The Village is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Kendall Area Transit for Oswego’s public transportation needs. As of January 2nd, Kendall Area Transit, or KAT, will be the new provider for the new Park-N-Ride as well as the Dial-A-Ride.
The Oswego Park-N-Ride is a shuttle Service for Metra BNSF commuters and operates between the Oswego Park and Ride lot (located at the corner of Mill and Orchard Road) and the Downtown Aurora Transportation Center. The shuttle operates Monday through Friday in the mornings and afternoon and targets Metra BNSF line express commuter trains to Chicago and Aurora. The new Park-N-Ride service provided by KAT will add two morning and two afternoon routes to the present Park-N-Ride schedule.
Daily One Way Fare is $3.50, a 10-Ride pass is $17.50, and the monthly pass is $30.00. Monthly and 10-Ride passes can be purchased at Oswego Village Hall and on the Village website and the Oswego Police Station as well at Yorkville, Plano and Montgomery’s Village Hall. One way tickets can only be purchased on the bus from the driver and exact fare is required.
Kendall Area Transit also offers Dial-A-Ride service. Dial-A-Ride serves the Oswego community with curb-to-curb and door-to-door dial-a-ride services within Kendall County and designated locations outside the county. It is a general public transportation service with a priority for the disabled and seniors. KAT operators are trained to assist riders with mobility issues from their door to the bus and from the bus to the door of their destination. When a rider’s needs are beyond the responsibility of the drive, a travel assistant is required and may ride at noextra charge.
Transit service is available from 7:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, excluding Holidays. The One-way fare for the KAT dial-a-ride service is $3.00 and $5.00 for round trip fares. For designations outside of the county, an additional $2.00 fee will be added. Seniors (60 years of age and older) receive a $1.00 off all fares and Children 7 years and younger ride free with a paying adult.
More information regarding KAT Park-N-Ride or Dial-A-Ride can be found by logging onto the Village website at www.oswegoil.org or www.co.kendall.il.us/KAT/index.html
or by calling Village Hall at 630-554-3618 or Kendall Area Transit at 877-IGO-4K
We have a number of metra riders on this side of town. Many within my neighborhood alone, not to mention those that run all along Wolf & 34. We would benefit from having our own PNR, and certainly if it was close enough - some may even choose to walk to it from our neighborhoods, given how we were designed with trails, crosswalks, and proximity out here. If it's being partially subsidized with tax revenue, we should find a way to make it work for both sides of town. :)
http://www.oswegoil.org/community-info/park-n-ride.htm
Next, it provides an opportunity to link workers between our sides of the community, and grow the route, potentially reducing the impact to the tax payers. It also provides a chance to bring workers and visitors in to the community (in time) to our retail corridor which does exist on 34 (unlike Orchard). Next. Since the PNR is being funded by our tax dollars, then East siders should be afforded with the same convenience that the west side riders are provided. I would also like to see if the user fees from our riders could make a bigger dent in the $80+K/year this program is costing, than the 15-30 riders the west side runs. However, if you feel that it doesn't make sense to initiate a PNR stop on the East side, I guess that I would counter and say that it doesn't make sense to continue to waste our tax dollars year after year for the west side PNR with such low usership, particularly since it's ultimately just to support a Metra project that will require a tax increase here that remains controversial at best.
The KAT bus schedule is arranged to provide 5 routes within a tight timeframe in order to link up with specific BNSF routes. We do not have funding to accommodate additional buses and drivers to serve a new area. We will continue to look at all possible options and continue to notify the public if any changes are made or more options become available. In the meantime, we encourage all commuters to use the KAT routes. Thanks for your comments and feedback!
