Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Greg Gates and Steve Davis from the Reagan Mass Transit District

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Greg Gates and Steve Davis from the Reagan Mass Transit District · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

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  Speaker 1: You've joined the Waking crew here on FM ninety five
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  Speaker 1: to one and AM fourteen sixty WI Accent, where you're
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  Speaker 1: never more than moments away from all the local news,
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  Speaker 1: sports and entertainment information needed to start your day. It
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  Speaker 1: is now time for talk line, and today I am
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  Speaker 1: joined in the booth by our good friends from the
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  Speaker 1: Reagan Mass trans District. I'm joined by executive director Greg
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  Speaker 1: Gates and Steve Davis. Gentlemen, Good morning, Good morning, Brendan.
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  Speaker 1: How is everything. I know you said your holidays went
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  Speaker 1: a big quick Greg.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the operation overall at Reagan Mass has
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  Speaker 2: been a little slower these past two weeks or this
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  Speaker 2: week and last week, and it sort of slows down
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  Speaker 2: allows us to do a little catch up, if you will,
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  Speaker 2: especially with the paperwork with some of the state agencies
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  Speaker 2: also closed. So it is a little breath of fresh air,
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  Speaker 2: so to speak. So I won't complain about that.
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  Speaker 1: No, absolutely not. I wish I could slow down. I
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  Speaker 1: got dishes to catch up on. Man, we hosted three
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  Speaker 1: family dinners. Okay, I'm over turkey and mashed potatoes. I've
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  Speaker 1: still got some pie. Though. You wanted to update folks
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  Speaker 1: on the holidays, schedule you've got going on right.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, just as a reminder, and I know Steve can
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  Speaker 2: add to this, but last week, just like this week,
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  Speaker 2: we'll have a trunk keaded schedule of writership available days
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  Speaker 2: excuse me, with us being closed tomorrow as well as Thursday,
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  Speaker 2: and they open back up for services on Friday. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: So regular schedule overall will be fully operational five days
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  Speaker 2: a week as of next to Monday. So I don't
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  Speaker 2: know if you want to throw anything.
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  Speaker 1: In those days.
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  Speaker 3: Starting with the new year, I just wanted to let
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  Speaker 3: our schedule will also have for the reaging mass transit
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  Speaker 3: on Mondays going to Rockford, so every.
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  Speaker 2: Monday.
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  Speaker 3: Now. We used to have schedule where we had certain
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  Speaker 3: days throughout the month, but we're just going to keep it.
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  Speaker 3: Every Monday we'll have a trip to Rockford for medical appointments.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, that's always nice. They've got some great facilities up
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  Speaker 1: there and that's very important. So I'm glad you're able
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  Speaker 1: to get folks up to those in Port. You know,
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  Speaker 1: those appointments that can be a rough one not to
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  Speaker 1: have a ride, especially, it's one thing already not to
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  Speaker 1: have a ride around town, but you guys have got
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  Speaker 1: that covered. But to be able to get to an
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  Speaker 1: appointment that far out is.
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  Speaker 3: It's a little lot of our service area we're not
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  Speaker 3: you know, definitely we don't go there too often, so sure,
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  Speaker 3: that's why we're setting it up for every money. That way,
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  Speaker 3: people get a schedule out.
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  Speaker 1: Earlier exactly one hundred percent now, you know, schedule your
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  Speaker 1: appointment ahead of time.
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  Speaker 3: You bet.
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  Speaker 2: And I think also during the winter months, if somebody
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  Speaker 2: doesn't want to drive, they now know that at least
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  Speaker 2: one day a week we'll be going to Rockford for
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  Speaker 2: regular medical related appointments or other type of appointments and
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  Speaker 2: as much as possible. If anybody has any questions about that,
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  Speaker 2: obviously they could talk to Steve or one of the
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  Speaker 2: dispatch staff about more specifics.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, and you have an update on construction and over
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  Speaker 1: in the organ office. Right.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we're getting real real fast. Probably not as fast
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  Speaker 2: as this conversation has been had over the past, probably
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  Speaker 2: you know, months or potentially years that we've actually discussed
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  Speaker 2: this subject better, but going through some environmental stuff that
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  Speaker 2: we're crossing off the list. The plans themselves are in
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  Speaker 2: the hands of the Plan Commission for the City of Oregon,
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  Speaker 2: effectively making sure that everything is up to code in
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  Speaker 2: terms of meeting that municipality's code expectations, if you will.
