Douglas County Zip Line bus route to open May 1

By Kayleigh Rahn
Residents who hope to make a zip around town will soon have a new option for public transportation to make it possible

Dial-A-Ride, a service of Douglas County, will roll out a Douglas County Zip Line that will run a one-hour route from Arcola to Tuscola three days each week.

The Zip Line will be open Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. for area residents, Dial-A-Ride Administrative Director Kaycie Sanders said.

The conversation to add the service began in earnest two months ago, Sanders says.

“It’s something we’ve always wanted to do,” Sanders said. “As a service of Douglas County, it’s something we thought Douglas County could benefit from, and we really wish it was something we could do all over Douglas County.”

Sanders anticipates a period of community education but hopes the service will be successful in the coming weeks.

“We hope that it’s well received and beneficial for those who do not have transportation or those who don’t feel like driving,” Sanders said. “Hopefully this will allow them to get to where they need to go.”

Many of the stops are related to health, nutrition, work and civic requirements. With the Dial-A-Ride reservation service, occasionally reservations are made around two weeks in advance, Sanders explained. The zip line will allow residents to get around town without advance planning.

“In Coles County this is huge, a lot of people utilize the zip line, and we really feel this is something that Douglas County will be able to utilize,” Sanders said. “The people at every location were excited to be a stop, and they’ve expressed that this is a needed service and there will be a lot who benefit.”

Sanders said to keep the route at one hour, several community services locations were unable to make the route; however, as the program trial period progresses there may be opportunity to change the stops.

The full story can be found in the April 17, 2019 edition of The Tuscola Journal.