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Talk-Line: Reagan Mass Transit District · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We are quarter past the hour. This is Wednesday, It's
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: June the twenty fifth. Year is twenty twenty five, and
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: it's time for another informational edition of Talkline here at
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  Speaker 1: WIXN Radio. Good morning, I'm Steve Marco. Time for our
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  Speaker 1: monthly look at news and information from your Reagan Mass
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  Speaker 1: Transit District, and the executive director is live with us
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  Speaker 1: in studio for the update in this month at June.
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  Speaker 1: Let's meet in greeg Greg Gates today on wyx IN.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, sir, Good morning staff.
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  Speaker 1: You have brought along a special guests. I'm gonna let
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  Speaker 1: you introduce our special guests.
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  Speaker 2: I have with me this morning, our manager of HR
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  Speaker 2: Kendra Hull, who is a newbie to the radio environment,
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  Speaker 2: so she will be talking about some of the stuff
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  Speaker 2: that's going on with us in the community, as well
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  Speaker 2: as our golf outing.
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  Speaker 1: Good Kendrick, good morning, Good morning, welcome to WIXN. Nice
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  Speaker 1: to have Kendra on board as again a representative Reagan
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  Speaker 1: Mass Transit. We've got a few things to discuss today
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  Speaker 1: and we're gonna start with a wrap up. Let's go
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  Speaker 1: back a couple of days and wrap up the first
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  Speaker 1: annual Reagan Mass transit golf outing. We held that how
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  Speaker 1: many days ago?
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  Speaker 3: Care? It was on June nineteenth.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, and how did it go?
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  Speaker 3: Couldn't have asked for a better day. It was a
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  Speaker 3: beautiful day. We had about sixty four golfers there, twenty
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  Speaker 3: two volunteers that we couldn't have done without, and we
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  Speaker 3: raised over eighteen thousand dollars. It's gross. Well, so it's
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  Speaker 3: a very good day.
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  Speaker 1: That's great, Yeah, very good day. Now with the money's raised,
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  Speaker 1: how will they be used? You know, where where do
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  Speaker 1: the moneys go?
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  Speaker 2: Then a couple of things. I'll go obviously back into
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  Speaker 2: the operation to support the daily operation of the public
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  Speaker 2: transit system here in Leonoval Counties. They're also going to
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  Speaker 2: help out with any writers who may have financial needs
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  Speaker 2: that would potentially keep them from riding on our buses. Obviously,
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  Speaker 2: we never make that a precursor. We're trying to obviously
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  Speaker 2: get people where they need to go in to say
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  Speaker 2: fan efficient and accessible manner.
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  Speaker 1: So good.
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  Speaker 2: It's all about supporting obviously the operation and getting those
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  Speaker 2: rides to people who need them.
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  Speaker 1: Absolutely, eighteen thousand dollars wonderful. Are we going to see
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  Speaker 1: this event again?
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  Speaker 3: Yes, we will. Next year June eighteenth, and it's going
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  Speaker 3: to be a Timber Creek golf course.
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  Speaker 1: All right, very good, drink your calendar. There you go. Yep,
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  Speaker 1: circle it for twenty twenty six. As we bring you
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  Speaker 1: once again the annual it's become an annual Reagan Mass
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  Speaker 1: Transit District golf outing for twenty twenty six after a
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  Speaker 1: very successful start in twenty twenty five. Kendrick brings us
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  Speaker 1: that information this morning here at WIX. In moving ahead
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  Speaker 1: talking about upcoming activities, there's one important date on the calendar,
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  Speaker 1: July the first that we wanted to mention today.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, we do, because we're stepping into a different county,
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  Speaker 2: or an additional county, and I think, as we've been
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  Speaker 2: discussing previously with you, Steve, we will be adding Winnebago County.
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  Speaker 2: In partnership with the County of Winnebago. We are going
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  Speaker 2: to be the operator of that rural Winnebago transit system.
