Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 08-26-2026: RMTD's Greg Gates & Marcus Cox talk public transportation

Transcript

Talk Line 08-26-2026: RMTD's Greg Gates & Marcus Cox talk public transportation · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hey there, Sauk Valley. Welcome back to The Waking Crew
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: here on FM 95.1 and AM 1460 WIXN. It's 8.15
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: on your Wednesday morning, and that means it's time for
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Talk Line. I'm joined in the booth once again by
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: our good friends from Reagan Mass Transit District, Marcus Cox
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: and Greg Gates in the studio. Fellas, how you doing?
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: Great, Brandon.
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: How are you? Wonderful. Marcus, I am catching more and more.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: You've got to show me the full sleeve on that, man.
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: I love that.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Is that like classic American tattoo style? Yeah, it's kind
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: of a little bit of traditional. Most of it's traditional.
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Yeah. All types, but yeah.
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: No, I love that, man. That's beautiful. Thank you. So, guys,
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: I'm glad you're in here. I know. We'll get you
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: a big old back piece, Greg. Exactly. We'll get you
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: a Reagan Mass back piece. Get a big old bus
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: going across your back. I'd love that. We could even
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: get a line of people going down if you need
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: to add on to it.
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: Keep on bussing.
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: Keep on bussing.
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: Oh, my God, that's great. Now we've got to do it.
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: Maybe just a couple of shots and a couple of
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: rounds and we'll talk you into it. A few dozen
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: of it. Well, before we change Greg's life forever, maybe
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: we'll dive into the reason they're here. They're here to
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: give us all the updates on public transportation in the
• 1:21
  Speaker 1: Sauk Valley. Thanks to Reagan Mass, we have a robust
• 1:25
  Speaker 1: system here. And so we're going to kind of start off.
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: You guys wanted to review the fiscal year.
• 1:30
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's important. He's going to carry the
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: conversation because he's the data guy. But in terms of,
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: I think it's important to reflect back and, you know,
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: peek over the shoulder and look at the last 12
• 1:42
  Speaker 2: months of activity and, you know, see what we've accomplished,
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: see what we can still do better, and see where
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: we have come from and where we're, you know, still
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: going to. So without further ado.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I put together, Greg and I each have sheets
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: in front of us that kind of summarize a little
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: bit about the last year, right? So our fiscal year
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: runs July 1 to June 30. So our fiscal year
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: just wrapped up June 30, 2026. So just to kind
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: of summarize a little bit about Reagan Mass Transit District, right,
• 2:14
  Speaker 3: when you hear public transit, it's easy to see the vehicles,
• 2:16
  Speaker 3: but maybe not to quantify exactly what the data looks
• 2:19
  Speaker 3: like for the service. So I always like to remind people, right,
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: when you hear the term Reagan Mass Transit District, you
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: think of our buses, you see them all over the place. We,
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: aside from, you know, our vehicles here in Dixon, we
• 2:32
  Speaker 3: also partner with other providers in the area, right? Lee
• 2:36
  Speaker 3: County Council on Aging, Crider Services, Hub City Senior Center,
• 2:40
  Speaker 3: Rock River Center, and Village of Progress. And so when
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: the numbers that I'm going to give you here in
• 2:46
  Speaker 3: a second, that's an accumulation of all of those, you know,
• 2:50
  Speaker 3: Reagan Mass Transit District as a whole with the providers included.
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  Speaker 3: And so we have approximately 30 vehicles. We operate per
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  Speaker 3: day out there providing public transit service. For that fiscal year,
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: we provided just over 95,000 rides within the Lee and
• 3:07
  Speaker 3: Ogle County area. That accounted for over 48,000 hours of
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  Speaker 3: service on the road and over 1 million miles of
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: driving throughout the two-county area and a little in the
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: collar county areas as well. But that just gives you
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: a little bit of an idea about the service that's
• 3:30
  Speaker 3: out there on the roadway. We're putting a lot of
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: hours on these vehicles. We're putting a lot of miles
• 3:35
  Speaker 3: on these vehicles. And this doesn't come at a minimal expense, right?
