Dundee Township’s Ride in Kane program will continue for another six to nine months, despite not yet getting funding help from any of the villages in which seniors and people with disabilities use the transportation service.
The Township Board decided this week to allocate $100,000 to keep Ride in Kane available, Dundee Township Supervisor Arin Thrower said.
“We’re hoping to keep it running for at least six to nine months while we explore options and potential transition plans,” Thrower said.
Ride in Kane is operated through Pace and the Regional Transportation Authority. Dundee Township registers riders and arranges for resident pickup and dropoff, officials said.
It started as a Dundee Township Park District service in the 1990s but was moved to the jurisdiction of Dundee Township in 2007 because the program didn’t fit with the park district’s mission. The villages of Carpentersville, East Dundee, West Dundee and Sleepy Hollow all initially agreed to provide funding for the program through an intergovernmental agreement, but that ended after the first year.
Ride in Kane costs have been increasing over the last six months, Thrower said, with rates in some cases nearly doubling. Township officials project the cost to provide the service in 2024-25 to be $148,000, compared to $65,780 in 2023.
An estimated 300 people use Ride in Kane every month, numbers show.
The township, which had been considering limiting or ending the service because of the growing expense, opted to first approach the villages within the township for financial contributions based on ridership.
“So far, none of the villages have committed to funding RIK, but I’m looking forward to continuing conversations with them soon,” Thrower said. “I know our village leaders understand the importance of this program and that many of their residents depend on RIK for medical trips and to get to work.”
When Thrower approached East Dundee officials earlier this week, the idea of Kane County taking over the program was floated along with other options that might be available to the township.
“My director of programs and administration and I are going to meet with Kane County RIK representatives over the next few weeks to see if we’re able to transition some of the rider costs to them and to get more insight as to why the program expenses have recently tripled,” Thrower said.
“We’re also talking with our Dundee Township Mental Health Board to see if a small portion of their budget funds can be used to support our riders with intellectual disabilities.”
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
