Latest / WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio / Talk Line 10-28-2026: Greg Gates & Marcus Cox with public transportation updates from RMTD

Transcript

Talk Line 10-28-2026: Greg Gates & Marcus Cox with public transportation updates from RMTD · WIXN AM 1460 - Shaw Local Radio

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Sog Valley, and welcome back to The Waking
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: Crew here on FM 95.1 and AM 1460 WIXN. 8.15
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: on your Wednesday morning, and it's time once again for
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: Talk Line. If I can get these buttons pushed, you
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: guys should see some of these ones. They just like
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: to stick.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: Oh, my goodness.
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: I'm joined once again by our good friends from Reagan
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: Mass Transit District, Greg Gates and Marcus Cox. gracing us
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: in the studios, laughing with me about things you wish
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: you knew. I'm going to try to get a paid
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: version of that kind of premium content for the things
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: we're laughing at.
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: Oh my goodness. Or maybe shouldn't be.
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: You would have two subscribers.
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Everyone else would just be missing out.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: But more importantly than that, these gentlemen work tirelessly and
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: everyone does at RMTD for public transportation in the Sauk Valley,
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: always growing and expanding their footprint or services, trying to improve. And,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: you know, one thing definitely wanted to start off highlighting
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: this morning is veterans and they're, you know, trying to
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: increase transportation options for those folks.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I want to say that, obviously, beginning off week,
• 1:13
  Speaker 3: do reach out and others do reach out to us
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: in terms of just, you know, potential collaborations. And one
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: of those is that we had a recent conversation actually
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: just earlier this week that sort of emphasized the importance
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: of getting to that population of veterans because much like
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: persons that are older or, you know, those who have
• 1:36
  Speaker 3: a disability that they're trying to mitigate, veterans also have
• 1:40
  Speaker 3: the same type of need. And I think it's crucial that, obviously,
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: we have those conversations and we try to find solutions
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: to those.
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 4: I mean, I think a good way to look at
• 1:52
  Speaker 4: it or the way that this topic is a reminder
• 1:55
  Speaker 4: of or maybe another component of the overall transportation picture
• 2:00
  Speaker 4: that we're working with is that oftentimes– Apparently, whatever you.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Have, I have. It's dry throat season, boys. Yeah, that
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: dehumidifier doesn't help.
• 2:12
  Speaker 4: So in this case, I think a good way to
• 2:15
  Speaker 4: look at it is oftentimes when we're having conversations with
• 2:17
  Speaker 4: organizations in the public, sometimes we stumble across or identify,
• 2:23
  Speaker 4: I don't want to say gaps, but opportunities.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: That exist for everyone.
• 2:26
  Speaker 4: And so what Greg is alluding to, right, is that
• 2:29
  Speaker 4: if it's one of those areas where Veterans Assistance Center
• 2:33
  Speaker 4: of Lee County or any county in general, right? They
• 2:36
  Speaker 4: provide services for veterans and there's, you know, a variety
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  Speaker 4: of different services they provide, one of which is transportation
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  Speaker 4: for individuals that are veterans trying to get to VA
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  Speaker 4: centers for medical appointments. And sometimes, you know, maybe there's
• 2:49
  Speaker 4: an opportunity where, you know, they rely heavily on volunteer
• 2:52
  Speaker 4: drivers at the VA. So, or sorry, Veterans Assistance Center.
• 2:58
  Speaker 4: So maybe there's times where we can, like Greg was saying,
• 3:01
  Speaker 4: assist with supporting and providing supplemental service to them to
• 3:05
  Speaker 4: make sure that anyone, veterans in this case, have an
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  Speaker 4: opportunity to get to medical appointments.
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  Speaker 2: Or as a reminder, if you are.
