Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line: Greg Gates shares the latest news from the Reagan Mass Transit District

Transcript

Talk Line: Greg Gates shares the latest news from the Reagan Mass Transit District · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: Good morning, Souk Valley. You've joined the Waking crew here
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  Speaker 1: on FM ninety five one and AM fourteen sixty wi XN.
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  Speaker 1: It's eight fifteen on your Wednesday morning. We're halfway through
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  Speaker 1: the week and it's now time for talk line and
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  Speaker 1: I'm joined once again by my good friend from the
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  Speaker 1: Reagan mass Transit District, Greg Gates. How are you, sir?
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  Speaker 2: Good sir? How are you?
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  Speaker 1: I'm fine. We're going to be near sixty this Friday.
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  Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's a yo yo winner, so it is.
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  Speaker 1: Let's get the golf clubs out absolutely and we'll get
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  Speaker 1: to some golf here in a bit. Some news you
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  Speaker 1: wanted to share, Yeah, but we're we're going to start
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  Speaker 1: off today with some construction updates in the Oregon office. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we actually the most recent information. This is a
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  Speaker 2: little more fresh than what we normally have talked about.
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  Speaker 2: But had a meeting yesterday in Oregon with the city
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  Speaker 2: officials as well as their public works and are what
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  Speaker 2: I would say is the architectural and engineering team and
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  Speaker 2: hopefully we have all the questions answered from that perspective
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  Speaker 2: with the City of Oregon. And now what we're going
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  Speaker 2: to do is basically wrap up those final questions or
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  Speaker 2: documentation and get ready to go out for bids for
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  Speaker 2: a general contractor who will oversee that construction of Just
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  Speaker 2: for those who may not be familiar with what I'm
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  Speaker 2: talking about, the office location there at Pines en Route two,
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  Speaker 2: where we'll have a roughly I would say, in an
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  Speaker 2: eight thousand square foot facility some office space. But the
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  Speaker 2: emphasis is going to be obviously with storing vehicles there
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  Speaker 2: and actually launching a lot of the Oregon and probably
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  Speaker 2: rural Winnebego stuff from in terms of daily routes, And
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  Speaker 2: it will be a nice, i would say, a nice
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  Speaker 2: element to our operation to add from that perspective, because
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  Speaker 2: obviously a lot of the vehicles that we have currently
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  Speaker 2: are coming out of Lee County down here in Dixon
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  Speaker 2: and making their way up into the Oregon and the
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  Speaker 2: rural Winnebago area. Having that launching place once it's finished
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  Speaker 2: will be a definite nice addition to the operation overall.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean easier to get a ride less way times,
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  Speaker 1: you know, probably more options to be able to get
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  Speaker 1: a ride somewhere. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think we've always said that obviously, Ogle
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  Speaker 2: County is a larger area. Not so much geographically it's
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  Speaker 2: about the same size as Lee County, give or take,
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  Speaker 2: but in terms of population base, obviously it is a
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  Speaker 2: larger county than Lee County. And we've always said that
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  Speaker 2: we'd like to obviously grow that ridership presence in Ogle
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  Speaker 2: County with more rides and hopefully having something that central
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  Speaker 2: to Ogle County with that location in Oregon will help
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  Speaker 2: make that happen.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, because you guys are consistently busy and continuing and
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  Speaker 1: increasing in your ridership, which is something you know, I
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  Speaker 1: think for people who aren't aware communities our size in
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  Speaker 1: Oregon and whatnot, we have a tremendous need for this.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think obviously one of those pieces that
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  Speaker 2: we've looked at a few times and most recently obviously
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  Speaker 2: with some of the studies that we've been doing as well,
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  Speaker 2: is we know that there is a need that is unfulfilled,
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  Speaker 2: and they're saying need from the perspective of general awareness
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  Speaker 2: as well of what Reagan Mass Transit District can do
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  Speaker 2: in terms of getting people to where they need to
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  Speaker 2: go those community resources, whether it's a medical appointment, the
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  Speaker 2: grocery store, whatever it might be. We know that the
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  Speaker 2: fight is not done. The awareness piece is still there
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  Speaker 2: and getting to some of those areas where somebody may
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  Speaker 2: have no accessible vehicle to them to make those runs
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  Speaker 2: to community resources that they need a viable option for them.
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  Speaker 2: So yeah, we're continuing to look to grow and obviously
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  Speaker 2: meet those.
