The side effects of a bad economy have claimed another victim. Commuters who take Pace buses in Wheaton and other western suburbs can expect probable service changes and fare increases by the end of the year.

Planned for elimination is Route 711, which carries commuters between Marianjoy Rehabilitation Hospital and Addison. The 711 bus travels through Wheaton’s downtown, at one point stopping at the Wheaton Metra Station.

Pace Route 747, which carries commuters between Forest Park and St. Charles, mostly via Roosevelt Road, will stop running on Saturdays and will no longer travel to St. Charles. Rather, the 747 will go only as far west as the DuPage County complex in Wheaton.

Also changing will be fares for people who use Pace’s paratransit buses, which offer prearranged origin-to-destination service for people with disabilities. Such trips are expected to go up to $3.50 per ride in the suburbs and $5 in Chicago.

The changes could take effect around Jan. 1, 2010, if they are approved by Pace’s Board of Directors, as expected.

Pace has been holding public meetings in order to let people know about the changes and to collect feedback before approving any changes.

Pace spokesman Patrick Wilmot said a public hearing Oct. 20 at College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn drew more than 80 people. Of those who attended, about 50 commented.

“I think people do (understand the circumstances),” Wilmot said. “The funding structure that’s required by state law is very complex and it can be difficult for people to understand. But in any case, what we’ve been hearing is that people are very concerned about the routes they use.”

He said some of the people who expressed concern at the meeting use the affected routes to get to school or work.

“We have a $6.5 million shortfall to our operating budget,” Wilmot said. “And the reason for that is ... the economy has taken a toll on the performance of sales tax collections in our region. And that is the major source of funding for transit.”

A portion of sales tax collected by the state goes toward public transportation. According to Wilmot, a bad economy means people are not buying as much as they had. Because of that, less sales tax is being collected.

"When you’re talking about the entire region and all the goods that are purchased within a year, it adds up,” Wilmot said.

Each fiscal year, the Regional Transpor-tation Authority has Pace submit a budget asking for the amount of money it will need to continue operating. The RTA then tells Pace how much money is available.

“In this case, what we had this year, we projected expenses to be $184.4 million. And the amount of available funding was only $177.9 million,” Wilmot said.

The 747 and 711 bus lines were targeted for service cuts because they were among the least used by commuters. Still, Wilmot said reducing services was a last resort.

“We set out to do so in a way that would affect the fewest number of people,” he said.

Standing on Manchester Road in Wheaton Friday afternoon, Wheaton resident Joan McCulloca waited in the rain for the 747. As she stood, she periodically placed a pair of plastic children’s binoculars up to her eyes to see whether the bus was coming. McCulloca relies on the 747 about three or four times per week. She said it takes her to church or downtown where she shops.

She said she figured Pace would stop the 747’s service all the way out to St. Charles.

“That was dumb in the first place,” McCulloca said. “Well, I shouldn’t say dumb, you can’t blame ’em for trying. But I thought, who’s gonna flock to Charlestowne Mall?”

She doesn’t know exactly what service will be eliminated, but she said the change will not affect her use of the bus.

“They really have so many (stops),” she said. “Have you ever looked at the schedule? Yeah, there’s a lot.”

As her bus approached, McCulloca began to wave her arm high over her head. Later, she got off on West Street and headed toward Wheaton’s downtown, walking.