• 3:13
  Speaker 4: A veteran and you're looking or need transportation, you can
• 3:16
  Speaker 4: always call Reagan Mass Transit District. Veterans, seniors, individuals with
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  Speaker 4: disabilities also have a reduced fare. So if you're riding
• 3:24
  Speaker 4: in town with us, rather than the $ 2 fare, it
• 3:28
  Speaker 4: would be a $ 1 fare. Or if you're going out
• 3:30
  Speaker 4: of town, it would be $ 0. 35 a mile up to
• 3:33
  Speaker 4: $ 5 per trip, so a total of no more than
• 3:37
  Speaker 4: $ 10 for a round trip going out of town.
• 3:40
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think just to add on to what
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: Marcus was obviously very adeptly promoting in terms of just
• 3:47
  Speaker 3: as an explanation, since our last talk show, we had
• 3:50
  Speaker 3: another chance to actually work with the original Office of Education,
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: number 47, Chris Tennyson and his awesome staff, in terms
• 3:59
  Speaker 3: of unearthing some data about students' transit needs. And specifically,
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: what really spurred that relationship a little further down the
• 4:10
  Speaker 3: road was a grant opportunity from IDOT that actually would
• 4:16
  Speaker 3: look specifically at those transit gaps that public students are
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: actually currently facing. I think we take it for granted
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  Speaker 3: that obviously that, you know, they have school buses that
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  Speaker 3: get kids to the school location. But after that, it's like,
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  Speaker 3: you know, sometimes kids do want to go to, say,
• 4:37
  Speaker 3: for instance, the CEO program. Or maybe they have an
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  Speaker 3: opportunity to do some dual credit courses at, say, for instance,
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  Speaker 3: Sauk Valley Community College. Oftentimes, those are, from the perspective
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  Speaker 3: of those students, you find your own transportation opportunities. And
• 4:54
  Speaker 3: if you don't have transportation as an option, you don't
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  Speaker 3: have a car that you're driving to school, to high school,
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: that restricts your experience that you could actually have unless
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  Speaker 3: you're able to somehow get a ride to one of
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  Speaker 3: those type of programs. So that was one of the
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  Speaker 3: data points that we came up or came across in
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  Speaker 3: our conversations with school officials. And we also put out there,
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  Speaker 3: a survey for school administrators, teachers, and other school officials,
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  Speaker 3: and I think it might have even made its way
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  Speaker 3: to parents, as to, you know, what are those barriers
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  Speaker 3: right now for public school students that we really haven't
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  Speaker 3: had an in-depth discussion about? Just like the veterans and
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: finding out, you know, it's not only the VA clinics
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  Speaker 3: that they're going to, but they have options for community care,
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  Speaker 3: which keeps them closer to but just in general as well.
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  Speaker 3: For that population, for students, it's having those conversations, it's
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  Speaker 3: giving them a feedback loop. In the case of the ROE,
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  Speaker 3: developing that survey tool that actually gave us some constructive
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: feedback that we're just not going to do a one
• 6:04
  Speaker 3: and done type of thing. I think it's something that
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  Speaker 3: we're going to probably look more constructively to do, merely because,
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: as I've said previously on this talk show, I don't
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  Speaker 3: think we know enough about the region. Yes, we're providing
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  Speaker 3: a significant number of rides Monday through Friday, 260 days
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: out of the year. But it's like there's some more
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  Speaker 3: data to be gleaned. And as much as we do
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: work with community groups, transportation still comes up as one
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  Speaker 3: of the key barriers that residents in our service area
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  Speaker 3: are facing every day. It's not just Monday through Friday.
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  Speaker 3: It's also obviously the weekends. So how can we better
• 6:46
  Speaker 3: meet that mission of getting people to where they need
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  Speaker 3: to go? That is the route that, you know, we
• 6:54
  Speaker 3: found the route. Let's follow it and see where it
• 6:56
  Speaker 3: goes and see how we can assist in covering or
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: filling some of those gaps is the end game.
• 7:04
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 7:05
  Speaker 1: You don't pull it up by the root, your wife's
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: going to send you back out next season to pull
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: it again.
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: And she knows when it snaps off, and it's like,
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: you didn't get that whole root.
• 7:15
  Speaker 2: Did you? Yeah, it's like, no, that's hard soil, baby.
