Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 09-30-2026: Reagan Mass Transit District updates

Transcript

Talk Line 09-30-2026: Reagan Mass Transit District updates · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Sauk Valley, and welcome back to The Waking
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Crew here on FM 95.1 and AM 1460 WIXN.
• 0:09
  Speaker 2: 8.15 on your.
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: Wednesday morning, halfway through the show, halfway through the week.
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: Hopefully your hump day is treating you kindly. It's time
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: for Talk Line and our good friends from Reagan Mass
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: Transit District, Greg Gates and Marcus Cox, in the studio
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: braving the rain to give me their smiling faces and
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: reports on public transportation in the Sauk Valley.
• 0:27
  Speaker 2: Y'all are smiling hard today, gentlemen. What day is it?
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: It's Hope Day!
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: Yes!
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: See, we got one of those references today, right?
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: Oh.
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: Today, we're going to start off talking, now that Whiteside
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: County's been included... You know, the number of rides, the
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: mileage that's been put out on these roads are already
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: kind of an interesting and astounding fact on their own.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: We've talked about in the past. But let's kind of
• 1:03
  Speaker 1: get a recap now of where we're at now that
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: we've added Whiteside County officially into the mix.
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: Yeah. So last time we were here, last month in August,
• 1:11
  Speaker 3: we spoke about kind of the overall fiscal year ridership
• 1:15
  Speaker 3: data or just overall data, which... For the sake of reminder,
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: our fiscal year is July 1 through June 30th. So
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: we wrapped up fiscal year 26 on June 30th of
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: this year. We started FY27 on July 1st. So at
• 1:29
  Speaker 3: this point, we are closing in on the first quarter
• 1:33
  Speaker 3: of our fiscal year. So three months with Whiteside included
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: within our data. So we just kind of wanted to
• 1:41
  Speaker 3: give some background and insights on what that data looks
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: like now after adding them in. We said before, right,
• 1:48
  Speaker 3: in FY26.
• 1:50
  Speaker 2: Pardon me. It's all right. It happens to me all
• 1:52
  Speaker 2: the time.
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: FY26, we provided 95,121 rides. And again, as a reminder,
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: I like to make sure information is available and understood.
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: That is Reagan Mass Transit District, along with our five
• 2:07
  Speaker 3: providers that we work with within Lee and Ogle Counties, right?
• 2:11
  Speaker 3: So Lee County Council on Aging, Crider Services, Hub City
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Senior Center.
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: In Rochelle, Rock River Center in Oregon, and Village of
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: Progress also in Oregon. So that 95,000 rides constitutes all
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: of those plus us together. This point, right, we're closing
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: in on the end of the first quarter here. So
• 2:30
  Speaker 3: we have been averaging about 10,500 rides per month in
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: July and August, where previously prior to integrating Whiteside into that,
• 2:41
  Speaker 3: we sat around 7,500 to 8,000. So we are.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: We're pretty much on pace to meet the total ridership
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: we anticipated for the fiscal year. So at this point,
• 2:54
  Speaker 3: we're at 32,500 rides for the first quarter, not including
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: any rides that come from today. It took us three
• 3:02
  Speaker 3: months to reach that point. This year, it took us
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: four months to reach that number in FY26. So we're
• 3:08
  Speaker 3: pretty much a month ahead of schedule here. If we
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: extrapolate all of that out, that'll put us at about 128,000
• 3:15
  Speaker 3: to 130,000 rides, which is what we anticipated for FY27
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: with Whiteside included. In terms of what does the mileage
• 3:22
  Speaker 3: look like, right? What does it take for us to
• 3:24
  Speaker 3: be able to provide those number of rides? In FY26,
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: we ran 890,000 revenue miles, which when I say revenue,
• 3:33
  Speaker 3: I mean on the road, in service, transporting a passenger.
• 3:37
  Speaker 3: We ran... just over a million, so 1,032,000 total miles
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: in FY26. Now, where we're at, we are on track.
