Residents and officials at a recent public hearing hope their vehement protests to cutting local bus routes will make a difference when Pace officials meet Nov. 11.

Pace Suburban Bus Co. held a public hearing Oct. 20 at College of DuPage as part of its planned proposed cuts due to a $6 million budget shortfall. The cuts would eliminate or reduce service to about 50 routes in the Chicago area.

Two of those routes, 821 and 822, which run through portions of Woodridge and serve Metra train stations in Downers Grove and Lisle, are among those included on Pace’s list. Both routes are under the company’s minimum farebox requirements, said Pace spokesman Patrick Wilmot.

Woodridge Senior Planner Emily Rodman, who attended the hearing on behalf of the village, submitted a petition of  more than 120 riders asking for the two routes to not be eliminated. Seven residents also spoke up at the meeting, asking that Pace reconsider eliminating the two routes.

“We reaffirmed the village’s prior commitments to Pace to work cooperatively with them to identify ways to increase ridership, improve efficiencies and raise farebox recovery rates on the routes to avoid having to eliminate them,” she said.

Rodman said that in a recent meeting with Pace staff, they committed to working with the village to identify alternatives to the route eliminations.

A separate petition of more than 490 names was also submitted on behalf of riders of those routes, Rodman said.

Prior to the hearing, Village Administrator Kathleen Rush said the village was opposed to the cuts, and that Pace provides an essential transit service not only to Woodridge residents but residents throughout DuPage County.  Without this service, many residents will be unable to commute to work, school or local shopping areas, she said.

The Pace Board of Directors is scheduled to meet Nov. 11 to review all the feedback received at the hearings, including testimony, letters and e-mails that were gathered through the public hearing process.

“At that point, they will decide whether to amend the proposed cuts, or submit the budget to the Regional Transportation Authority for approval,” Wilmot said.

Under state law, a bus route must have a 36 percent farebox recovery ration, which means the company must generate at least 36 percent of the cost back from paid fares to operate the route, Wilmot said. The remainder is subsidized by Pace through public funds.

Both route 821, which serves the Belmont Road Metra Station and goes to 83rd Street, and route 822, which serves the Lisle Metra line, both fall below those numbers.

If approved, the cuts would go into effect with the 2010 budget in January.

The public can still submit opinions on the Woodridge cuts and others through Oct. 30. Letters can be mailed to: Pace Government Affairs, 550 W. Algonquin Road, Arlington Heights, IL 60006, or by E-mail at public.hearings@pacebus.com.