It does not make sense to me. Right now the purpose of the Park and Ride shuttle is a substitute for train service that Oswego hopes to get. When Oswego finally gets train service the bus service will go away. Public transit is not meant to be an express connection to an from a particular location. Why not work with the village of Montgomery to get the LL of the shopping center at Route 30 and Douglas to allow commuter parking at that location. Those living on the east side would then have a short drive. There is also a Pace Park and Ride lot located at 91st and Normantown Road for those that live on the far east side. "Since the PNR is being funded by our tax dollars, then East siders should be afforded with the same convenience that the west side riders are provided." You are afforded the same convenience. How long does it take to drive from the east side of Oswego to the west side - about 10 minutes?
Do you have any information on what the village tends to do in regards to joining the RTA?
People chose to live where they do. I don't know why, after the fact, people are always up in arms about the circumstances that result from that decision. We knew when we moved here that job situations could change, etc., and that we wouldn't have the same ease in changing up our commutes as we did living 5 minutes from 88 further east of here. We still made the move (and accepted the 1-1.5 hr, one way drives) that came with it, because we factored in a number of things and the move made sense for our family. It's not like we would expect anyone else to create or alter programs for us. And yeah, we pay taxes too! lol
That's an interesting comment. Why would any tax payer of Oswego decidedly want to do that and bolster their case for economic development when we are competing against them to fill our empty store fronts, particularly in such close proximity? Why not have the train in Montgomery? "Public transit is not meant to be an express connection to an from a particular location. " That's exactly what West Side riders are being provided. "How long does it take to drive from the east side of Oswego to the west side - about 10 minutes?" 15-20 depending on how far East (on my end) you come from (no traffic). That's the same amount of time it takes to drive to the Aurora transportation center. Coincidentally, Google maps indicates it takes the exact same amount of time for you to drive from the PNR to the Aurora Train Ctr, as it does someone leaving my neighborhood. I want to be clear, I didn't say that I flat out don't support your train idea. I said it remains controversial. I do feel it would be good for economic development reasons, though it would simply be a waste of time for anyone on this side of town to use it due to the backtrack. Maybe for leisure? Now if I could ask you a question. Why do you care if east side has ATC routes, when you not only have routes, but got them expanded?
How exactly is having a section of the Montgomery shopping center parking lot for a PNR going to booster economic development? You are forgetting Pace already operates there. If Pace ever does come to Oswego it will not be for a park n ride lot on the east but just and extension of bus service that already serves Montgomery. If Pace served Oswego this would be a non issue. "Why not have the train in Montgomery?" Montgomery is pushing for the train as well. "Why do you care if east side has ATC routes, when you not only have routes, but got them expanded?" Expanded? Restored is more like it. The additional trips provided by KAT is what Pace was originally provding from the Oswego PNR to ATC.
"The study will provide funding options that will likely include alternatives that do not include being within the RTA service territory." Just name one "alternative" which does not include raising taxes within the Village of Oswego or within Kendall County to get Metra here. Plus, there are slim to nill chances in getting state or Fed funds for this. So, You - Michelle, Brian LeClercq, and various Oswego Village Trustees are blowing smoke with this supposedly "meaningless bureaucratic statement" and I suggest that you as a non-elected public employee of the Village Oswego limit your jawboning in wanting to raise sales taxes, property taxes, Village fees, etc. to support a Metra Station in Oswego.
If the village had no Park n Ride now and was not trying to get Metra into the village, I would be in favor of a Park N Ride around 34 and Douglas.
Read The News In The Aurora Beacon and don't be fooled by Brian & Trustees who say "WE NEED" KAT & METRA: Yorkville considers pulling out of Kendall KAT bus service By Steve Lord slord@stmedianetwork.com February 18, 2013 YORKVILLE – The city is considering pulling its $23,000 annual contribution to the Kendall Area Transit system. The proposal surfaced to withdraw from the KAT bus service has emerged as part of early city budget discussions. In looking at possible areas to cut costs, city staff identified the contribution to KAT as one area. City Administrator Bart Olson said staff included the proposal after several aldermen asked about it. KAT serves about 200 regular customers in Yorkville. “I think the general feeling is that it is too much money for the few people who use it,” said Mayor Gary Golinski. Golinski said the city might need the money to pay a $22,000 bill it received from KenCom.