Public transit system users asking county for some help

A segment of Lake County residents who sometimes have a hard time getting where they need to go is asking the county board for help.

Several county board members are expected to attend a forum from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday at the Lake County Center for Independent Living, 377 N. Seymour Ave., Mundelein.

The meeting, which includes representatives from several transportation groups and PACE, the suburban bus system, was scheduled after a recent series of information sessions on long-range county planning.

"One of the issues they were advertising in the forum was transportation," said Kelli Brooks, executive director for the Center for Independent Living.

The center is a disability rights organization governed and staffed by a majority of people with disabilities. It offers services, and lobbies to promote a fully accessible society.

"The problem was where they were scheduled was not reachable by mass transit, and the timing of the forums was after public transportation stopped."

To address such situations, the center and affiliates will ask for an unspecified portion of the $28 million the county expects to receive as a result of sales tax increase for transportation authorized by state legislators.

Brooks said a solution needs to be enacted for people who need to get around.

"It can be work, it can be medical appointments, all the quality of life issues you've heard about."

Transportation is provided in various forms by other entities, such as townships, but the service can vary and is not coordinated.

Brooks said a coordinating committee discussing the situation is taking steps to establish a not-for-profit organization "specifically for these issues because nobody's doing it," she said.

"Historically, it's roads and highways. There are needs there, but there are also needs here," she said.

Lake County has been divided into quarters, with the growing northwest segment first on the target list, she added.

"We want some dollars set aside," Brooks said.

According to the sales tax legislation, new money must be used for local road, transit or public safety projects. The county is determining specific uses for the money.

On Tuesday, the county board is expected to approve a resolution as its "Collar County Transportation Empowerment Funding Policy."

It will commit to working with the state and Regional Transportation Authority to improve transportation and transit in Lake County.

County board members have said coordinating bus or dial-a-ride type services is needed, but throwing money at the issue isn't the answer.

"There has to be a plan first before you can talk about funding," said Marty Buehler, head of the county's division of transportation.