Expanded bus service coming to Lake Co.
Residents in northwest Lake County will have more options for getting to work or school with a pending expansion of bus service.
Riders also will be able to choose their times and destinations with a new offering to be launched by Pace, the suburban bus arm of the Regional Transportation Authority.
Beginning Nov. 23, Route 570, which serves Fox Lake, Round Lake, Grayslake and Gurnee, will operate more frequently while starting earlier and ending later on weekdays. Saturday service also will be offered.
"This is a situation where having additional service on the route will attract more riders," said Patrick Wilmot, spokesman for Pace.
The change will provide more frequent service to two Metra train stations, commercial areas in Round Lake Beach, the College of Lake County and Gurnee Mills.
About 90 individuals accounting for about 179 trips per day used the 570 as of September.
Service on Route 570 will more than double, operating a half-hour earlier in the morning and two hours later in the evening on weekdays. An additional bus will cut the time between stops from about 90 minutes to an hour. On Saturdays, buses will run from about 7:45 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.
"Originally, expanding the 570 Route was identified as getting more people to work and school," said Emily Karry, who works with mass transit for the Lake County Division of Transportation.
Pace also will introduce Route 590, a new Call-N-Ride service that currently is available only in the downtown Joliet area.
Karry described it as a "demand response" service that is reservation based and provides curb-to-curb service open to the general public.
Riders can reserve a trip up to 24 hours in advance for the same $1.75 one way fare as regular bus service.
"It allows us to use a single vehicle to serve a large area without having to operate a fixed bus," Wilmot said.
Information regarding the new route will be posted soon at www.pacebus.com.
Cost of the expanded service is estimated at about $522,000. The RTA will pay half through a Innovation, Coordination and Enhancement grant, with Pace and Lake County splitting the other half. Pace is guaranteeing to continue the service for at least one year.
The three entities also are splitting the $800,000 cost in the same percentages for a two-year demonstration project to coordinate paratransit services in Antioch, Avon, Grant and Lake Villa townships. Pace will coordinate the service but has guaranteed matching funds only for one year.
The Northwest Demonstration Project, tentatively set to debut in mid-January, is similar to Ride DuPage, which has been offered for several years and Ride in Kane, which began earlier this year, Wilmot said.
A portion of the service will include a flexible route connection to Metra stations on two commuter rail lines.
"Not only will we be combining resources in these townships but for some of the clients, they will have an easier time crossing township boundaries," he said.