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  Speaker 1: Needs absolutely, you know, And you make a good point that,
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  Speaker 1: you know what, I think a lot of people the
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  Speaker 1: very first thing they think of when they think of
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  Speaker 1: public transportation or households, you know, maybe with no vehicle,
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  Speaker 1: but in all honesty, even people with you know, maybe
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  Speaker 1: just a single vehicle, or even if you have two vehicles.
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  Speaker 1: My wife works in Freeport, I work here in Dixon.
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  Speaker 1: If one of our vehicles went down, we don't have
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  Speaker 1: time to go commute one drop off and come back here.
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  Speaker 1: It would be impossible. And a lot of folks are
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  Speaker 1: in a situation where you're one car repair away from
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  Speaker 1: being without your vehicle for a couple of weeks to
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  Speaker 1: maybe a month or more. And then what do you do.
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  Speaker 1: You call a friend like maybe they're going to give
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  Speaker 1: you a ride, you know, once or twice, but if
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  Speaker 1: it's a prolonged, you know, event for you, it's like,
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  Speaker 1: what do you do, and I think people really need
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  Speaker 1: to be aware that they have this option if you
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  Speaker 1: find yourself in that situation. It's not just for folks
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  Speaker 1: who don't have a vehicle. This is something you need
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  Speaker 1: to think of and be aware that's in your community.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's a great point to make. You can
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  Speaker 2: a friend at regular mass transit district to borrow a
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  Speaker 2: phrase if I can. But yeah, I think at times,
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  Speaker 2: especially given the current state of the economy or the
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  Speaker 2: need to pair back, in some cases, somebody may choose
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  Speaker 2: not to want to own or you know, maintain. We
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  Speaker 2: talk about ownership, but obviously behind those details a lot
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  Speaker 2: of times is the cost of potentially an older car
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  Speaker 2: and regular maintenance of that vehicle. And we still come
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  Speaker 2: across individuals, especially those who are migrating from more of
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  Speaker 2: an urban setting out to the rural area, and they
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  Speaker 2: have a couple of mindsets, one of which is, well,
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  Speaker 2: I'll just take public transit and our operation is picking
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  Speaker 2: people up from their home, which is it's not a
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  Speaker 2: huge adjustment, because you know, people from the urban settings
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  Speaker 2: who are moving out here will be more of the
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  Speaker 2: mindset of well, I'll just walk to the nearest bus stop. Well,
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  Speaker 2: that's not a reality in our footprint, and yet it
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  Speaker 2: will hopefully be in the cities of Dixon and Rochelle
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  Speaker 2: in the very near future, but it's not there yet
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  Speaker 2: for them to take advantage of. And in some cases,
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  Speaker 2: people moving up from an urban setting may or may
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  Speaker 2: not actually have a vehicle that they want to maintain.
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  Speaker 2: And so it is a variety of needs that we're
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  Speaker 2: trying to meet meet with our consumers who have a
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  Speaker 2: need for transportation, And like I said, it is something
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  Speaker 2: obviously that we're gaining a better perspective on, especially the
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  Speaker 2: areas that probably have more or an increased need for
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  Speaker 2: regular transportation and getting to those as a solution as
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  Speaker 2: soon as possible.
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  Speaker 1: I'd love to really see that grow to this point
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  Speaker 1: in the area. And you make a terrific point with
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  Speaker 1: people coming from urban settings. I have a friend who
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  Speaker 1: was from this area moved to San Francisco. He's been
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  Speaker 1: out there for years and years now, and he didn't
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  Speaker 1: have a car for years, and his job had wanted
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  Speaker 1: him to to get one, and it was so that
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  Speaker 1: he could travel more on their behalf. And he told them,
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  Speaker 1: he said, why would I do that? He said, what
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  Speaker 1: benefit is that to me. He's like, now I got
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  Speaker 1: to purchase the vehicle, I've got to have that regular upkeep,
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  Speaker 1: I've got to pay for insurance, I've got to pay
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  Speaker 1: for parking. Hope that nothing happens to it. He's like,
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  Speaker 1: I can take public transportation and all that's taken care
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  Speaker 1: of for me and a much less at the end
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  Speaker 1: of the year what I'm going to be paying than
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  Speaker 1: what I did to own that vehicle. And so to
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  Speaker 1: grow that to this point in this area, I think
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  Speaker 1: would be phenomenal.
