September 21, 2024

Restructuring and Funding Decline

Restructuring and Funding Decline

JAX Mass Transit (JAX), formerly known as Jackson County Mass Transit District (JCMTD), has experienced a fundamental transformation. On December 29, 2022, the United States Census Bureau decertified the Carbondale Urbanized Area (UZA), which resulted in approximately a 50% reduction in funding for the district. In response, we’ve restructured our services to increase efficiency, closed our least-travelled routes, and focused our attention on making our remaining routes the best they can be. Despite these changes, what remains constant is our unshakable commitment to serving our neighbors in Jackson County, Carbondale, and Murphysboro.


Why was funding reduced?


To be designated an urbanized area, the area must house a population of at least 50,000 people as determined by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census.


The Carbondale Urbanized Area (UZA) was made up of Carbondale, Marion, and the few households and communities surrounding these towns, namely Carterville. Carterville was crucial, because it allowed Carbondale, Marion, and the space between to be counted as one urbanized area. Together, this “cluster” of towns exceeded the 50,000-population threshold by a small margin. 


However, as part of the 2020 census, the U.S. Census Bureau altered the rules for qualifying a UZA. The “jump” distance, indicating the distance two or more towns can be separated by while still operating as one UZA, was reduced from 2.5 miles to 1.5 miles. This small change prevented Carterville from serving as the bridge between Carbondale and Marion, ultimately decertifying the Carbondale UZA.


The Carbondale UZA had two public transit districts, Jackson County Mass Transit (JCMTD) and Rides Mass Transit District (Rides MTD). Rides MTD was the previous provider of the Saluki Express. As an urbanized area, the Carbondale UZA was receiving between $1.5 million and $2 million dollars depending upon several performance factors. These funds were split between Rides MTD and JCMTD based upon ridership figures. The federal funds could then be utilized as matching dollars for funds from the State of Illinois. All told, the Carbondale UZA was receiving nearly $5 million in state and federal funds for public transportation before the decertification.


What are we doing differently?


To maximize available funding and increase efficiency, several necessary changes were put into place, including the elimination of multiple routes and reduction of frequencies. The major route eliminations included the Carbondale Residential routes operated by JCMTD and the Saluki Express Crosstown route. Our focus now is maximizing the quality and availability of the remaining routes. Furthermore, we partnered with Southern Illinois University to continue the Saluki Express.


The district is still able to operate a core set of routes that cover Carbondale, but we also created a fixed-route connecting Murphysboro and Carbondale and fixed deviated routes that venture out into rural areas to provide access to the fixed-route system. Additionally, we offer vital paratransit services which provide origin to designation (door to door) service for disabled and elderly passengers as well as micro-transit services for Carbondale during late night hours.  The district remains committed to seeking funding to add additional public transportation services to the community.

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