Category Archives: CityLink

City of Peoria, CityLink, Village of Peoria Heights

City and Village still failing to communicate

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Not long ago, the City of Peoria was presuming to speak for itself and the Village of Peoria Heights regarding the Kellar Branch rail-to-trail conversion. They apparently haven’t learned anything since then.

In June, the City approved a (supposedly) three-way agreement with Peoria Heights and Junction Ventures that would allow the City and Village to own an old CityLink trolley and Junction Ventures to operate it. Guess what happened? The City found out subsequently that the Village wasn’t interested. Here’s the pertinent portion of the minutes from the Peoria Heights Village Board:

Representatives from CityLink explained the request to enter into an agreement to lease a trolley, which would be used for Shuttle Service from Junction City to Peoria Heights, and possibly downtown Peoria and the riverfront. The City of Peoria would like to lease the trolley and would like the Village to participate as well, although this is not a requirement of CityLink. CityLink is donating the trolley at no cost for the actual vehicle. Mayor Allen stated that both the City and Village would own the trolley. One business owner in attendance questioned if this is in the best interests of the businesses, and Mayor Allen stated that this creates greater exposure and additional opportunities. Trustee Carter said she was at a Chamber of Commerce meeting when the other party approached the Chamber for participation, and the Village wasn’t invited to participate as a formal party at that point, yet now it appears that the Village is supposed to own the trolley but have no further responsibility. [emphasis added] Trustee Carter asked to have another meeting with all parties involved. Mayor Allen stated that after the Chamber meeting the City offered the trolley via CityLink. Trustee Pendleton would like to discuss further at a different meeting as there are lots of questions regarding insurance, liability exposure, etc. Trustee Carter moved to table the issue and Trustee Pendleton seconded the motion. The motion to table was approved by a vote of 5-1, with Trustee Goett voting no.

So now, if approved at next Tuesday’s council meeting, the City is going to own the trolley (just what the City needs, eh?) and it won’t travel through the Heights. That’s a shame, actually, as Junction City has a lot in common with the shops in Peoria Heights, and it would have been a good partnership. I can’t help but wonder if the deal would have gone through had there been better communication among the parties.

CityLink

Don’t blame Northwoods for bus route changes

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CityLink LogoThis past week, the Journal Star reported on changes being made to CityLink bus routes:

Beginning Sept. 8, Northwoods Mall will no longer be used as the unofficial – and privately owned – northern transfer station for CityLink buses.

In an agreement with CityLink and the mall’s ownership, Simon Properties, the bus service will reduce the number of routes to the mall from six to two. That reduces the number of buses that pick up and drop off at the mall’s main entrance by J.C. Penney from 250 to 50 a day.

This news has elicited some strong negative reaction to Northwoods. For example, PeoriaIllinoisan has found evidence that Simon has done similar things at other properties they own, in one case even admitting on tape, “We want to reduce the negative, um, aspects of the Center — one of them is the young, black customer.”

I was initially put off by Simon/Northwoods’ decision myself. However, as more details have emerged, I’ve changed my mind.

First of all, Northwoods is not eliminating bus service to their front door — there will still be 50 buses a day going to Northwoods. So it’s not like they’re trying to keep public transit riders out of their facility, or kick all the buses to the perimeter of the property. All they’re saying is that they “[don’t] want to be the de facto north Peoria transfer station any longer.”

And that brings me to my second point: It’s not Northwoods’ responsibility to provide a transfer station for CityLink. Whatever you may think about Simon Property Group, their past actions, or their perhaps secret motivations, the fact is that it is unreasonable to expect a private business to provide their facilities as a “de facto” transfer station. They get no subsidy to provide those services, and yet those services cost money. Many riders are simply using their property to change buses, not shop at Northwoods. Bus drivers are using their property to rest and use the bathroom (what they call “recovery time”), not shop at Northwoods. All that additional traffic puts wear and tear on their parking lot, which they have to maintain on their own dime, unlike downtown businesses who get their parking subsidized by the City of Peoria.

It is CityLink’s responsibility to provide a transfer station where one is needed, at their own expense. It appears that’s just what they’re going to do, as the end of the newspaper report states, “The transit district is looking for land and money to build a transfer station in the mall’s vicinity.” Isn’t the site of the old Denny’s at Sterling and I-74 for sale?

CityLink

Another dissatisfied CityLink customer

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Another dissatisfied CityLink customer wrote a letter to the editor today:

The Peoria bus system needs an overhaul. […] We need more cross-town busing, buses that run more often, on time, and Sunday buses.

Citizens young and old should not have to wait long periods in the snow, rain, sleet and cold in order to get to work and/or appointments.

This letter-writer is right on target. I have experienced similar dissatisfaction with the city’s bus service; perhaps you remember this post:

I decided to try taking the bus. It was scheduled to arrive about five minutes to nine, so I started to the bus stop at a quarter till. It doesn’t take but maybe four minutes to walk to the bus stop, and I can see the intersection while I’m walking to it. Before I’ve walked for even two minutes, I see the bus go by. It came early — almost ten minutes early. Since it was a Saturday, the buses only run once an hour.

