The innovative idea was that the public could watch the channel to see their bus plotted on a map, and be able to time its arrival at their stop. In 1982, the district attempted a tracking system based on triangulation Loran-C, location information being broadcast to a local cable provider and displayed on a local channel. The new ability to transfer information over space changed the way the system operated and foretold the direction of technological developments to come. That was the technology.” A key turning point came in the late 70s, when equipment was installed for radio communication between the buses and the main facility. In those early years, according to an administrator, “Our technology was that every bus operator had a dime, and if the bus broke down they would walk to the nearest phone and call in to tell us what was wrong. Operations of CUMTD began on Augand the district received its first federal grant later that year. However, in the same year, 1970, a referendum to create a Mass Transit District was overwhelmingly approved by voters on November 24. In response to this trend, GM sold the lines in 1965 to Westover Transit Management, and within five years this company had put a petition to the Illinois Commerce Commission to cease operation. Ridership during this period peaked in 1958, when one million people rode the buses, and then slowly declined as families began to purchase and use cars. Eleven years later, both the buses and trolley lines were bought by a subsidiary of General Motors, which replaced all of the streetcar lines with more buses and operated them for the next 30 years as the Champaign-Urbana City Lines. In 1925, buses operated alongside streetcars run by Illinois Power and Light Company. Historyīefore CUMTD was formed by a referendum in 1970, buses had operated in Champaign-Urbana intermittently since 1901, when a small bus line was established that operated for 11 months. Riders with bikes can place them on the bike racks on the front of the bus, but as they disembark, should inform the driver that they need to retrieve their bike before the bus departs. The buses are handicapped-accessible, and the driver can "kneel" the bus and lower a ramp if necessary. Although the buses are usually punctual, riders should get to their bus stop several minutes early in case of early arrival or time discrepencies. Information on bus fares can be found here. Those who want to ride the buses should keep their fare, bus pass, or student ID on hand so that it is ready when boarding. New kiosks are being installed to communicate exactly which buses will be departing from a given stop and in how many minutes, and this information is also accessible both on the organization’s website and through a text messaging service. Schedules vary when school is not in session and during Holidays. It is also a simple matter to plan a route using the tip planner on their website ( ) or Google Maps. Paper copies of the full schedules can be found on the buses near the driver, or printed from a PDF that can be downloaded from their website. The maps and schedules can be found here: and at many of the bus shelters. The buses have regular, repeating schedules for Weekdays, Weekday nights, Saturday days, Saturday nights, Sunday days, and Sunday nights. Most of the buses are labeled by color and number (Yellow 1, Red 2, Lavender 3, etc.), although there are exceptions (Illini 22, Air Bus 27, etc.). The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (CUMTD) is the system of buses that run around Urbana, Champaign, and the UIUC campus.
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