Champaign County Area Rural Transit System, or C-CARTS is the primary provider of

mass transportation Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

Champaign County, Illinois Champaign County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois. As of the 2020 census, its population was 205,865, making it the 10th-most populous county in Illinois. Its county seat is Urbana. Champaign County is part of the Champaign–Urbana, ...

, with routes serving the Rantoul area. As of 2021, the system provided 27,682 rides over 6,915 annual vehicle revenue hours.

History

Public transit Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typical ...

in Rantoul has existed since at least 1952, when the Rantoul Transit Co. served the city. However, by the 1970s, service had ended. In 1995, in order to address the transportation needs of rural Champaign County and Rantoul, a county Rural Transportation Steering Committee was established. Little changed until 2007, when

IDOT The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) is a state agency in charge of state-maintained public roadways of the U.S. state of Illinois. In addition, IDOT provides funding for rail, public transit and airport projects and administers fuel ...

notified Champaign County of available funding specifically for rural public transportation. As an indication of the necessity of transit service to the area, Rantoul resident Wendell Golston began Rantoul U-C Express, a private bus service, from Rantoul to Champaign-Urbana on May, 16, 2008. After fulfilling the requirements for funding, in 2011 CRIS Rural Mass Transit District (CRIS-RMTD) began operating rural general public transportation in Champaign County. Demand-response service was originally provided to the Rantoul area, with service expanding to the whole county in May 2013. On October 1, 2014, the Champaign County Area Rural Transit System (C-CARTS), replace CRIS-RMTD as the service provider for the county. Eagle Express routes, which provide deviated fixed-route service in Rantoul, launched on November 7, 2016. On November 1, 2018, service was expanded from one to three routes serving the community.

Service

Champaign County Area Rural Transit System operates 5 deviated fixed routes, in addition to demand-response service. Buses operate from 5:00 am to 8:00 am and again between 3:00 pm and 6:00 pm, Monday through Friday. There is no weekend service. The following routes provide local service in Rantoul: *Eagle Express *North Eagle Express *South Eagle Express-Direct *Reduced Service The Rantoul Connector route provides service from Rantoul to Champaign-Urbana and back, with connections to the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District and

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

at the

Illinois Terminal The Illinois Terminal is an intermodal passenger transport center located at 45 East University Avenue in Champaign, Illinois, United States. The facility opened in January 1999 and provides Amtrak train service and various bus services to the C ...

Fares

Fares are $2.00 for local routes and $5.00 for the Rantoul Connector.

Transfer points

* Downtown Rantoul (Garrard and Sangamon) * County Market * Walmart

Fixed Route Ridership

The ridership statistics shown here are of fixed route services only and do not include demand response.

References

External links

Champaign County Area Rural Transit System
Rantoul, Illinois Bus transportation in Illinois Transit agencies in Illinois {{Illinois-transport-stub