quasi-public transit system we can:
Key Ideas
Poverty is on the move...to
South ChicagoLand
Much South ChicagoLand
is a transit desert: an area
that lacks access to public
transit.
Transit Deserts in South
Chicagland limit residents
access to jobs.
Transit Deserts have a clear
overlay with food deserts.
The limited access to jobs
and food forces residents
of South Chicagoland into
mulit-car households.
T h es is
1) increase access to jobs and food
2) cut travel time by as much as 60%
3) decrease the need for multi-car households
4) while simultaneously improving on rider experience.
Ba ckg round & An a lys is
In 2018, for the first time in Chicago’s history, more of
Chicagoland’s poor population was living in the suburbs
than the city. This 16% growth in the last two decades
has especially become prevalent in South Chicagoland.
These disproportion immigrant and POC populations are moving into
transit-deserts; areas isolated ½ mile from rail-stops, or ¼ mile from
high-quality bus-stops. Large swaths of Cook County exist within
transit-deserts; roughly 500,000 people and 161,763 households
have limited access to jobs, food, and forced into multi-car ownership.
There are five major job centers holding 850K+ jobs within
the Chicago Metro Area; the Loop being one, the rest
dispersed in Northern Chicagoland. While access to job
centers is critical, limited neighborhood to neighborhood
travel can also impact local employment opportunities.
Transit-deserts have a clear overlay with food deserts. Much of the
local foodmarts are shared by multiple neighborhoods; making them
impossible to access without a car. Registered business licenses
in these neighborhoods are clustered in strips, that on average,
exist under a mile from any resident in the city or inner-ring suburb.
The design of the suburbs effectively forces residents to own
cars, disproportionately impacting low-income households. For
instance, Harvey, an inner-ring south suburb, has a median
income of under $25,000 per household yet 55% own two or
more vehicles. This trend of people living near the poverty line
and being forced to own several cars is a commonality between
South Chicagoland . Eliminating the need for a single car in each
family can cut annual expense from $6,000 to $10,000 a year.
 Cook County tra n sit d ese r ts

161, 763 households are located in 1 in 10 people live in

transit deserts transit deserts

So uth Chicag ola n d d e m og ra p h ic s

Average income: $48,500
Household size range: 2.5 to 3.0
Family size range: 3.2 to 3.8
Car ownership: 70% of the households owns 2+ more vehicles
Cost per vehicle: $4,000 to $10,000

Policy P ropos a l

Residents living in transit-deserts can turn on a city owned app and select
their final destination. They can walk a maximum of a mile to a centralized
“strip.” A TNP/Rideshare vehicle will be waiting for a rider at the strip
of stores located under 10 minutes walking. If the vehicle has not yet
arrived, riders can wait within the temperature-controlled store until pickup.

In the store will be a double facing screen panel, internally highlighting

the distance to the Loop accounting for traffic and externally carrying
an Ad. The system infrastructure of the app will link linked to existing
CTA bus and rail API’s, consistently updating on the location of
different buses and rail lines. The app is able to direct the driver the
most optimal route relative to time for the rider. Along the route to
the most optimal train or bus, the app is optimizing drivers’ routes to
pick up other riders in different strips headed to a similar direction.
This also allows riders within area of operation to get off at different
strips allowing increased access to centralized shopping & food marts.

If users do not have a smartphone, there will be a code at the

“strip” that users can text using 2G (SMS) or What’s App. Similar
tech infrastructure exists for Middle East Kareem Ride Sharing app.
 Policy An a lys is

These populations crossing city limes and Municipality borders paired with the efficiency
issues of running small bus fleets makes it difficult to extend transit. Communities in
Clearing share a similar demographic and border with Bedford Park. Yet Clearing’s
public transit needs are the responsibility of CTA while Bedford Park public transit needs
are the responsibility of Metra and Pace. Both systems have a standardization of fleet
sizes keeping liability costs consistent and predictable. Introducing smaller bus fleets
to address transit-deserts, specifically in less dense neighborhoods is costly as well as
inefficient. Running buses every 15 minutes in these neighborhoods is not practical.

According to CTA head of Innovation Molly Poppe, 80% of stops aren’t used consistently.
CTA cannot cut these bus stops because of their mission to have equitable transit
for all. CTA, Pace, & Metra need a flexible system, especially for these residents.

The conversation of expanding bus lines is also difficult when bus ridership has
dropped an annual average of 1.7% since 2012 . In 2012, commuters could take a
train, bike, bus, taxi, or drive a car. The mobility market has changed quickly; there
are now more than 9 forms of mobility within the city and dozens of operators. This
ever-changing pace of mobility in Chicago’s system forces us to have a conversation
about other viable options other than extended rail lines or increasing bus operations.

Imp lementa t ion P la n

The next six months will be developing the technology for city-use to integrate the public transit
APIs with route optimization code at the Innovation Center with fellow student engineers
under incubation from CityTech, a member of the Chicago’s Transportation & Mobility
Task Force. Chicago’s Transportation & Mobility Task Force also includes CMAP, CDOT,
ATA, CTA & Shared-Use Mobility Center, all stakeholders who are guiding the proposal.

