The Butler Transit Authority is applying for a federal grant in an attempt to explore public transportation options in and around Slippery Rock.

The authority's board recently approved the decision to apply for the Federal Transit Authority's Helping Obtain Prosperity for Everyone, which has $8.5 million in its coffers to support efforts throughout the country to improve transit services or facilities in areas of persistent poverty through planning, engineering, technical studies, or financial plans, according to federal guidelines.

John Paul, executive director of the Butler Transit Authority, said Butler fits that profile. The application for the grant is due by June 30, according to the federal guidelines.

The grant, if awarded, would seek to answer the question, as Paul put it, “Would fixed route transit be an answer for transportation needs in the Slippery Rock area or would there be some other answer for people there?”

Paul said the competition for grant funds is high and they are seeking about $156,000 to hire a subcontractor to study transportation options in the Slippery Rock area.

An area is considered to have persistent poverty if 20 percent or more of the population in the county is living in poverty over the past 30 years. If the authority received the grant, the federal government would also support coordinated human service transportation planning to improve transit service or provide new services such as rides to opioid abuse recovery and treatment.

“We believe we do qualify,” Paul said. “Slippery Rock has always been a target area since it's close to I-79 and all the students.”

A bus line used to run between Slippery Rock and Butler city, Paul said, but the program ended in 2017 after funding dried up.

If the authority is awarded the grant, it would allow Paul and the others to hire a consulting company called Delta Development to conduct surveys, contact businesses, hold public meetings and generally see if the demand for public transportation is strong enough.

“Then we'd look at things like, should it be a fixed route or something else?” Paul said. “We would try to find a financial strategy to make it sustainable.”

Paul said the study would be open-ended.

“They might look at it and say the density isn't there or the need isn't high enough, or there's not a way to sustain what they recommend or maybe there is,” he said.

Gene Allison, a Slippery Rock councilman, welcomed the possibility and said the borough council would support any transportation effort.

“I would be tickled with any sort of public transportation within our community, and if it reached Butler, that would be great,” Allison said. “As time goes on we are seeing more folks needing public transportation. It would be a great benefit for our town.”

And David Wilmes, the chief student affairs officer at SRU, said there is also a need for such a service from the students.

“We have students who come from all over the world — some have cars but some don't,” Wilmes said.

Currently, the school provides a monthly bus that shuttles students between the campus and shopping centers in the county, Wilmes said. He added the service has been very popular along with a transportation option for students to be taken to medical appointments.

Wilmes said many students who drive complain that campus parking lots are often full, leaving some nowhere to park. He said if there was a public transportation option, then it could alleviate congestion on campus.

“If we had regular bus routes, that's something students would definitely take advantage of,” Wilmes said.

Paul said he wants to open Slippery Rock up to transportation as a way to connect it to Butler city and the rest of the county. Wilmes also pointed out how the option would open the whole region up by allowing students to get to Pittsburgh from Butler city to go to internships, jobs and any other business.

“It would be a huge boon to us,” Wilmes said, noting the school plans on opening up a community engagement office in Butler city as soon as coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

“And so that's another way that students and faculty might utilize transit to get to that location,” Wilmes said. “There would be high usage from it. Students have brought up that's it's a limitation for them to get in and around Slippery Rock. So overall it would be a strong benefit for us.”