“It doesn’t take a majority to win, just a tireless minority that will keep starting brush fires in the mind and hearts of their fellow men.”

Samuel Adams

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

City of Peru Bus Service

I have found it rather curious that the Peru Shopper Bus has no city mandated regulations. Maybe something like an ordinance that established the service and set up not necessarily routes which can be subject to change but rather who shall drive it and who shall be able to ride it and a monitoring of the route and the driver. I have found out that there is no ordinance establishing the service and no regulations even though the driver is paid by the City of Peru as an employee. Going back to 1984 it was the LaSalle Peru City Lines that drove the seniors on their buses and then for a time it was done by Green River Lines. Somewhere at some unknown date the city took over the route, leased a bus and hired a driver. The fee for riding the bus in 1984 was twenty five cents and 26 years later the fee for riding the bus is 25 cents. I wonder if we (the city) keeps track of income versus expenditures for this service. Maybe this might be the time for our Aldermen, to take a second look at the service and set up some guide lines, fees and hiring practices. Can we be assured the driver will be hired in an appropriate manner and not like it was done years ago when the SPW simply asked his friend to drive for a while and ended up driving for 3 years. Our present City Clerk, Dave Bartley did ride on the bus this week and has plans to do it again to make sure all is going well with the new driver and try to set up routes that are good for all the riders and understanding that sometimes the bus service can and will do a little extra for the riders if need be.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

If there were no guide lines, no ordinance, no established procedure, no established route how come we were told it was the City Clerk's duty to hire and fire the bus driver? And, how come the new bus driver was so upset with some of his riders if there was no set route for him to follow? Just curious!

Peru Town Forum said...

I have to say that no one from the top (the Mayor) to the City Clerk knew what the past procedures had been because nothing was put in black and white.The current city clerk checked records back to 1984 for me and found nothing in the records. Definitely no ordinance as that is fairly easy to check.
IMO that is just the way business was done.

Anonymous said...

No standard operating procedure??

Anonymous said...

The question should be is this a service that is simply provided by City of Peru (implemented in the good times)or should it be a service that pays for itself (no profit involved).

How many riders in 2009?
What was the total expenses, ie: bus lease, drivers pay, any benefits paid, gas costs, maintenance, insurance, etc.
What was total income for bus in 2009 @ $.25 per ride rate:

If the city is to supply transportation should it be a bus or an alternative method?

If Peru Pool is closed for the summer would the city bus be utilized to transport citizens to another pool per Alderman Ferrari?

The City of Peru should hire only Peru resident for the driver position unless no qualified resident is available?

At this time no published advertisements or radio notice has been noted for this position. Why not?

Peru having an HR person who can create qualification requirements, able to check back grounds - is a benefit and safety factor. Was the HR person utilized in the past and current driver choices.

Does the present driver have a CDL license or prior citizen service experience. How much does the current bus driver get paid per hour and how many hours does he claim per wk.

Determination of cost - a yearly/semi annual/quarterly/daily pass purchased at City Hall be a possibility and what should the cost per person be.