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  Speaker 2: I would agree, And obviously you also have those individuals
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  Speaker 2: who are firmly of the belief I don't want to
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  Speaker 2: purchase a vehicle and actually have a negative impact on
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  Speaker 2: the environment. It is showing that if people do take
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  Speaker 2: the bore, people take public transportation, there is a residual
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  Speaker 2: impact on greenhouse gas emissions, and hopefully with a trend
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  Speaker 2: moving in the direction of something that's a little more
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  Speaker 2: environmentally friendly, whether it's an electrical vehicle or hydrogen fuel
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  Speaker 2: cell vehicles or things of that nature which have a
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  Speaker 2: little less of a negative footprint on the environment. It is,
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  Speaker 2: I would say, a conversation that seems to mutate over time,
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  Speaker 2: and we're not hearing so much about electric or those
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  Speaker 2: type of vehicles right now, a lot on the federal level.
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  Speaker 2: Hopefully we'll see some more prodigious movement in those environments
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  Speaker 2: as the technology also gets a little I would say,
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  Speaker 2: in tune with what the expectations are with, you know,
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  Speaker 2: for public transportation. I know that if I look at
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  Speaker 2: incorporating an EV into our fleet, I know I'm going
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  Speaker 2: to have limitations where I probably could only use those
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  Speaker 2: type of vehicles in an urban or not an urban,
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  Speaker 2: but a city, a municipality, because I'm talking maybe one
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  Speaker 2: hundred and fifty miles to the charge, which that means
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  Speaker 2: I really can run outside a municipality very far on
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  Speaker 2: that charge because once I turn the heat or the
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  Speaker 2: air conditioning on, that one hundred and fifty miles actually
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  Speaker 2: goes down rather quickly. So it is an interesting conversation
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  Speaker 2: that is continuing to mutate grow as hopefully the technology
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  Speaker 2: will allow for a greater expansion of those type of vehicles. Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, It'll be an interesting conversation that isn't going to
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  Speaker 1: weigh and is definitely going to progress as the years
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  Speaker 1: roll on, probably past you and I I'm sure you know,
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  Speaker 1: being Wednesday and we're getting we're getting close to the
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  Speaker 1: end of the week. You know, fair free Friday is
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  Speaker 1: a very important point to bring back up today.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, if somebody out there wants to try public transit
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  Speaker 2: for the first time and ride with Reagan MTD, please
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  Speaker 2: try this Friday, call and schedule a ride to and
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  Speaker 2: FRO and it's going to be on our dime. And
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  Speaker 2: this gives people a great chance to take, you know,
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  Speaker 2: that test drive, if you will, that test ride with
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  Speaker 2: our transit district and find out what it's like the
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  Speaker 2: buses or the many vans that will be delivering you
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  Speaker 2: to the community resource that you need to get to.
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  Speaker 2: And this has become something that we started, i think
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  Speaker 2: now going probably into our third year, where we've literally
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  Speaker 2: i think, on an annual basis, provided thousands of rides
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  Speaker 2: at no cost. And it's a nice give back to
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  Speaker 2: the two county area because it does give people that
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  Speaker 2: test flavor, if you will, or that taste of what
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  Speaker 2: public transportation in rural America is like. And we like
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  Speaker 2: doing it on a monthly basis. If the fourth Friday
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  Speaker 2: is a holiday, we'll kick it up or kick it back,
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  Speaker 2: we'll adjust it in whatever capacity. But if somebody does
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  Speaker 2: call for a ride on this Friday, if they schedule
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  Speaker 2: it by Thursday for Friday delivery, they're going to have
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  Speaker 2: no charge to that ridership. If you want to make
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  Speaker 2: a donation, that's completely up to you. But if you're
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  Speaker 2: a rider, even a regular rider that's on that bus
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  Speaker 2: on Friday, that ride is completely on us. So give
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  Speaker 2: us all ride.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, actually, And I mean it's going to be sixty
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  Speaker 1: degrees this this Friday. Folks. If you've got nowhere to go,
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  Speaker 1: go to the park, get outside and let Reagan Mass
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  Speaker 1: Transit District take you there for free. So I mean
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  Speaker 1: that's a win win for everybody.