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  Speaker 2: And so you're going to start seeing some messaging that's
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  Speaker 2: going to be focusing on the rural Winnebago County public
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  Speaker 2: transportation system and how we can actually assist those individuals
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  Speaker 2: specifically in what I would say is the western portion
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  Speaker 2: of Winnebego where you have Duran, Pakatonica, Winnebago, some smaller
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  Speaker 2: communities and unincorporated areas of the county and getting them
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  Speaker 2: the rides because previously, until we start on next Tuesday,
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  Speaker 2: there has not been a public transportation footprint in that
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  Speaker 2: section of Winnebego. So people are familiar with Rockford Mass
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  Speaker 2: Transit District. They have a nice, obviously firm hold in
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  Speaker 2: terms of providing the services within the urban area of Rockford,
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  Speaker 2: but outside of that scope, and that has been something
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  Speaker 2: that has been a long need in the process of
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  Speaker 2: being met. And I think, just to reflect back a
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  Speaker 2: couple of years, the Illinois Department of Transportation was one
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  Speaker 2: of the organizations that reached down and asked if we
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  Speaker 2: would have interest in actually being the operator of that
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  Speaker 2: rural part public transportation up there. We said, yeah, let's
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  Speaker 2: talk further about it. And I'd like to say that
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  Speaker 2: through some conversations obviously with the County Board up there,
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  Speaker 2: the Finance Committee of the County Board of Winnebago, we've
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  Speaker 2: also been talking to Mike Stubby and his fine staff
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  Speaker 2: at Rockford Mass Transit District about how we can also
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  Speaker 2: coordinate some transfers between that rural and the urban areas
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  Speaker 2: because we know that a lot of the persons in
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  Speaker 2: that rural section of Winnebago are going to want to
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  Speaker 2: go to Rockford or locations within the city of Rockford.
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  Speaker 2: So that's going to be front and center as one
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  Speaker 2: of the key coordinating relationships that we have up there.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, Now, with all of this taking place, and it
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  Speaker 1: starts next Tuesday, July, the first is Greg mentioned where
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  Speaker 1: this service will start in that rural area of Winnebago County.
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  Speaker 1: Are we going to see you know, physically? You know,
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  Speaker 1: how's this going to work. We talked about this just
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  Speaker 1: briefly last time around, Greg, I wanted to kind of
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  Speaker 1: unfold it a little bit more today.
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  Speaker 2: It's going to just be more of an add on
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  Speaker 2: to what we're currently doing. Okay, We're eventually going to
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  Speaker 2: have a dedicated phone number that we'll be serving that area,
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  Speaker 2: so the people up there can call that specific number,
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  Speaker 2: but it'll actually be transferred down into our operation down
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  Speaker 2: here in Dixon in terms of the dispatching side and
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  Speaker 2: the administrative side that will be down here at the
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  Speaker 2: Reagan Transit Center in Dixon. We will have drivers that
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  Speaker 2: are dedicated to providing this service up in Rowinnebego, most
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  Speaker 2: likely starting off in the city of Oregon to begin with,
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  Speaker 2: and then maybe moving a little further up north potentially
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  Speaker 2: in the future depending on what the response is. But
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  Speaker 2: in terms of an operational footprint, we need to be
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  Speaker 2: as close as we can to rural Winnebago. But obviously
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  Speaker 2: we also have a lot of dispatch who are currently
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  Speaker 2: in the offices down here in Dixon. So initially until
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  Speaker 2: we get a better grasp on what that response is
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  Speaker 2: going to be like, it's a little hard to project
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  Speaker 2: obviously the number of rides, the responses, or the response
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  Speaker 2: to the service offering until we get full completely immersed
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  Speaker 2: in that process that service area, and we will be
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  Speaker 2: going up I know I'm going up this Saturday to
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  Speaker 2: derand to the food pantry to actually do some promotion
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  Speaker 2: with individuals up there. We've had the opportunity to talk
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  Speaker 2: to several of the village boards. Steve Davis and I
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  Speaker 2: my assistant director of operations and I have been up
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  Speaker 2: there actually looking and talking with individuals. They're very excited
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  Speaker 2: about the potential and what is coming, and we'll see
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  Speaker 2: how it goes It'll be a very interesting from the
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  Speaker 2: ground up type of approach to starting a new transit
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  Speaker 2: operation because myself, I've never done that before, as a
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  Speaker 2: lot of my staff also have not done that. So
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  Speaker 2: it'll be very interesting to see how we can actually
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  Speaker 2: grow this and mature it as a system piece.
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  Speaker 1: And we are going to see the Reagan Mass Transit
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  Speaker 1: motor vehicles up in Winnebago County. Is that what it's
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  Speaker 1: going to be labeled as GREG.
