Former Lemont Mayor Reappointed to Third Term as Pace Chairman

Richard Kwasneski, the third Chairman of the Board in Pace’s nearly 30-year history, has been unanimously reappointed to a third term leading the suburban bus board.

“I’m grateful not only for the chance to continue what has been an outstanding opportunity to serve the public, but also for the trust placed in me by the county board leaders and members who reappointed me,” said Kwasneski. “We have made a significant amount of progress on a number of important local and regional projects such as I-55 Bus on Shoulders and beginning the gradual conversion to operating CNG-powered buses and I will work with staff to ensure we keep moving forward.”

Other agency accomplishments occurring during Kwasneski’s tenure as board chair include five consecutive years of ridership growth and budgets balanced without fare increases or service cuts. Pace recently received the prestigious Gold Award for Safety from the American Public Transportation Association for its safety program and is one of only a small number of transit agencies nationally to receive no findings from its Triennial Review conducted by the Federal Transit Administration. The perfect score on the FTA review maintained Pace’s strong record of clean audits and reviews by federal, state, local and independent authorities.

“Pace’s continuous efforts toward innovation and efficiency along with a strong track record for working collaboratively with businesses and other units of government is exactly what taxpayers expect from public agencies,” said Cook County Commissioner Liz Doody Gorman. “As Chairman of the Committee of Suburban Cook County Commissioners I am very pleased to announce the unanimous re-appointment of Rick Kwasneski to another four-year term as Pace Board Chairman. Rick has shown outstanding leadership representing the transportation interests of suburban Cook County.”

“Rick has done an outstanding job as a regional leader addressing suburban public transit concerns,” said DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin. “He has an excellent grasp of transit issues and is devoted to serving the needs of all Pace riders.”

“At a time when there have been a number of challenges affecting transit in our region, Pace has maintained consistently strong performance and leadership,” said Will County Executive Larry Walsh. “I am confident that Pace remains headed in the right direction and voted without hesitation to retain Rick as the Chairman of the Board.”

Kwasneski, a former Lemont mayor, joined the Pace Board of Directors in 2002. He became Chairman in 2006 and was reappointed in 2010. Per the state law governing the establishment and structure of regional transit, Pace’s Chairman is appointed to a four-year term by the respective county board chairs from DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will counties and the suburban members of the Cook County Board of Commissioners.