Macomb, IL – A rural transportation system is being planned for Knox County. The Rural Transit Assistance Center at Western Illinois University has been helping the Knox County Rides Transportation committee work through the steps necessary to implement such a system.
Transit Coordination Specialist Dawn Piper says it's become important to provide transportation in rural areas. Piper says in rural areas without transportation, options are so limited. She says when a community has transportation, it becomes a lifeline.
Piper says the committee is currently developing a "system model," which will organize a transit system to serve the needs of all residents.
Piper says it is hard to determine how long it will take a county to get a rural transportation system up and running. She says that's because it depends on the individual county and committee members, and how quickly they go through the 5-phase process. Knox County is currently in phase 3.
Piper says the results of a community survey indicate there is a need for a rural transit system in Knox County. Piper says roughly 4% of the population responded to the survey, which is a good number. Piper says roughly 29% percent of community members said they needed the transportation, but 66% said they would use the system.