This model should be adopted by Chicago’s Transportation & Mobility Task Force
as it is built on the principles defined by the “ROADMAP FOR THE FUTURE OF
TRANSPORTATION AND MOBILITY IN CHICAGO.”

1) accessible, affordable, and convenient multi-modal transportation system

2) encourage reduced dependency on single-occupancy vehicle trips and
increased use of higher-efficiency option
3) prepare Chicago for Connected and Automated Vehicles

Alongside developing the technology for this program, revenue streams,

financing, and market potential will be further developed to define a
pilot. A pilot location in the Southern Chicagoland will be selected and
municipalities will be contacted to develop program alongside the community.
 Divvy Contra ct: a les s on in P3 m obilit y

The Motivate Divvy Contract has been a prime example of using private sector
mobility innovation can address public interest. Divvy Chicago’s Bike sharing has
been a success for all the stakeholders involved. The system increases accessibly,
promotes improvements within the system, and most recently has become profitable.
Breaking down Divvy’s success can be traced to the structure of responsibilities in
the bike sharing program and the clear understanding of private and public goals.

Infrastructure of bikes and stations are owned by the city. Software service
like the app and station computers are run by Motivate, part of Lyft’s portfolio.
This looming fear that Lyft can be replaced at the end of the agreement by
competitors like Jump, owned by Uber, forces Lyft to not treat this asset like
a cash cow and promotes continuous innovation and improvement within Divvy.

Divvy pays the city $6 million to use this infrastructure, which increases four percent annually.
This infrastructure gives Lyft three ways to generate revenue or ad awareness:

1) Individual rides and annual subscriptions; which if exceeds $20 million, the
city has a 5% stake in

2) Third-party system sponsorship which allows stations and bikes to be branded

a. This city either gets all profit over $1,500,000.00 or 40% of net
revenue generated from third-party sponsorships

3) Ad revenue from station billboards.

a. 20% of the panel faces can be used to advertise Lyft and its products.
b. 5% of the ad panel are for the city to use for public service
announcements.
c. 75% remaining are ad revenue for Lyft.
Drafting an agreement similarly structured
to the Divvy Contract around the different
incentives for the four major stakeholders is
essential to this program’s success.
Incentives for Ridesharing/TNP

Ridesharing companies are not concerned about profit. Uber and Lyft’s recent IPO
have made it clear their goal is to “grow at all costs .” Breaking even is viewed as a
success in their current and foreseeable strategy. This gives cities a chance to have
P3s that are purely experiential. Since the goal of the program is to eliminate the
need for multi car household; the biggest incentive for a TNP is that it spreads their
rider influence but does not cannibalize existing consumers.

Incentives for Public Transit System, City and Surrounding Municipalities

This system will improve accessibility and increase falling ridership of CTA, Pace, &
Metra while maintaining their goal of accessibility to all.

This system will also give an edge to Public Transit over private sector options. Part
of TNPs strategy to “Grow At All Costs” is to have users open their app and use
their service before any other mobility options. The CTA Ventra App is losing this
battle. When users plan a journey, even if it is a public transit route, they open Google
Maps, Lyft, or a third party using their API. By having public transit as the center of
the journey, this battle becomes won by the city.

Public transit also lacks the data to tell users where they are coming from, and going
to, especially relative to TNPs and other mobility options. This data will give city
planners a better idea of what areas are seeing significant movement and where they
are headed.

This fixed subscription cost, increase in ridership, along with advertising will help fund
the system.
Incentives for Business located in Strips

Business who opt to have the double facing screen panel in their stores will have
access to increased foot traffic. We can prioritize placement of these boards in locally
owned business over chain retailers. Businesses can either pay to have the panel
and own the ad space or opt to have the increased foot traffic for no extra cost but
display different ads on the panel.

Incentives for Riders

Riders who participate within the program can decrease the need for more than one
car in household, savings $6000 to $10,000 annually per car.

This system provides an improved rider experience, reducing commuter friction on

the trip. Upon interviewing 20 different commuters and administering 100 surveys,
the biggest factor that influence a commuter’s day to day choice of what mode of
transit to take is the ease of use.

A major factor to the success of Uber, Lyft, & other TNPs is the door-to-door trip
rides. There is no waiting. Walking under 10-15 minutes (mile to a mile and a half
at an average pace) is not the issue with taking the bus, but rather the waiting,
especially in the cold causes’ commuter friction.

When taking a TNP, riders walk out, enter a car, and arrive at destination. This is
door-to-door experience can be achieved within public transit with the integration of
all components from buses, rail, ridesharing vehicles, and the commuter itself. Riders
will be able to walk 10 minutes, enter uber, and hop of transit with no waiting times.
With City of Chicago’s commitment to 5G and the IoT, this system is only set to
improve.

The consumer habit that leads to the type of mobility a user take is the type of
asset owned. If users own a car, they will drive. If users have a 30-day CTA pass,
they will take public transit. Having the cost of the integrated system as a single
fixed fee every month will increase ridership on the system.