By: Diane Benjamin
Board packet: Connect Transit 4/22/25
Items of note:
The Salary increase isn’t in the packet. Staff recommends not releasing any Executive Session Minutes – PDF page 52
.
The meeting video is very hard to hear even with the sound all the way up. When the Board returned from Executive Session they skipped the Managing Director’s Annual Salary increase and went straight to recommending holding all closed session minutes.
Speakers who take a seat at the end of the table are especially hard to hear.
See the Rural Transit presentation beginning at 25:00. The sound starts terrible but does get better. The IDOT representative anticipates very low ridership. Of course a program will be coming to increase ridership. They will be using Showbus vehicles and out of service Mobility buses. The cost for now will be paid by the State. The service is tentatively named County Connect. McLean County is in charge of the program, CT is only the administrator. Of course it passed.
See PDF page 7. CT budgeted a loss (Operating Assistance) for the year of $18,600,978. That means their monthly budgeted loss is 18,600,978 / 12 = $1,550,008.
For March 2025 they didn’t meet budget. They only lost $1,487,595. Should we celebrate? 🤑
Ridership is decreasing.
Documentation on Rural Transit begins on PDF page 24 of Board Packet.
See PDF page 11 for numerous bills in Illinois that will probably pass. Voters in Illinois must like authoritarian government, they keep electing the same people.
I use Connect Transit, here is my biggest problem: buses simply NOT showing up. Yesterday, at 6:15 in Uptown Normal, the Green bus did not show up. This led to me not being able to make the 6:30 bus in DT, which led to me walking several miles home. And, as if this would be any conciliation, they told me to call Connect Flex. . . Oh, except Connect Flex is always backed up and only covers a small chunk of town.
The Green route has also had issues such as: drivers stepping out of the vehicle to clean something, resulting in being late. I’ve seen my bus leave 4 minutes early. I’ve even had my bus driver literally park the vehicle to go and get food/snacks from McDonalds or the gas station.
This wouldn’t even be a big issue, either, if it weren’t for the buses being reliant on being on time to get me to the next bus.
Nobody’s salary should be increased until they do the bare minimum of their mission statement: get people from Point A to Point B.