Eight months after the Village of Niles put the brakes on the free bus service, the wheels on the new Pace buses began to roll on April 1.
Niles Mayor George D. Alpogianis, State Sen. Ram Villivalam (8th District), and Pace Executive Director Melinda Metzger gathered the day before the launch in front of the Niles Senior Center for a press conference announcing the service’s relaunch. New, smaller 14-passenger buses replaced the older buses and will be operated by six full-time drivers and 15 part-time drivers who have been retrained on the new buses that will travel along routes 410, 411, and 412, according to the mayor.
“For more than 50 years, this free bus service has been a point of pride for the village of Niles,” Alpogianis said at the press conference. “These smaller buses lower operating costs and offer better alignment with actual ridership. The 14-passenger bus is right behind so you can see first-hand what this next chapter will look like. I’m very grateful to Sen. Ram Villivalam. Government does work. Three different entities working together to better our community.”
He explained that the Niles Free Bus system, established in 1972 by the park district, was taken over by the village a year later to provide convenient transportation for seniors and residents with disabilities to various destinations within the village. The village partnered with Pace in 1984 to continue to provide the service until last September, when the village halted the service, blaming a dispute with the suburban commuter bus company over paying insurance, although Pace officials said at that time, they offered to temporarily cover that cost.
In February, Niles village trustees unanimously approved a two-year contract with Pace, which will provide 10 Pace-owned 14-passenger vehicles that are ADA compliant, and the village of Niles will obtain and maintain an insurance transit policy and indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Pace, its directors, officers, employees, and agents. Pace also agreed to reimburse the village of Niles for the insurance premium cost up to $10,130 for the 2026 plan year, which runs from Jan. 1 through Dec. 31, 2026, according to the resolution passed by the Village Board. In the new agreement, Pace will cover the costs of the $1.7 million program at 64% ($1,088,000) and the village of Niles share of 36% ($622,000). Niles voters overwhelmingly supported the free bus service in a March advisory referendum.
“This is a need that needs to be built for the people in the village, and the small businesses as well in the village of Niles,” State Sen. Ram Villivalam said during the press conference. “It really means we’re eliminating a transit barrier — a barrier that exists for seniors, our youth, working class families to be able to get to their school, their job, their doctor without hesitation.”
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As chair of the state’s transportation committee, he emphasized how state legislators were successful in a huge reform and funding package supporting the public transit system for decades to come. He said if legislators did not act at the state level, there would be a 20% gap in the budget for RTA for CTA, Metra and Pace that would result in 40% cuts to service across the entire region.
“We were able to provide assurance and certainty to our public transit agencies that allowed them to work on new projects and projects like this that are now coming back to fruition, helping residents of the village of Niles in one way or another,” he said.
Metzger of Pace added how effective partnerships can be when it comes to transportation.
“Local transit is essential to have independence, access and quality of life and we’re proud to celebrate the return of the Niles free bus,” Metzger said at the press conference. “This relaunch reflects what’s possible when local government, state partners and transit work together with a shared goal. Together, we’re able to come up with a solution that is responsible, sustainable and focused on the residents’ needs.”
Elizabeth Owens-Schiele is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.