Commuter service to Pittsburgh was primary in transit plans outlined Tuesday by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission and Butler Transit Authority.

The plans were part of a meeting in the Butler County Government Center to discuss short-term, midrange and long-term goals for the authority.

John Paul, Butler Transit Authority executive director, was satisfied with the meeting.

“People participated,” he said. “A lot of times people just sit on their hands, so all in all, I was very pleased. I think it’s going to be a good study, and it will give us a long-range plan to go forward for the next at least five to 10 years.”

It was noted that Butler County is one of the few adjoining counties to Allegheny County that does not provide commuter service to Pittsburgh.

The Butler Transit Authority is in the process of making that happen. The authority plans to store six CNG buses in a local facility, with upgrades coming to that facility in March.

Paul said fueling stations for the buses will be implemented in the fall of 2017.

The main obstacle, Paul said, is PennDOT releasing the funding.

“How quickly would they agree to move on and agree to let us start commuter service, we would have to see,” Paul said.

The buses would take Route 68 to Interstate 79 into Pittsburgh, with an express stop at Evans City acting as the last stop.

The commission conducted a survey regarding transit desires from Oct. 17-31, and gathered 195 responses.

The survey results showed that the top three mass transit destinations were downtown Pittsburgh, for work and recreation; Cranberry Township for work and shopping, and he Pittsburgh International Airport for personal business.

The survey also found that important factors users were concerned with were hours of service, the speed of the trip and frequency of service.

Short-range goals for transit service included providing evening service to Butler County Community College and VA Butler Healthcare.

“I don’t have a problem with either of those scenarios,” Paul said.

The major long-term goal, expected to take at least five years, was a Transit Revitalization Investment District (TRID) in Cranberry Township.

In this scenario, Cranberry Township could apply for money from the state to identify the location of a future transit facility, Paul said.

TRID allows the township to use that money to build public infrastructure that improves transit services, which in turn can attract builders and investors to that area.

Paul also said it would be possible for the authority to provide service to Slippery Rock University and Grove City Outlets, which was discussed at the meeting.

The biggest factor, Paul and authority board member Joe Gray both said, would be coming up with the money for these projects.

“At the end of the day it has to be practical and live within its means, because if not then the whole system fails,” Gray said.

Paul echoed his sentiment.

“Plans are nice,” he said. “I like implementation.”