Pace draft plan would add Sunday buses, drop Delnor stop in Tri-Cities

Pace wants to run a lot more suburban bus service, and its new draft plan would change how buses move through St. Charles, Geneva and Batavia. The agency released its Draft ReVision Plan on Oct. 21 and is taking public comment through Dec. 11.

Across its six-county area, Pace is proposing a 50% increase in service, with every county getting at least 45% more. The plan leans on new regional transit money from the state's Northern Illinois Transit Authority (NITA) Act. Nothing is final. After public input, Pace will send the plan to NITA, which is set to lead its first regional service plan in 2027. Pace says some short-term improvements could be pursued in 2027.

How buses work here today

According to the draft report and Pace's route pages:

• Route 801 runs limited trips on weekdays and Saturdays between Geneva, St. Charles, South Elgin and Elgin along Randall Road, with stops that include the Kane County Judicial Center.
• Route 802 runs about every 30 minutes on weekdays and Saturdays between Aurora, North Aurora and Batavia, mostly on Route 31. North of downtown Batavia it splits. Half the trips go to the Geneva Metra station every hour, and the rest go up Randall Road to Delnor Hospital and the Judicial Center every hour.
• On Demand zones cover much of St. Charles and Geneva (weekdays and Saturdays) and north Batavia, south Geneva and Fermilab (weekdays only).

There is no Sunday bus service in this part of Kane County.

What the draft would change

• A new, more frequent Route 801. It would replace Route 802 and run every 30 minutes between the Aurora Transit Center, Batavia and Geneva, out to the Kane County Judicial Center, using Route 31 and State Street in Batavia.
• A direct ride from Aurora to Elgin. Once an hour, every other bus on the new 801 would keep going to Elgin by way of Randall Road and South Elgin, seven days a week.
• Weekend buses. In this part of the region, the draft adds Saturday and Sunday service on every route that runs at least once an hour.
• A new Route 539. It would run every 60 minutes, seven days a week, from downtown Geneva and downtown St. Charles to West Chicago, Wheaton and Yorktown Center.

What riders could lose

The new Route 801 would not split into two branches in Batavia. Pace's report says that means it would not keep serving Delnor Hospital in Geneva.

The Batavia and St. Charles-Geneva On Demand zones would stay, but with weekday service only. For St. Charles-Geneva On Demand riders, that would mean losing the Saturday service the zone has now.

How to weigh in

You can read the full draft, look at before-and-after maps and take the survey in English or Spanish at PaceBus.com/ReVision through Dec. 11. Comments can also go to ReVision@PaceBus.com.

Pace is hosting a virtual open house on Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 6 to 7 p.m.

Also new this fall: reduced fares for SNAP households

Since Oct. 1, NITA's Access fare pilot, which already let Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients ride Metra at a reduced fare, also covers Pace and CTA. It is now open to people who receive the Illinois Department of Human Services FRESH benefit, too. That matters for Tri-Cities riders who take the Metra Union Pacific West Line from Geneva or ride Pace locally. Enrollment details are on NITA's website.