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: The bulk of our funding comes from the state of Illinois,
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: the Federal Transit Administration, and we as the entities, the
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: grant recipients, are also required to provide local match, which
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: means local funds that we generate through donations or otherwise
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: in order to contribute to the service as well. And
• 3:57
  Speaker 3: so in order to provide that service, right, this is
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: over a $ 3 million a year cost, in order to
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  Speaker 3: make sure that these services are out there. Obviously, you know,
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: if you think about it, we've talked about it before,
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  Speaker 3: we want to remain economically appropriate and responsible when it
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: comes to the passenger cost, right? So if you think
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: about it, the fares that we're collecting, $ 2 in town,
• 4:23
  Speaker 3: $ 1 in town, et cetera, that's helpful. But, you know,
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  Speaker 3: at the end of the day, I think we did
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  Speaker 3: almost close to $ 125, 000 in fares. So when you compare $ 125, 000
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  Speaker 3: to $ 3 million, we're not paying all the bills with
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: the fares, right? But again, we're getting those funds from
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  Speaker 3: state and federal levels to be able to support the
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: service that's out there and making sure that, as we've
• 4:47
  Speaker 3: always talked about, right, the people that rely on it
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  Speaker 3: for necessity or convenience, that we're there, we're affordable, we're reliable,
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: and we're safe. So that's a massively high-level summary of
• 5:00
  Speaker 3: what we have accomplished over the last 12 months. As we,
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  Speaker 3: you know, tying that into the Whiteside integration, we anticipate
• 5:07
  Speaker 3: our ridership to be over 130,000 in this upcoming fiscal
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: year that just started. More miles, more hours, right? We
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: added more vehicles. We've added more drivers. So those numbers
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  Speaker 3: should jump pretty significantly next year and ideally continue to
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: climb as we kind of progress into the future here
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  Speaker 3: for Reagan-West Transit District.
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that. And those numbers really showing just
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: how many people are actually utilizing this service when you
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: really come down to think about it. And honestly, for
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: a variety of reasons, we've talked about it on here
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: and I'm always going to because more and more people
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: not only need to be aware, but consider this fact,
• 5:45
  Speaker 1: whether it's maybe your car breaks down, maybe you come
• 5:47
  Speaker 1: into a situation where it's just one vehicle for a while,
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: but also considering how robust this has been, you guys
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: bringing in Whiteside County, We're to the point where, like
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: a lot of larger other cities, you can choose public
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: transportation as your main mode, ditching bills, ditching gas payments,
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: ditching insurance payments. the end of every month when i
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: haven't been in an accident fellas i want like 50
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: bucks back out of my insurance payment i got a
• 6:17
  Speaker 1: bunch of teenagers i'm paying like 800 a month for
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: my insurance yeah i know i got too many of
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: them licensed i need to like sign in blood that
• 6:24
  Speaker 1: i won't let them touch my steering wheel uh yes
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: you know what i mean um the bus is just
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: getting sexier and sexier by the minute.
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: We're available.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah, probably not for $ 800 a month, maybe. And I
• 6:43
  Speaker 2: think there's a lot of legitimacy to that type of statement.
• 6:48
  Speaker 2: Other parents are also having similar thoughts. And I think
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: as we age, we also potentially don't want to expend
• 6:56
  Speaker 2: that money merely because it becomes more of a different
• 7:01
  Speaker 2: focus perspective, whatever you'll call it, in terms of how
• 7:06
  Speaker 2: life changes. It may be a robust situation right now
• 7:09
  Speaker 2: where it's like, yeah, I can maintain that car. I
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: can buy a car. I can get a lease, whatever
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: the case might be. But, you know, the 65 plus
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: year old who has an interest in having somebody else
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: serve in that capacity for their regular ridership needs, especially
• 7:26
  Speaker 2: if it's within town and they don't want to tax
• 7:29
  Speaker 2: somebody else, ask a friend or a family member, you know,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: That's where Reagan Mass Transit District and other providers across
• 7:37
  Speaker 2: the state and rural America as well, they can step
• 7:42
  Speaker 2: in and meet that at a rather, I would say,
• 7:46
  Speaker 2: economical advantage for the user. I was just doing some
• 7:53
  Speaker 2: quick calculations based off of what Marcus has presented. And
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: on average, those 95 rides or 95,000 rides, you're averaging
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: around seven miles for each one of those rides. So
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: that sort of gives you an indication as to where
• 8:07
  Speaker 2: they're coming from. Obviously, we have some that are going
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: to Rockford on a regular basis, but that means we're
• 8:14
  Speaker 2: also having some that are on the opposite end of
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: that spectrum, and it's like one or two miles or
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: five to ten miles that they need to travel to
• 8:24
  Speaker 2: get to a community resource, whether it's kidney dialysis, another
• 8:28
  Speaker 2: doctor type of appointment, work is a rather obviously substantial
• 8:33
  Speaker 2: need also for some individuals. And that again goes back
• 8:37
  Speaker 2: to the economic equation. I think it's interesting that some
• 8:42
  Speaker 2: of the most recent data about the economic affordability of
• 8:47
  Speaker 2: rural public transit is now $ 4 to one. So you're
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: getting a $ 4 return for every dollar that's invested in
• 8:57
  Speaker 2: public transportation in rural areas. And so that's, It's pretty substantial.
