After close to two years of gathering research, stakeholder input, public comment, and planning, Pace will unveil its plans to restructure bus service in the Joliet area. The proposed service changes are expected to be implemented in November.
"We've done an extensive amount of outreach to the public, communities, businesses, and other groups that rely on Pace service," said Pace Chairman of the Board Richard Kwasneski. "We're confident that we've developed a good service plan for the area, but if we need to make changes as a result of what people tell us at the public hearings, there is ample opportunity for that. These plans are not written in stone."
Two public hearings have been arranged for members of the public to review the proposed service changes and provide comment. The hearing arrangements are as follows:
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | August 25, 2008, 3:00pm - 6:00pm |
Joliet City Hall, Council Chambers | ||||||||
150 W. Jefferson | ||||||||
Joliet, IL 60432 |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | August 26, 2008, 6:00pm - 8:00pm |
Lockport Public Library | ||||||||
121 E. 8th Street | ||||||||
Lockport, IL 60441 |
The proposed changes can be reviewed on the Pace website, www.pacebus.com. Comments are welcomed in person, via e-mail at public.hearings@pacebus.com (also available via the Pace website), or by post at Pace External Relations, 550 W. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60005.
Changes to the routes serving to Joliet area proposed via the plan are rather extensive, but can be summarized as extending hours of service, implementing new service to locations not currently served such as Provena St. Joseph Hospital, and realigning bus routes to operate on different streets or in other neighborhoods with higher potential for ridership. The plan also calls for formation of a new Call-and-Ride system in west Joliet that also covers portions of Crest Hill. Route 510 would replace portions of existing routes 503 and 507 with Call-and-Ride service open to the general public. "It is modeled after similar service operating in the Denver, Colorado, area that has successfully maintained transit service to areas with lower population density, much like this part of Joliet," said Kwasneski.
While some existing routes or portions of routes are proposed for elimination, many of these areas will continue to be served by new routes or realigned portions or extensions of existing routes. "As the area has changed over the years, some parts of town saw a significant drop in ridership," said Kwasneski. "We analyzed these ridership patterns and have reallocated service from places with little or no demand to places that have higher potential."
The plans were developed as part of the South Cook-Will County Restructuring Initiative, an extensive outreach and planning project intended to redevelop bus service to meet the area's growth and changing demands. "Many of the routes operating in this area have experienced very few modifications over the past few decades, but it's clear to everyone that lives and works in these communities that extensive change has occurred," said Kwasneski. "This is an opportunity for us to spend taxpayer money more effectively by reallocating our resources to areas with high demand which results in better service for our riders." The Initiative is the fourth project of its type that Pace has undertaken- others have been completed in Elgin, North Shore area of Cook County, and Aurora combined with southwest DuPage County. The first phase of the South Cook Will Initiative will be complete when service changes proposed for south and southwest Cook County take place in 2009.