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News
Oswego to change Park-n-Ride bus service : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisOswego to change Park-n-Ride bus service
| Board votes 4-2 to hire Kendall Area Transit to replace Pace
| by Lyle R. Rolfe
| 9/20/2012
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Kendall Area Transit (KAT) will provide bus service to Oswego's Metra Park-n-Ride lot beginning Jan. 1 as a result of action taken by the village board Tuesday evening.
The board voted 4-2 to approve a service agreement with KAT.
The agreement will be in effect through June 30, 2015.
As part of the agreement, KAT will also provide dial-a-ride service to all village residents.
KAT will replace Pace, which has provided bus service to the Park-n-Ride near the northwest corner of Orchard and Mill roads on the village's west side since it opened in June 2004.
Under the village's agreement with KAT, the number of weekday departures from the Park-n-Ride lot to the Metra station at the downtown Aurora Transportation Center (ATC) will increase from the current three to five. The number of evening departures from the ATC back to the Park-n-Ride will also increase from three to five.
In addition, the village's cost for providing the service will be reduced.
Continuing the present service with PACE would have cost the village $106,000 a year.
But according to the approved agreement, KAT will provide the service with the additional rides at a cost of $84,000.
The current net cost to the village for Pace service is $95,000 annually and the anticipated net cost from KAT is $80,000.
Voting in favor of contracting with KAT were board members Scott Volpe, Jeff Lawson, Judy Sollinger and Gail Johnson. Board members Terry Michels and Tony Giles voted against the motion.
Following the board's vote, Village President Brian LeClercq said he hopes that use of the Park-n-Ride will increase when KAT expands bus service to the facility. Pace had reduced the number of daily departure and return trips from six to three at the request of the village. The village asked the agency to reduce bus service to the site two years ago in a cost-cutting move after the village exhausted the grants it had been receiving to pay for the bus service.
"I'm hopeful people will come back to the Park-n-Ride service when they get wind of this," LeClercq said.
Board members opposed to contracting with KAT said it was because of the cost to the village. They said they believe the village is subsidizing the public transportation at a high cost for a small number of people.
One resident, however, noted that 52,000 people ride the Metra to Chicago along the Burlington Northern Santa Fe west line and back home each day, making it the most heavily used railroad corridor in the Chicago area.
He said public transportation will help sell Oswego and said five trips to and from the village's Park-n-Ride each day will help sell public transportation. He said it's a win-win situation because it will help promote public transportation and help the community
"Please don't eliminate the Park-n-Ride and make the lot an eyesore like Alexander Lumber," he said, referring to the vacant lumberyard in the village's downtown.
LeClercq said the board's vote to approve the agreement to have KAT provide Dial-a-Ride service increases the transportation services available to all village residents.
The annual fee to the village for the service will be $44,916 annually, based on a per capita calculation and riders would be subject to a user charge.
Under the service, residents in the community will be able to schedule bus transportation anywhere within Kendall County and limited service to locations outside the county.
LeClercq noted that village residents previously had the ability to arrange rides through KAT for medical purposes. However, the board's vote Tuesday opens the service up to all village residents.
"We were always afforded as Oswegoans, the opportunity to receive medical attention through the Dial-a-Ride service.
"However, now you will be able to call up the Dial-a-Ride service for any reason, make an appointment, and get a ride for non-medical reasons. There is a cost for that. I believe it's $5 a ride. How about someone who's in an extra-curricular program after school and has a single parent who has to work? They could not participate because there was no transportation service provided. Now this will open the door for that person," he said.
KAT is operated by Kendall County.
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