• 7:19
  Speaker 2: That's packed down. But no, you're absolutely right.
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  Speaker 1: During my time reporting, speaking with veterans organizations, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: transportation was easily within top five requests. for most veterans
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  Speaker 1: seeking some kind of an assistance. Students, I mean, just
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: as a parent, I mean, I can speak to that
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: in the different minutia of communities and the different little
• 7:45
  Speaker 1: like opportunities or gaps as you put them there. I mean,
• 7:48
  Speaker 1: for instance, you know, our boys go to Milledgeville. We've
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: only got two left in school. And so Chadwick has
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: a fantastic play stage. So they will bus the kids
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: right after school to the play stage in Chadwick. But
• 8:00
  Speaker 1: they're not running that late. So nine o'clock at night,
• 8:02
  Speaker 1: you know, you got to come pick them up. Same
• 8:05
  Speaker 1: thing with sports. You know, a lot of kids, Milledgeville,
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  Speaker 1: because it's smaller, a lot of kids are more a
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  Speaker 1: couple of miles out into the country, right?
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  Speaker 2: It's right after school.
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  Speaker 4: Sure.
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  Speaker 1: You know, you can do practice that, but you got
• 8:16
  Speaker 1: to have a ride back home and a kid can't
• 8:18
  Speaker 1: be walking four or five miles as much as grandpa
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: used to tell you about his trek through the snow uphill. Nowadays,
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  Speaker 1: they see a kid walking eight o'clock at night after
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  Speaker 1: practice two miles home.
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  Speaker 2: Somebody's got an issue with you.
• 8:30
  Speaker 4: I don't know.
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  Speaker 1: I don't know if we're getting better, if the world's
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: getting softer, but either way, we got to address it.
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: But no, seriously, you guys are absolutely right. And it's
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  Speaker 1: just one small example that, as you said, as you're
• 8:42
  Speaker 1: starting to get a clearer picture of all the different communities,
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  Speaker 1: you start to see these little different areas where maybe,
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  Speaker 1: maybe Amboy doesn't have this, but Milledgeville has that.
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  Speaker 3: And yeah, we'd almost like to get to the point
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  Speaker 3: where it's like, if somebody is having a, a play,
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  Speaker 3: an extracurricular activity and the organizers are having those, you know,
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  Speaker 3: preemptive conversations about, you know, when the schedule is going
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  Speaker 3: to be set up, how can we make sure that
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  Speaker 3: the kids are having the best experience? And if transit
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  Speaker 3: comes into that conversation, it's like, well, here, is another
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  Speaker 3: piece of the pie that actually could be filled in
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  Speaker 3: with Reagan Mass Transit District. I'm completely of the opinion
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  Speaker 3: that we'll never be able to completely, 100% meet the
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  Speaker 3: transit needs of everyone. But I think I've always emphasized
• 9:33
  Speaker 3: to our staff, we're going to try our best to
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  Speaker 3: actually do the quality piece in terms of making sure that,
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  Speaker 3: you know, we're making efforts and we're making inroads, no
• 9:43
  Speaker 3: pun intended, in terms of, Getting them the best chance
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  Speaker 3: of making those experiences actually come to life.
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: Yeah. And you never know. You may get every right.
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  Speaker 2: I've got to say, with all the drone.
• 10:00
  Speaker 1: stuff and whatnot I see going on, and maybe in
• 10:03
  Speaker 1: 50 years public transportation will be a drone with two
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: big arms, and he comes and scoops you under your
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: armpit and just.
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: Right off to where you want, you know what I mean?
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: Then you guys are hiring pilots and you got plenty,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: but we're not there yet. I can't even get my
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: hoverboard from Back to the Future. Yes, it's the fifth
• 10:20
  Speaker 1: time I've said it on this show, and yes, I'm
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: still mad I don't have it.
• 10:23
  Speaker 2: I mean, right?
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: We got a Tesla that can do a kickflip, but
• 10:26
  Speaker 1: I can't hover around the park. It just Something seems
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: wrong there, man. You guys are finding opportunities there, missing gaps.