• 9:03
  Speaker 2: That's a good use of obviously tax dollars that are being,
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: as Marcus has intimated, inserted into rural America. And yes,
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: we do have a local need to raise some funds
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: to support that state as well as the federal funding
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  Speaker 2: that we do receive on an annual basis because it's
• 9:26
  Speaker 2: not necessarily 100% covered. It's not something where You just
• 9:32
  Speaker 2: can have nothing in terms of a local presence. I
• 9:36
  Speaker 2: think it definitely benefits us. And Marcus can speak more
• 9:40
  Speaker 2: to that local angle, but there's a lot of people
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: who are obviously finding value in what we're doing, and
• 9:48
  Speaker 2: the journey's not over. Obviously, we still have a lot
• 9:51
  Speaker 2: of areas and a lot of individuals that could still
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: have a relationship with us on a regular basis in
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: getting to wherever they need to go.
• 9:58
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but you... and it's only going to grow. It
• 10:02
  Speaker 1: only has up to go from here and to expand
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: the radius that you guys cover. That's just been phenomenal.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: Speaking of which, you've had construction going on in Oregon.
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: How's that coming along?
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: Not quite yet.
• 10:15
  Speaker 1: Not quite yet?
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: We have meetings that we've initiated.
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 10:20
  Speaker 2: With Stenstrom Companies, who is going to be our general contractor.
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: Larson and Darby out of Rockford is our A & E,
• 10:28
  Speaker 2: so architectural and engineering firm. And as I understand it,
• 10:32
  Speaker 2: we actually have a meeting coming up on Friday with
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: everybody who's involved. Equipment will start to be on site,
• 10:39
  Speaker 2: I'm told, on next Monday, the 31st.
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: Okay.
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: So before September actually, you know, is cracked open, we're
• 10:47
  Speaker 2: going to start... what I would say is moving some
• 10:50
  Speaker 2: dirt around. And, uh, I know people would like to
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: see some type of groundbreaking ceremony. We are in the
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: midst of actually putting some schedules together. And as you
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: can imagine, that is a daunting task in terms of
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: getting everybody who would like to be there, uh, who's
• 11:07
  Speaker 2: been involved in that project as a, you know, a
• 11:11
  Speaker 2: participant in that ceremony. So hopefully we'll have something to
• 11:15
  Speaker 2: announce more about that, but, It is really exciting that
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: we're going to have ground turns and it's no longer
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: going to be that grassy field that people say, what's
• 11:24
  Speaker 2: going in there? And well, you're going to see, we're
• 11:28
  Speaker 2: told initially that we could have a building enclosed by Thanksgiving,
• 11:34
  Speaker 2: which as we sit here, it's like Thanksgiving is really
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: not that far away.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say that's a pretty quick turnaround.
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: But yeah, so that is an exciting time. um, development
• 11:46
  Speaker 2: from that perspective that I can't wait to see.
• 11:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I would, I would have thought that, uh, you know,
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: maybe would have been a much longer on the, on
• 11:53
  Speaker 1: the horizon as far as construction goes. So that is
• 11:56
  Speaker 1: very exciting. Um, and then hopefully, you know, what, what's the, uh,
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I don't know if maybe we can talk too much,
• 12:03
  Speaker 1: but what would be kind of the next big, um,
• 12:05
  Speaker 1: project on the horizon after that's finished? Do we have
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: one yet?
