BY SUSAN BROWN, Times of Northwest Indiana
sbrown@nwitimes.com
HOBART | An employee of Americall Group Inc. for eight years, Josie Congious stood waiting outside the telemarketing company's doors on Wednesday waiting to be picked up after finishing her eight-hour work day.
Her ride home is provided by Northwest Indiana Community Action Corp., Lake County's largest demand transportation service offering curb-to-curb pickup at $4 round trip.
Congious could take a Gary city bus at the same cost -- but the nearest bus stop is at 61st and Broadway, a long hike from the Americall offices on Northwind Parkway east of Mississippi Avenue.
At learning of NWICA's plan to discontinue its bus service by Feb. 1, Congious gasped, saying, "How do they think we're supposed to get back and forth from work? That's not a good concept."
Congious said not only does she not own a car, she can't drive.
Another Americall employee, Mary Cambridge, who's worked there for three years, also doesn't own a car.
Unlike Congious, Cambridge, also of Gary, had read of NWICA's plan in the newspaper.
"That's in the wintertime!" Cambridge said of the February shutdown.
Overhearing the women's dismay, yet another employee said cabs wouldn't be an option. The fare would be $15 -- each way.
Employees reported earning varying hourly pay at Americall, from $9 to $7 and less.
Those riding the NWICA bus last week reported it typically carries about a dozen passengers from throughout Lake County. When full, the bus accommodates 16.
NWICA Executive Director Gary Olund said the service provides between 250 to 300 trips a day, five days a week.
"Ideally it should be available seven days week," he said.
The agency's 2007 annual report shows the transit service provided 92,642 rides that year, up from 89,639 in 2006.
At 27 percent each, the highest percentage of trips were to medical facilities and senior centers, followed by 19 percent to places of employment, 11 percent each to shopping and recreational centers, and 5 percent to social service agencies.
"The last thing we want is not to be able to transport people to dialysis or to jobs or to nutrition sites," Olund said of the agency's financial plight.
"Maybe a solution will still surface, but we've been waiting for that solution for six-plus years," he said. "This has been an annual thing, but we had options then. There are no more options. We've spent all the money to keep (the demand service) alive."