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: At this point, we have accomplished just over 300,000 miles
• 3:52
  Speaker 3: so far in the first year, sorry, first quarter, July
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: through yesterday, which puts us on track revenue miles-wise to
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: be at 1.2 million, which means that our total miles
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: will come in closer to 1.5 million. And that's no,
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: you know, A million miles, a million and a half miles,
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: that's a lot of time spent on the road with
• 4:13
  Speaker 3: our drivers out there transporting passengers. So great news is,
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: you know, the need that was existing and present and
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: still there in Whiteside County is alive and well. And
• 4:25
  Speaker 3: we're pretty much right on track with everything we anticipated
• 4:29
  Speaker 3: with the ridership and the data that we had gathered
• 4:32
  Speaker 3: from them. So, you know, we're very happy with the
• 4:35
  Speaker 3: way things are going. There's a lot that's happening. There's
• 4:38
  Speaker 3: still plenty, right? We're three months into this, so we're
• 4:41
  Speaker 3: still in the infancy of it. But I'll kind of
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: maybe elaborate a little bit more when we get into
• 4:46
  Speaker 3: some of our other items here. But just wanted to
• 4:49
  Speaker 3: kind of give everyone an update on where we're at,
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: how the white side piece, you know, affects our data
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: overall and what we're on track to be able to
• 4:59
  Speaker 3: achieve for the rest of this fiscal year and moving
• 5:01
  Speaker 3: through these next few quarters.
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: Holy overclocked odometers, Batman. That is.
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Wow, that's an impressive amount of rides, mileage, and stats
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: just looking at that. Not that it was any bit
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: shy beforehand, but definitely not surprising to see those kind
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: of numbers pulling now that Whiteside's in the mix as well.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: And it just really speaks to the need and the
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: use and what I think is really becoming more of
• 5:28
  Speaker 1: a consideration of the fact that this is something that
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: you can use not only when you need it, but
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: maybe it's something you consider as your regular option versus maintaining,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: you know, another or even primary vehicle.
• 5:44
  Speaker 4: Yeah, I think we're trying to get to the point with,
• 5:47
  Speaker 4: you know, massaging that message out there that if you
• 5:50
  Speaker 4: truly do not want to own or maintain a vehicle, clearly,
• 5:55
  Speaker 4: Reagan Mass Transit District can get you to where you
• 5:58
  Speaker 4: need to go in an efficient manner. And it is
• 6:01
  Speaker 4: an option that could also obviously have some significant benefits
• 6:06
  Speaker 4: in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. If we have a
• 6:09
  Speaker 4: full bus and we're taking those individuals to where they
• 6:12
  Speaker 4: need to go efficiently, that is saving potentially 10 or
• 6:16
  Speaker 4: more vehicles from being on the road. So that 1.5
• 6:21
  Speaker 4: million overall miles, I'm just trying to calculate the number
• 6:25
  Speaker 4: of gallons of fuel that are required to actually meet
• 6:29
  Speaker 4: that metric. So, you know, that is one of the biggest,
• 6:33
  Speaker 4: outside of personnel costs, that is one of the largest
• 6:38
  Speaker 4: budget items that we have in alignment to take care of.
• 6:42
  Speaker 4: And obviously the number of vehicles that we have to
• 6:45
  Speaker 4: also maintain. I mean, obviously we have to keep, you know,
• 6:48
  Speaker 4: ahead of the curve, if you will, in the maintenance
• 6:51
  Speaker 4: of those vehicles. And thank God that we have a
• 6:53
  Speaker 4: really good mechanic and he is an assistant now. to
• 6:56
  Speaker 4: assist with maintaining the life and useful life of those vehicles.
• 7:00
  Speaker 4: And I'm happy to report that, you know, we're trying
• 7:02
  Speaker 4: to cycle some out and cycle some in. And we
• 7:06
  Speaker 4: can't do that probably fast enough in terms of meeting
• 7:09
  Speaker 4: some of these vehicles that have more than 300,000 miles
• 7:13
  Speaker 4: on them. And the average, I believe, that I just
• 7:16
  Speaker 4: calculated was 196,000. So that's the average. So, you know,
• 7:21
  Speaker 4: there's some that are probably below that average, and obviously
• 7:24
  Speaker 4: there's some that are well above that average of 196,000 miles. So, obviously,
• 7:31
  Speaker 4: we are trying to meet critical needs here in rural
• 7:33
  Speaker 4: areas of northern Illinois.