• 10:37
  Speaker 1: We're going to move on. I get too hung up
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: on that hoverboard. You guys have updates on the Oregon construction.
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: In terms of where it's at right now, I mean,
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: the dirt has been struck. It's been turned. It's been massaged.
• 10:53
  Speaker 3: It's been placed and replaced. And now they're They're getting
• 10:58
  Speaker 3: real in terms of actually, I believe, as of today,
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: steel is going to be going upward and no longer
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: just sitting on the ground. It's on site. They've done footings. And,
• 11:10
  Speaker 3: you know, there's more technical things. I'm due to get
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: actually an update later this morning. But in terms of
• 11:17
  Speaker 3: you're going to see a structure very soon. That's becoming
• 11:20
  Speaker 3: very real. And just to reemphasize, obviously, this is going
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: to be another supplemental episode. location from which we can
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: do some administrative functions but you know the main emphasis
• 11:33
  Speaker 3: of it it will be launching buses on a daily
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: basis when the district is in operation and it's exciting
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: because I think we have an opportunity also with some
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: other state funding potentially to do something very similar in
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: Whiteside County and so from that perspective I think It
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: will give a better chance to more efficiently serve our district.
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: And I think as we've mentioned probably previously, Ogle County
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: has a larger population base. And I think that's only
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: going to help us probably broaden that footprint in terms
• 12:12
  Speaker 3: of rides provided up there. But guess what? Rural Winnebago
• 12:15
  Speaker 3: is not that far from Oregon. And that too will
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: have some launching capabilities from that new location on Pines Road.
• 12:23
  Speaker 3: So I find that very exciting. I know we've been talking,
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: we collectively with this talk show over the years have
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: been talking about the potential and what it looks like.
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: And it's like this could be one of those milestones
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: in the organization's history where we find out truly how
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: big of impact we can actually have in a more
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: efficient manner.
• 12:47
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, adding another launching point like this just
• 12:51
  Speaker 1: makes it easier to get more rides out there, less
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: wait time on a ride, more availability.
• 12:56
  Speaker 2: To go further out.
• 12:58
  Speaker 1: As you guys have added Whiteside, I don't see that stopping.
• 13:04
  Speaker 2: The Sauk Valley.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Is an area that desperately needs public transportation, and thankfully
• 13:10
  Speaker 1: we're just creating our own answers here. That's what I
• 13:12
  Speaker 1: really love about this little pocket of Illinois that I've
• 13:15
  Speaker 1: seen is.
• 13:18
  Speaker 2: Illinois can never catch a break, so you better create
• 13:20
  Speaker 2: your own.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: And that's the kind of mindset that RMTD has with
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: public transportation here.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: I can't argue with that. Marcus, can you argue with that?
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  Speaker 4: No. After working with Greg, I completely agree with that
• 13:34
  Speaker 4: sentiment for sure. But yes, the Oregon facility will certainly
• 13:38
  Speaker 4: offer support. We have vehicles that are parked outside in
• 13:43
  Speaker 4: a parking lot in Oregon. We have three there, right?
• 13:45
  Speaker 4: This will enhance our ability to have 12 to 14
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: vehicles in Oregon stored inside, which extends their life expectancy, right,
• 13:53
  Speaker 4: is better with maintenance, and as we know, is better
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: utilization of the state and federal grant funds that we
• 13:58
  Speaker 4: receive in order to provide this service. So like you mentioned, right,
• 14:02
  Speaker 4: we're not driving from Dixon to Oregon to start, we're
• 14:04
  Speaker 4: starting in Oregon, so there's better usage of those funds
• 14:09
  Speaker 4: to be able to make sure that we're doing as
• 14:10
  Speaker 4: much as we can to try to hit, you know,
• 14:14
  Speaker 4: I would love to see the day where we do
• 14:16
  Speaker 4: provide 100% of the transportation needs that are within the
• 14:20
  Speaker 4: district that we're serving.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: So that's our goal. Yeah, no, love that.