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  Speaker 2: And then once that's through, our architect and engineering firm
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  Speaker 2: will actually put that project out for bid for a
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  Speaker 2: general contractor, which will then you know, I won't say
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  Speaker 2: pause the project itself, but it'll allow for a thirty
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  Speaker 2: day period where they'll actually be allowed to you know,
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  Speaker 2: put their proposal together, those general contractor candidates, and then
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  Speaker 2: at the end of that thirty day period, we will
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  Speaker 2: actually sit down at the architects and Engineering office in
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  Speaker 2: Rockford and actually go through and look for the lowest bid,
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  Speaker 2: qualified bid, and from there we start a little more
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  Speaker 2: paperwork before we actually start construction and the turning of dirt.
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  Speaker 2: And I think it's going to get really exciting really
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  Speaker 2: quickly in terms of once we're through that process to
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  Speaker 2: actually be able to see some live action up there
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  Speaker 2: with bulldozers and others actually making some strong connections.
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  Speaker 3: Yea, it's been a long time coming. I know it's
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  Speaker 3: happening now, but it's been a long time in the works.
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  Speaker 3: We've had it designed for quite a while. Now that
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  Speaker 3: finally the city has it and the city can say, Okay,
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  Speaker 3: the plans I'll work for for everything. We can get
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  Speaker 3: the bids done, get that contract signed, and start turning
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  Speaker 3: some dirt.
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  Speaker 1: And just to kind of recap and what all will
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  Speaker 1: this project encompass.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to basically allow us to build a very
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  Speaker 2: similar I would say layout of our facility down here
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  Speaker 2: in the industrial park at Reagan Transit Cutter. So what
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  Speaker 2: that will allow us is effectively to start vehicles from
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  Speaker 2: a location in Ogle County as opposed to necessarily in
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  Speaker 2: a lot of cases coming down from or coming out
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  Speaker 2: from Dixon into Ogle County, and then also have a
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  Speaker 2: limited amount of space for office staff, so either potentially
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  Speaker 2: dispatch staff or others who may have a need to
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  Speaker 2: use that facility. But a lot of that will be
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  Speaker 2: for the storage of the buses and the minivans and
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  Speaker 2: a jumping off point for obviously the services for Ogle
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  Speaker 2: County and as well as what we're doing contractually with
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  Speaker 2: rural Winnebago County. So it will be a nice addition,
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  Speaker 2: I would say, to allow for more efficient use of
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  Speaker 2: our vehicles in the provision of public transit here in
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  Speaker 2: northern Illinois.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I have to imagine it makes it easier to
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  Speaker 1: get a ride less time for some of those trips,
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  Speaker 1: whereas before, like you said, maybe you had to come
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  Speaker 1: from somewhere else going through and then shorter you know,
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  Speaker 1: wait time. In the same essence, right.
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  Speaker 3: The efficiency grows up because my starting point starts from
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  Speaker 3: Oregon instead of Dixon. So the efficiency for all the
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  Speaker 3: routes in Ogle County just exponentially gets better because I'm
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  Speaker 3: already starting earlier. On one, i don't have just drive
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  Speaker 3: time for one of the drivers going from Dixon to
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  Speaker 3: Oregon without a rider just to start, So the efficiency
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  Speaker 3: goes up incredibly. And then obviously for architractual agreement with
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  Speaker 3: Winnebago County, I've got a starting off point there too
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  Speaker 3: as well, so it's much closer to the ridership that's
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  Speaker 3: in need of services up there as well.
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  Speaker 1: Boy, when you guys give your riders a Christmas gift,
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  Speaker 1: you go all out. It's a heck of en upgrade,
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  Speaker 1: it is.
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  Speaker 2: And I think one of the bigger pieces that we've
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  Speaker 2: always accentuated also with that is the fact that Ogle
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  Speaker 2: County is a larger county than Lee County and Winnebego County.
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  Speaker 2: That rural portion, I think we will be able to
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  Speaker 2: allow for an expansion, a growth of potential ridership. If
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  Speaker 2: you look at a map of Ogle County, you can't
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  Speaker 2: get much more central than Oregon. So being able to
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  Speaker 2: actually spread our wings even further in terms of servicing
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  Speaker 2: the entire county as opposed to maybe being a little
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  Speaker 2: more efficiently limited with coming out of Dixon and other locations.
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  Speaker 2: With some of our operators that assist us as well,
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  Speaker 2: I think over time it will allow for a greater expansion,
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  Speaker 2: greater growth of our ridership base for not only Ogle County,
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  Speaker 2: but like Steve said, the rural Withnebego piece, we're hoping
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  Speaker 2: to also be able to grow with this new location.
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  Speaker 2: So some exciting stuff.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I am having public transportation in communities like ours,
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  Speaker 1: where I think you know so many people if you're
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  Speaker 1: if you're not from here, maybe came from a bigger city,
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  Speaker 1: you imagine you're not going to have that. You think,
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  Speaker 1: you know, Chicago, maybe Rockford is like your starting point
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  Speaker 1: of the size of a community for public transportation. But
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  Speaker 1: you guys like really have this covered for our area.