• 7:36
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, whether it's rides, reducing the carbon footprint,
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: or for the fact that your mechanic has to be
• 7:42
  Speaker 1: loving that kind of job security, from the big to
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: the small, it is definitely, you know, addressing the different
• 7:50
  Speaker 1: needs that result to public transportation, and especially for ones Um,
• 7:55
  Speaker 1: you know, again, we've talked about this before, but I
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: think it's always so important to note out, uh, that
• 7:59
  Speaker 1: in rural areas, it's, you don't always have such a robust, um,
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: public transportation system the way that we do in the
• 8:06
  Speaker 1: Sauk Valley and the way that, you know, if you've
• 8:08
  Speaker 1: never really started looking into Reagan Mass Transit District and
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: what they provide, it's not just around here. You guys
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: get people, you know, to their out of town appointments
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: as well. Yeah.
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 8:18
  Speaker 3: We're also, just to elaborate on that, right, we go
• 8:21
  Speaker 3: to Rockford, we go to DeKalb, um, And even if,
• 8:24
  Speaker 3: let's say, that you're trying to get someplace that maybe
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: we don't necessarily go to consistently, we have great partnerships
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: with the other transit providers within the state.
• 8:32
  Speaker 2: We'll do transfers, right?
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: So if you're trying to get to LaSalle, Peru, we
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: can do a transfer with any of the entities or
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: agencies that are operating down there in LaSalle County, right?
• 8:43
  Speaker 3: So NCAT is the provider down there. So Yeah, even
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: if you don't know, even if you want to find
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: out if there's a way to get somewhere, give us
• 8:51
  Speaker 3: a call. We can tell you what options exist and
• 8:53
  Speaker 3: how to make sure that you're finding ways if you
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: do need transportation elsewhere.
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: Yeah, never been an easier time to actually arrange your
• 9:01
  Speaker 1: ride through public transportation when it comes to Reagan, Mass.,
• 9:04
  Speaker 1: I mean, this is, folks, you're not going to be
• 9:07
  Speaker 1: standing out in the rain like with a map trying
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: to figure out the bus route and if you missed
• 9:12
  Speaker 1: it by an hour.
• 9:14
  Speaker 3: Am I wrong?
• 9:14
  Speaker 1: It's never easier for people to customize, you know, whether
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: it's regular rides or one-offs.
• 9:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, you know, it's, there are, the advantages of rural transit, right,
• 9:26
  Speaker 3: to kind of go back to the point that you
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: said there, Brandon, is that When you think of public transit,
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: and we've said this before, you think about standing at
• 9:32
  Speaker 3: a bus stop. Maybe that bus stop has a bus shelter.
• 9:35
  Speaker 2: Maybe it doesn't.
• 9:35
  Speaker 3: So maybe you are literally standing at a stop waiting
• 9:38
  Speaker 3: for a bus with a map or using your phone.
• 9:40
  Speaker 3: But in this case, we're coming to your front door
• 9:44
  Speaker 3: or the front entrance of the building that you're in.
• 9:47
  Speaker 3: And you're getting information from us letting you know, right?
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: So our system, and this is kind of a good
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: piggyback into where we're headed here in a moment, our system...
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: will call you, an automated alert will let you know
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: the driver is on the way so they'll tell you
• 10:02
  Speaker 3: you know the vehicle will be there in 19 minutes
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: 18 minutes so you know it's on the way you
• 10:07
  Speaker 3: have the opportunity to be able to you know keep
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: an eye out for it but the nice part is
• 10:12
  Speaker 3: yes you're not standing outside waiting wondering where is it
• 10:15
  Speaker 3: at when is it going to be here So, yeah,
• 10:18
  Speaker 3: we are certainly leaning into technology, and that's one of
• 10:22
  Speaker 3: the other items that we are currently going through a
• 10:26
  Speaker 3: trial of an AI assistant. So any individuals that contact
• 10:31
  Speaker 3: our primary number, which is 815-288-2117, will be greeted by
• 10:36
  Speaker 3: an AI assistant. Now, let me be the first to
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: say that I also realize that there's a lot of
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: conversation in the world right now about AI, right, and
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: some of the concerns that are out there. Um, this
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: is a trial to figure out, is there a way
• 10:49
  Speaker 3: to expedite or be efficient with the information that we're
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: trying to provide to passengers? So this AI assistant today,
• 10:57
  Speaker 3: what it'll do if Brandon calls and Brandon has a
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: ride and you want to say, Hey, can you remind
• 11:02
  Speaker 3: me of what time my.
• 11:03
  Speaker 2: Ride is today?
