DECATUR - A public transportation system in rural Macon County is a ways off, but the wheels to create one began turning Tuesday night at the Decatur Public Library.

About 50 people gathered there for a forum to discuss the possibilities, with several volunteering to serve on a committee that would pursue funding for such a venture.

Providing food for thought were Laura Dick, director of Show Bus serving DeWitt, Ford, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston and McLean counties, and Ron Weishaar, operations manager for Piattran serving Piatt County.

Neither said they are interested in adding Macon County to their service area, although Weishaar said Piattran already brings people to Decatur for medical appointments on Tuesdays and Thursdays and has had preliminary conversations with Argenta and Oreana about providing some service there.

"If we're going to drive through your town, why wouldn't we want to pick up people up there?" Weishaar said. "But Macon County is going to have to do this on their own."

He and Dick encouraged those at the forum to move forward, however.

"It can be done," Weishaar said. "If we can do it in Piatt County, with a population of 16,000, you can do it in Macon County as well."

"We are not second-class citizens," Dick added. "It's about time we stand up and demand that we have transportation for all."

Resa Benz-Spiker, reintegration assistant with Soyland Access to Independent Living, asked about the possibility of expanding the bus service provided by the city of Decatur, but Paul McChancy, the city's mass transit administrator, said that decision would have to be made by city council.

She also said it would be important to get as many Decatur-area transportation providers as possible to the table as a rural transportation system is created.

"If we worked together, it would make more sense and we'd get more bang for our buck," Benz-Spiker said.

Lore Baker Gause, director of Homeward Bound, thanked the Bridging the Gaps Committee of the Decatur-Macon County Homeless Council Continuum of Care for organizing Tuesday's forum and urged attendees to get involved.

"It is something that's needed, and it's the right thing to do for the people in our community," she said.

Theresa Churchill can be reached at tchurchill@herald-review.com or 421-7978.