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: It just keeps growing and expanding. And speaking of that,
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: you know, growth leads to more opportunities, employment, you guys
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: are hiring are going to be getting ready to hire.
• 14:37
  Speaker 4: We are actively hiring. And so ever since really the
• 14:42
  Speaker 4: discussion about the integration with Whiteside County, right? That offered
• 14:47
  Speaker 4: the need to bring in more people to support the operation.
• 14:51
  Speaker 4: So yes, we are actively hiring part-time and full-time bus operators.
• 14:57
  Speaker 4: And I think this is one of those things where
• 14:59
  Speaker 4: sometimes people often see the vehicle and say, I wonder
• 15:03
  Speaker 4: what that entails or how do I become a bus operator?
• 15:06
  Speaker 4: So yeah, we have Online postings on Indeed. So if
• 15:11
  Speaker 4: you go and type bus operator Reagan Mass Transit District,
• 15:13
  Speaker 4: that should come up. We also on our website, ReaganMTD.gov,
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: there's an employment page where we have a listing for
• 15:23
  Speaker 4: a bus operator that includes the link to Indeed. But
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: just a couple of items that, you know, someone is
• 15:30
  Speaker 4: interested in. some of the things to be mindful of. One, right,
• 15:34
  Speaker 4: we're looking for individuals that have a good driving record.
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: Doesn't mean it has to be perfect, but good driving
• 15:40
  Speaker 4: record is obviously important. You have to be able to
• 15:43
  Speaker 4: pass a non-CDL physical, right? We want to make sure
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: that medically you're able to operate a vehicle safely. You
• 15:50
  Speaker 4: have to be able to pass a drug screen as well.
• 15:53
  Speaker 4: So obviously one of the big things that we hear oftentimes, right,
• 15:57
  Speaker 4: is that We know that certain cannabis is legal in Illinois,
• 16:02
  Speaker 4: but FTA still says that if that shows up in
• 16:05
  Speaker 4: your system, that that is considered as a positive test result,
• 16:08
  Speaker 4: which then prohibits you from continuing to drive because it's
• 16:12
  Speaker 4: a safety concern. I think the other thing that we
• 16:16
  Speaker 4: like to make sure people are aware of is our
• 16:18
  Speaker 4: schedules can be a little bit. It's not a you're
• 16:22
  Speaker 4: going to come in and work 8 a.m.
• 16:23
  Speaker 2: To 4 p.m.
• 16:24
  Speaker 4: Monday through Friday schedule. We do give individuals their schedules
• 16:27
  Speaker 4: two weeks in advance. We give you an idea of
• 16:30
  Speaker 4: here's the days you're going to work and here's the
• 16:31
  Speaker 4: approximate time frames you'll be working. But as we know
• 16:35
  Speaker 4: and we've talked about a little bit, our schedule creations
• 16:38
  Speaker 4: occur one day in advance. So as we speak right now,
• 16:41
  Speaker 4: our scheduling team is actively working on the schedule for tomorrow.
• 16:45
  Speaker 4: They will wrap that up around 1 o'clock today. Calls
• 16:48
  Speaker 4: will go out to everyone that has a ride scheduled
• 16:50
  Speaker 4: tomorrow at 2 o'clock. And then drivers are placed on
• 16:53
  Speaker 4: those routes and informed of, okay, tomorrow you're going to
• 16:56
  Speaker 4: work from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. So you get
• 17:01
  Speaker 4: your confirmed schedule the day in advance, which sometimes not everyone, admittedly,
• 17:06
  Speaker 4: is excited about. But I will say that the operations
• 17:10
  Speaker 4: team does a great job of trying to give you
• 17:11
  Speaker 4: as much opportunity so you know when to plan, especially
• 17:14
  Speaker 4: for those days off. But, yeah, if you have questions
• 17:18
  Speaker 4: about the position, leave. We ask that you call, speak
• 17:22
  Speaker 4: with a dispatcher. Our director of HR, Kendra Hall, definitely
• 17:27
  Speaker 4: can answer questions as well. So please, if you're looking
• 17:31
  Speaker 4: for employment, again, part-time and full-time is available. So go
• 17:37
  Speaker 4: on indeed, submit an application, give us a call if
• 17:39
  Speaker 4: you want to follow up on that, and we'll certainly
• 17:41
  Speaker 4: take a look and see what we can put together.