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  Speaker 1: And that is huge because just because we're a small
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  Speaker 1: community doesn't mean we are short on people without their
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  Speaker 1: own means of transportation, right.
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  Speaker 3: Correct, We're going to do thirty five thousand rides just
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  Speaker 3: out of our our singular spot going out, so that's
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  Speaker 3: a twenty percent increase over the last two years. I mean,
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  Speaker 3: the demand's out there, there's a lot of people who
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  Speaker 3: need the riots and we're going to keep growing with
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  Speaker 3: the demand. So we're happy to do it.
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  Speaker 1: Well, I'm happy to have you guys doing it. And
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  Speaker 1: one thing that you've done that I think it makes
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  Speaker 1: it kind of kind of fun is the next py
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  Speaker 1: we wanted to talk about is finding these buses. Not
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  Speaker 1: that they're hiding from anybody, but there's one particular bus.
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  Speaker 2: Right there is actually when we were pulling out of
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  Speaker 2: the garage to come over here, I'm just going to
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  Speaker 2: say I'm eligible for one hundred dollars. Now I did
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  Speaker 2: see the bus this morning. But yeah, we partnered with
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  Speaker 2: you guys here at Shaw Local Media in terms of
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  Speaker 2: doing a full bus rap and I think it's always
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  Speaker 2: it was always part of the conversation we might as
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  Speaker 2: well make it beneficial for your media size, your media
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  Speaker 2: size of the business, as well as what we're doing
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  Speaker 2: obviously with public transit to make it a win win,
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  Speaker 2: and I think the idea of hey have you seen
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  Speaker 2: the bus recently and if so, you can be entered
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  Speaker 2: into a contest. I think it's a fabulous idea and
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  Speaker 2: something that we should promote even more with other partners.
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  Speaker 2: Doesn't have to necessarily be find the bus, but you know,
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  Speaker 2: as much as we can partner with organizations, that's always
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  Speaker 2: been something that we've tried to, you know, further expand
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  Speaker 2: upon advance, whatever the term might be. And I think
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  Speaker 2: that's going to be an exciting partnership moving forward.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, you guys, I mean I love the idea. I've
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  Speaker 1: seen some of the photos and what it's like, the
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  Speaker 1: what the equivalent of a local Wiener mobile? Now, now
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  Speaker 1: we just need like a mascot behind the oh we
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  Speaker 1: do Yes, nice, come come out and you guys will
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  Speaker 1: be legend. It'll it'll just be here for a while.
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  Speaker 3: I thought maybe put fat heads of you or Sam
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  Speaker 3: or something on the side as well. It's not like
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  Speaker 3: any of us have small we can make this work.
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  Speaker 1: I love it. What what else is developing over there?
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  Speaker 2: I think one of the pieces that let's talk about
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  Speaker 2: in the future is just an exciting study that was
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  Speaker 2: just released a couple of months ago, and it's it
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  Speaker 2: sort of ties back to some of the stuff that
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  Speaker 2: we're doing with our on demand service and it shows
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  Speaker 2: economically as a driver what that economic impact is for
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  Speaker 2: on demand service, and it's same for every dollar that
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  Speaker 2: you invest, you're going to have a four dollars return,
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  Speaker 2: a four to one ratio. And they say that specifically
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  Speaker 2: for rural on demand service. And I think it sort
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  Speaker 2: of goes back to what you've already said, Brandon with
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  Speaker 2: this discussion is how vital it is to get some
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  Speaker 2: of these resources to those people who have a need
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  Speaker 2: to get to different community resources, including you know, a
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  Speaker 2: forty five to fifty minute drive to a municipality like
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  Speaker 2: Rockford for a medical appointment. So or obviously with workforce
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  Speaker 2: development as another key issue with you know, getting bodies
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  Speaker 2: through the door on a regular basis, especially those employees
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  Speaker 2: who choose not to have a vehicle or maybe in
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  Speaker 2: some cases have a limitation of only one vehicle per household.
