Vernon Hills senior bus service adjusted
The changes aren't monumental, but there will be adjustments for Vernon Hills seniors using the village-operated bus service.
As of Wednesday, the geographic boundaries of where the buses will take passengers have changed, a nod to budget constraints and scheduling difficulties.
Current users will continue to get rides to medical facilities in Lake Forest and the west side of Mundelein, but no new senior users will be accepted for those locations.
"We defined a geographic boundary for medical runs and that's it," said Village Manager Mike Allison.
The new boundary is Route 45/83 on the west; Route 176 on the north; the Des Plaines River on the east; and Route 22 on the south. The weekday service has been available free for years to Vernon Hills residents 55 or older.
Allison told the village board that the premise of the service was to meet the demands of seniors. But as requested destinations have expanded, the options need to be limited to do that.
That is particularly noticeable in medical care, as taking seniors to areas farther away makes it challenging to meet other needs. Seniors have to schedule a ride to a medical facility 24 hours in advance.
"It truly does have some attributes of a cab ride. It's not as efficient as saying it's a fixed route, here are the stops," Allison explained.
That will be the case with rides to and from the senior center, which is in the lower level of village hall. The variable morning and afternoon pick up times have been changed to a fixed schedule for each weekday.
The changes were made after discussions with the Vernon Hills Seniors Organization.
"We make sure we start our events a little early," said Ed Sychta, president of the group. He added that users are being flexible.
The budget for the program isn't being cut, but the village wants to keep costs the same for two part-time drivers, maintenance and fuel expenses, and be able to serve as many people as possible.
"You can't complain because the village is very good to us," Sychta said. "We understand their plight, too."