PACE considers change to popular Lake County bus route

PACE, the suburban bus agency, is considering changes to one of the highest ridership routes in Lake County.

Route 572, which originates in Waukegan and ends in the southwest section of Vernon Hills, also is one of the oldest in the county.

But getting around has changed considerably since the route was established in 1977. And since it is late most of the time, some adjustments may be coming.

“We have a service issue with on-time performance with this route,” said Patrick Wilmot, a spokesman for PACE, the suburban bus arm of the Regional Transportation Authority. “Basically, two thirds of the time, this route is operating late.”

The agency uses a global positioning system on its buses to track a variety of information and determined there were concerns with Route 572.

“We can look at whether the buses are operating on time at any point along the route,” Wilmot said.

Starting at the Waukegan Metra station, the route covers a considerable distance, heading west to the College of Lake County, south to the Mundelein and Libertyville Metra stations and on to the Westfield Hawthorn mall before ending at Lakeside and Westmoreland drives in Vernon Hills.

The full route is supposed to take an hour and 23 minutes but hasn't been hitting the mark. That also has led to overtime for drivers at a time when the agency is trying to hold the line.

“We're trying to see how much ground we can cover with the allotted time and resources we have right now,” he said.

With 937 daily rider trips, the route is second only to Route 565, which covers Grand Avenue and the Gurnee Mills/Six Flags Great America area.

PACE wants to continue the bulk of the service, but may shift the end of the line to Westfield. According to Wilmot, there are 64 average daily rider trips south and west of Westfield, a small percentage of the overall ridership.

Village officials are asking for public input.

“We just want to know what people are thinking. PACE said there may be some options,” Vernon Hills Village Manager Mike Allison said.

Van pooling for riders to the south and west of the mall may be a possibility, Wilmot said.

He said the village may be able to determine who is using the service and how they've been using it, information that will be evaluated before any changes are made, possibly as soon as December.