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: It'll tell you what your ride is, where you'll be
• 11:06
  Speaker 3: picked up, et cetera. If you want to cancel your ride,
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: you can cancel your ride. And that's the AI assistant
• 11:12
  Speaker 3: will cancel that for you. Everything will be taken care of. Um,
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: we did purposely make it so that if you want
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: to schedule a ride, you will be transferred to a
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: dispatcher because oftentimes there may be conversation that's appropriate for
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: us to make sure that we're gathering all details and
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: not putting something into the system that maybe could go,
• 11:31
  Speaker 3: I don't want to say a ride, but just to
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: be as safe as possible. So we're operating with this
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: AI assistant in place through next Friday, which I believe
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: is October 9th. This is a trial run. It will
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: end after the 9th. It's an exploratory way for us
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: to figure out what's out there, what works, and how
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: can we just make everyone's lives a little bit easier
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: as a result. Now, again, I feel like I'm becoming
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: an individual where, well, back in my day, I don't
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: know that I'm completely sold on AI.
• 12:06
  Speaker 2: Let me back that up.
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: I'm not sold on AI. I do believe that there's
• 12:09
  Speaker 3: certain value in the human interaction that you get through
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: those calls. But these items that we do have the
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: AI assistant performing today are easy, ready to be addressed.
• 12:21
  Speaker 3: And I will say, you know, we went through a
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: demonstration of this. This AI assistant, you know, for good
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: or bad, right or wrong, sounds like you're talking to
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: a person, right? And it can understand, you know, they
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: even demonstrated to us when someone called to cancel the
• 12:39
  Speaker 3: ride because they had to take their dog to the
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: vet because the dog wasn't doing well, the AI recognized
• 12:47
  Speaker 3: and said, hey, sorry to hear about your pet. I
• 12:49
  Speaker 3: hope everything's okay. We'll get that ride canceled for you.
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: So we also don't want this to be an automated
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: piece where you feel like you're talking to a robot
• 12:57
  Speaker 3: because that's not fun for anyone either. So we'll take
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: the learnings from this, the good, the bad. I've already
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: seen comments as well of people saying, Please don't incorporate AI, right?
• 13:07
  Speaker 3: So we're not totally ignoring or being remiss of that.
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: We're gathering what we can and making informed decisions on
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: that information from the feedback we gather.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Well, there you go.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: You guys will be using this information again to, as always,
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: be improving ridership, seeing how things go with there, which
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: leads us to our next point is getting updates on
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: construction in Oregon.
• 13:29
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: It's an exciting time, isn't it?
• 13:32
  Speaker 2: It certainly is. That it is.
• 13:34
  Speaker 1: You know, I think we were all waiting for our
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: turn to get to pages in history, and we finally
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: had it. It was starting to look a little too
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: much like Fight Club, man. He said, we've got no
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: great war. He said, our lives are a great depression. Well,
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: here we go. We've got enough going on in the world.
• 13:50
  Speaker 1: You get to be a part of it. Write your
• 13:51
  Speaker 1: name somewhere.
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: I do want to say that since our last show,
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: we've had a groundbreaking. which I appreciate everyone who was
• 13:59
  Speaker 4: in attendance. We had a good gathering. And, you know,
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: the ground itself had already been turned, so it's not
• 14:06
  Speaker 4: a huge surprise that, you know, hey, let's go break
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: some ground for the first time at the site today.
• 14:11
  Speaker 4: But they are in the full midst of, you know,
• 14:15
  Speaker 4: doing a lot of excavation and the preparation, I'll say,
• 14:19
  Speaker 4: for construction, laying some concrete as well as the other
• 14:25
  Speaker 4: elements of the the foundation itself. Right now they're looking
• 14:28
  Speaker 4: at having the building enclosed by hopefully Thanksgiving or the
• 14:32
  Speaker 4: first part of December, which would be wonderful, a time
• 14:36
  Speaker 4: frame to have, merely because then they probably could work through, obviously,
• 14:40
  Speaker 4: the winter enclosed inside that structure and we could probably
• 14:45
  Speaker 4: get something done and actually flip the switch, if you will,
• 14:49
  Speaker 4: by May-ish of next year. So it is very exciting.
• 14:54
  Speaker 4: I know that the city of Oregon as well as
• 14:56
  Speaker 4: our other partners around the table, have been very, obviously,
• 15:00
  Speaker 4: supportive and excited about what this could potentially yield for
• 15:04
  Speaker 4: the system overall in terms of likely expanding our footprint
• 15:10
  Speaker 4: in Ogle County even further because, obviously, we'll be able
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: to store some buses as well as start some rides
• 15:16
  Speaker 4: from that facility and probably also linger into rural Winnebago,
• 15:21
  Speaker 4: which we're also doing the service contract for and increase,
• 15:25
  Speaker 4: you know, that potential impact in that county as well.
