Oswego trustees recently authorized an agreement with Kendall Area Transit that will increase how much the village pays for paratransit services for people in need for the next three years.
The village has partnered with the Voluntary Action Center of DeKalb County for door-to-door transportation services through Kendall Area Transit since 2015.
Kendall Area Transit is a “demand-response” community transportation program for Kendall County with a special emphasis on senior citizens and individuals with disabilities, village officials said.
Over the next three years, the village’s contribution for the services will increase by $9,586 each year, Oswego Assistant Village Administrator Jean Bueche said in a report to trustees.
The village’s contribution for paratransit services has been $47,000 annually. The annual hike translates into the village’s contribution being $56,586 for fiscal year 2025, $66,172 in the second year of the agreement and $75,758 in the final year, Bueche said.
An agreement between Oswego and the Voluntary Action Center expired in June. However, the center agreed to a service extension through the end of the year at the current rate. Moving forward, the center suggested an increase in the village’s annual fee for the service to approximately $72,000 or $96,900, depending on the methodology used to determine the proper funding amount.
Kendall Area Transit is funded through state and federal grants as well as municipal and county contributions, Bueche said.
At a previous Oswego Village Board committee of the whole meeting, Kendall Area Transit Executive Director Nate Kloster gave an overview of the ridership program.
Kendall Area Transit provided transit to an estimated 32,000 riders in Kendall County in the past year, he said. The program is provided in DeKalb County as well.
Ridership in Oswego steadily increased to around 9,000 in 2018-19 but significantly dropped during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said. Ridership has bounced back to around 7,900 pick-ups and 7,600 drop-offs in Oswego in the past year.
The agency’s funding is based on matching funds, he said.
“We have to manage the size of our program and services on matching state and municipal funds,” Kloster said during the presentation.
Unless municipal and county funds increase, the agency cannot receive more state matching funds, he said.
Bueche said the service area for Kendall Area Transit includes all of Kendall County and designated locations outside of the county, including Aurora, Joliet, Plainfield and Sandwich. One leg of a trip must begin or end in Kendall County, she said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.