Or this one from last June:

First, bus travel is very slow. Part of the reason is that buses are pretty infrequent. They come only once every half hour during peak times, and once an hour during non-peak times. Plus, nine times out of ten you have to ride to the bus station first and transfer buses. Although the bus lines intersect elsewhere in town, there’s no easy way to transfer buses at these intersections. So unless you live on the same route as your destination, you have to ride to the transfer center first, which can add considerable time to your trip.

Second, many of the bus stops have no bench or shelter. If buses are going to be as infrequent as they are, every bus stop should at least have a bench. I doubt there are many elderly who would or could stand for half an hour to an hour waiting for a bus. Maybe that’s why I’ve never seen any elderly riding the bus. Ideally, each bus stop would also offer a shelter and a map of the various routes so the uninitiated can figure out what route they’re on and how to get to where they’re going.

I’m glad I’m not the only one who’s noticing. CityLink recently got a new general manager, Tom Lucek, who has over 25 years experience in mass transit. Here’s hoping he brings some much-needed reform to the city’s bus system.

City of Peoria, CityLink, Sidewalks

The pedestrian experience: University

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About a month ago, I had to take my car in for some repair at the Honda dealership on Pioneer Parkway. While it was in the shop, I decided to try to get around town without a vehicle. That experiment didn’t last too long.

It was over the weekend, and I needed to go into work on a Saturday. I decided to try taking the bus. It was scheduled to arrive about five minutes to nine, so I started to the bus stop at a quarter till. It doesn’t take but maybe four minutes to walk to the bus stop, and I can see the intersection while I’m walking to it. Before I’ve walked for even two minutes, I see the bus go by. It came early — almost ten minutes early. Since it was a Saturday, the buses only run once an hour.

Well, I only live about two and a half miles from work, and I figured I could walk there in less than an hour, so I started off north on University from Columbia Terrace. I was walking on the west side of the road, down the hill, over the interstate, and up to Nebraska. Looking across Nebraska, I could see that there was no sidewalk next to the cemetery, but there was a sidewalk on the east side of the street, so I crossed at the light.

Now I’m walking north on the east side of University. The sidewalk is narrow — about four feet across — and it abuts the roadway where cars are going by at roughly 40-45 miles per hour. The sidewalk is uneven, crumbling in places, and completely missing on a couple of parcels. If anyone were trying to navigate this in a wheelchair, it would be impossible… and impassible, for that matter.

But the coup de grâce was when I was approaching McClure. Remember, there is no signaled intersection at which to cross University between Nebraska and McClure. City crews were doing some roadwork north of McClure on the east side of the road, meaning I was going to have to cross back to the west side of University to avoid them. There was just one problem — before I could get to the intersection, there was a large orange sign completely blocking the sidewalk. The city crews, in order to alert drivers that there was road work ahead, had put up a large, temporary orange sign right smack in the middle of the sidewalk. The only way around it was to walk in the yard or the street. If a person were in a wheelchair, there would be no way around it at all.

At that point, my mother-in-law happened to be driving by with my kids in her car, and they saw me walking along the road and stopped to pick me up, so my pedestrian experience came to an end.

Conclusion: Peoria really needs to improve its sidewalks and its mass transit service. The buses need to be more frequent, and the sidewalks need to be repaired and maintained — and made ADA-compliant. The city is starting to focus on the sidewalk issue, and in fact just had a policy session about sidewalks last night. CityLink, meanwhile, is looking at adding more destinations. I think it would be better for them to focus on improving their bus stops and the frequency of their buses.

CityLink

Park ‘n Ride into the past, I guess

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I thought I might ride CityLink’s Park ‘n Ride service to see the fireworks at Glen Oak Park tonight. My wife and I did that last year and it seemed to work relatively well. So I wanted to get some info on where they would be picking up people and how much the fares were.

First stop, the website:

Park and Ride

If you can’t read it, it says this:

Park-N-Ride Services Hotline
Call 679-8333 For Recorded Schedules, updated regularly

There are no June Park & Ride and Special Events

Please check back to see more upcoming events in July

Okay, so their website is a little out of date. I’ll try calling the hotline. I kid you not, this is the entire recording, verbatim, recorded by me today, July 3, 2007, at 6:00 p.m.:

[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/CityLink1.mp3]

Wow, thanks CityLink for your “regularly updated” Park ‘n Ride hotline! Now I know just where and when to catch the bus for events that happened in November and December of last year! Just one more thing, where do I find your time machine?

I think it’s funny that the telephone “hotline” is even more out of date than the website. And it’s even funnier that the recording cuts off at the end — indicating to me that even when this was originally recorded, it was only marginally helpful.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any more comical, I tried pressing “0” for an operator. Guess what?

[audio:https://peoriachronicle.com/wp-content/uploads/Audio/CityLink2.mp3]

Looks like we’ll be driving.