• 15:28
  Speaker 4: So keeping the fingers crossed that everything goes smoothly and
• 15:33
  Speaker 4: we can advance forward with that construction in a timely fashion.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: I will cross my fingers with you, but it's fantastic positioning,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: you know, whether it comes to, as you said, for
• 15:43
  Speaker 1: vehicle storage or ridership. I mean, just the proximity to
• 15:47
  Speaker 1: some of these communities, it's going to honestly do wonders.
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: Yeah. Well, again, I know that we've talked about ridership
• 16:01
  Speaker 4: just to reflect back on what Marcus has brought forward
• 16:03
  Speaker 4: in terms of, you know, the impact, the current impact.
• 16:07
  Speaker 4: And as much as I want to say, yes, we're done.
• 16:10
  Speaker 4: We can close the door and say, hey, everything is good.
• 16:14
  Speaker 4: It's like, you know, we still have a ways to
• 16:15
  Speaker 4: go because I think we still have obviously others to
• 16:19
  Speaker 4: meet that message. and have a greater understanding and appreciation
• 16:23
  Speaker 4: for what we do in terms of, hey, if you're
• 16:25
  Speaker 4: in this scenario, it doesn't matter if you're a senior, disabled,
• 16:29
  Speaker 4: or a veteran. You know, those populations are oftentimes associated
• 16:33
  Speaker 4: with our type of transit system, and we love them. But,
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: you know, there is the general public out there that
• 16:40
  Speaker 4: also has to have, I think, a greater appreciation and
• 16:44
  Speaker 4: understanding of what rural public transportation can do for them.
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: Because if they are tired of paying four, five, six
• 16:52
  Speaker 4: dollars of fuel per gallon, whether it's for diesel or
• 16:57
  Speaker 4: just regular fuel in general for their vehicle, this is
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: an option. And is it going to take an adjustment
• 17:04
  Speaker 4: for them to get used to, you know, they're not
• 17:07
  Speaker 4: driving that vehicle. It's one of our well-qualified drivers. I
• 17:12
  Speaker 4: think that adjustment is easy to get to. And I think,
• 17:16
  Speaker 4: We're trying to make the process, like Marcus has referenced also,
• 17:20
  Speaker 4: easier to facilitate. And our mission is not complete. Our
• 17:26
  Speaker 4: board is still emphasizing to us to make it more
• 17:29
  Speaker 4: efficient and push the boundary a little further in terms
• 17:32
  Speaker 4: of what we're capable of doing. It's exciting that we've
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: added Whiteside County into the service area now, as well
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: as what we do in rural Winnebago. So that footprint
• 17:44
  Speaker 4: has grown from where it was yesterday two, three years ago.
• 17:48
  Speaker 4: And from my perspective, that's extremely exciting. And it's like,
• 17:54
  Speaker 4: I get to get up every morning and say, what
• 17:56
  Speaker 4: are we going to do today? And Marcus says, pump
• 17:59
  Speaker 4: the brake boss.
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: I want to agree.
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: And I don't want to agree, but you're right. You're
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: absolutely right.
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: You know, and I was, as you were saying that
• 18:11
  Speaker 3: I had this really, uh, quirky thought in my mind
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: right of like it's kind of like when you're playing
• 18:17
  Speaker 3: a video game right and you kind of in this
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: case we're opening this facility in Oregon we're constructing we're
• 18:23
  Speaker 3: opening this facility in a video game right you go
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: to this land you defeat this land you open it
• 18:28
  Speaker 3: up and then you know it kind of starts to
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: show you this whole other part of the map that
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: you didn't see before and that's kind of what we're
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: envisioning here right because yes like Greg mentioned we can
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: construct Oregon but it's not like we go back and
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: sit you know throw the feet up on the desk
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: you're like Mission accomplished. Everything we can do has been
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: done at this point. It's a matter of identifying what
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: comes from the productivity that we're going to gather from
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: that construction and then saying, okay, how do we continue
• 18:55
  Speaker 3: to improve, not only in Ogle County, but in Whiteside
• 18:58
  Speaker 3: and Lee and rural Winnebago, right? And doing what we
• 19:02
  Speaker 3: can with the district that exists today to make it
• 19:05
  Speaker 3: as impressive and as effective as we can get it
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: to ensure that ultimately why we're here, right, is the
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: people within the region and in our service area have reliable, consistent,
• 19:18
  Speaker 3: safe transportation.