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: We actually do. We have some, what I'll say is
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: Rebuild Illinois funding. We were very fortunate to get actually
• 12:19
  Speaker 2: Rebuild 1, 2, and 3 funding streams. Marcus is currently
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: working on some for the Rebuild 3 that will actually
• 12:29
  Speaker 2: give us some administrative vehicle for our mechanic to use
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: in responding to potentially broken down vehicles in the field,
• 12:36
  Speaker 2: so to speak. But We have some additional funding that
• 12:41
  Speaker 2: will allow for an extension onto our building and allow
• 12:46
  Speaker 2: for what I was probably going to say is a
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: conference training center, plus some additional administrative space. Representative Darren
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: LaHood of the Illinois District of Representatives in Congress was
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: able to actually secure some funding a few years back
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: that would augment that extension. expansion so that one's the
• 13:10
  Speaker 2: next one in the hopper so to speak and we're
• 13:13
  Speaker 2: moving forward not I won't say it's going to start
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: next week it's going to obviously take a little time
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: because it is there's a federal stream there's also a
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: state stream of funding that will support that expansion but
• 13:27
  Speaker 2: again that will provide for some additional what we would
• 13:31
  Speaker 2: say is administrative and operational space that is direly needed
• 13:37
  Speaker 2: At our location at 210 East Progress Drive.
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well, with the way that Reagan Mass is expanding,
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: I can see why you would need all hands on
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: deck and more and more hands as that goes along. So,
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: I mean, that's, as I like to say, that's a
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: good problem to have.
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: It is.
• 13:54
  Speaker 1: It certainly is.
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: Yeah. There's a lot that I think that we're working
• 13:57
  Speaker 3: through right now, right, as Greg had mentioned. And not
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: only from the capital side of things, right, the infrastructure piece,
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: but also having conversations about, right, how do we find
• 14:08
  Speaker 3: ways to explore enhancements in service too. So that's another
• 14:12
  Speaker 3: piece that we're talking through. And as we're kind of
• 14:16
  Speaker 3: working our way down the road here in the near future,
• 14:18
  Speaker 3: wanting to get more feedback from the public on what
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: would benefit.
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: Them, right?
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: Would that be longer hours of service during the day,
• 14:26
  Speaker 3: or sorry, into the evening or even on weekends, right?
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: So I think those are things that we're also exploring
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: hand in hand as we're working through this development to
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: kind of keep us equal throughout this growth process that
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: we're working through.
• 14:39
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. And I know one way you guys already help
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: folks is that you have several options for ridership, right? Yeah.
• 14:47
  Speaker 3: Yeah. I mean, there is, when it comes down to it,
• 14:50
  Speaker 3: there are a variety of things that individuals have access to, right?
• 14:54
  Speaker 3: So rather that is for, I think that we always
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: like to remind people that yes, we're a public transit entity, right?
• 15:02
  Speaker 3: So you can call and you can book your ride,
• 15:04
  Speaker 3: but you can also have we have relationships and partnerships
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: with individuals for employment, right? So we'd like to ask
• 15:12
  Speaker 3: employers or remind employers that we can partner with you
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: to make sure that your individuals are getting to work, right?
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: So it kind of takes the burden off of the
• 15:21
  Speaker 3: individual and allows the employer, right? It helps and aids
• 15:28
  Speaker 3: in retention for as well, right? Because transportation can be
• 15:31
  Speaker 3: an issue. We're also... especially with this recent annexation with Whiteside,
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: we have a lot of ongoing conversations with different organizations, organizations,
• 15:41
  Speaker 3: excuse me, within Whiteside County as well, right, where individuals
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: that they work with are clients of theirs that need transportation.
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: So we have these different agreements that we're working through
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: to make sure that, hey, maybe they as individuals don't
• 15:56
  Speaker 3: identify as us as a potential opportunity, but it becomes
• 16:00
  Speaker 3: something that they use as a talking point to ensure
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: that people are getting to appointments when they need to, right,
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: or getting to employment, again, when they need to. So
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: maybe what the purpose of this part of the conversation
• 16:14
  Speaker 3: is is that when you think about public transit, right,
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: I think you kind of have a narrowly defined vision
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: of what it is. You get on the bus, you
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: get off, but we're always open to exploring different ways
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: that we can have the best possible relationships not only
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: with the passengers, but with other businesses, organizations within our
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: service area, because where there's a will, there's a way.