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  Speaker 2: It will be labeled as rural Winnebego County Public Transportation. Okay,
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  Speaker 2: Winnebego is the grantee of those funds. We are serving
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  Speaker 2: in the operational piece, so we're providing the service for
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  Speaker 2: that system. So you're going to see a mixture. You're
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  Speaker 2: going to see basically rural Winnebego County Public Transportation vehicles
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  Speaker 2: and it'll stay on the side of the bus something
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  Speaker 2: along the lines of operated by Reagan Mass Transit District.
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  Speaker 2: So you'll see both of those pieces on the buses. Eventually,
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  Speaker 2: we have not took delivery of the buses or the
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  Speaker 2: minivans that will be used up there there coming most
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  Speaker 2: likely in August, but eventually it will have more of
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  Speaker 2: a presence. Visually, we'll be using some of our existing
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  Speaker 2: fleet in the I would say initial four to five
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  Speaker 2: weeks of operation merely because obviously we don't have the
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  Speaker 2: ones that have been designated by i DOT for distribution.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, okay, So again, all of that activity starts in
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  Speaker 1: less than a week on Tuesday, July first, we're going
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  Speaker 1: to again take hold of the rural Winnebago area. The
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  Speaker 1: Reagan Mass Transit District will be in charge of that
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  Speaker 1: transportation operation in Winnebago County. Exciting news, and we've been
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  Speaker 1: sharing the news with Greg for the last couple of
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  Speaker 1: months and now it's finally here, ready to take off
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  Speaker 1: in July, and obviously we'll follow you know, the again
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  Speaker 1: new service offered in northern Illinois through Reagan Man Transit.
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  Speaker 1: Right here on w I Accident. Greg Gates Kendra Hole
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  Speaker 1: our guest today from the Reagan Mass Transit District, and
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  Speaker 1: wanted to take the last couple of minutes and talk
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  Speaker 1: about upcoming activities across our Shock Valley area. And uh,
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  Speaker 1: you know, obviously the Petunia Festival is right around the corner,
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  Speaker 1: and I don't know how you guys are gearing up,
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  Speaker 1: you know, I mean What's what's going to be offered now?
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  Speaker 1: I mean, is there anything going to be you know changing,
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  Speaker 1: or anything going to be you know offered special, or
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  Speaker 1: how's this going to happen now? With the Petunia Festival
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  Speaker 1: coming up over the next couple of.
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  Speaker 2: Line, I'm gonna let Kendra talk a little more about that,
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  Speaker 2: because she's actually coordinating a lot of the community events.
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  Speaker 2: We were just at one yesterday where this talk show
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  Speaker 2: actually got referenced by a couple of individual.
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  Speaker 1: Wonderful during the couple yes.
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  Speaker 2: So we love to partner obviously with that organized organization,
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  Speaker 2: which is also one of our operators in our local system.
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  Speaker 2: But I know that Kendra has other community events that
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  Speaker 2: we're going to be part of this summer, including obviously
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  Speaker 2: the Petunia Fest and the Patin Fast Parade.
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  Speaker 1: Kendra, anything to add as far as you know what's
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  Speaker 1: going to be happening out of.
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  Speaker 3: It, well, we try and be seen in the community
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  Speaker 3: as much as possible. We are going to be at
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  Speaker 3: the parade on Sunday, I believe it's July July sixth, sixth, sixth,
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  Speaker 3: and we will be there. We will be at the
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  Speaker 3: Dixon Market tonight.
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  Speaker 1: Good.
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  Speaker 3: I think we're off for another week and then we'll
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  Speaker 3: be there again for two or three weeks. And then
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  Speaker 3: we're also going to be at the Harry How Farmers
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  Speaker 3: Market on July twelfth to help promote the Winnebago County.
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  Speaker 3: So we'd like to do a lot of things out
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  Speaker 3: in the community as much as possible. We'll be at
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  Speaker 3: the Scarecrow Fest. We're going to be at the Trunk
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  Speaker 3: or Treat. We're going to be I'm trying to think
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  Speaker 3: if there's anything else that's coming up. Harvest Parade. Ok
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  Speaker 3: in Oregon, we will be doing.
