Argoudelis Wants to Extend Township Shuttle to All Plainfield Seniors

If Supervisor John Argoudelis gets his way, some seniors who live in Wheatland and Na-Au-Say townships will be able to catch rides on the Plainfield Township senior shuttle bus. 

On Wednesday night, Argoudelis rolled out a plan to extend senior shuttle service to all residents – including a large number who live in Wheatland Township and the handful in Na-Au-Say, which is in Kendall County. 

The popular and widely used township senior shuttle now brakes at the township line – 135th Street to the north, Theodore Street to the south, Gaylord Road to the east and County Line Road to the west. 

“It is an unmet need,” Argoudelis said. “I think we need to look into expanding the service.” 

Monika McMillen, the township administrative assistant who serves as the shuttle dispatcher, says she gets many calls from people who live in other townships looking for rides. 

The township supervisor foresees a senior shuttle service with a full-time director and two buses on the road, he said. 

The call to widen the senior shuttle coverage area seemed to blindside township trustees and staff, coming at a time when the township is quickly reaching the point where the single bus it has now is going to need to be replaced.  

“We’re running this bus ragged,” McMillen said. 

The 15-passenger bus is fully booked five days a week, covering about 120 miles a day. It serves about 200 seniors monthly, with 30 or so using it every week.

At $4 per round trip, riders say the shuttle is a godsend to people struggling to live on a fixed income who otherwise might have to pay $20 each way for cab fare. 

“We can’t add the village of Plainfield without a second bus,” McMillen said. 

A new handicapped accessible bus will cost about $50,000, township officials estimate. The first shuttle was funded with a line of credit, which they were able to pay off after will a state transportation grant. 

The shuttle program costs about $50,000 a year to operate, McMillen said. The bus logs about 2,000 miles per month. 

Where would the extra money for the extended service come from, trustees asked. Would the village or Wheatland Township be willing to pay?

“If we go to the village and ask them for money, the answer is going to be a resounding no,” Trustee Tony Fremarek said. “They don’t have any money.” 

Argoudelis doesn't agree.

“The village has money. It’s how they choose to allocate it,” he said. “They can take this (money) and put it over there.”  

Wheatland officials would have to be contacted to see if they have any interest in sharing the cost of a senior bus service, Argoudelis said. Many area townships, including Lockport, New Lenox, Joliet and DuPage, offer low-cost lifts for seniors, but Wheatland does not.  

Officials for the village of Plainfield, Plainfield Township and Wheatland Township all say they do not have exact figures on how many Plainfield residents live in Wheatland Township, north of 135th Street.  But looking at village maps, Argoudelis estimates it could be about a third of Plainfield's population. 

With the township looking at its largest-ever budget surplus at the end of the fiscal year - at least $150,000, officials say – finding the funds shouldn't be a problem. 

“We’re running a well-oiled machine these days.” Argoudelis said. “Can we expand to serve all of the village, as well as the township? It’s something we need to start to explore.”