New transportation service to be offered in Effingham

Jul. 2—EFFINGHAM — Effingham residents needing transportation will have a new public service option starting July 5. It's called ETrax.

Similar to a bus route often seen in large cities, it will make designated stops in the city, with one difference.

"The difference is we have the ability to make a deviation up to one quarter of a mile," said Central Illinois Public Transit Program Director Beth Beck-Marts.

Between the designated stops, buses may deviate from the established route to pick up or drop off riders. However, deviations must be prescheduled and only one is allowed per loop.

"They could call dispatch and say 'I want to go to Planet Fitness' and they would pick up the route wherever they were closest to and they would be able to go to Planet Fitness," said Beck-Marts.

Although Planet Fitness is not one of the designated stops, the route encompasses the north side of Effingham and includes stops at medical centers, stores, apartments and a travel center. Beck-Marts said the route was designed to hit concentrated areas that allow passengers to easily access areas near the designated stops.

"We have Save-A-Lot, we have Kirby's and we have Walmart. We're stopping at TA Travel Centers of America, Lake Pointe Apartments, Brookstone and we got a stop downtown by the county government building. If you look at Brookstone, we're close to the pool and the park. Older kids could ride and just walk across to the pool. The medical center is by Burton-Devore Apartments and the Village Apartments. SBL Bonutti, of course, is near Hobby Lobby plaza. Save-A-Lot is pretty close to Walgreens. St. Anthony's has St. Louis apartments across the street and the health department is there," she said.

"We've tried to pick areas of concentration where they're close to residences but also where we're getting them to services," she added.

The 14-passenger vehicle will run from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. A boarding pass is $1 and children ages 5 and younger ride for free with an adult. Riders can pay cash or purchase tokens, which do not expire. Beck-Marts said monthly passes also may be used. The bus can accommodate wheelchairs, and riders board the bus on a first-come, first-served basis.

"We're pretty excited to get it off the ground because it's been a long time coming," said Beck-Marts.

The idea for the service came out of discussions among county officials more than five years ago.

"We've been working trying to come up with a plan to make it work," said Phil Toops, who is Program Compliance and Oversight Monitor for Effingham County Public Transportation.

While there is currently a public transit service that provides rides on a call-only basis in the county, Toops said this is the beginning of a scheduled service in the city that people can count on.

"We're excited to see this finally happening. It's just another attempt to provide adequate services for those in the community, whether they need transportation to work or for medical appointments. Some of our riders are wheelchair bound. This gives them the opportunity to get them where they need to go," he said.

The service is being administered by CEFS and funded through state and federal grants. The state funding has a match requirement in which the agency has to generate a certain amount in order to draw down that funding, according to Beck-Marts.

That's where donations come in. Beck-Marts said anyone can buy advertising on the buses as well. It's an investment, she said, that goes back into the community.

"The more match we produce, the funding we draw down, the more we can expand our services," she said.

Expansion is already being looked at on the south side of the city.

"We've already been talking about a southern loop and the two would intersect so the people coming from the south end of town could transfer onto the northern loop," she said.

Beck-Marts said that will depend on utilization of the new service.

"Give it six months, maybe a year, see how we're doing and then look at planning a southern route if this one does well," she said.

There is already a demand for CEFS' current public transportation service that operates in the county.

"Our Effingham drivers do not have any down time. They are booked all day," she said. "We pick you up where you want to be picked up, and take you where you want to go door to door basically."

To promote the new ETrax service, passengers will ride for free the month of July. To celebrate the kickoff on July 5, booths with free food and/or giveaways will be set up from 8 to 10 a.m. at Kirby Foods parking lot, Walmart north door entrance and HSHS St. Anthony's Memorial Hospital Healing Garden/Prairie Heart entrance.

"It took a lot of groundwork and design, but it was something we set our mind to this year and we're happy to see it about to take off finally," said Beck-Marts.

For more information, visit cefseoc.org/etrax.