Riders Face Bus Cuts in Pace Plan

The Village of Niles, which funds the bulk of the Niles Free Bus, and Pace are looking to cut service and reconfigure routes to save money. Niles may also start charging for the (currently) free bus.

Residents have been protesting the planned midday service cuts on the Nos. 240, 241 and 209 bus routes. 

At  a recent Pace public hearing, Denise Packe said she relies on the 241 bus route to get to her job near the Golf Mill Shopping Mall.

Another commuter who attended, Wayne Serbin of Des Plaines, said, "Now with this economy, people work all kinds of odd hours, not just nine to five. "

If Pace cuts midday service, he said, some of these commuters would be stranded.

Virginia Jacobsen of Park Ridge noted that many senior citizens rely on the midday service of Routes 240 and 241 to get to doctor appointments and go shopping.

The Pace board of directors will consider the changes at its Oct. 13 meeting. If the board votes to cut service, the reduced schedules would go into effect in early December, said Sue Rushing, community relations supervisor at the agency.

At a recent public hearing Pace held at the Park Ridge Public Library, attendees said the proposal would harm the disabled who rely on Pace to get to work and students who would no longer have bus service to Maine South and Maine East high schools for part of the day.  

Adam Eichenberger, a senior planner at Pace, said the agency wants to eliminate service from 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. on Route 241, which runs from the Golf Mill Shopping Center in Niles to the Metra train station in downtown Park Ridge to the CTA Blue Line's Cumberland train station.

Pace, part of the Regional Transportation Authority, is also proposing eliminating 9:30 a.m. -2:30 p.m. service on Route 240, which runs from the Golf Mill Shopping Center to Golf Glen Shopping Center to the Dee Road Metra station to eventually end at the CTA Blue Line's Cumberland station. The bus line serves areas in or near Niles, Morton Grove, Park Ridge and Glenview.

Reduced service is also planned for Route 209, which runs from the Des Plaines Metra station down Busse Road to the Harlem station on the CTA Blue Line. Pace wants bus runs at one-hour intervals rather than the current 30 minutes on weekdays from 9:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. and every 40 minutes on Saturdays.  

Pace's proposed reductions come after the Niles board directed village employees in May to find a way to trim $200,000 from the $550,000 spent annually to operate the Niles free bus. At that time, the board suggested the spending cut might be achieved by reducing service, reconfiguring routes and charging a fee to ride the bus.

Last week, Niles Village Manager George Van Geem said village staff is still working on a plan for the Niles free bus service.

"Pace is providing staff and grant money to analyze free bus ridership patterns," he said.

The process involves studying every block that the system serves and analyzing where riders go and at what time.

Van Geem expects the planning will be complete by January.

Residents can e-mail their comments about the proposed Pace reductions to www.pacebus.com or by calling 847-364-7223.