Galesburg Reporter

A regional bus system could soon be coming to Knox County after the Galesburg City Council recently approved a feasibility study.

Mass Transit Magazine reports the move comes in the wake of the Knox County Board having already voted to form a mass transit district and installing a six member panel to compromise the project’s board. At a cost of $12,600, the feasibility study is slated to be conducted by TranSystems over the next six weeks.

Galesburg Director Wayne Carl stressed the two sides are not at odds, just at "different points” of the process.

"Our big picture goal is that the city and county work together on this and work on a good solution for everyone,” Carl told Mass Transit. “That could be mass transit district providing all the transit, or some version where the city still provides some fixed-route transit and maybe the county provides rural transit and maybe the paratransit. It's just hard to say now because we haven't started the process.”

In the end, Carl said the goal is for the City of Galesburg and Knox County to work together to figure out a way forward that works to the benefit of everyone.

“There is a big need for rural transit options and I think whichever way we end, rural transit is going to be an objective that gets achieved," he said.