I want to get from downtown Rockford to my Uncle and Aunt's home in Belvidere, which Mapquest indicates driving time is estimated to be 27 minutes and the distance to be 13.15 miles. Thank you to Mapquest - this seems a reasonable undertaking.
I got my courage up and clicked on the Rockford bus web site, Rockford Mass Transit District.
It was immediately overwhelming, just looking at the RMTD website. I'm not saying it isn't user-friendly. It may be. But for me, I can get nervous doing things like this, I can have an anxiety attack in fact, so I called the phone number that was EASY to see (815-961-9000).
First I got a machine telling me to "press # blah blah," which was a bit unnerving, but within a quick moment a real person asked me to please hold on, which immediately calmed me. I found myself looking forward to this 'big-girl task' of negotiating mass transit (Southern California girl without a car, ghack!), actually getting on a bus. A real person was gonna' help me. God bless them.
Kasandra was my real person with the RMTD and she very nicely spoke with me, really wanting to help me reach my destination. Wow! Too cool. But, when I explained what I wanted, that is, can the Rockford bus system help me get to Belvidere, the answer was no. ACK! I was so disappointed.
I was told by Kasandra that the best RMTD could do was drop me off at the Clock Tower, which is of course the Clock Tower Resort, still in Rockford. She explained there is no connecting public transportation system. She suggested that maybe my family could come and get me at the Clock Tower.
I Mapquest and see that being left at the Clock Tower leaves me 10 minutes and an estimated distance of 6.27 miles away from my Aunt and Uncle's house in Belvidere. Now my Aunt and Uncle and family are wonderful and obviously this is not that big of a deal, if I need help via a ride or anything, they'll help me. But I am going to be living 'green' and 'carless' and I don't want to rely on others in this way. I want public transportation to work better than this. (Although I do notice that the Clock Tower Resort has a Starbucks rock on!)
I push Kasandra to see if there isn't anything better, and I even tell her that I am part of a bigger world that is trying to go green.
I secretly hope that Kasandra will magically
tell me, "Oh....... that's right, we're trying to go green!
Let me connect you with the 'blah blah' transportation
system, that will actually get you to Belvidere." But
she doesn't, because of course, going green isn't
going to magically occur.
My special helper Kasandra at the RMTD is sweet to tell me that right now they cannot accomplish this, but they are trying to get more systems set up and she refers me to Lisa Brown in the Marketing Department to learn about the RMTD's future plans.
But the RMTD's future plans won't get me to church tomorrow.
I do have my bike Caroline and I could ride Caroline 6.27 miles, but I'm not ready to do that. I am riding Caroline along the riverwalk, with my dog Christopher. Christopher and I and Caroline, my bike, are learning how to ride with a dog alongside. Its not that I can't ride a bike, but learning to ride with a dog alongside takes practice. We're not having to use training wheels - but I'm far way from doing a 6.27 mile trek.For today, I have a call in to my family, because I miss them and want to visit, and go to church.
1 comment:
Dear Patricia Lynne,
Thank you for sharing your most recent encounter with RMTD. I am glad Kasandra was able to help you. She is a very kind and caring individual and represents RMTD well.
On the other hand, I am sorry you had such a difficult experience with our service. It is unfortunate that at this time we do not have service to Belvidere. The quick explanation is that there is limited funding and we can only do so much with the limited funds we get from our federal and state sources. Remember, transit, wherever you go or live, is heavily subsidized. Our farebox revenues only fund 15-17% of the cost of our service. Therefore, we must rely on state, local and federal monies to supplement the service that we do provide. In other words, were we a FOR Profit entity, if we relied solely on our revenues for service, we would have approximately 1 route … the East State Street route.
The longer explanation would be to explain how we determine the level of service and where we service. If you are interested in this, I will be happy to provide you with am explanation. Just let me know.
Suffice it to say, that for the present time, RMTD is doing all it can it match the greatest level of service with the greatest demand which means getting people to work in Rockford Monday thru Friday. While we do have a demand for Sunday service, it is not in great demand, nor is there significant demand for Belvidere service.
Kasandra was correct when she told you that Belvidere is something we are thinking about though. We are also in the process of designing a new transfer center on the east side of town. This center will definitely pull together the two communities, Rockford and Belvidere and if not before, when this center opens, I am sure you will see service to Belvidere. Long term growth and demographics suggest that this is truly an untapped market.
I also applaud your efforts to go green and wish we could offer more. What I can tell you is that we do operate a fleet of 40 vehicles all with bike racks on the front. Since you live downtown, I encourage you and Caroline to hope on the bus at our transfer center and ride the City Loop. This is a good way to learn the perimeter of our service area. The City Loop, just as the name suggests, loops around the city. There are only two routes out of our 17 day routes that do NOT connect with the city loop routes. All other routes offer transfer points within this route system, thus making transit a bit more efficient. I hope you give us a try.
You said you have visited our web site. Did you check out the video riders guide? There are 6 videos, all explaining some aspect of riding the bus. While they are geared for our teen riders, the info is still useful. I hope you check these out.
Thanks again for your comments. I hope you will find your next experience on RMTD more fruitful.
Lisa J. Brown
Marketing & Public Relations Specialist
Rockford Mass Transit District ... Providing Access To Your Dreams
520 Mulberry Street
Rockford, IL 61101
815.961.9000
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