Show Bus

SHOW Bus is a provider of mass transportation in DeWitt, Ford, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Mason and McLean counties in Illinois, with six deviated fixed-routes serving numerous cities, as well as demand-response service across the counties.

SHOW Bus

Founded	1979
Locale	Chenoa, Lincoln, Pontiac and Watseka
Service area	DeWitt, Ford, Iroquois, Kankakee, Livingston, Logan, Macon, Mason and McLean counties in Illinois
Service type	Bus service and demand-response service
Routes	6
Hubs	Chenoa: Chenoa Family Restaurant Pontiac: City Hall Pontiac: Livingston County Health Department Pontiac: Walmart
Website	SHOW Bus

History

Public transit has existed in rural Central Illinois since at least 1891, when the Lincoln Electric Street Railway Co. began operating streetcar service in Lincoln. Streetcar service was operated locally in Lincoln and Pontiac until 1929 and 1925 respectively, when both cities had their streetcar systems replaced with buses.^[1] In 2020 and 2022, SHOW Bus and Kankakee County received two grants as part of Rebuild Illinois to replace vehicles and upgrade a vehicle storage facility.^[2][3]

Service

SHOW Bus provides deviated fixed-route and demand-response services. There are 6 deviated fixed-routes, where three provide intra-city transit in Lincoln, Pontiac, and Watseka while the remainder serve intercity trips in the region. As of August 2023, one routes is temporarily suspended. All routes run weekdays only and have a regular fare of $2.^[4]

Local routes

• Lincoln Limited Stop Service
• Pontiac Limited Stop Service
• Watseka Limited Stop Service

Intercity routes

• Kankakee-Momence Limited Stop Service (serves Kankakee, Sun River Terrace and Momence)
• Livingston-McLean County Intercity Service (Suspended temporarily, serves Pontiac, Chenoa, Lexington, Towanda, Bloomington and Normal)
• Route 24 Limited Stop Service (serves Piper City, Chatsworth, Forrest, Fairbury, Chenoa and Pontiac)

Transfer points

• Chenoa: Chenoa Family Restaurant
• Pontiac: City Hall
• Pontiac: Livingston County Health Department
• Pontiac: Walmart

See also

• List of bus transit systems in the United States
• List of intercity bus stops in Illinois
• Amtrak stations served by SHOW Bus:
  • Gilman station
  • Kankakee station
  • Lincoln station
  • Pontiac station
  • Uptown Station