The clock is ticking for the Butler Transit Authority to secure a plan to have compressed natural gas buses by this fall.

The authority received a letter from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA), dated Feb. 28, stating that the authority must provide a plan including when it will order five CNG buses and how much money it will expend before Sept. 30.

Authority Executive Director John Paul said at Thursday’s monthly meeting that the authority has until March 28 to provide a plan.

The authority, in turn, is waiting on PennDOT to release $634,895 that was approved under former Gov. Tom Corbett, so the authority can detail its plan to the FTA.

The FTA is kicking in $2.6 million.

“This is the end of the road,” Paul said. “If we don’t get this the buses go away, the commuter services (to Pittsburgh) go away.”