Ready to Roll
The Butler Transit Authority is set on having bus service to Pittsburgh.
It just needs to complete a couple projects before its buses can get there.
The authority is expecting the expansion project on the Route 528 park and ride to conclude early this summer.
Work, which began late last year, has not been slowed by the harsh winter.
“We're still on schedule,” said John Paul, authority executive director.
The $1.9 million project will add about 250 parking spaces to the roughly 100 in the lot. Paul said the project is part of the foundation for creating Pittsburgh service.
The transit authority runs four buses during the week, three on Saturday, and two Sunday. They make stops in the city and in Butler and Center townships. The authority has about 18,200 riders per month and hopes service to Pittsburgh can expand on those numbers.
Paul said the best case scenario would have routes to the Steel City begin in July 2015.
There likely will be bus stops in Butler, Forward Township, Evans City, possibly Harmony or Zelienople, and finally the reconstructed Route 528 park and ride, Paul said.
After making those stops, the bus would go directly to its final destination at the PNC Park T Station. Limiting the number of stops will allow for a quicker and more consistent trip.
The only service to Pittsburgh now is through Myers Coach Lines of Grove City. That bus makes stops in Slippery Rock, Unionville and Butler, among others during the week.
But before a route to Pittsburgh begins, the authority will need its compressed natural gas buses to make the trip. The authority is waiting to buy four CNG buses with federal and state grants it got in 2013.
A CNG fueling station also will be built at its Hollywood Drive offices. That station would be open for public use. Paul hopes the station will be built later this year.But service to Pittsburgh is a need in the county, he said.“From my understanding, some people drive out to (the Route 528 park and ride) to take the bus to Pittsburgh,” he said. “People who want to work in Pittsburgh can use the service to live here. It's a way to accommodate Pittsburgh and its employment opportunities.”Paul said Westmoreland County's transit authority runs 18 buses to Pittsburgh every day, while Beaver County runs about 14.Butler would have three or four buses running to Pittsburgh at the start.“We believe there is a large demand for this,” Paul said.The authority has other goals, as well, starting with testing a new bus pass this year.The ConnectCard, which looks and feels like a credit card, will allow riders to prepay for fares or simply add money to the card.Passengers will be able to scan the card on the automated fair box when boarding, allowing for quicker boarding times.“I hope people accept it,” Paul said. “It will make our system more efficient.”The new fair boxes were installed last year in preparation for the passes.The transit authority is following in the footsteps of the Port Authority in Pittsburgh, which began using the same card system last year.Paul said one of the key advantages to the card is it will allow riders to use it on Port Authority buses in Pittsburgh.The Port Authority has nearly completed its institution of the pass.“From what I've heard, it's going well,” Paul said, adding that most of the problems with the system have been worked out through the Port Authority's testing.Paul said the card likely will not be in use here until July 2015 because the Butler authority must install the machines needed to add money to them.The authority started testing a similar moneyless version of the card through new elderly rider passes.The elderly rider card was chosen as a test because people over 65 ride the bus for free so there is no issue with adding funds.Instead, the photo identification on the cards acts as a preapproved boarding pass.“So far we've had good results with it,” Paul said.Elderly riders interested in the card can fill out an application and submit it in person at the authority's bus terminal on East Cunningham Street.While Paul hopes the cards become popular, he said he can't imagine the bus completely eliminating cash anytime soon.“I don't see any way we would become completely cashless,” he said.Paul said the Connect-Cards cost about $5 to produce, but he isn't sure if there will be a fee to make up for that expense.“It will probably be free when it is first released to get people to use it,” he said.
While the transit authority is making upgrades on the ground, the county's airports are also working to improve service.Airports benefited from lucrative state and federal grants in 2013.The Butler County and Zelienople airports were awarded a combined $2.6 million in state and federal grants.The Butler County Airport in Penn Township is using the $1 million it received to widen a taxiway from 20 feet to 40 feet. The taxiway is the paved path that aircraft use to get from the hangars to the runway.The project is still in the engineering phase, but is expected to be bid out this year.The Zelienople Municipal Airport received $1.6 million, which it used to finish long-term projects, including water and sewer service it installed in 2013, and access roads and new hangars.Those renovations were finished late last year.
