By Barb Nadeau –
One of the best ways to see your tax dollars at work is from the back seat of a handicapped accessible bus through Kendall Area Transit, or the Ride in Kane Program.
Your public para-transit programs offer more than just mobility to the folks who ride. They offer freedom, a social outlet, and access to needed medical, business, and therapeutic appointments.
Kendall Area Transit (KAT) is available to the public with ride discounts for senior citizens. Since 2010, KAT has been providing demand-response and subscription ride services for residents throughout Kendall County to points east and west of their county boundaries, and help riders to gain access to employment and necessary services. As the County’s population has grown, so too has KAT’s ridership. With most of the established medical facilities in DeKalb, DuPage, Kane, or Will Counties, KAT always has offered transportation beyond its borders.
Meanwhile, Ride In Kane has been offering rides since 2008, by providing curb-to-curb service 24 hours a day for seniors in Kane County, age 65 and older, and the disabled to destinations in Kane County, and most extensively throughout Aurora Township.
Registering with KAT is as easy as a phone call to 1-877-IGO-4KAT. To register with Ride in Kane, call 1-630-892-1999 and set an appointment to register in person at the Aurora Township building, 80 N. Broadway, Aurora, or at your township office.
Para-transit dispatchers coordinate ride requests, juggle riders’ needs, and for access to buses on daily and subscription routes, and work to ensure a successful experience for riders. They ask riders about any devices they may use, such as wheelchairs, walkers, scooters, or canes. They ask whether riders need extra time to get on board or disembark, and then communicate those needs to the drivers. Phone lines are busy and calls are random, while other folks stop in person to purchase fare cards and to ask questions. The bus drivers remain in constant communication with their dispatch office as they schedule appointments throughout the day.
Drivers need patience and stern attitudes and expertise when they act as a livery driver, an equipment operators, and friends who help passengers board and disembark the buses. Most buses can hold from eight to 22 passengers. In addition to buses, KAT offers mini-van taxi service for folks who need a personal ride experience due to age, location of appointment, or specific need.
Ted Shick has been a KAT driver for seven years. His day starts long before sunrise with a safety check of his bus, and double check of his day’s route and maps. He drives folks to work, to the YMCA, and to adult day services, among other locales. Happy to help with a walker, to hold an arm along the walkway to the bus, or with securing riders belongings, he has said it is all just part of the job. “Some of these folks will just break your heart,” he said. Ted recounted the remarks of one of his trainers, “‘You have got to be a psychologist to be a para-transit bus driver.’ That’s as true a statement as ever was,” Ted added.
The bus gives independence to riders, and for Ted it is a sense of pride as well. He cleans his bus inside and out every day. He is more than willing to wait a few minutes for a rider or to help them whenever he can. “You have got to do what you have got to do,” he said. “This is the people’s bus. They pay for their rides and they pay with their taxes. I just always remember that it is their bus.”
First stop for Ted, pick up a man needing to get to work. Next stop, help on board a rider with a physical handicap. Then drive over to pick up a rider with dementia, with kisses on the cheek for the driver and holiday music playing gaily as they all make their way to their next destination. It is timing and logistics, and a lot of tender loving care that makes these buses go ’round.
Barb Nadeau is the community relations manager for the Voluntary Action Center of DeKalb County. She has worked in television, radio, and print, as well as in volunteer coordination and networking amongst non-profit social service agencies. She is a freelance writer and television host. Contact Barb at bvnadeau@gmail.com.