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There is actually more coordination of transportation services in Will County than was evident from the 2007 RTA Coordination study. Current and ongoing examples of coordination in the County include:

 Several townships and municipalities work together with Pace to co-sponsor Dial-A-Ride services.

 Northeastern Illinois AAA, Pace, and several municipalities co-sponsor the Southland Senior Services operation.

 Coordination between Trinity Services and the Pace Advantage Program is well

established. Trinity Services leases vans from Pace and provides paratransit service to the County’s three target populations variety of trip purposes.

 Informal interagency coordination exists between social service agencies in sharing information about client services, grant opportunities and other related areas.

 A majority of DAR services are operated by one provider (First Transit) and are all co- sponsored by Pace. This has resulted in sharing vehicle facilities and ADA/DAR trip co- mingling.

 Southland Senior Services not only operates the Southland Senior Services Dial-A-Ride, but also recently became a Medicaid NEMT provider.

There are several partnerships in place which contribute to a coordinated approach to

transportation service delivery in areas of Will County. The Village of Park Forest and the Village of University Park, for example, are currently serviced by Rich Township Transportation and Southland Senior Services. Rich Township also coordinates with Frankfort and Washington Townships, as well as several other communities in Cook County. Similarly, the Villages of Beecher, Crete, Monee, and Steger have each contracted for service with a single provider, Southland Senior Services; thus offering a wider service area in meeting client needs.

Will County officials contacted indicated that there has been no specific council or committee that were established to address coordinated paratransit in Will County, and that one is needed. Although there is no coordination of transportation services between social service agencies in the county, there is open communication and interest in transportation coordination at the staff level.

Based on interviews with stakeholders, there have been several efforts to initiate coordination, but none have materialized, and some agencies and individuals are skeptical that coordination of services can be realized. The previous studies and activities that stakeholders identified included a 2000 paratransit coordination study in southern Cook County and parts of Will County and a

Chicago South Suburban Paratransit Coordination Study, prepared for the Chicago South

Suburban Mass Transit District. Some of the stakeholders mentioned they have heard about Ride DuPage and would like to know more about this model of transportation coordination.

Several Stakeholder Committee members have worked together on routes and coordinating drop offs (Frankfort and Rich, for instance).

One of the best local examples of coordination is provided by Trinity Services, which through Pace’s Advantage Vanpool Program, leases 53 vans from Pace. Trinity has its own maintenance department for basic needs and uses private vendors for major maintenance needs. The vans are operated by Trinity drivers and used to transport County residents with special needs for a variety of trip purposes. In addition to the Pace vehicles, Trinity Services owns and operates 70 vans that are strictly used for their clients to travel between group homes to various work sites in Will, Cook and Kankakee Counties. Trinity Staff feels there is a need for more paratransit service in the County, and that enhanced coordination, especially given the successful Advantage Van Program, may present part of the solution. If more funding was available to support operations, then Trinity, using Advantage vans, would be able to supplement service for their clients, transport clients of other social service agencies and provide service to individuals unaffiliated with a social service agency.

United Way of Will County provides funding to many social service agencies and serves a strong leadership role in the county. The agency director has open and ongoing communication with the majority of social service agencies in the county. He successfully organized a meeting with over 14 agencies to meet with the consulting team about this project. While there is no formal

committee that meets regularly to address transportation coordination, the United Way would be a good agency to assume a leadership role.

According to stakeholders, another agency in the County that could serve in a leadership role for coordinating services is the Community Service Council of Northern Will County (CSC). The CSC is a social service agency serving residents of Bolingbrook, Romeoville and surrounding

communities with counseling programs. This United Way-funded agency meets regularly to discuss a variety of topics, including transportation and aging.

The Will County Governmental League is a county-wide body of mayors and city managers that meets regularly to address issues of common concern. This includes, for example, public utility rates and not necessarily transportation. This could be a forum for public officials to learn more about transit coordination. According to several stakeholders, public officials are not interested in transportation coordination. Their main interest in transportation is enhancing the highway

system. One stakeholder commented, “Public transportation isn’t on their radar screen.”

Assessment of Coordination Activities

Up until this current effort, Will County had not engaged in a county-wide planning effort to assess or evaluate regional coordination efforts. However, there is coordination of transportation services as noted above. There is informal interagency coordination between social service agencies in areas other than transportation, such as sharing information about client services, grant opportunities and others. Human service organizations in Will County have good and open communication and are interested in working toward a coordinated transit service.

Inventory of Existing Services – No county-level directory of transportation services exists for

the three target populations. Several social service agencies have expressed strong interest in establishing a countywide central transportation clearinghouse that could provide public

transportation information through a variety of venues, and a 2007 report published by the RTA,

Connecting Communities through Coordination, listed a directory of services as a primary goal for

Assessment of Needs and Gaps in Existing Services – While there has been no formal

county-specific assessment of needs and gaps, there have been countywide attempts to identify the major constraints in transportation services for the three target populations. The Community Services Council met in 2006 to initiate discussions, although there was minimal follow through. Several stakeholders have commented that while many agencies often meet with the purpose of identifying transportation needs in Will County, enhancements in existing service or implantation of new services is rarely realized. The 2007 RTA report, Connecting Communities through

Coordination, recommended coordination strategies for the seven-county Chicago metropolitan

region, including Will County.

Strategies to Address Identified Gaps and Achieve Efficiencies – Even though there is no

county-level effort in developing strategies to address needs and gaps. Trinity Services, the largest social service transportation provider in the county is exploring opportunities to expand its successful Pace Advantage program by adding more vehicles to increase capacity and to extend further south in the County. Trinity Services is also conducting a planning analysis to identify major locations and times of day passengers are traveling to explore opportunities to improve service efficiency.

Sets Implementation Priorities – We found no county-level document that establishes priorities

for implementing strategies.

Existing Interagency Coordination – Pace and various municipalities co-sponsor Dial-A-Ride

services. Pace partners with Southland Senior Services in eastern Will County to provide Dial-A- Ride service, and Southland has also garnered a broad base of sponsorship beyond Pace, including Title III funding for senior transportation from the Northeastern Area Agency on Aging and Medicaid NEMT funding. Pace consolidated all of its Dial-A-Ride contracts with First Transit, and is able to co-mingle ADA and Dial-A-Ride trips after putting in place policies for cost

allocation of dually-eligible trips. Finally, transportation coordination is occurring between Trinity Services and the Pace Advantage Program. Trinity Services leases vans from Pace and provides paratransit service to the County’s three target populations variety of trip purposes. Trinity is exploring opportunities to increase funding which would enable the agency to expand this successful interagency coordinated service.

Customer Amenities and Service Policies – No county-wide resource exists that addresses

customer amenities. During the January 2007 workshops, the human service agencies agreed that it would be desirable to have suggestions or guidelines for customer amenities and service policies for Pace Paratransit and other paratransit services. This is important for social service agency clients and clients unaffiliated with an agency. Overall, the agencies in Will County agree that the Pace information is accessible and understandable but not necessarily widely circulated.

Funding and Billing Policies – The Pace-sponsored Dial-A-Rides co-mingle ADA and DAR

clients and bill to the appropriate program.

Service Efficiency –Service efficiencies occurs between Trinity Service and Pace at the local

level, but not county-wide. Other efficiencies are indicated by the service Trinity provides for clients of local human service agencies such as Easter Seals United Cerebral Palsy.