• 17:44
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think, obviously, that's a great overview in
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: terms of what we're looking for and the expectations and
• 17:50
  Speaker 3: so forth. Obviously, if you love interacting with people, that
• 17:55
  Speaker 3: makes that job, I think, much more of a fit
• 17:59
  Speaker 3: for certain individuals.
• 18:00
  Speaker 4: Yeah.
• 18:00
  Speaker 3: Because there is that, you know, if you've had some
• 18:03
  Speaker 3: customer service where you've been a waiter or a waitress
• 18:07
  Speaker 3: or whatever the case might be, and you happen to
• 18:09
  Speaker 3: also have those good driving skills. Yeah. That seems to
• 18:13
  Speaker 3: be a nice fit in terms of, let's put it
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: this way. If you don't like interacting with people, it's
• 18:19
  Speaker 3: probably not the job for you. Not that we won't
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: have a job that's more appropriate. But I think one
• 18:29
  Speaker 3: piece that I would also like to throw into that
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: mix is the fact that if there's younger people, and
• 18:35
  Speaker 3: I say, keep in mind, 21-year-old has to be the
• 18:39
  Speaker 3: threshold for us to hire young. Um, so 21 year
• 18:43
  Speaker 3: olds and plus that is where I would see, you know,
• 18:46
  Speaker 3: our driver pool starting. And I'm not going to say
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: that there's not good 21 year old drivers out there.
• 18:52
  Speaker 3: I believe there are who are very conscious and they're also,
• 18:56
  Speaker 3: you know, good interactors with people in general. So, um,
• 19:01
  Speaker 3: as much as possible, uh, I'd like to see a
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: younger demographic in terms of drivers, at least, you know,
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: express some interest or show some interest.
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: Or get hired.
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: In the future, and I know it's not going to
• 19:12
  Speaker 3: be akin to some of the trades that oftentimes are
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: promoted out there, but I don't want people necessarily walking
• 19:20
  Speaker 3: away thinking that driving is not something that's very important. Obviously,
• 19:24
  Speaker 3: as our district grows, we're not talking just the current
• 19:28
  Speaker 3: type of system. We're also talking about fixed routes, which
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: we're being pressed and challenged by IDOT Move that metric
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: forward in terms of, okay, Dixon, what's that going to
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: potentially look like for a fixed route, which I know
• 19:42
  Speaker 3: a lot of people are still interested locally, as well
• 19:47
  Speaker 3: as Rochelle. How does that actually happen? And now that
• 19:50
  Speaker 3: we're in Whiteside County, do we need a fixed route
• 19:52
  Speaker 3: maybe for Sterling Rock Falls? It's those conversations again, gleaning
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: some of that information, that data that we've already been
• 20:00
  Speaker 3: presented with. and seeing where it goes.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: If it's not there yet, it will be over time.
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: Just adding it in, the awareness, I think that's a
• 20:10
  Speaker 1: big part about that.
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: That's why I love having.
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: You guys come on is that, again, we've said this
• 20:16
  Speaker 1: many times, a lot of folks, if they don't already
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: know about you guys, expect that the kind of robust
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: public transportation system we have would belong somewhere in a
• 20:26
  Speaker 1: bigger city that wouldn't be in a rural area, and
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: that's because so many rural areas don't. But it is
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: a viable option, not just if you find yourself in
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: an emergency. But again, depending on how you plan and
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: live your life, you may be able to, I mean,
• 20:39
  Speaker 1: it is more than possible, you know, to eliminate the
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: need for a vehicle and all the extra expenses that
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: come out by utilizing public transportation.