CityLink

Taking the bus not as easy as it looks

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CityLink LogoI had to take my car in for service today at the Honda dealership. I decided to take the bus to work from there just to see how well our mass transit works out on the north end.

According to the CityLink map, the route goes north on Knoxville, then makes a loop: west on Pioneer Parkway, north on Hale, east on Detweiller, and south on Knoxville. Since I was on Pioneer Parkway and there was a bus stop right across the street, I figured I’d catch the bus there. There was a nice CityLink bench there at the stop (which happens to be right in front of the Social Security Administration office), so it was a pleasant wait.

Well, even though the bus stop on Pioneer Parkway was the most convenient for me, the bus wouldn’t pick me up there. The bus stopped, but the driver explained that, if I wanted to go south on Knoxville, I had to walk over to the bus stop on Knoxville by Green Chevrolet and catch the bus there, there are also other options of Ottawa Party Bus Services for people that want to use the buses for more than transportation.”

There were no sidewalks where I was, so I had to walk over the grassy knoll and through a couple of parking lots to get to the other bus stop. This one had no bench — just a patch of dirt by a light pole with a bus stop sign on it and lots of traffic whizzing by at 45-50 miles per hour. I waited another ten minutes to catch the same bus that wouldn’t pick me up three blocks away.

Customer-focused?

I would suggest that this is not the “progressive, customer-focused transportation service” the CityLink Rider’s Guide described. It really wasn’t a big deal for me, being an able-bodied person, but this bus stop is right next to the Social Security Administration office. What if someone on Social Security takes the bus out here? Since it’s at the end of the line, how are they supposed to get back home? They want the elderly and disabled to traverse the grassy knoll and parking lots to get to the southbound bus stop, and then, if/when they get there, provide them no place to sit and wait?

Not surprisingly, there were few people riding the bus during my trip; no more than five people. This isn’t all the bus company’s fault. Part of the problem is sprawl and lack of pedestrian infrastructure (e.g., sidewalks), which is a city planning problem. Just like sprawl puts a strain on police, fire, and snow removal service, it puts a huge strain on bus service. Another part of the problem is places like the Social Security Administration office deciding to locate themselves in a place that has such limited accessibility.

Need for improvement

I’ve tried riding the bus several times, and here’s what I’ve observed:

First, bus travel is very slow. Part of the reason is that buses are pretty infrequent. They come only once every half hour during peak times, and once an hour during non-peak times. Plus, nine times out of ten you have to ride to the bus station first and transfer buses. Although the bus lines intersect elsewhere in town, there’s no easy way to transfer buses at these intersections. So unless you live on the same route as your destination, you have to ride to the transfer center first, which can add considerable time to your trip.

Second, many of the bus stops have no bench or shelter. If buses are going to be as infrequent as they are, every bus stop should at least have a bench. I doubt there are many elderly who would or could stand for half an hour to an hour waiting for a bus. Maybe that’s why I’ve never seen any elderly riding the bus. Ideally, each bus stop would also offer a shelter and a map of the various routes so the uninitiated can figure out what route they’re on and how to get to where they’re going.

Not everything is bad; the drivers are usually nice and the transfer center is a good facility. If you have enough time, you can get almost anywhere in the city you want to go; that is, there are a sufficient number of routes to meet most destination needs. And the price is right at $1 per ride. But as with anything, there’s room for improvement.

City of Peoria, CityLink, Firefly Energy

My little brainstorm for the City/Firefly partnership

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Electric Bus graphicOn Tuesday night, the city is probably going to approve a loan guarantee, in partnership with Peoria County, for Firefly Energy. This will allow Firefly to establish their headquarters here in Peoria and employ 65 people locally. Assuming they’re successful, which seems pretty likely, it won’t cost the city or county a thing. In fact, the city and county will receive $480,000 of common stock.

So here’s the little brainstorm I had*, for what it’s worth: I believe Firefly should have a place to showcase their battery technology. How about if they showcase it in CityLink buses?

Imagine if CityLink buses ran on Firefly batteries. With gasoline prices skyrocketing, I’ll bet the cost savings in fuel would be enough that CityLink could afford to run the buses more frequently and increase ridership as a result. It would also get Peoria a lot of press — even nationally — especially if they weren’t typical hybrid buses but 100% battery-powered.

Maybe it’s a pipe dream, but why not at least explore the idea? I figure, as gas prices climb, there’s going to be increased demand for convenient and affordable public transportation. That’s going to require the buses to come more frequently than once every half-hour during peak times or hour during non-peak times. In order to make it economical to provide that additional service, either fares are going to have to go up or costs are going to have to be cut somehow. It seems reasonable that Firefly battery technology — especially if it were donated as a marketing strategy — could provide enough cost savings to make improved frequency possible. I’ll bet there’s even a federal grant or two out there that could help defray the costs of a feasibility study and/or implementation.

Maybe someone can run the idea past Ray LaHood. If he shoots it down, we’ll know we have a winner.

*Hat tip: Sharon Deckard, who had the idea to run a Firefly battery-powered trolley on the Kellar Branch. That was the seed for my idea to put the batteries in buses.