“Ride Lake County” is almost set to launch in May after the Lake County Board approved a series of items at its meeting Tuesday that create both the funding and parameters to launch the new borderless, countywide paratransit service.
One of those items, which is an intergovernmental agreement with Pace Bus, will go into effect May 1. This is also when the service is slated to start up. The agreement will run through the end of the year and need to be renewed annually, officials said.
The final cost of the service for 2022 to the county is expected to be $300,000. The total program will run about $1.7 million, with the bulk of it being covered by a Pace subsidy and grant. Fare revenue is expected to cover about $180,000 of the cost, and federal grants will cover another $300,000.
Officials noted that the cost is expected to go up for the county in 2023, with the expense projected to be between $600,000 and $1.1 million.
Since the parameters of the service were pitched in September 2021, the program has stayed relatively the same. Those 60 and older or people with disabilities are eligible for the service, which will run from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day, except holidays.
It will be a cash-only system, with the first 5 miles costing $2, a ride 5-10 miles costing $4, and any ride over 10 miles costing $6. The service covers all municipal boundaries in the county.
The program throughout the past several months has received bipartisan support from County Board members, with officials throughout the process voicing their excitement over the service’s creation.
At a Feb. 2 Public Works, Planning and Transportation Committee meeting, Board Chair Sandy Hart said the previous system, which consisted mostly of a patchwork of paratransit services provided by townships, was “crazy” and “extremely difficult” to navigate.
“Oftentimes it would take such a long time,” Hart said. “This is really wonderful …. (The old system) wasn’t as good as what we’re gonna have.”
District 11 Board member Paul Frank at the County Board’s Tuesday meeting thanked staff and board for their work on the program.
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“This is a significant improvement in countywide paratransit services,” Frank said.
The service has been years in the making and saw the process formally begin after a study was completed in 2019, officials at the Feb. 2 Public Works, Planning and Transportation Committee said. County staff has since drawn up the program, and has been in negotiation with Pace to create the agreement since September 2021.
What comes next is registering riders for the program, as well as marketing and public outreach, officials said. As part of that, the county will be working with townships and municipalities to coordinate the service.
The service is expected to begin May 1.