Greater Peoria Mass Transit has tapped into than $ 4 million of federal stimulus funds to upgrade its bus fleet. The agency's general manager Keith Regan how the new equipment will augment strong and dedicated workforce and pave the for the next round of improvements 110 www. bus- ex. com NOVEMBER 09 up Gearing

more upgrade tells augment a the way I n 2008 Greater Peoria Mass Transit saw its busiest year ever in terms of ridership, with some 3 million passengers boarding one of the system's fixed- route buses or its special handicapped- accessible door- to- door vans for transportation in and around Peoria, Illinois. As it looks ahead to 2010, the system is awaiting the arrival of a significant boost to its bus fleet, thanks in part to federal stimulus funds. Known locally as CityLink, Greater Peoria Mass Transit is operated through a contract with First Transit, Inc. General manager Tom Lucek, who has been with the system for about a year and a half, says bringing new vehicles on board is an important first step on a journey of excellence that will eventually feature a heightened use of technology and other techniques to supplement existing assets, including a dedicated and experienced employee base. " When I first came on board, it was clear that a major weakness was the age of our equipment," Lucek says. " On the other hand, we're fortunate to have very good and very dedicated employees who bring a lot of integrity and a very good work ethic to everything they are asked to do." Improving the fleet of buses and specialized vehicles was simply a wish- list item until the Obama administration's stimulus plan, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, was approved by Congress, freeing up billions of dollars meant to stimulate economic activity in various sectors. Greater Peoria was able to tap into the funds for two separate improvement efforts. First, it secured $ 2.2 million to purchase 31 new vehicles for its CityLift door- to- door program aimed at helping passengers with disabilities to take advantage of public transportation. Operated through a third- party contract by MV Transportation, CityLift will begin receiving the new vehicles late in 2010, with Southern Coach the firm that won the stimulus- funded contract to customize the vehicles. " Those funds enabled us to buy an entirely new fleet, which was something that was just on our wish list a year ago," Lucek says. Another tranche of $ 2 million will be used to buy as many as 21 full- size buses, each of which will be equipped with low- rise floors and accessibility ramps, to be deployed across the system's fixed routes, which operate from Peoria to a growing number of suburbs. Passengers mainly use the transit system, which is based out of a downtown transit center, to get to work or school- Bradley University, Robert Morris College and Illinois Community College are all on the routes- Greater Peoria Mass Transit NOVEMBER 09 www. bus- ex. com 111