CRANBERRY TWP —The stationing of Butler Area Rural Transit vans at the Cranberry Municipal Center enables the transportation service to expand its hours in the township and surrounding area.

BART is a shared ride transportation service for Butler County residents ages 18 and older.

Basing vans in Cranberry is expected to expand service options for residents to travel to work, shopping, the doctor, the pharmacy or visit friends.

The vans were stationed in Cranberry and routes from there began Monday.

Township manager Jerry Andree said the stationing of the minibuses here allows BART to start earlier in the day and end later in the day.

“It avoids the need to return to their facility in Butler City. This especially helps those seniors with early morning medical appointments,” he said.

Tom Franz, director of mobility management for the Alliance for Nonprofit Resources, which is under contract with Butler County to provide the shared-ride service, said the partnership with Cranberry will enable BART drivers “to provide more service to more people over more hours.”

“There’s a lot of population density there (in Cranberry). Maybe more so than Butler now. There’s a lot of potential need there,” said Franz, adding that vans in Cranberry also will improve the service’s efficiency.

Andree said officials have talked to officials of all public transportation that serve Cranberry, and BART is one of the pieces of that public transportation puzzle.

“Earlier we worked with Commute Pittsburgh to significantly expand those opportunities for our residents, worked with Lenzner to replace PAT service into Pittsburgh, and now BART,” Andree said.

“Although BART is only for a certain segment of our community, it is an important component of that public transportation option.”

Anyone can ride on the BART program. The public can ride for a fee.

Individuals over the age of 60 can ride for free for some trips, including doctors appointments, shopping, senior centers and day care.

BART goes to most areas of Butler County. However, it only operates on certain days of the week in some outlying areas.

Trips are scheduled in advance through the BART office.

BART operates from 7 a.m. until 5 p.m. weekdays.

To register and schedule trips, call 724-282-6060 or 866-717-2278.