Collinsville to pilot MCT Micro, a new ride-hailing service for public transportation

By Devese “Dee” Ursery

[email protected]

COLLINSVILLE — Madison County Transit  is initiating a new program that will make catching the bus in Collinsville as simple as pulling out your cell phone.

During the regular bimonthly Collinsville City Council meeting council members voted on and approved ordinances and resolutions that not only invest in public infrastructure but also support excellent municipal services. 

Collinsville is chosen as the first city in Madison County to launch the MCT Micro program, a public transportation pilot program that will pick residents up on demand. This new pilot service will allow people to hail a bus from an app on their smartphone or via phone call and take them anywhere within the pre-determined Collinsville Micro service area.

Director of Marketing for the Agency for Community Transit, Amanda Vilioco-Smith said the initiative will begin on Monday, August 12 and gave further detail of operating hours of the program.

“MCT Micro is an affordable on demand public transportation service via a smartphone app. Think Uber or Lyft, but operated by a public transportation agency. So the hours in Collinsville will be Monday through Saturday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,” Vilioco-Smith said.

“During this pilot we’ll be offering services on Sundays in Collinsville, this shuttle from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. so that is a new thing here in Collinsville. It’s only a dollar, so if you’ve ever used Uber or Lyft you might know that it can cost a lot more money.” 

All of the vehicles are driven by ACT bus drivers and are ADA accessible.The vehicles are equipped with either a wheelchair lift or a wheelchair ramp and they have bike racks.

According to Vilioco-Smith, the Micro program will operate using their smallest MCT vehicles.

“We actually have one brand new vehicle that has a ramp on it,” Vilioco-Smith said. “Most of our small buses have lifts, so we’re actually piloting the MCT Micro Program and this low-floor vehicle at the same time.” 

The vehicles are driven by ACT bus drivers, which drive all of the MCT buses and all of their vehicles have video surveillance on them as well.” So it gives people a little piece of mind that they are safe,” Vilioco-Smith continues.

It is extremely easy to use MCT Micro, according to Vilioco-Smith.The first step is to download the app on your smartphone either Apple or Android, step two, create an account and the third step, book a ride. To use this service all you need is a phone number.

Like other ride-hailing services you put in your starting location and ending location, the difference with this service is you can book for multiple people. Another difference with this ride-hailing service is that it pools trips together from people in Collinsville so they’re not just running one person everywhere on the bus. It’s going to make all of these trips a little more sustainable. 

“Some additional information about this, all of the trips have to begin and end within this Collinsville service area, so it’s not just the City,” Vilioco-Smith said. “It’s not just part of the township, it’s based on roads that we can turn down and turn a bus around in and then also where a lot of people live and neighborhood destinations are.”

Payments for the pilot program can be accepted through the app or they can be accepted onboard or any MCT or Metro fare product/pass as well. “So if you’re an individual that has MCT free ride ID, no worries, it’s accepted on this service,” Vilioco-Smith said.

Vilioco-Smith said she hopes to work with Derrick Cox to get in with the senior center and get all of the seniors onboard. 

“This would be a really good alternative for a lot of them because it might be hard to walk to a bus stop,” Vilioco-Smith said. “We’ll pick you up at your home and take you where you need to go within the service zone.”

An ordinance was approved authorizing the payment of the annual Wastewater Plant’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit fee to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency in the amount of $32,500. 

All wastewater treatment facilities “point source” that discharge into a “water of the United States” are required by the Clean Water Act of 1972, to obtain a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The U.S. EPA authorizes IEPA permitting, administrative, and enforcement aspects of the NPDES program, while retaining oversight responsibilities.

The NPDES permit allows the plant to operate and discharge treated flows into the receiving streams, according to Utilities Superintendent William Jones. 

“It establishes limits on contaminants and protects our waterways,” Williams said. “The funding source is the Wastewater Treatment plant Operations Budget.”

During the city council meeting council members voted to approve an incentive program for the Northeast Business District that is effective, with clear guidelines. These goals are meant to ease the administration and promotion of the program within the NEBD.

City staff has reviewed a previously proposed incentive program for the NEBD and modified the plan with Council’s input to meet the overall goals and current needs of the NEBD. The newly proposed incentive program will be a competitive grant program focused on improvements to the overall look and feel of the NEBD. There will be an open application period followed by city staff review and awarding of grants. The grant program will require a percentage of matching funds from the award recipient and will be on a reimbursement basis only. The City Council will have approval authority of all recommended grant awards. No funds will be dispersed until the project is complete and meets all requirements inspections, certificates, paid receipts/invoices, etc.

Council members also voted on and independently approved three change orders with J.F. Electric, Inc. for the City Hall Generator project which would amount to $33,408 for the purchase and installation. Dennis Kress, Public Works Director detailed each change order.

The first change order increases the contract by $4,098 for an extended warranty for the new generator, extending the base warranty from 24 months to 60 months from the substantial completion date of the project. The second change order increases the contract by $1,508 for the replacement and upgrade of the existing electrical meter servicing City Hall as required by Ameren Illinois policy. The third change order will increase the contract by $27,802 for upgrading City Hall’s existing 600-amp electrical service to a 1,200-amp service and upgrading the existing Current Transformer Panel. This upgrade is necessary to accommodate the connection of the solar array canopy to the electrical service for City Hall being constructed on the municipal parking lot.

An ordinance was also approved by council members authorizing the purchase of playground equipment from PlayPower LT Farmington, Inc. from the joint purchasing agreement Sourcewell, in the amount of $242,086.

Director of Parks and Recreation Kimberly Caughran discussed plans to purchase playground equipment for the Inclusive Playground at Glidden Park.

“This is just to purchase the equipment right now and get the ordering process moving, because it takes at least eight weeks to get here. We have currently secured most of the funding for just the playground,” Caughran said.

“We have $219,257 secured so far, the purchase of the equipment is slightly over that. We will begin a fundraising campaign to promote a fundraiser. We have partnered with Unlimited Play out of St. Charles, Missouri as well as Collinsville Area Community Foundation to be the landing spot for donations.”

During the consent agenda portion of the meeting motions were approved for the payment of city bills for the period ending July 12, in the amount of $3,077,882. Motions were also approved for city payroll for the period ending July 5, in the amount of $2,036,275 as well as minutes for the July 25 council meeting.

Ordinances for the lump sum payment of two workers’ compensation settlements were approved during the meeting. Jeremy Izard was awarded $59,921 in settlement from an injury he sustained on March 27,2023 during his employment duties. Matt Reeder received a settlement in the amount of $15,373. Reeder also was injured on duty. All benefits have been paid appropriately and the cases are ready for resolution.

The Collinsville Jaycees were recognized during the meeting for their unwavering volunteer service to the community of Collinsville.

The Community Appearance Board has awarded David Haack and Jill Leslie at 1003 Union Avenue as first-place winners of the Yard of the Month Winner for July. The second-place winners are Matthew and Kathleen Rogers at 100 Twin Echo Court.

The next regular City Council meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 19 at the City Building at 125 South Center Street.