Serving Lee and Ogle counties, Reagan Mass Transit District adds six vehicles to fleet

DIXON — The Reagan Mass Transit District in Dixon has added six new vehicles to its public transportation fleet.

RMTD Executive Director Greg Gates said the four medium-duty Ford buses and two minivans will help to replace some of RMTD’s aging vehicles, some with over 300,000 miles on them. He said RMTD has been waiting four to five years for these vehicles for two reasons.

“First, the pandemic hit at about the time that we submitted these, and shortly thereafter, production got backed up,” Gates said. “At the same time, the state was going through a process of updating the vehicles on its contract. So, it was a mixture of pandemic production issues and also the contract with the state of Illinois that delayed this entire process.”

The RMTD is a public transportation district primarily serving communities in Lee and Ogle counties. It also takes customers to appointments in Rockford, Sycamore and DeKalb and offers fixed-route bus services and demand-response curb-to-curb services.

Gates said that in fiscal year 2024, the RMTD provided 93,342 rides and its buses traveled over 750,000 miles.

The RMTD is funded through local taxes, state and federal grants, and passenger fares. The district receives funding from several programs administered by the Illinois Department of Transportation, including the Federal Transportation Administration’s 5311 program, the Downstate Operating Assistance Program, 5311F funding for intercity routes and the Downstate Capital Improvement Fund. It also relies on local matching funds and private donations.

Gates said the new vehicles were paid for using a combination of federal and state funds through IDOT’s consolidated vehicle procurement process, in which transit agencies statewide request new vehicles.

“We will have a lien by IDOT against those vehicles for their useful life, which could be years or miles,” Gates said. “Once those miles or years have been met, we can ask for the disposal of those vehicles, and then they become our own, or we can sell them.”

The RMTD initially requested 10 vehicles but was finally approved for six. However, Gates said the RMTD also received four “transfer” vehicles.

“There are other nonprofits or transit agencies that may no longer need one of their vehicles,” Gates said. “So, they will ask IDOT if they can find somebody who would have use for it. The four transfer vehicles we received had some miles on them, but they were still in good shape, and we’re utilizing them in our system.”

The RMTD charges the following fares:

• Individuals 5 and under: $1 for in-town, one-way trips and 35 cents per mile for out-of-town trips.
• Individuals ages 6-59: $2 for in-town, one-way trips and 35 cents per mile for out-of-town trips.
• Individuals ages 60 and older, veterans and people with disabilities: $1 for in-town, one-way trips and 35 cents for out-of-town trips with a $5 cap for one-way trips.

“Additionally, every fourth Friday of the month, we do a Fare Free Fourth Friday,” Gates said. “If you want to take a ride, you call and schedule it, and on that day, we don’t charge anybody anything. It’s our way of allowing people to get a feel for it and a greater understanding of what we offer.”

The RMTD office is located at 210 E. Progress Drive and provides service from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, call 815-288-2117.