‘Red-flagged’ bus, employee shortage causing high rate of trip denials by Quincy Transit Lines for disabled, elderly services

QUINCY — Marty Stegeman, director of transportation for the city of Quincy, says the number of trip denials for paratransit, disabled and elderly service recently hit a rate that is “really unacceptable.”

Stegeman reported to the Quincy City Council during its Monday meeting at the Quincy Public Library the number of trip denials by Quincy Transit Lines for several months.

Quincy Transit Lines provides paratransit services to disabled and elderly people in the city and Adams County under terms of service agreements with Transitions of Western Illinois and the West Central Illinois Aging and Disability Resource Center.

Stegeman said he approached Quincy Mayor Mike Troup and city administrators in January about adding a bus to the full-time staff in the transportation division. That request was approved and added to the transportation budget, and the bus and bidding for the full-time position was to have been completed by July 1. Two additional relief drivers also were hired to begin the training process.

A bus was acquired in June from the Illinois Department of Transportation, free of charge. However, Stegeman said the bus was “red-flagged.” A local contractor said the roof was unsafe and could not be repaired. No parts to fix the roof were available because of the age of the bus, even though it was a low-mileage vehicle.

“The risk was that the bus would collapse on passengers,” Stegeman said.

Stegeman also said the state knew the vehicle had an issue, but the extent of the issue was unknown.

“Looking at the pictures and, frankly, inspecting it myself and with the shop manager, it did not look as severe as when we got to looking at it more thoroughly,” he said. “Between the roof and the inner panel is a honeycombed support system. That system had completely failed throughout the entire roof, (which was) impossible to see until you opened it up. So obviously we have no way to fix that bus.”

Stegeman also said a recent retirement has left the transportation department down four staff members. Because the bus is out of service, Stegeman said the city had 303 denials in April, May and June. 

“That is extreme,” he said.

Stegeman defined a trip denial as a trip requested by a patron that could not be provided within one hour of the request. He said 72 percent of the denials are for bus transportation to and from the Transitions of Western Illinois (CRC) facility, primarily between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. 

The city averages 5,701 trips per month between the hours of 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. By comparison, an average of 1,123 trips per month are made from 6-9 a.m., and an average of 1,089 trips per month are made from 3-6 p.m.

The transportation department now uses one bus to service the CRC routes. Stegeman hopes the two new employees will complete training and start work this month as he searches to find another bus.

“I still believe we will have to make adjustments to meet the needs,” he said.

Stegeman said many people don’t want to ride the buses provided.

“The buses are riding rough, and we have people who simply will not ride buses,” he said. “If they can’t get on a minivan, they don’t take a trip.”

He said out-of-town trips on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays take up 13.5 hours per day of travel time. That figure drops to 6 hours per day on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

“That’s significant,” Stegeman said. “We’re losing almost 20 hours per week to out-of-town services under these contracts.”

Asked if the city has tried leasing or renting a bus to help with the shortage, Stegeman said the starting price for a minivan is $79,000, and the closest one to Quincy is in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He thought the cost would be closer to $95,000 for a small bus.

Aldermen voted to refer the issue to the transit commission to review the situation and come up with alternative solutions.