Several county officials got up early on Thursday morning to ride on a Butler Transit Authority bus to Pittsburgh — and hear passenger input during the trip.

County commissioners Leslie Osche, Kim Geyer and Kevin Boozel, plus chief of economic development and planning Mark Gordon and transit authority executive director John Paul hopped on the compressed natural gas bus in the frigid dark of the early morning, to chat with four passengers with a combined ridership of 85 years.

The passengers rode on Myers Coach Lines buses for decades, but the company abruptly ended its Pittsburgh trips on Dec. 15.

The Butler Transit Authority was planning to supplement the Myers trips with a few buses to Pittsburgh, but found themselves scrambling to accommodate passengers as the only bus service in the county with trips to Pittsburgh.

“I don't know why Myers ended their Pittsburgh runs,” said Paul. “We were notified on Dec. 1.”

A.J. Myers and Sons did not return calls for a comment on their decision to end service to Pittsburgh.

On Dec. 15, Paul said the authority had met state requirements and announced it would begin service on Dec. 18.

The longtime Myers passengers had many concerns about the new service, so the county commissioners, who are part of the authority's board of directors, decided to invite a handful of passengers to join them on a separate bus to work on Thursday so the passengers' concerns could be aired.

“We are trying to accommodate everyone, but obviously it's not the same service as Myers,” Paul said.

He said Myers offered a midday run to the city, and their buses went straight down Route 8.

The authority's trips turn from Route 8 and travel west on Route 228 to access Interstate 79, and then Interstate 279 into Pittsburgh.

The authority will add a bus to Pittsburgh on Monday that travels down Route 8 to Route 28 and makes a stop at the Duncan Avenue park and ride.

Paul said a third trip from Butler to Route 68 through Evans City and onto Route 528 and then Interstate 79 south will be added in July pending state approval. The authority might add a stop in Cranberry Township to that route, Paul said.

On Thursday morning passenger Linda Shaffer of Butler Township said she has been commuting to her office in Pittsburgh on a bus since 1980. Shaffer said about 80 people used Myers' buses to Pittsburgh and back.

She said using the bus eliminates the need to arrive at a parking garage up to an hour early to get a parking place, allows her to sleep for an extra hour while on board, and costs the same or less than gas, parking fees and wear and tear on her car.

Shaffer likes the new CNG buses used by the authority.

“This is a nice, cushy ride,” she said as dawn broke over I-79. “I would definitely say this is the top shelf of buses.”

Shaffer told the commissioners that the authority service is good for office workers whose employers allow a few minutes of flexibility to accommodate the bus ride and subsequent multiple-block walk to the office.

But she said hospital employees who work 12-hour shifts or those who work a half day cannot use the bus.

“I appreciate the commissioners and John Paul working to make this the most user-friendly run that they can,” Shaffer said.

Scott Kresge of Middlesex Township hopped on the bus at Glade Run Church on Route 8 in Cooperstown. He has been riding the bus for seven years to his office job near Market Square.

Kresge said the cost to ride the bus, $5 each way or $4 for those who buy a pass, is less than parking downtown and eliminates the aggravation of driving to and parking in the city.

Kresge is glad the authority bus pulls into the church parking lot and he no longer has to cross busy Route 8 on foot to get the bus in the southbound lane, as he had to do with the Myers service.

Kresge told the officials that he misses the two morning and afternoon Pittsburgh runs that Myers offered.

“(The current single trip) cuts down on flexibility,” Kresge said. “There are times I need a later run and the Butler Transit Authority doesn't have that.”

Mary Troyan of Butler Township has ridden the bus for 11 years and was upset when she learned that Myers had ended its decades of service to Pittsburgh.

She said longtime riders, particularly those who got the bus on Route 8 south of Route 228, were the victims of the authority's attempt to establish a ridership in the Cranberry and Adams township areas.

Troyan also appreciates the county officials' cooperation regarding the bus service.

“They have done a super job,” Troyan said. “They are trying to accommodate everyone's needs.”

David Lindsay of Butler Township has been riding the bus to Pittsburgh for 30 years. He misses the midday run Myers offered, having used it six times in 2017.

Lindsay said if an employee works a half day, has a doctor's appointment or becomes ill at work and needs to go home, they must wait for the authority's evening run.

All four passengers get off the bus at 7th Avenue and Smithfield Street in the city, which is not an official stop but is closer to their offices than the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, which is the official last stop before the driver heads toward the Veteran's Bridge to get on I-79 north.

At the end of the work day, they must walk to the convention center to be picked up for the return trip home.

All four were strongly against moving the Pittsburgh stop from the convention center to the Allegheny Station on the North Shore, which a state study said would be their best option.

The riders would then take “the T,” Pittsburgh's subway system, to the downtown area.

“The study is flawed,” Paul said.

He explained that the consultants working on the study were unaware that passengers could be dropped off at 7th Avenue and Smithfield Street.

Osche said the new route down 228 could provide workers from Butler a ride to the many jobs in Cranberry and Adams townships.

She appreciated the commuters who rode the bus with the county officials on Thursday.

“The riders are helping the commissioners define the critical issues and points that have to be addressed going forward,” Osche said.

She said the county Tourism and Convention Bureau, various chambers of commerce, Cranberry Township and the Community Development Corporation are interested in transportation to Pittsburgh.

“We are going to have to come to a convergence on how to make viable and sustainable service and build ridership but at the same time meet the needs of those who have been using this service for many, many years,” Osche said.

Gordon said the bus could connect more county residents to good jobs in Pittsburgh. He added that the younger working population are more apt to look to public transportation to work, which could grow ridership.

“We want a safe experience that satisfies (passengers') needs,” Gordon said.

The bus now picks up passengers at the authority's terminal on West Cunningham Street, the former Shop 'n Save in Pullman Square, the church, and 12 Oaks Mansion in Adams Township.

Because of its size, it takes drivers five minutes to turn the 58-passenger bus around at the latter stop.

The bus is outfitted with USB ports on the back of each seat and Wi-Fi will soon be available, Paul said.

Safety features on the bus include seat belts, an automatic decelerator that will slow a bus traveling too fast downhill, an automatic braking system that prevents fishtailing, an engine retarder that will smoothly slow a speeding bus, emergency services alarm buttons, and security cameras,

The buses also have a lift for passengers in a wheelchair.

Osche said the county and authority will continue to work toward providing optimum service while satisfying the many entities involved in transit.

“There are so many things that have to be worked out,” Osche said, “but we'll get there.”