IL: Decatur Public Transit to launch cashless system

Decatur's public buses are moving to a cashless system.

During Monday's city council meeting, Lacie Elzy, economic and development director, told the council members that the “old school” drop boxes, where people pay with cash or tokens, are outdated enough to be considered antiques. It's also labor-intensive to use them, because bus drivers have to log the number of riders and whether they're adults, kids or seniors on a tablet, while other transit employees have to physically count the cash.

A new system will automatically count the riders, while the riders will be able to tap a card or use an app on their phone to pay for rides.

“It will streamline it into one seamless program,” Elzy said.

The hope is that the new system will be in place in August, though she said she won't have a specific date immediately until she consults the company who will install the technology, Modeshift, and there will be a transition period where riders can use the new technology or pay with cash as they've been doing, to give people time to get a card at the bus station.

For now, the new system won't accept payments with debit or bank cards due to the cost of fees, though riders can use their bank card to pay for the transit card or through the phone app.

Councilman David Horn said he's concerned about the elderly who might not have a way to get to the transit center to obtain those cards.

“We won't turn anybody away,” Elzy said. “We'll take care of them.”

The plan is also to include the micro transit system to allow rural customers to pay the same way.

“Micro transit is public transit on demand, instead of fixed routes and schedules that uses technology like an app or phone call to let riders request shared rides when and where they need them,” she said. It's flexible and efficient and helps people connect to jobs, healthcare and everyday errands, especially in areas where buses don't make sense. It's public transit that meets you where you are.”

Micro transit will serve the county the same way Decatur Public Transit serves the city, but riders can schedule a pickup through those apps and phone calls. Two public forums are coming up to give people a chance to learn about micro transit: 1 p.m. Tuesday, June 24; and 5 p.m. Wednesday, June 25, in the Madden Auditorium at the Decatur Public Library.

The first phase will launch in August and the service will expand incrementally after that.