A Trail ‘tween Two Cities
Riding the bus in Pekin, Illinois
by: Steve Tarter
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A Trail ‘tween Two Cities Riding the bus in Pekin, Illinois by: Steve Tarter |
| Pekin, Illinois is a community of some 30,000 people known
for their fierce independence, especially when it comes to nearby Peoria.
All of which begs the question: what does Pekin have to offer? It’s natural to assume that there would be those in Pekin (and Marquette Heights and Creve Coeur, small communities along the way) who need to travel to Peoria for work, shopping, medical or recreational reasons. After all, the bigger town has more resources, more jobs, etc. But what’s to entice Peorians to Pekin? And what about the Pekin bus system? GP Transit has extensive service throughout Peoria but just where does
the bus go in Pekin? |
| So we decided to find out. The two of us, both employees of GP Transit and
both accustomed to bus riding, had never even seen a bus in Pekin, let alone ride it. |
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We arrived at the Tazewell County Courthouse, the place to catch a bus in
downtown Pekin. Since neither of us wore a watch, we headed into the courthouse to get the
time. The young security guard didn’t know anything about any bus but outside we
found a bus shelter and someone waiting for the bus. |
| Pam Winter has been riding the Pekin bus for three years. She uses it
almost every day, she said. Does it run on time? Most of the time, she reported. |
| Buses run every 30 minutes from the courthouse throughout the day with the exception of an hour-long break for lunch, a break we were in the middle of. Aware of the fact we had a little time on our hands, we took a stroll down Court St., a street with a lot of history (see accompanying photo). |
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Only the occupants are different. Instead of major retailers, now you have the Armed Forces recruiting office, antique stores with beanie babies to sell and several shuttered store fronts. We could see a number of eating and drinking places scattered about downtown Pekin as we walked but on this day—around the lunch hour-- the city’s central core was very quiet. We ducked into Pekin’s chamber of commerce to see what was cooking. |
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Amy Newell of the Pekin tourism office looked surprised by visitors seeking information but soon warmed to the task. The Court St. block we had just surveyed might make a good backdrop for the movies, she said. She spoke of Pekin’s longevity (the first steamboat docked at Pekin in 1828 while the city charter was adopted in 1849). |
| Amy pointed out that there were 2,600 acres of parkland in the city. She enthusiastically pointed to an upcoming Pekin dining guide modeled after a pocket guide published in New Orleans. Fueled with these facts, the time had come to catch our bus. We headed back to the courthouse for our ride through Pekin. |
| The bright red Pekin bus pulled up, driven by Sue Thompson. We got on with Pam Winter. |
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No one else was on the bus. A bus driver in Pekin for the past 2 and ½ years, Thompson said she has come to enjoy her job. We were riding on the North Mall route (the Pekin bus system is pretty simple, split between north and south routes). As she drove, Sue pointed out Pekin High School, noting it would soon be vacated with students moving to a new campus in the fall. "I was kind of hoping they’d have the police department move in there but I don’t think that’s going to happen," she said. |
| Pam Winter came to her stop and, as testimony to one of the joys of small-town life, handed her pile of library books to the driver. "I’ll get them on the trip back,"she said, heading off towards a shopping center. |
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 The North Mall route covers most of the
shopping outlets in Pekin. We pulled through the parking lot of troubled Pekin Mall where
a lack of shoppers is visibly apparent. The bus moved on to Walmart (where, apparently,
all the shoppers were), K-Mart (where Sue greeted a passenger, "Are you ready to go
home? You look tired."), Jack’s, Menard’s, Country Market, Revco,
JoAnn’s Fabrics, and Kroger. |
"I don’t know where Pamela Sue took off to," Thompson says, searching for her first passenger. "I hope she doesn’t expect me to read all these books. I guess I’ll catch her on the next round."
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Among those boarding the bus at Mr. K’s, Judy Gilliam says she’s looking forward to using the Pekin-Peoria bus service. A regular rider, she lamented that the Pekin system didn’t run with the same frequency as its counterpart in Peoria. |
"See you later, hon!" offers Sue as another passenger gets off.
 As oldies waft through the bus from
overhead speakers, we may have found an answer to our question about what to do in Pekin.
Probably nothing that you can’t do in Peoria; many of the same franchises exist in
both towns.
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| But if you’re interested in something a little different, you might want to ride that Pekin bus. If you’d like to experience small-town hospitality again, you might want to make the bus trip between Peoria and Pekin. |  |
We’ve even got a slogan for the tourism folks: "Spend a Big Afternoon in a Small Town! |
What about your "Road Trip" observations? Share your own ideas, suggestions on your experiences in Central Illinois. Please e-mail Steve Tarter.
Greater Peoria Mass Transit District
2105 NE Jefferson Street
Peoria, Illinois 61603
Business Phone: (309) 676-8015
Information: (309)676-4040
E-mail GP Transit
Denene
Gallion
Web Site Administrator
That makes it all the more surprising
to know that now there’s bus service between these two Central-Illinois river stops.
Through the cooperation of each city’s transit system, there are four 