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no off-season in public transportation, and when you
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: guys win a championship, there's no time for Disneyland.
• 19:26
  Speaker 3: No, no.
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: That is 100% correct.
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: Yeah, but it'll just be interesting to see when we're
• 19:33
  Speaker 1: having this conversation in 10 years just how far Reagan
• 19:36
  Speaker 1: Mass has gone down the road in terms of expansion
• 19:40
  Speaker 1: and just further facilitating and finding more services.
• 19:46
  Speaker 2: It'll be an interesting conversation.
• 19:48
  Speaker 4: I always reflect on that. in that direction as to, okay,
• 19:53
  Speaker 4: when my children are my age, it's like, what is
• 19:55
  Speaker 4: public transportation going to look like? Because I can guarantee
• 19:58
  Speaker 4: you it's probably not going to be the same as
• 20:00
  Speaker 4: it is right now. And so does that mean we're
• 20:04
  Speaker 4: going to be in the Jetsons period of time where
• 20:06
  Speaker 4: it's like, yeah, we're flying around. There's no roadways anymore.
• 20:11
  Speaker 4: And it's a completely different model, so to speak. I mean,
• 20:15
  Speaker 4: there's probably some vestiges that are still there. But obviously,
• 20:20
  Speaker 4: it is solving an issue. And even we've had some
• 20:24
  Speaker 4: recent conversations with school districts and regional offices of education
• 20:29
  Speaker 4: about partnerships and meeting that need because transportation still comes
• 20:34
  Speaker 4: up as a barrier in a lot of different discussions
• 20:36
  Speaker 4: in terms of what's keeping people from a better quality
• 20:40
  Speaker 4: of life and meeting those or getting to those needs
• 20:46
  Speaker 4: that they have as resources in their community, which these
• 20:49
  Speaker 4: days it's like sort of head scratching that that's still
• 20:54
  Speaker 4: an issue. But we do know that obviously we have
• 20:57
  Speaker 4: some outlying transit deserts here in Northern Illinois and in
• 21:02
  Speaker 4: our backyard that we have a responsibility to assist in
• 21:07
  Speaker 4: finding a solution for so that, you know, they can
• 21:10
  Speaker 4: get to where they need to go. And that it's
• 21:12
  Speaker 4: not an assumed, you know, that it's not an assumption
• 21:16
  Speaker 4: that everybody has everything that they need in terms of
• 21:19
  Speaker 4: transit needs. We know that that's completely not the case
• 21:23
  Speaker 4: right now.
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: No, absolutely not.
• 21:25
  Speaker 1: It can take anything from just one flat tire or
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: repair to completely put somebody's vehicle out of commission for months,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: depending on where your budget is.
• 21:36
  Speaker 2: And in your financial situation.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: So the fact that this is an option, if you
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: don't know more yet and need to know more information,
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: what's the best way for folks to get a comprehensive
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: understanding of what they can get through Reagan Mass, gentlemen?
• 21:50
  Speaker 3: The best thing they can do is they can give
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: us a call. The number I said earlier, 815-288-2117. Again,
• 21:57
  Speaker 3: they will receive that AI assistant prompt. They can ask
• 21:59
  Speaker 3: to speak with a dispatcher. If they have questions, they'll
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: get that information there. or they can visit our website, ReaganMassTransit.org.
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: There's also plenty of details available on our website to
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: be able to get anything you may be searching for.
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: If there's something on.
• 22:15
  Speaker 3: There that you can't quite find or doesn't maybe clarify
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: your information, give us a call at the number I just.
• 22:21
  Speaker 2: Referenced, and we'll make sure you're taken care of. There
• 22:23
  Speaker 2: you go, folks.
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: Give them a call. Find out what they can do
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: for you. Greg, Marcus, thank you for coming on the show,
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: for always sharing these updates. I look forward to the
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: future ones. Hopefully, maybe one day we'll get some hovercrafts
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: in here. But I still haven't gotten Marty McFly's flying
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: skateboard yet, and so I'm a little peeved about that,
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: so I'm not holding my breath.
• 22:43
  Speaker 2: Thanks, guys.
• 22:44
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 22:44
  Speaker 2: Thank you.