CHAMPAIGN — Members of the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District board approved a new contract Wednesday with the Champaign Unit 4 school district to carry middle and high school students for the coming academic year.

The school district will pay the MTD $305,020 to transport students in the 2011-2012 year. That's an increase of 3 percent over last year's contract. The MTD has had a transportation agreement with Unit 4 since 1977, MTD Managing Director Bill Volk said.

The school district will continue to transport elementary school students and those older students who live outside of the MTD boundaries.

Also Wednesday, the MTD board authorized staff to apply for a state operating assistance grant for the fiscal year that began July 1. The MTD expects to get a maximum of $22.7 million, or 65 percent of its eligible operating expenses, from the downstate operating assistance program. The sum is about $2 million more than a year ago, Volk said.

The state has covered 65 percent of the MTD's operating costs for about five years, he said.

"Certainly from my standpoint, I am pleased that the state is continuing its strong support of downstate transit," Volk said.

He also told the MTD board that Parkland College officials have asked the MTD to move its main bus stop from the east side of the campus to the west because of the construction of a student services center.

"That's not only a time issue but a mileage issue. We're trying to come to some accommodation," he said. "They want us to drop folks by their planetarium and theater. It would impact our schedules significantly for the next two years. It would be a major pain for us."

He also said that the MTD sold 3,891 annual passes in the last fiscal year, up from 3,346 passes last year. The passes cost $60 a year.