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  Speaker 1: That Autumn parade. Autumn Parade, Okay, very good.
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  Speaker 3: We will be well, be in a lot of.
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  Speaker 1: Things good, you know, putting you know, a kind of
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  Speaker 1: a stamp on the area, you know, as far as
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  Speaker 1: the you know, Reagan Mass Transit District is concerned, will
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  Speaker 1: travel be you know, I mean, I'm sure it will
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  Speaker 1: probably pick up right during the Petunia Fessional. People will
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  Speaker 1: be wanting to get out and about in into you know,
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  Speaker 1: different areas, so you know, I'm sure it'll be a
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  Speaker 1: little busier for.
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  Speaker 2: We could see a little bump up in term of activity,
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  Speaker 2: but usually during July there is especially also during June
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  Speaker 2: with people taking a lot of vacation time, oh sure,
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  Speaker 2: and being out of town for other activities, we don't
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  Speaker 2: always see a increase. We actually see somewhat of a decrease.
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  Speaker 2: And then towards the latter part of July, as we
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  Speaker 2: go into August, there is an uptick in the number
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  Speaker 2: of rides and it's pretty steady with a tie to
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  Speaker 2: the school year between August and May where it's pretty
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  Speaker 2: hot and heavy. And I will tell you that I
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  Speaker 2: don't think I know completely the number, but I think
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  Speaker 2: the percentages around twelve percent increase and ridership in the
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  Speaker 2: last segment of that timeframe. So between August of last
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  Speaker 2: year and May of this year, ridess have been going
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  Speaker 2: up by about twelve percent within the local system. So
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  Speaker 2: people are utilizing it, and obviously we still have a
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  Speaker 2: ways to go to get more people involved and aware
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  Speaker 2: obviously of the service, especially in Winnebego County, and making
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  Speaker 2: them aware of the process and how they can actually
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  Speaker 2: jump on board and actually schedule those rides. So it
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  Speaker 2: is a continuing.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, but I'm sure that you know, people may be asking,
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  Speaker 1: you know, the Reagan Mass Transit District to help them
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  Speaker 1: out and getting from maybe one Petunia Festival event to another,
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  Speaker 1: or you know, even into the local area you know
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  Speaker 1: by you know, you know, using utilizing the public transportation
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  Speaker 1: system you know, to get around, you know and enjoy
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  Speaker 1: you know, events like Kender mentioned a lot of events
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  Speaker 1: that you are actually going to be directly involved in
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  Speaker 1: getting the word out about mass transit. But again, uh,
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: you know, make your reservations, make your phone calls to
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  Speaker 1: Reagan Mass Transit, get those rides in place. If you
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  Speaker 1: plan on doing some transportation across our Sock Valley area,
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  Speaker 1: especially during the Petunia Festival because obviously you know you'll
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  Speaker 1: be out and about, you know, working the working the
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  Speaker 1: roads even during the holiday time, then you know, through
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  Speaker 1: our Reagan Mass Transit District and especially in Leonogo County, Guys,
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  Speaker 1: I wish we had more time to talk, but we're
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  Speaker 1: going to have to bring our talk line to an end.
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  Speaker 1: To make a ride reservation, Kendra, how do you get
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  Speaker 1: a get aboard the Reagan Mass Transit District.
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  Speaker 3: You can contact us at eight one five to eight
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  Speaker 3: eight two one and our dispatchers would be very happy
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  Speaker 3: to assist absolutely.
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  Speaker 1: Uh, you know, make your ride reservations, call and schedule
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  Speaker 1: a ride and find out more about Reagan Mass Transit
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  Speaker 1: District and about their transportation across our northern Illinois area,
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  Speaker 1: especially during these special times that Kender pointed out that
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  Speaker 1: they're going to be taking place during the summer of
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five. Greg Gates, kendro Hole, Guys, we thank
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  Speaker 1: you so very much for joining us today and giving
• 14:04
  Speaker 1: us the update here at WIX. I appreciate it.
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  Speaker 2: Thank you.
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  Speaker 1: That's our talk line for today here at A. I'm
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  Speaker 1: fourteen sixty FM ninety five one, eight thirty. News is next.
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  Speaker 1: Let's go to Tim Lee at the bottom of the hour.
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  Speaker 1: Good morning for Shaw Local News. I'm Tim Lee.