Low weekend ridership on Norridge’s free bus system has prompted village officials to take measures to suspend the long-running Saturday service.
Plans to stop Saturday service by August will depend on Pace’s decision whether to approve a request made by Norridge to run the bus on a weekday-only schedule, Norridge officials said at a July 13 board meeting. Pace operates the village’s fixed ride system under the Regional Transportation Authority.
Pace has not come back with a response to the village’s request, according to Norridge Mayor James Chmura, who said the schedule changes could take effect as early as Aug. 1.
“We needed to go to [Pace] first, and they might not concur with us,” Chmura said. “A lot of this has to do with the people who use the bus on Saturday not having a ride, so we plan to notify the residents as soon as we know.”
The push to eliminate Saturday service is based on ridership numbers tracked by the village that show an average of only five to eight riders use the bus on Saturdays compared to about 25-35 people who ride each day on a typical Monday-Friday week, according to Kathy Gaseor, executive assistant for the village.
Chmura speculated that Saturdays are an unpopular day for the mostly senior-age bus riders because many people who count on the bus on weekdays to run errands and go to appointments have family members around on weekends to drive them instead.
If Saturday service is taken off the schedule, it would save the village between $200-$300 per week, which is the average the village pays for a bus driver’s eight-hour shift, according to Chmura.
“There’s also the wear and tear on the bus that needs to be factored in,” he said. “If you’re driving the bus for eight hours a week with only a couple of riders, that’s a lot of extra fuel and maintenance.”
The bus route runs Monday-Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. The weekday schedule would not be affected by the proposed service change.
The fixed bus route system runs from the north to east sides of town, making five stops between the northernmost pickup point at Foster and Delphia avenues to the eastern side of the village at Norridge Commons shopping center.
Natalie Hayes is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.