RTA releases final Far South Halsted Corridor Study, preparing for future Pace Pulse service

An RTA Community Planning project to support the expansion of Pace Pulse service to Chicago’s south suburbs is now complete. The Far South Halsted Corridor Study seeks to increase transportation resilience, encourage transit-oriented development (TOD), improve walkability and bicycle access, and develop strategies that prepare the corridor to support improved bus service between the Harvey Transportation Center and the Chicago Heights Transportation Center.

RTA and Pace collaborated with a consultant team to examine current infrastructure, identify opportunity sites for redevelopment, and determine potential station locations for future Pace Pulse service in the corridor. The RTA’s Community Planning program provides funding and technical assistance to local governments to help foster the growth of sustainable, equitable, walkable, and transit-friendly communities. Since 1998, RTA has completed more than 200 projects across six counties.

Pulse is Pace’s bus rapid transit service. It offers a variety of benefits compared to regular fixed-route bus service, including faster travel times with limited stops and transit signal priority, free Wi-Fi and other amenities, modern stations with heated shelters and real-time bus arrival information, faster boarding, and improved ADA accessibility with raised bus platforms at all stations. In 2019, Pace launched the Pulse Milwaukee Line, serving thousands of riders between Niles and Jefferson Park in Chicago. In 2024, Pace launched the Pulse Dempster Line between Evanston and O’Hare Airport. The Pulse Halsted Line, scheduled to launch in 2027, will serve Pace’s highest-ridership corridor from 95^th Street south to Harvey.

To prepare for an expansion of the Pulse Halsted Line from Harvey south to Chicago Heights, the RTA and Pace developed the Far South Halsted Corridor Study, which focuses on initial planning for future Pulse service. Although they are closely related, the Far South Halsted Corridor Study and the Pulse Halsted Line cover different geographic areas, with the Far South Halsted Corridor Study focusing exclusively on the portions of Halsted between Harvey and Chicago Heights. In conjunction with a new Transportation Center at the Harvey Metra Electric station, the Pulse Halsted Line, and the Pulse 95^th Street Line, this corridor study continues the significant investment by Pace to improve transportation in South Cook County.

The Far South Halsted Corridor Study builds off the RTA and Pace’s previously completed plans and studies for this area, including the Pace Pulse Corridor Development Plan and the Harvey TOD Plan. The project aligns with RTA’s regional transit strategic plan, Transit is the Answer, which calls on the agency to support communities’ efforts to improve the area around their transit stations and stops and pursue equitable transit-oriented development, as well as to partner with roadway agencies to build more transit-friendly streets and advance bus rapid transit.

The study area follows Pace Bus Route 352 between Harvey and Chicago Heights, largely on Halsted Street. Crucial elements of the final corridor study include:

Identification of potential Pace Pulse station locations within the study area based on transit demand, adjacent land uses, and Pace Bus Route 352 stops with the highest current ridership;
Sub-regional market gap analysis to identify goods, services, and housing types in demand and currently not present along the corridor;
Identification of opportunity sites for transit-supportive development and recommendations for potential land uses on those sites;
Bus speed analysis for Pace Bus Route 352 to determine sections of the corridor with the slowest bus speeds for future improvement;
Recommended alternatives serving Prairie State College that would reduce travel times;
Identification of potential infrastructure improvements in the vicinity of each of the proposed Pulse Station locations, including new sidewalks, crosswalks, pedestrian refuge islands, curb extensions, etc.; and
An implementation matrix for each municipality in the study area, given the municipal role in land use development and responsibility for infrastructure improvements.

The development of the study was guided by a steering committee made up of individuals from the following organizations and municipalities: Chicago Heights, East Hazel Crest, Glenwood, Harvey, Homewood, South Holland, Bloom Township, Prairie State College, RTA, Pace, Metra, the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning, the Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois Tollway, Cook County, South Suburban Mayors and Managers Association, Chicago Southland Chamber of Commerce, and Wind Creek Casino. Community engagement around the study was guided by three core principles: inclusion, transparency, and collaboration. The approach is focused on building trust and creating a sense of ownership in the communities within the study area. There were several pop-up meetings throughout the corridor, and stakeholders were compensated for their time providing feedback and input, dependent upon their level of participation.

Read the Far South Halsted Corridor Study and learn more about the RTA’s Community Planning program.