Free rides for seniors don't extend into Southern Illinois

Senior discounts aren't just for restaurants and theater tickets anymore. In Illinois, members of the 65-plus crowd can receive free public transportation. A new law went into effect in January requiring all fixed-route mass transit systems to offer transportation free of cost to riders ages 65 and up.

"The best way to maintain a healthy lifestyle is to get out and remain active," says Bill Grogan of the St. Clair County Transit District, near St. Louis. "This takes the transportation barrier away from people who can't economically, physically or cognitively operate a vehicle anymore. It gives people options here, and it's the cheapest option because it's free."

But the free transportation isn't available to those in Southern Illinois, due to a lack of the right kind of mass transit system.

According to Grogan, St. Clair County has seen a recent increase in overall ridership, which he admits may be "attributable to the price of gas, expensive parking in St. Louis, and the fact that people are more environmentally conscious." The system is conducting a statistical analysis to determine how many seniors are using mass transit, but Grogan says he's already noticed an increase since the plan was put into effect March 17.

"Frankly, we're starting to see a number of folks that heretofore hadn't been users of public transportation but now are using it to go into St. Louis and visit the art museum or go to a ballgame," says Grogan.

Seniors in nearby Madison County have also been taking advantage of the newly free transportation.

"We saw ridership increases in the spring and summer, and this may be due in part to the rise in gas prices," says S.J. Morrison of Madison County Transit. "A lot of seniors do still work, and now they can ride to work for free, which is really helpful. The cost of gas and food are both increasing and the economy in general is struggling, so this is really helpful for individuals on a fixed income to not be burdened with paying for public transportation. For people who didn't use public transportation before, this has given them a chance to give it a try. It's opened a lot of doors here."

Morrison notes that since the program was instated, MCT has averaged about 7,500 senior riders per month, an increase of 19 percent from before the program was in effect.

Due to the success of the program and requests from seniors in neighboring areas, MCT plans to expand its fixed route services to Maryville, Ill.

But while free transportation has been a hit in urban areas like the St. Louis area, Peoria and Chicago, there is a catch for rural Southern Illinoisans. Dava Shorb of the Jackson County Mass Transit District in Carbondale, Ill., explains that the new law applies only to fixed route mass transit systems, or those that operate on a set schedule of times and locations. While there are mass transit systems in Southern Illinois, including a new one along Highway 13 between Carbondale and Harrisburg, Ill., they operate on a demand/response basis: instead of working on a regular schedule, they offer customized rides from Point A to Point B when users call ahead to set up an appointment.

Jackson County is a demand/response system, and so is the RIDES Mass Transit District in southeastern Illinois. While neither provides free rides to seniors at this time, they offer discounts at half the cost of regular fare.

Southern Illinois University-Carbondale does operate a fixed route system that is open to the community and dubbed the Saluki Express. However, it's not affected by the free transportation bill, either, because its funding comes from SIU student fees and not the state of Illinois.

TBY (The Best Years) is a special publication of the Southeast Missourian.