Connect Transit reports ridership gains, details budget and service shifts; asks Normal for $1.3 million local investment

David Brown, CEO of Connect Transit, told the Normal Town Council on April 1 that the regional transit agency has seen significant ridership gains and is proposing a modest local capital contribution to support planned service and vehicle investments.

Brown said fixed-route ridership grew about 10% last year and is roughly 7% year-to-date. "When you look at our fixed route, our fixed route continues to increase. Last year, we increased 10% in ridership," Brown said. He also reported a strong on-time performance of about 92% and notable growth in demand-response service: "Our Connect Mobility continues to increase. Last year, it was over 20% increase from the year before."

The transit CEO told council that Connect Transit owns 12 electric buses but is operating only two because its manufacturer went bankrupt, creating parts and service challenges. "Of the 12, 2 of them are running," Brown said, and the shortage is one of the reasons the agency proposes to reallocate hours by reducing some peak fixed-route frequency.

Why it matters: Brown framed the request as a leverage play: the town's combined local ask of about $1.3 million would accompany roughly $27 million in capital obtained through grants and federal/state allocations. "What that allows us to do is purchase capital with lesser investment from the local share," Brown said, describing an approach of using state and federal funds plus grants to stretch local dollars. He said roughly 65% of operating revenue comes from the state and that contract fares and passenger fares cover only a small share of costs.

Council members asked for operational details. Miss Cook asked for clarification on terminology and operational metrics: "What the terminology ‘unlinked trip’ means?" Brown explained that an unlinked trip counts a passenger trip on a single route without transfers. Councilmember McCarthy pressed on return on investment after Brown described grant successes: "That's pretty substantial ROI," McCarthy said, after Brown said the agency has secured more than $50 million in grants over five years.

Service changes and timeline: Brown described plans to reallocate driver hours from some fixed-route peak service to mobility and flex services to match growing demand among seniors and riders with disabilities. He said a new flex zone could launch in June pending vehicle availability, and that some routes' headways would move from 30 to 60 minutes while other core Normal routes would not be affected.

Brown also described capital timing and federal funding limits: the agency expects its regular federal allocation (about $4.8 million currently) to be near a cap in 2026–27 and is seeking to increase that share. He told council the board has approved the budget and asked the town to acknowledge and consider the local capital request.

Next steps: Brown offered to provide additional data to council and local agencies, and council members requested specific figures on shelter counts and ADA accessibility for stops. The presentation closed with council members thanking Connect Transit; no formal action on the budget request was taken at the meeting.