Village of Bedford Park President Dave Brady Announces
Innovative Suburban/City Job Access Transportation Mobility Pilot Program
BEDFORD PARK, IL – The Village of Bedford Park, IL has selected a team of mobility and technology
partners to operate Connect2Work, an innovative first/last mile pilot program that will improve job
access for suburban and city commuters alike.
The Connect2Work program will provide Bedford Park employees access to an array of first/last mile
(FLM), late‐night, on‐demand microtransit services, which will improve commuters’ access to jobs during both regular and late‐night business hours. The program will also include a first‐in‐the‐region Mobility as a Service (MaaS) app, which will help connect commuters to their preferred mode of travel.
Bedford Park’s unique mobility challenges and potential solutions were identified through the Village’s
last mile mobility planning effort, which was funded through an Invest in Cook grant. Bedford Park
issued a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) on January 21, 2020 and received eleven responses. The
following partners were selected:
First/Last Mile Service: Uber
Late‐Night Service: Uber
On‐Demand Microtransit Service: Via
Mobility as a Service: Moovit
The public sector partners include the Village of Bedford Park, Cook County Department of
Transportation & Highways (CCDOTH) and the Regional Transportation Authority (RTA) working in
collaboration with the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), Metra, and Pace.
“We are very excited to get this innovative pilot operational to help our residents, our businesses, and
the region,” said Bedford Park Village President Dave Brady. “We have been hearing from our
constituents and the business community, such as Home Chef, Cintas, Ingredion, and others, about the transportation challenges for a number of their employees on getting to and from work especially with the coronavirus. We have a number of transit connections in and around the Village, including the CTA’s Orange Line Midway station, and we thought there must be a better way to get residents to transit and regional workers to and from transit to jobs in the Village, in a cost‐effective way. We think this innovative pilot program could be that better way.”
“This pilot program is a critical asset to the Village of Bedford Park and a shining example of how Invest in Cook grant funds are equitably distributed to help alleviate transportation challenges facing our residents,” said Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. “The County is proud to partner with Bedford Park to increase equal access to transportation and employment opportunities through ride hailing and sharing services.”
“The Connect2Work pilot offers a unique opportunity to test how technology and innovation can help us to build on the strengths of the existing transit network to provide seamless mobility during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic. Bedford Park has a large and essential workforce and unique infrastructure challenges for last mile connections to transit in the area. The RTA is excited to be partnering with the Village of Bedford Park, Cook County, and local employers to help workers safely get to job locations within Bedford Park and home again at the end of their shift,” said RTA Executive Director Leanne Redden.
The Connect2Work Pilot Program is part of a multi‐phase effort aimed at developing, testing, and scaling innovative first/last mile and on‐demand mobility solutions, including microtransit, ridehailing, and ridesharing applications. The pilot will also explore ways to integrate these new mobility services with existing transit service in ways that improve access to transit and promote equitable mobility options in Bedford Park, an important industrial and commercial employment center in Cook County with over 26,000 jobs.
This program aims to increase transit ridership and the use of shared modes of travel by providing
Bedford Park commuters’ access to safe and reliable last‐mile connections between transit stops and
their place of work. The long‐term goal is to reduce traffic congestion by providing alternatives to solo
driving, which contributes to traffic congestion. Connect2Work will also improve workers’ access to jobs and, conversely, improve employer’s ability to hire and retain workers. The pilot program will also test a MaaS platform and produce lessons‐learned that may be utilized by other municipalities in Cook County and across the region facing similar mobility challenges as Bedford Park.
“We would like to thank the Cook County Department of Transportation & Highways and the RTA for all of their support,” explained Brady. “They are key public partners that share our vision to help improve our transportation network within the Village and the entire region.” The Village plans to have the pilot program operational in early 2021.
