Meeting minutes are posted below…

DuPage Family Disability Network

Minutes

February 8, 2006

The meeting was opened by Barb Petersen at 7:01pm. Prior to the introduction of the guest speakers, an announcement concerning the next DFDN meeting on post-secondary academic opportunities on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 at 7:00pm at the Lisle Public Library was made.

Steve Boisse, representing PACT, Inc. introduced the topic of “RIDE DUPAGE” a paratransit system for the elderly and disabled. At this point he turned the presentation over to Mary Keating, the administrator for DuPage County Community Services. Ms. Keating sits on the Interagency Paratransit Coordinating Council for DuPage County and has been instrumental in the development of the “Ride DuPage” program. The County started looking at paratransit services for the elderly and disabled in 1996. Since that time, several different programs have been tried, with “Ride DuPage” being the current program being utilized. This program has improvements over the others in regard to centralized scheduling and dispatching as well as being available to the riders 24/7. Fares are based on the distance traveled and rates are currently set at $1.50 for the first 6 miles with each additional mile costing $1.50. Unfortunately, this service is only available to residents who reside within the Naperville and Lisle townships and the city of Glen Ellyn. This area represents approximately 25% of the county. Other towns and townships within the county are currently looking at funding this program. In discussions with the various entities it is pointed out that this is a quality of life issue which provides independence to those who use the service. Though some ongoing adjustments are being made to the program, the general consensus is that this is a well run, well used service and hopefully within the next few years the entire county will have adopted “Ride DuPage”. The meeting was adjourned at 8:05pm.

The next regularly scheduled meeting of DFDN will be February 8, 2006 at 7:00pm at the Lisle Public Library.

Respectfully Submitted,
Mary Ann Ricketts
DFDN Secretary