Oswego trustees are reviewing a request from Kendall Area Transit to increase how much the village pays for paratransit services for people in need.
The village has partnered with the Voluntary Action Center of DeKalb County for door-to-door transportation services through Kendall Area Transit since 2015, village officials said.
Kendall Area Transit is a “demand-response” community transportation program for Kendall County with special emphasis on senior citizens and individuals with disabilities, village officials said.
An agreement with Voluntary Action Center was set to expire in June. However, the center agreed to a service extension through the end of the year at the current rate, Oswego Assistant Village Administrator Jean Bueche said in a report to trustees.
Kendall Area Transit is funded through state and federal grants as well as municipal and county contributions, Bueche said.
The village’s contribution to Voluntary Action Center has been $47,000 annually. The center is proposing to renew its agreement with Oswego in 2025 for another three-year term, but increasing 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 Executive Director Nate Kloster at an Oswego Village Board committee of the whole meeting recently gave an overview of the ridership program.
The agency 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. 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.
Unless municipal and county funds increase, the agency cannot receive more state matching funds, he said.
“We want to try to increase the local match to allow us to get more out of the state and expand our program,” he told trustees.
The proposed increase in funding would translate into 2,500 additional rides the agency could potentially provide each year, he said.
Village trustees requested clarity on the agency’s ridership data.
“I think it is a great service and ridership will increase. I want to support it but I want to make sure everyone is doing their part, not just Oswego,” Trustee Tom Guist said. “In the past, Oswego has given in places where surrounding communities didn’t do their fair share.”
Riders must register for service with Kendall Area Transit. Riders pay $3 for each curb-to-curb service, with $2 for limited out-of-county destinations. Seniors receive a $1 reduction on fares. The service operates 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.