• 20:49
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's obviously a conversation to be had
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: and probably, you know, massaged a little further in terms
• 20:57
  Speaker 3: of not just internally with RMTD, but others. like yourself,
• 21:01
  Speaker 3: and people who have a need for public transit and
• 21:06
  Speaker 3: key stakeholders who would like to see that as a
• 21:09
  Speaker 3: feature in their community. Because going back to the 100%
• 21:14
  Speaker 3: providing all the service to everybody who has a need,
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: maybe the best thing for us is construct something that
• 21:21
  Speaker 3: will potentially meet all individuals' needs, whether it is a
• 21:25
  Speaker 3: fixed route or a demand response that's very similar but
• 21:29
  Speaker 3: mutated somewhat from what its current version is. But exposing
• 21:35
  Speaker 3: as much as we can sit and talk to you
• 21:37
  Speaker 3: every month, we do know that there are individuals out
• 21:40
  Speaker 3: there that still have probably very minimal, if any, knowledge
• 21:44
  Speaker 3: about public transit here in Lee, Ogle, and Whiteside counties
• 21:48
  Speaker 3: that need more of that information to make some informed
• 21:51
  Speaker 3: decisions because they might be sitting at the table at
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: night wondering, how am I going to make this budget work?
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: And maybe they don't have that element of public transit
• 22:01
  Speaker 3: as an option to help budgeting processes for them as
• 22:07
  Speaker 3: an individual or the family unit. So as much as
• 22:11
  Speaker 3: we can get into that conversation and other community conversations,
• 22:16
  Speaker 3: I think that's going to pay a huge dividend in
• 22:18
  Speaker 3: the long run, obviously.
• 22:20
  Speaker 2: I couldn't agree more.
• 22:21
  Speaker 1: And if folks want to find out Any more information
• 22:24
  Speaker 1: about RMTD, what you offer, they want to go apply,
• 22:27
  Speaker 1: what's the best way to do that?
• 22:28
  Speaker 4: The best way to do that is go to reaganmtd.gov.
• 22:34
  Speaker 4: Like I said, there's an appointment page on there. In
• 22:36
  Speaker 4: the event that someone is unable to identify that or
• 22:39
  Speaker 4: find it, give us a call at our dispatch office, 815-288-2117.
• 22:43
  Speaker 4: Ask to speak with dispatch. You can ask to speak with,
• 22:47
  Speaker 4: like I said, our Director of HR, Kendra Hall, we
• 22:50
  Speaker 4: can make sure that you get the information you need
• 22:52
  Speaker 4: to be able to submit an application.
• 22:54
  Speaker 3: And Brandon, I got one more thing because obviously November
• 22:57
  Speaker 3: 3rd is next week. And as Mr. Cox has already planned,
• 23:01
  Speaker 3: we will be providing rides to and from the polling places.
• 23:05
  Speaker 3: But in general, I believe we're doing all free rides
• 23:08
  Speaker 3: on Tuesday, November the 3rd. So keep that in mind
• 23:13
  Speaker 3: if you have a need or someone that you know
• 23:15
  Speaker 3: has a need.
• 23:16
  Speaker 2: Absolutely. Keep that in mind, Fair Free Fridays as well.
• 23:19
  Speaker 2: Give it out.
• 23:20
  Speaker 1: Try it. See what you've been missing. Go apply. Great
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: new career. Again, I couldn't agree with you more. I
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: think you'd want to be a people person. You're going
• 23:28
  Speaker 1: to become part of the community. Your riders are going
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: to get to know you.
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: I would want to look.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Forward to my favorite driver, and that's just kind of
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: that relationship you build. Better yet, I need a fourth
• 23:39
  Speaker 1: side job because I'm still sleeping at night, guys, and
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: it's a complete waste of time. But no, seriously, thank
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: you so much, guys, for always coming in studio and
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: all the hard work you're doing out there to make
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: sure nobody's without a ride within the Sauk Valley.
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: We appreciate you.
• 23:53
  Speaker 3: Thank you.
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: Thank you.