South Lake County bus service to Chicago panned by some NWIRDA members

HAMMOND -- A presentation on an expanded express bus service to Chicago that would serve south Lake County received a cool reception from some members of the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, who said they want more integration, not competition, among transportation services.

"The RDA has limited funds, and this looks like it is competitive with the South Shore (train)," RDA board member Howard Cohen said Thursday at a working group meeting at the Calumet Conference Center at Purdue University Calumet.

Tim Brown, executive director of the Regional Bus Authority, told board members that, according to a survey done by Valparaiso University, the farther south people live, the more likely they are to drive to the city than take the train.

Brown said the proposed cost for the bus would be $7.50 one-way, the same as Valparaiso, and $2.30 higher than the $5.20 cost of catching the South Shore at Gary or Miller stations. He said the RBA is proposing two primary routes: One would start at U.S. 41 and U.S. 30 and stop again at Calumet Avenue; the other would start at Interstate 65 and U.S. 30. He said both starting points would be within a 20-minute drive from any of seven communities that the buses would serve: Lowell, Cedar Lake, Dyer, Schererville, Merrillville, southern Munster and Crown Point.

The proposed cost to provide the service would be $440.34 per trip for the U.S. 41 route and $490.85 per trip for the I-65 route, or about $674,000 to $751,000 a year. He said he did not figure in the cost for leasing space, hoping a business would provide parking spaces for riders.

He said $688,000 in economic stimulus money was allocated, which means the first year of operation would be free of cost. "We have an advantage here we probably won't have again," Brown said. He said the money can't be used for the Valparaiso bus because it is for new programs only.

He said the service would pay for itself if it drew 58 passengers per bus, but he doesn't expect the buses to be completely full. He said the difference could be paid for with government subsidy money.

RDA member Leigh Morris questioned the margin of error with the study. Cohen suggested a profile be done on the 20,000-some commuters from Northwest Indiana to Chicago each day to determine if the survey gives an accurate representation.

Cohen suggested an option would be to run the express bus to the South Shore stations instead of the city.

In other matters, the board recommended hiring Landrum and Brown, with an office in Chicago, to conduct a business plan for the Gary/Chicago International Airport, calling it an important step in determining the airport's future. The cost would be $450,000.