IL: Rural Transportation Step Closer in Macon County After Committee OKs Agreement

May 24, 2012
Macon County took one step closer to providing its residents with rural transportation Wednesday.

May 24--DECATUR -- Macon County took one step closer to providing its residents with rural transportation Wednesday.

The Transportation Committee unanimously voted to pass the agreement with Show Bus Public Transportation of Chenoa on to the full county board for a vote.

Macon County is poised to join an agreement that includes McLean, DeWitt, Iroquois, Ford and Livingston counties, all of which agreed to add Macon County earlier this month.

If the Macon County Board approves the agreement, the next step would be to submit a proposal to the Illinois Board of Transportation.

If everything goes according to plan, the county hopes to offer service beginning in July.

Macon County officials have been discussing how to provide public transportation to rural areas for several years and under the auspices of the Macon County Rural Transit Partnership Group since 2008.

"It's a long time coming and long overdue," said Bryan Smith, transportation committee chairman. "We're looking forward to getting started."

The county is still reviewing proposals for serving the urbanized "gray areas" around Decatur not covered by Show Bus or the Decatur Transit System. Those areas include Forsyth and parts of Harristown, Long Creek, Mount Zion and Oreana.

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