Wheaton will help pay for Pace route

Wheaton has reversed direction on a request to help pay for a bus route linking Naperville, Wheaton and College of DuPage.

It's still unclear whether the $36,000 contribution Wheaton City Council members approved this week will be enough to prevent the elimination of Pace Bus 714, which runs between Wheaton's downtown train station and Naperville's Edward Hospital campus.

Pace officials said Wednesday they are asking Wheaton, Naperville and DuPage County to each contribute up to $44,000 - $8,000 more than the amount Wheaton approved ­- to fund the route through the end of April.

Naperville and DuPage County have verbally committed to the $44,000 contribution, but both still must take formal votes.

The suburban bus service is seeking financial help because federal grant money that paid for 80 percent of the route's expenses has run out.

Last month, Pace held a public hearing about the possible elimination of Route 714. The agency's board of directors could decide as soon October whether to scrap the route in late November.

While Wheaton council members were told Tuesday that Pace is seeking a contribution of up to $44,000, they only voted on the lesser amount.

"We would obviously prefer to stick to the original amount of $36,000," said Councilman Todd Scalzo, who voted for the expenditure.

Whether Wheaton kicks in more remains to be seen. Patrick Wilmot, a Pace spokesman, said the $44,000 represents the most money the transit agency would need from the municipality.

Meanwhile, Mayor Michael Gresk said no city dollars should be used to subsidize the bus route this year.

"To think that Wheaton is in some sort of isolated bubble and not impacted by the condition of the economy ... is not realistic," Gresk said. "We need to be conscious of the budget situations that we have."

Wheaton will have to dip into its roughly $8.8 million in reserve cash to raise the money for the payment, officials said.

Still, Scalzo said keeping the route is important.

"There are many people who are disabled or are elderly or simply don't have any other options," he said. "Even if the ridership isn't at a peak, the route serves people who are least able to afford to lose it."

Last year, the route averaged 305 riders a day. Until ridership improves, annual requests for financial assistance from Naperville, Wheaton and DuPage are expected to continue - although the size of the requests is expected to decline.