MTD Pulse

New 17 Cherry Service to Carle on Curtis; Replacement of 5 Green Express

With weekday daytime service beginning Monday, August 10, 2026, passengers can now ride MTD directly to Carle on Curtis. The new 17 Cherry replaces the 5 Green Express route and provides more robust and consistent service to riders. This new route was developed in response to passenger feedback and the Carle organization.

Regular 5 Green service will operate as usual during Weekday Daytime service.

New School Trips

Please Note! Because the new 17 Cherry replaces the 5 Green Express, all students who previously rode 5 Green Express trips to and from school will ride the 17 Cherry at the start of the new school year. Families are encouraged to re-plan their school trips in advance to ensure a smooth start to the school year.

Regular Service Throughout the Day

In addition to providing new service to the Carle on Curtis facility, Liberty on the Lake, and Cherry Hills, the new 17 Cherry route will improve service to areas currently served by the 5 Green Express by providing service in both directions throughout the day, rather than only during peak hours.

MTD has been looking at ways to serve the Carle facility since it opened in 2008. However, state law restricts transit districts from annexing parcels that are non-contiguous to district boundaries or taxed as farmland, which posed an obstacle to reaching the site.

MTD Managing Director Karl Gnadt explains, “In this case, all of the properties that were contiguous to our boundaries and in-between Carle and the District were taxed as farmland. It wasn’t until landowners of some of the farmland voluntarily agreed to be annexed that we could access the Carle property. We’re grateful for their willingness to support their community.”

Modifications to 1S Yellow Schedule to Improve Performance

Over the last six months, data has shown that over 18% of 1S Yellow trips leave Illinois Terminal over five minutes late. In the new service year, MTD has made some schedule changes that will help schedule adherence and improve on-time performance to locations south of Illinois Terminal.

Beginning at 7:52AM, 1S Yellow trips from Champaign Walmart to Illinois Terminal will leave five minutes earlier, at past each hour.  This change reduces layover time at Champaign Walmart from 14 minutes to nine minutes, and adds a new five minute layover at Illinois Terminal.

Adjustments to 9A/B Brown Route

In the previous service year, the 9A/9B Brown operated along Peabody Dr. in Campustown, which posed some operational challenges. In the new service year, MTD has moved this route from Peabody to Pennsylvania Ave., which is wider and better suited to bus traffic. There are no changes to route timing.

The 9B Brown bus stop located at Fourth & Peabody SE has been removed. Existing stops for both the 9A Brown and 9B Brown at Fourth & Pennsylvania and Sixth & Peabody have been moved to accommodate the new routing.  

Modifications to 14 Navy Schedule to Improve Performance

In response to passenger feedback related to schedule adherence on the 14 Navy, MTD has modified the schedule of 14 Navy trips serving the Curtis Meadows area in the morning, and again in the afternoon. Frequencies have been changed to 35 minutes for these trips, which allows additional time for service to Lot E-14, from the Stephens Family YMCA to Windsor & Prospect, and from Lot E-14 to Illinois Terminal. These changes add between 6 and 10 minutes to each round trip.

• With these changes, Mullikin & Curtis Meadow will be served by the 14E/W Navy in the mornings at 7:30AM, 8:20AM, 8:45AM, and 9:30AM.
• Mullikin & Curtis Meadow will be served by the 14E/W Navy in the afternoons at 4:55PM, 5:32PM, 6:15PM, and 6:47PM.
• The frequency of mid-day trips between 9:50AM and 4:45PM remains unchanged. These trips do not serve Curtis Meadows.

Modifications to 10 Gold Routing and Schedule

In order to provide more consistent and timely service, MTD has planned changes to simplify the 10 Gold routing in northeast Urbana.

However, due to ongoing street closures that will require buses to reroute, the annual service change affecting the 10 Gold will not be implemented until later in 2026. The new routing will take effect once the street closures are complete and normal operations can resume.

Summary of Changes

In the previous service year, the 10E Gold served northeast Urbana via Country Club Rd. to Cunningham Ave. to Kerr Ave. to Eastern Ave. At the Perkins & Eastern timepoint, the route transitioned to the 10W Gold before continuing via Perkins Rd. to Carroll Ave. to Kerr Ave. to Cunningham Ave. to Country Club Rd.

In late 2026, the 10E Gold will begin serving northeast Urbana via Country Club Rd./ Perkins Rd. At the Perkins & Eastern timepoint, the route will transition to the 10W Gold before continuing via Eastern Ave. to Kerr Ave. to Cunningham Ave. to Country Club Rd.

High ridership stops, including Perkins & Eastern and Town & Country, will continue to be served with no changes.

Additionally, new service will be introduced along Perkins Rd. between Carroll Ave. and Cunningham Ave., improving access to the commercial area at the southeast corner of Cunningham and Perkins.

Service along Carroll Ave. will be discontinued. Riders in this area would instead need to access service at nearby stops, including Perkins & Carroll or Carroll & Kerr.

Purpose of Routing Change in Northeast Urbana

Buses serving the northeast portion of the 10 Gold route have experienced consistent challenges maintaining scheduled times. Once in effect later this year, the routing change will create a larger, single-direction loop that requires less turning. This change is designed to streamline routing, improve operational efficiency, and significantly enhance on-time performance for all 10 Gold passengers.

Daytime and Evening Schedule Changes

Based on passenger feedback, MTD confirmed that the first 10E Gold trip of the day was consistently 5-7 minutes late between Lot E-14 and Krannert Center. To improve schedule adherence, MTD will start the first 10E Gold trip of the morning at Mattis & Broadmoor at 6:20AM, instead of 6:25AM, and extend the trip to Lincoln Square.

Additional Evening Trips

Also in response to passenger feedback, MTD has added additional evening trips on the10W Gold from Perkins & Eastern to Lincoln Square. There will be two additional trips from Perkins & Eastern to Lincoln Square at 6:20PM and 6:50PM.

Expansion of West Connect Service Area

To increase accessibility of on-demand services and to promote greater connectivity, MTD is excited to expand the West Connect weekday  daytime service area starting Monday, August 10, 2026.

The expansion includes neighborhoods east of I-57 and south of Kirby Avenue (Maynard Lake, Lincolnshire Fields, Robeson Meadows West, Village at the Crossing) and the Stratford Center.

 The Stratford Center –  home to Niemanns and Ace Hardware – will be a new pick-up and drop-off location.