Public transportation routes in Westmoreland County will be restructured, with schedule changes taking effect July 1.
Changes mainly will affect Greensburg and areas west of the city, said Lori Brkovich, Westmoreland County Transit Authority's director of planning and marketing.
The 1F Greensburg-Pittsburgh Flyer route will add a 7 a.m. trip to Pittsburgh and a 5:40 p.m. trip to Greensburg to the existing three morning and four afternoon trips.
Route 4, also running from Greensburg to Pittsburgh, will change routes, eliminating stops in Jeannette and Manor Valley. The new route follows Route 30, with a stop at a proposed park-and-ride lot at Hempfield Pointe, west of the junction with the Amos K. Hutchinson Bypass (Toll Route 66).
At Thursday night's WCTA board meeting, Executive Director Larry Morris said he was negotiating an agreement with THF Realty, which owns the shopping plaza, to lease 30-50 spaces for commuters.
"We have a draft agreement. I expect to have a recommendation in July. It's a good location. Hopefully, this will be a model that we can try in other areas," he said.
Board member James Gebicki asked if there were any plans for a park-and-ride along the Route 22 corridor in Murrysville. Morris said the terms proposed by Murrysville council a few months ago "were unacceptable."
The route changes were prompted by an increase in commuters to Pittsburgh, which Brkovich attributes to a marketing campaign targeting this group in the last year.
Rising gas prices and Pittsburgh parking fees also are factors in the increase, she said.
Route 5, servicing Greensburg and Jeannette shopping areas during weekdays, will extend service until 9 p.m. to meet increased demand because of the new Wal-Mart, west of Greensburg.
Route 6 will be restructured to travel between Irwin and Greensburg and will have a transfer point with Route 4.
Routes 7A and 7B, which both run from Greensburg to Monroeville Mall, will be cut because of low ridership.
This year's total ridership increased 7 percent when compared to last year's figures; commuter ridership increased 40 percent. Last year, average ridership was more than 276,000, Brkovich said.
"It's actually been on the rise for quite some time now, so I guess I would say that it hasn't reached its peak yet," Brkovich said.
Alan Blahovec, WCTA assistant director, said fares and ticket revenues are $21,000 over budget as of the end of May. "That hasn't happened in a long time," he said.
In September 2003, the county's transit authority added several buses to the Greensburg-Pittsburgh route, where demand for service has been increasing steadily, while eliminating routes servicing the Latrobe and Unity Township areas.
July's changes should better suit the public and continue to increase ridership on the routes, Brkovich said.
Fares will not be affected by the changes but will cost Westmoreland Transit an additional $150,000 this year, Brkovich said. Because additional routes are balanced by those eliminated, she added, costs were kept low.
Restructuring was approved May 19 by the transit authority's board of directors and has been in planning since January.
New bus schedules are available on the buses, at the transit center in downtown Greensburg and on the Web at www.westmorelandtransit.com.
In other business last night, the WCTA board approved a $6,331,060 2005-2006 budget. The spending is $1 million larger than last year, largely due to the ever-growing public assistance program, Blahovec said.
