Lake County officials want help from residents to evaluate paratransit options, which currently include flexible transportation services for seniors and people with disabilities.
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The county will host four community meetings between Jan. 17 and Jan. 19, when people can evaluate current transportation options and recommend improvements. These meetings will serve as the start of a larger paratransit market study, which would be a blueprint for any changes.
Ashley Lucas, the county’s project manager, said Thursday that she hopes to complete the study by the end of the year. She did not have a timeline for implementation, though, since it depends on what the county finds.
“We’re conducting the study to evaluate transportation options for county residents and to prepare an implementation plan to improve service,” Lucas said. “That’s what we hope the actual paratransit market study will do.”
Transportation options vary throughout the area. Lake County offers three main paratransit services: RideLakeCounty, Pace Dial-a-Ride services and Pace ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) transportation services.
Seniors and people with disabilities who reside in Fremont, Libertyville, Shields, Antioch, Grant, Lake Villa, Avon and Wauconda townships can reserve transportation through RideLakeCounty, according to the Lake County Division of Transportation’s website. The county, community partners and Pace subsidize some of the costs, but users still pay a fee.
Pace Dial-a-Ride is available in some townships, but eligibility for the service varies. Some townships, such as Zion and Benton, serve the general public. Other townships, such as Fremont, serve only seniors and people with disabilities. The cost varies per area, too.
Pace’s ADA paratransit services operate within three-quarters of a mile of its regular Pace bus routes, which are concentrated in the eastern portion of the county. Only people with disabilities who have received paratransit certification from the regional transportation authority can ride the ADA paratransit service buses.
“That’s why we kind of need to start assessing services in the county,” Lucas said, “because we have multiple services and we’re all kind of doing the same thing, (so) it’s important for us to understand what we have and what we need in the county.”
Lucas said the county does not yet have any plans for improvement, but it generally is looking to find ways to improve its services or find if there are any other ways to provide services. The January meetings will be like open houses so people can provide their suggestions:
*Jan. 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Round Lake Beach Cultural & Civic Center, 2006 N. Civic Center Way, Round Lake Beach.
*Jan. 17 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Waukegan Township Park Place Senior Center, 414 South Lewis Ave., Waukegan.
*Jan. 18 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Libertyville Township Office, 359 Merrill Court, Libertyville.
*Jan. 19 from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at the Wauconda Township Office, 505 West Bonner Road, Wauconda.
Later in the year, the county may create focus groups and release a survey to gauge more opinions. People will also be able to access a link on the Division of Transportation’s website to provide input.
“It is our hope that we would have riders that we don’t necessarily see captured in the study or the people who have needs that we’ve never heard from before captured in the study as well,” Lucas said.
Angelica LaVito is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.