Wheatland Rejects Plainfield Senior Shuttle in Favor of Pace Bus

It doesn’t look like Wheatland Township will be jumping on the Senior Shuttle. 

Wheatland Township recently signed on to rent a Pace bus for $100 a month, township Supervisor Todd Morse said. The township will foot the bill for drivers, maintenance and gas. 

In February, Plainfiled Township Supervisor John Argoudelis rolled out a plan to to all village of Plainfield residents – including a large number who live in Wheatland Township and the handful in Na-Au-Say Township, which is in Kendall County. Argoudelis was hoping Wheatland and the village of Plainfield might chip in for the rides. 

“That really caught me by surprise,” Morse said. 

Wheatland Township officials mulled launching a senior bus survey, but with the mailing cost estimated at about $8,000, it made more sense just to go with the lease and get a bus on the road, Morse said. 

“There is a need," he said. “Nobody knows exactly what it is.” 

Wheatland Township has residents that live in the villages of Plainfield, Aurora, Naperville and Bolingbrook. It is the only area township that does not provide some kind of transportation service for senior citizens. 

Plainfield Township is in the market to for a new handicapped-accessible bus at a cost of about cost about $50,000. The bus logs 2,000 miles per month and costs about $50,000 a year to operate, township officials estimate. 

Wheatland Township? Cross it off the donor list. 

Next fundraising call: Village of Plainfield.