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: And we'll talk about how we might be able to
• 16:36
  Speaker 3: support it or what we can do to find ways
• 16:39
  Speaker 3: to meet the needs, again, to get the transportation made
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: available for whoever it is that's.
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: Looking for it.
• 16:44
  Speaker 2: And I think just to add on to that, one
• 16:47
  Speaker 2: of our main mantras is moving forward with you. And
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: I think just as Marcus has alluded to, There's a
• 16:54
  Speaker 2: lot of partnerships out there that we would like to
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: move forward with because I think we're moving in similar
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: directions with organizations. At times, medical facilities, for instance, just
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: to take them as an example, may be having issues
• 17:09
  Speaker 2: with getting people to come back for appointments. And I
• 17:12
  Speaker 2: will say that that has spurred different conversations with medical
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: facilities where You know, we could be part of the
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: solution in terms of helping out with getting those individuals
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: back to some of those follow-up appointments, which is very
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: critical in that industry. And so it's that type of
• 17:31
  Speaker 2: relationship or that type of conversation that we don't want
• 17:34
  Speaker 2: to miss in terms of a potential connection, partnership, whatever
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: you want to term it. Because right there, four to one,
• 17:42
  Speaker 2: I've already mentioned that the return is there. in terms
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: of four to one to every dollar invested in public transportation,
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: there is a driver, an economic driver that public transportation
• 17:54
  Speaker 2: can provide and does provide on a daily basis. And
• 17:59
  Speaker 2: I'm guessing in some areas it's even greater than four
• 18:01
  Speaker 2: to one in terms of that economic picture. And again,
• 18:07
  Speaker 2: that's like Marcus said, we're open to having those conversations.
• 18:10
  Speaker 2: So if somebody does have a thought, you know, that's not,
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: You know, there's a hiccup in the system with somebody
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: who has a transit need. Please crack open that egg
• 18:22
  Speaker 2: of a conversation with us, and let's talk further.
• 18:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. You know, and it's a two-fold boon for businesses. One,
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: it's a great way to kind of tout out to,
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: as drawing employees in, hey, we have this partnership. We
• 18:40
  Speaker 1: have this great thing that's there that we can offer businesses.
• 18:43
  Speaker 1: that not everybody does. And then two, it really eliminates
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: the excuse that my car wouldn't start this morning. Get
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: on the bus, brother. We got a partnership.
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: It's like the old adage, the dog ate my homework. Well,
• 18:59
  Speaker 2: the dog didn't eat your car. Well, maybe. But yeah,
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: I think that is an interesting conversation and we would
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: love to have those conversations I think every day in
• 19:11
  Speaker 2: terms of how we could actually assist people and organizations
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: with where they need to go and what they need
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: to do. Because obviously, we're dropping a lot of people
• 19:21
  Speaker 2: off at Walmart or similar type of venues. So there
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: is that economic driver piece where tax dollars are being
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: generated by the connection of that ride that's being provided.
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: So as much as we can do, we need to
• 19:37
  Speaker 2: talk further about that and enhance those relationships. Absolutely.
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: Absolutely. Well, gentlemen, unfortunately, we're out of time for our
• 19:44
  Speaker 1: conversation today, but if somebody wants to get a hold
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: of you to start that conversation or get any more
• 19:48
  Speaker 1: information about what we've talked about today, what's the best
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: way to do it?
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: Best way, excuse me, would be to call us 815-288-2117.
• 19:55
  Speaker 3: That's our general line that'll put you in touch with dispatch.
• 19:59
  Speaker 3: If you would like to speak with any of us
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: within the executive team, administrative team, Anyone in RMTD, that's
• 20:06
  Speaker 3: the best number to call. Ask for us, and you'll
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: be transferred right over, and we're happy to speak with you.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: There you go, folks. Be proactive. Don't wait to need
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: the bus. Have the bus already waiting for you. Gentlemen,
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: thank you so much for coming on and providing the updates.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: We appreciate it. Thank you.