Residents in central and northwestern Lake County can now use Pace’s Transit App to schedule a bus ride from their home to anywhere in a large, specifically designated area, including to a scheduled bus or train stop.
After Pace introduced its Transit App approximately a year ago, Pace chief communications officer Maggie Skagsbakken said making the approximately 15-year-old ride-scheduling program available on an integrated app was an obvious next step.
“We wanted to find a way to make it comprehensively accessible, so we persevered and found a way,” she said.
Pace’s On Demand service joined the organization’s real time bus and train tracking and other services on its Transit App on Nov. 8 systemwide, including the Mundelein-Vernon Hills and recently expanded Round Lake routes, increasing its availability.
Already using the app to get real-time information on when buses — as well as Metra trains and Chicago Transit System transportation — will arrive at a stop, Skagsbakken said riders can now schedule a ride on one of the organization’s small, 15-passenger buses.
For those not yet using the app, she said Pace patrons can download it using the App Store or Google Play. For those who feel they need additional information, it is available on Pace’s website.
Starting slowly last November, Skagsbakken said Pace added services on fixed, scheduled routes in July before adding the On Demand last week. People can continue to schedule rides in designated On Demand areas on the organization’s website or by phone.
She said learning the time a bus will arrive at a scheduled location is now more important with the weather turning colder. It also helps people inform an employer if they will be late for work.
“It’s important in the winter to keep people from having to go outside before they need to,” Skagsbakken said. “All that information is right there.”
Though the On Demand service is limited to a designated geographic area, Skagsbakken said a patron can use it to get to a longer, scheduled bus route, or to one of two Vernon Hills-Mundelein or five Round Lake-area Metra stations.
In its Lake County On Demand zones, service is available from 6 a.m. to 6:15 p.m., according to the Pace website. Whether scheduling on the Pace website or the App, people enter their address, the desired time for pickup and the location of their destination. A return trip can also be scheduled.
While using the app, Skagsbakken said passengers can also learn when a bus can take them beyond the On Demand boundaries to Waukegan or elsewhere in the Chicago area, and will arrive at their scheduled location. If there is a delay, it will be shown on the app.
Lake County residents must live in one of two specific areas to avail themselves of the On Demand service. The Vernon Hills-Mundelein area stretches from the intersection of U.S. Route 45 and Milwaukee Avenue north to the Canadian National Railway tracks, and North Central Metra tracks to Hawley Road, according to a map on the website.
After reaching Hawley, the Vernon Hills-Mundelein route goes west to Midlothian Road in Mundelein, where it goes southeast to Illinois Route 83. It follows 83 southeast to Highway 45 and continues southeast to Milwaukee Avenue, according to the map.
Recently enlarged, the Round Lake area route includes those communities as well as parts of Grayslake and Fox Lake. It is bounded by Montville Road and Fox Lake to the north, U.S. Highway 12 to the west and to the south by Big Hollow, Long Lake and Round Lake roads, according to an Oct. 5 Pace news release.
