Ridership on Orland Park’s Dial-A-Ride buses has dropped since the village reduced service and raised fares at the start of the new year.
To help close a budget shortfall for the 2010 fiscal year, the village made cuts to the Dial-A-Ride program, eliminating weekend service and changing the fare schedule to $4 for all riders unless they are disabled.
Disabled riders who show a reduced fare card from the Regional Transportation Authority or a disabled identity card from the Illinois secretary of state’s office pay $2.
The majority of the program’s riders are seniors or the disabled who must call 24 hours in advance to schedule a ride. Rides are scheduled on a first-come, first- served basis.
In January of 2009 there were 1,274 one-way weekday trips and 191 one-way Saturday trips recorded. Last month, 938 weekday one-way trips were recorded, a ridership decline of 36 percent.
Village manager Paul Grimes and Trustee Ed Schussler, finance chairman, said the decline is what officials anticipated.
“We factored a 33 percent reduction in ridership as we are operating one-third less bus capacity,” Grimes said. “Moreover, with the fare increase, we budgeted for an additional 10 percent fall off in ridership. In sum, the January numbers are consistent with what we expected.”
Schussler said that while ridership is down, so is feedback.
A proposal to eliminate the service drew substantial opposition late last year.
“I’ve received no feedback, positive or negative,” Schussler said. “Things seem to be operating fine with the reduced schedule.”
Mayor Dan McLaughlin, who said he hasn’t received any phone calls on the service, agreed.
“I would consider it means the program is still providing service to people in need,” he said.
But Schussler said some riders, who are disabled, have grumbled because they need to show identification.
David Hutter whose 31-year-old disabled son takes the bus four days a week to a job at the Sportsplex, said they opted for the ID from the secretary of state’s office.
“It was the best way to go,” he said.
The RTA card required too much paperwork and it didn’t come in time, he said.
Hutter said the fare increase is a hardship on some riders who, like his son, do not make much money.
But aside from that he has no complaints.
The service provides his son and others with a sense of independence, a very important aspect of the program, he said.
Despite the reduction in service, Hutter said his son has had no trouble scheduling rides when he needs them.
“It’s been great,” Hutter said. “They pick him up at home and drop him off.”
While Orland Park’s ridership is down, the Orland Township Senior Transportation Program has seen a spike in the number of riders who sign up for free rides.
Betty Fugger, Orland Township’s senior transportation coordinator, said the township’s service accommodates seniors 55 and older. But it doesn’t have the capacity to help those seniors who use wheelchairs.
While medical appointments are the township’s main focus, rides to the bank, beauty parlor and senior luncheons are also given.
She said she sees more riders who used the village’s Dial-A-Ride program calling the township to schedule rides.
Last month, the township gave 991 one-way rides to seniors, up from 941 rides given in January 2009, Fugger said.
“They can get a better deal with us,” she said. “It’s all about the money.”
Read the original article from SouthTown Star.
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