Patrons wait to board an airport shuttle bus at the Coach USA bus station at 8144 Indianapolis Blvd., in Highland on Sept. 12, 2017. Service from Valparaiso is scheduled to start Nov. 1. (Joe Puchek / Post-Tribune)
The recent announcement that Coach USA will provide regular shuttle service to Midway and O'Hare airports is just another piece of Valparaiso's transportation plan puzzle, officials said.
The city of Valparaiso already offers local bus service, bus service into downtown Chicago, and bike sharing stations and the announcement comes as the city moves forward with a transportation district at South Campbell and Brown streets.
"There are various ways for people to get from point A to point B," said Patrick Lyp, the city's economic development director, adding as a city, officials want to find the most efficient, cost-effective ways to make that happen. "(The airport shuttle) certainly makes our community more attractive for business, but also for residents as well."
City officials announced earlier this month that Coach USA would begin offering shuttle service to Chicago's two airports. The service, which runs 21 hours a day, begins Nov. 1. The shuttle will offer direct travel to Midway and will connect at its Highland stop for the trip to O'Hare.
The site on South Campbell Street will soon be home to stops for the ChicagoDash, the city's downtown Chicago shuttle, which will relocate from the parking lot of the Franklin House in the next couple of weeks.
Coach USA also has a stop in Portage and decided to expand to Valparaiso because city officials asked at the right time, and to serve Valparaiso University students, said Sean Hughes, the firm's director of corporate affairs.
"The city has been welcoming us with open arms," he said, adding officials were willing to go over the logistics and make sure they could accommodate the shuttle service.
The university also offers a ready market of college students and those associated with the university who need to get back and forth from the airport to campus.
The service at the Portage stop, on Irving Street south of Central Avenue, can't expand because there's limited parking, Hughes said, and the Highland service is often at or near capacity.
"There certainly is a demand for it," he said.
City Councilman Matt Murphy, R-3rd, who suggested reaching out to Coach USA to Lyp, said access to the airports for Valparaiso residents is "fantastic," and it will attract other travelers as well.
"I think we're going to be a regional draw from the south, the east and maybe a little bit to the west," he said, adding connectivity to Chicago coming on the success of the ChicagoDash commuter service is critical for Valparaiso.
The addition also is critical for the transit-oriented development, or TOD, the city has planned for the South Campbell Street site, and adding shuttle service to the airports was another way to make the development a success, Murphy said.
"I think we had a gap in our transit strategy and I think Coach USA fits that very nicely," he said.
The airport shuttle is an "incredible value add" that the city can offer, Lyp said, adding the service is offered by a private firm and is not subsidized.
It's just another way Valparaiso can distinguish itself to people interested in making a move, city officials said.
"The Dash, Coach USA, the investment in our school system – we're at a point in our community that hopefully when those folks are making those life decisions on where to settle down," they will consider Valparaiso, he said.
Because the Coach USA shuttle does not receive public transit dollars, the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission is not involved with the project, said James Winters, a transit planner there.
The airport shuttle does build on a larger vision of connectivity throughout the region, he said, and the more ways people can travel to Chicago, the better.
"People want more options," he said, adding Valparaiso officials have been creative in coming up with ways to link residents to Chicago.
As a Valparaiso resident, Winters said that personally, he's thrilled about the airport shuttle.
"I'm really excited to take it myself," he said.
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