A new bus route taking commuters from Butler, Evans City and Jackson Township to Pittsburgh is tentatively set to begin in July 2018.

The Butler Transit Authority on Wednesday ordered five new coach-style compressed natural gas buses for the service, authority executive director John Paul said.

The purchase of the buses was made possible by a $2.6 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration and $634,895 from the state Department of Transportation that was approved by former Gov. Tom Corbett. The FTA had set a March 28 deadline for the authority to use the grant money, though the authority had been waiting for PennDOT to release its part of the project. PennDOT officials gave the authority permission to move forward with the purchase earlier in the week, Paul said.

Paul said the new route will start at the authority’s office in Pullman Center Business Park and make stops at the Forward Township Municipal Building on Evans City Road, EDCO Park on West Main Street in Evans City and the Route 528 park and ride in Jackson Township.

From there, it will go directly to the north shore in Pittsburgh where commuters can get access to other public transit.

“It’s a new level of service for people and hopefully they will use it. I believe there is a demand here not only out of central Butler County but out of the Cranberry region,” Paul said.

The route will cost $5 each way, but that will be discounted to $4 each way for commuters who buy a multiday pass.

Getting the new buses is not the only expense associated with the new route.

The authority has already lined up a $2.3 million grant from the federal Congestion Mitigation Air Quality improvement program and a $600,000 match from Pennsylvania for a new park and ride lot in Butler.

The authority has ample property to expand, Paul said.

Butler County real estate records show that the authority owns 7.4 acres on Hollywood Drive.

It will also seek grant money to pay for a new park and ride lot at the Forward Township building, which is at the intersection of Evans City Road and Ashstop Road. That project is estimated to cost about $3 million.

The EDCO Park parking lot will not need much renovation and will not be used during the three months every year when the pool is in use, Paul said.

Three of the five new buses will be in use at a time, with the other serving as reserves.

They are coach-style buses that will have wireless Internet.

“These are modern 45-foot coach buses, they won’t be like the regular transit buses,” Paul said.

The New Castle Area Transit Authority runs a similar commuter line that takes people from New Castle to Pittsburgh and makes stops at the Route 422, Portersville and Route 528 exits along Interstate 79, according to its website.

The Butler authority’s new route, will be scheduled to alternate pickups with that route. Paul said the goal is to have a bus leaving the Route 528 park and ride every 20 minutes during a three-hour window in the morning when most people are headed to work.

The authority will be working to market the new route and try and get as many riders as possible. It will have three years to get established, but it must meet certain ridership requirements by the end of that time, which will be set by PennDOT, to be allowed to continue.

Another existing option for commuter service to Pittsburgh is Myers Coach Lines, which offers some buses taking people from Butler, Slippery Rock, Center Township and other locations to the city. Myers is a private company, but is subsidized by PennDOT, according to its website.