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  Speaker 2: So I think that's probably one of the key stories
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  Speaker 2: that we're going to carry forward for twenty twenty six
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  Speaker 2: is is that entire story because economically public transportation in
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  Speaker 2: rural Illinois is an economic driver. Without it, there's some
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  Speaker 2: people who will not go or end up at a
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  Speaker 2: grocery store or at medical appointments or things of that
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  Speaker 2: nature or the workplace. So I think it's one of
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  Speaker 2: the critical conversations to continue as we move forward and
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  Speaker 2: enhance it as much as possible, because I think that
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  Speaker 2: is a story that needs to be told. It is
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  Speaker 2: far more frequently than what we probably have touched on
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  Speaker 2: in months or years past, but it is something that,
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  Speaker 2: you know, let's have a greater conversation about that economic
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  Speaker 2: driver because I know that some of our colleague organizations
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  Speaker 2: and other and the municipalities we have some of these
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: conversations on the side, and we don't drive that point
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  Speaker 2: home nearly enough.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, not everybody has a friend, you know
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  Speaker 1: what I mean? Even if even if you you know,
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  Speaker 1: you could say, because I think that's what I what
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  Speaker 1: I hear a lot is if you didn't have you know,
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  Speaker 1: if there's not a cap, oh well you could just
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  Speaker 1: just ask somebody for a ride. It's not always that easy.
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  Speaker 1: And even if you know somebody, people have their own
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  Speaker 1: stuff going on. I'm sure that works once or twice,
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  Speaker 1: but like who wants to be the guy that every
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  Speaker 1: week every month, Hey, can you take me to the
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  Speaker 1: store with you? Can you? I want to go in
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  Speaker 1: to the store for myself. I'm a good guy, but
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  Speaker 1: I probably don't want to take you for the next
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  Speaker 1: year or what not moving forward.
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  Speaker 3: You don't want to place that burden on somebody.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, you know, and and yeah it's not to me,
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  Speaker 1: but exactly, you know, none of us, none of us
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  Speaker 1: want to do that. We're all happy to lend a hand.
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  Speaker 1: But I mean, why shouldn't we be investing in public
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  Speaker 1: transportation at all sizes, you know, to some agree or another,
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  Speaker 1: in these communities that don't have these these shopping places
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  Speaker 1: that are appointment within like walking distance. I lived in
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  Speaker 1: Tampaco for a number of years growing up, and if
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  Speaker 1: they had everything on that one main street, I'm sorry,
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  Speaker 1: I could argue you guys out of Tampa, Oh, if
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  Speaker 1: you live in Tampaco and don't have to come from it.
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  Speaker 1: But other than that, I mean, if you don't have
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  Speaker 1: a vehicle, it's a it's a rough way.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. And I think we sometimes lose the angle of
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  Speaker 2: the story as well, that in some cases this is
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  Speaker 2: being a very socializing activity for some individuals. Seniors sometimes
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: get stuck, not by their choosing, sometimes by their choosing unfortunately,
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  Speaker 2: it's stuck in the home and they don't get out
• 14:48
  Speaker 2: and actually socialize with others. And I know that's why
• 14:53
  Speaker 2: in some cases senior centers are having more isolation preventing
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: isolation type of funding available to get seniors to those
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  Speaker 2: type of activities at the senior centers of counties where
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  Speaker 2: they can actually interact and engage and become a little
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  Speaker 2: more you know, it does go back to the quality
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  Speaker 2: of life peace, which is so incredibly you know, positive
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  Speaker 2: that we can get seniors out and moving and interacting
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  Speaker 2: and so forth. But yeah, there is I always use
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  Speaker 2: my now twenty one year old daughter, who as a
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: nineteen year old or eighteen year old car had a car,
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  Speaker 2: and I said, I just don't think you realize how
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  Speaker 2: fortunate you are that you can wake up, walk out
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  Speaker 2: the front or hop in your car and go to
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  Speaker 2: where you need to go. Not every home has that
• 15:45
  Speaker 2: capability because they're isolated to one or in some cases
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  Speaker 2: no vehicles, so they have to rely on the backbone
• 15:53
  Speaker 2: of a public transportation system to get them to where
• 15:57
  Speaker 2: they need to go. And I think obviously Lee Steve's job.
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  Speaker 2: He's knocking it out of the park in terms of
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  Speaker 2: ridership growing. But we can grow ridership even further because
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  Speaker 2: the needs not met and until we're out of business,
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: because everybody has an option where you know, it's like
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: the Jetsons of the future where they come to your
• 16:20
  Speaker 2: dory in the spaceship and you know, they take you
• 16:22
  Speaker 2: to wherever you need to go, whatever the case might
• 16:24
  Speaker 2: be for the future. But until that need is met,
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: that's still going to be our critical mission of moving
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: forward with you know, people and where they need to
• 16:34
  Speaker 2: go and the resources they need to get to.
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm glad that you guys are here to do that.
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  Speaker 1: Unfortunately we're out of time, but you'll be back in
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  Speaker 1: the in the booth again to give me some more updates.
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  Speaker 1: So Greg Steve, thank you guys very much for not
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: only coming and joining me in the booth today, but
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: for what you're doing out there in the streets. We
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: really appreciate it.
• 16:55
  Speaker 2: Thank you, appreciate Brandon