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  Speaker 2: You know, there's a there's an interesting story, and I
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  Speaker 2: know people like watching social media reels every once in
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  Speaker 2: a while and talking about the public transportation and taking
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  Speaker 2: people to parks. There's an interesting story in it. And
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  Speaker 2: know it's out west where a dog used to actually
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  Speaker 2: get on the bus for a public transit and go
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  Speaker 2: to the park by itself and actually play around and
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  Speaker 2: then actually come back. Usually within the time frame the
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  Speaker 2: bus would come back and the dog would go home.
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  Speaker 2: Can't make that up. I love the story because if
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  Speaker 2: it's good for a dog, it's you know, good for
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  Speaker 2: us to try to go of the park and enjoy,
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  Speaker 2: like you said, sixty degree weather that you know, we
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  Speaker 2: probably could break those shorts out and maybe not as
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  Speaker 2: heavy a sweatshirt for that weather. But yeah, give us
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  Speaker 2: a try on Friday.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, absolutely, And you want to talk about Whiteside County annexation.
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  Speaker 2: Today, Yeah, I think this is more just an update
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  Speaker 2: from our last month's discussion. That process is continuing to
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  Speaker 2: work itself through, continuing to work with Whitesik County government
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  Speaker 2: leadership in terms of getting some of those elements of
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  Speaker 2: that transition, keep it moving forward. We have a July
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  Speaker 2: first deadline to throw the switch, if you will, in
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  Speaker 2: terms of us having that portion of this area Whiteside
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  Speaker 2: County Transit in Regga Mass Transit District. So I'm sure
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  Speaker 2: as we get closer we'll talk further about that in
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  Speaker 2: the coming months. But right now we're working on some documents,
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  Speaker 2: one of which is the Memorandum of Understanding, which is
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  Speaker 2: again a document that has to be approved by both
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  Speaker 2: the white Side Hunting Board and then US, I say us,
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  Speaker 2: our Board of Directors for Ringing Mass Transit District.
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  Speaker 1: Well, you know, we'll certainly look forward to to more
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  Speaker 1: updates on that. Yeah, and we've got a couple minutes left.
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  Speaker 1: But and you want to talk about a golf out
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  Speaker 1: of we're marching towards spring, almost March, as it is
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  Speaker 1: sixty degrees weather one day, twenty eighth the next. But
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  Speaker 1: I think this is going to be a we should
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  Speaker 1: have some good weather for this.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm going to say, you know, June nineteenth is
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  Speaker 2: going to be here quicker than we probably realize. Yeah,
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  Speaker 2: but you know, Shaw Local Radio, Shaw Local Media is
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  Speaker 2: actually going to be another partner with us this year
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  Speaker 2: on our second annual. What I want to say is
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  Speaker 2: the four Wheels golf Outing, and it's one that we
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  Speaker 2: obviously launched last year and we had a nice response
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  Speaker 2: to it. This year's golf outing is going to be
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  Speaker 2: on June nineteenth. Registration is at eleventh in the morning.
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  Speaker 2: We will have a lunch available on our dime. We
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  Speaker 2: will tee off at one o'clock in the afternoon, and
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  Speaker 2: if everything goes well, we'll have a what I would
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  Speaker 2: say is a ceremony and celebration after the eighteen holes,
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  Speaker 2: probably around five or five thirty, so we get to
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  Speaker 2: find out, you know, who has the lowest score. But
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  Speaker 2: this year is going to be at Timber Creek here
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  Speaker 2: in Dixon. Last year we were very thrilled to have
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  Speaker 2: it at Lost Nation Golf Course, but we're moving it
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  Speaker 2: around a little so Timber Creek will be the site
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  Speaker 2: of this year's outing. And if anybody has any questions
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  Speaker 2: or wants to get involved, because we have sent out
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: a reminder card, we're in the process of just updating
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: our registration burchure and then that will be available either
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: via mail or electronically through our website. So if people
• 14:52
  Speaker 2: want to get involved, We're already taking sponsorships in terms
• 14:56
  Speaker 2: of people who want to be a sponsor of this event,
• 14:59
  Speaker 2: so they can call directly and asked for me at
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: eight one five two eight eight two one one seven.
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  Speaker 2: That phone number also will get you, you know, signed
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  Speaker 2: up for a ride with our Mass Transit District.
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  Speaker 1: Well there you go, get signed up, give them a call,
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  Speaker 1: get that fair free Friday underway. Great things coming, Greg.
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  Speaker 1: We're out of time today, but I appreciate you coming
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  Speaker 1: in here and looking forward to future updates from you, sir.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you. Brandan