A handful of people showed up for a Pace public hearing Friday in Joliet regarding a proposed budget with a hike in bus fares.
Only two people spoke – at least for the first hour.
This hearing and eight more to follow are being held at a time when Pace officials say the agency is on a “fiscal cliff” due to declines in federal funding and increases in the costs of operation.
Pace and other transit agencies in the Regional Transportation Authority are looking to the state to provide more funding to avert future cuts.
Friday’s hearing at the Joliet Public Library Ottawa Street Branch downtown was scheduled to run from 2 to 4 p.m. It was recessed after the first half-hour with no one else waiting to speak. No one else showed up by 3 p.m., but the hearing would have been reopened if anyone else came to speak before 4 p.m.
The hearing schedule was first announced Wednesday.
Pace hearing officer Steve Andrews told the small audience at the Joliet Public Library Ottawa Street Branch that “our reserves are expected to be fully exhausted in 2027.”
The suburban bus service is using almost $40 million in reserves in the proposed 2026 budget.
Reserve funds are money set aside for emergency situations, such as Pace faces next year. Using the reserve funds will keep all routes running in 2026.
But Pace is increasing fares in general by 10%. The rate hike is expected to take effect in February.
The full regular fare for riders using Pace’s Ventra card will go from $2 to $2.25. Those using cash will see an increase from $2.25 to $2.50.
The premium full fare for special services, including the express bus that runs from Plainfield to Chicago using the Interstate 55 shoulder, will rise from $4.50 to $5 for both Ventra and cash customers.
One of the two speakers at the Joliet hearing was Dennis Schuit of Oak Forest, who questioned how much money Pace was losing when Ventra card readers don’t work.
Pace does not charge Ventra card customers when the reader on a bus is not working.
“I’m being conservative, but I’d say one out of every five times I ride for free because the fare card readers aren’t working,” Schuit said.
Schuit estimated that if the problem is systemwide, Pace could be losing $20 million a year to free rides due to broken readers.
Andrews asked Schuit what routes he was riding and later said during the recess that the same rate of reader failure was not systemwide.
“The frequency he reported is unusual,” Andrews said. “We have to report that to our team.”
The only other speaker in the first hour of the meeting was a Joliet woman who had questions about the Pace bus transfer system but did not speak about the budget or fare hike.