The Butler County Commissioners and Butler Transit Authority are meeting with employers in the southern part of the county in September to develop a shuttle service for employees from the central and northern parts of the county.

County Commissioner Kevin Boozel attended Tuesday's transit authority meeting and told board members that he hopes the pilot bus service project will become a Cranberry Township commuter shuttle.

Boozel said public transit is needed for employment and hopes employers in the southern part of the county buy into the project.

Employers will need to provide some flexibility in scheduling employees who ride the bus for the project to be successful, he said.

A meeting will be held in September with employers to discuss the pilot project, said John Paul, authority executive director.

The authority's existing commuter service to Pittsburgh makes stops at the Route 528 park and ride 11 or 12 hours apart, Paul said.

The number of trips is based on performance standards from the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the authority's budget and number of buses, he said.

The current bus schedule might suit employers and employees if work schedules are based on four 10-hour days, Paul said.

In April, Commissioner Leslie Osche said ANR (Alliance for Nonprofit Resources) Transport will pick up people from the park and ride and take them to their jobs in Cranberry Township.

In other business, the authority approved professional service agreements with a law firm and a development firm to work on transit issues.The authority hired the Summers Lagy Law Offices, which has three offices in Pennsylvania, to work as special counsel with seven other transit authorities to craft legislation that provides transit funding to replace Act 44 funding. The authority approved payment of up to $10,000.The authority also hired Delta Development of Mechanicsburg at a cost of up to $7,500 to negotiate with PennDOT for new performance standards for the commuter service to Pittsburgh.The authority is required to meet ridership standards set by PennDOT to keep the service after the current three-year demonstration project ends at the end of the 2020 fiscal year.