Transit Authority leasing Westmoreland buses
There is a small chance that riders of the Butler Transit Authority's Commuter service will board a Westmoreland Transit Authority bus for their trip during the next six months.
John Paul, executive director of the Butler authority, said the engine of one of the Commuter buses failed this week, leaving the authority with only one reserve bus for the service. The transit authority board of directors voted at a meeting Tuesday, Feb. 7, to borrow the Westmoreland authority buses while it waits for another reserve bus scheduled to arrive at the end of March.
The authority will lease two buses from the Westmoreland authority for the price of about 110 gallons of oil.
“We had some oil for diesel buses that we can't use anymore,” Paul said. "I said, 'Hey, do you want this oil for $50?' They said, 'sure.' We're providing the oil for $50; they're providing the buses for $50."
According to Paul, the Westmoreland authority's buses will be used only in an emergency, if the remaining Commuter buses become unavailable.
Also at the meeting, the board voted to update the authority's policies regarding bans for trespassers and disruptive riders.
According to Paul, the transit authority's solicitor is working on updating the language of the ban policies. The authority has had policies in place that could result in a rider being banned from taking a bus for a certain amount of time, but Paul said it is time they are updated.
"We have had different instances that you can get banned for certain periods of time," Paul said. "Obviously it's to the detriment of other riders or the driver, which you can't have."
The rules for riding the authority’s buses are available at butlertransitauthority.com.
