SPRINGFIELD – With money for new rail lines, regulations for residential development projects and a list of infrastructure priorities in the Chicago area, a public transportation bill recently approved in Springfield does more than just fill a transit funding gap.

While Senate bill 2111 was widely covered for the $1.5 billion it drives to transit throughout Illinois and its governance reforms in the Chicago region, the more than 1,000-page bill outlines a new approach to public transportation. And it includes new regulations designed to spark development near transit stops and bring passenger rail service to new cities.

Read more: Lawmakers approved $1.5B transit funding package without statewide tax increase

Two regions — Peoria and the Quad Cities — could be the largest downstate c

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