Illinois-based Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District (MTD) was awarded $500,000 in grant funding for the purchase of Bus Operator Training Simulators. The grant is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
The ARRA grant will be used to purchase two simulators with customized software that emulates the MTD's unique operating environment, including the campus of the University of Illinois with its high bicycle and pedestrian traffic and congested road network.
The simulators, programmed to emulate this environment, will allow the MTD to introduce bus operators to this environment in the controlled setting of the simulator room.
The MTD hopes to begin using the Bus Operator Training Simulators in mid-2010.