Students now have one more option for off-campus bus transportation than the Peoria Charter bus service.
Lincolnland Express (LEX) shuttle service added the Michel Student Center to its pick-up and drop-off locations.
“The owner [Bob Frazier] has been wanting to [add service to Bradley] for a long time, we just had to work it into our current routes,” Head of Reservations at LEX Trinity Brock said.
Other destinations include downtown Chicago, Chicago O’Hare Airport, Midway Airport, Bloomington, Springfield, Carbondale and Indianapolis. They offer service to other college campuses as well including University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana, Eastern Illinois University, Southern Illinois University-Carbondale and Illinois State University.
“We offer a lot of services that Peoria Charter doesn’t offer,” Frazier said. “Such as service to the Chicago suburbs and downtown Chicago.”
Shuttle service at some locations, including Bradley, is on an as-needed basis, meaning that unless someone makes a reservation, the shuttle does not come to sit in front of the student center. People can make reservations by using the website or by phone.
This does not mean that walk-ups are not welcome. If there is a shuttle sitting in front of the student center that has room on it, anyone can ride, Frazier said.
Service to downtown Chicago is at Union Street Station, and suburbs include Joliet, Woodridge, Northbrook, Old Orchard, Tinley Park and both Oakbrook Mall and Woodfield Mall.
LEX offers service to the suburbs every day of the week and is working on extending its shuttle service to St. Louis.
“I’m very pleased with the response I’ve received from students through the website,” Frazier said.
The online system LEX uses allows passengers to create an account to save time for return customers. The system allows people to load money onto their online account for later trips if they want.
“Parents can go on [the website] and put money on their student’s account and make reservations for their student,” Brock said. “Anyone can use it, but students and their parents use it most often.”
Students get a $1 discount on their ticket price, which changes depending on how many people are on the shuttle. If there are more people on the shuttle, the less the price of an individual ticket will be, every tenth ride is free.
For more information about LEX, call 217-352-6682 or visit their website, www.lincolnlandexpress.com.
