With plans for a new Butler County bus station stuck in neutral, county commissioners have decided to redirect most of the money they had committed for that project to one that appears to have a little more fuel: a Butler-to-Pittsburgh bus line.

Of the $240,000 that had been given to the Butler Transit Authority for a bus station in Butler Township, commissioners voted unanimously April 24 to allocate $170,000 to the pilot project bus line. The remainder will stay with the authority in the hopes that, one day, the bus station that authority Director John Paul had been working toward will get off the ground.

Mr. Paul hopes to start the Butler-to-Pittsburgh bus service in 2010, with tentative stops in Evans City, Harmony and Zelienople -- communities that have pledged to support the project financially.

County Chief Clerk Bill O'Donnell said the commissioners' decision reflects the county's commitment to public transit, without reaching into county coffers for new money that hasn't been allocated through the normal budgeting process.

Mr. Paul said he agreed with the decision. The commissioners could have asked for the $240,000 to be returned because the Federal Transit Administration had denied critical funding for the bus station, which was to include a park-n-ride lot, office building and maintenance garage.

Instead, the commissioners decided to let the Transit Authority use the money toward the mass transit line from Butler to Pittsburgh and new buses to support the service. The first allocation of $70,000 will serve as the local match for a $2 million, eight-bus fleet. The two subsequent allocations of $50,000 each will go toward operation costs.

"I'm extremely pleased the county has come on board with this. With gas prices as they are ... this type of commuter service is needed by the public and hopefully we can fill a niche,'' he said.

The agreement with the county notes that, should the bus station project ever pick up speed, the county will replace the redirected money, Mr. Paul said.

Commissioner Jim Lokhaiser, who has worked in the public transit industry, warned that the bus line won't really shift into gear until more park-n-ride options are available. He said 200 more spaces are needed at the Route 528 and Interstate 79 park-n-ride lot in Jackson. The state Department of Transportation has agreed to fund a project by the Transit Authority to expand the lot by 40 spaces. And Mr. Paul said he has support of the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission for another PennDOT allocation that would fund the additional 160 spaces. Together, the additional parking would cost more than $1.2 million.

The lot currently has about 100 spaces. A major obstacle to expansion will be the purchase of adjacent land from the Butler Auto Auction, which has been unwilling to sell its property. The Transit Authority has the legal ability to take the land by eminent domain.

The plan for bus service has been evolving for several years, with Cranberry contributing a $10,000 matching grant toward a 2002 regional feasibility study by the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission. But, the township is no longer partnering in the effort.

"We support the idea, but where will Cranberry residents park?'' asked Cranberry Manager Jerry Andree. He said that has been an issue since the idea first surfaced.

With land prices in southern Butler County soaring, the idea of buying property for a parking lot isn't feasible, acknowledged county Commissioner Dale Pinkerton, who said there's no hard feelings against Cranberry.

Mr. Andree said Simon Properties, of Indianapolis, had committed land for a parking garage in its proposed shopping plaza development along Route 228, but that project has to get off the ground. "They're trying to put together $60 million-plus for a road system. A parking garage is like step 10 in a 12 step process,'' he said.

Another hurdle would be finding the money to build the garage, assuming that the improved road system could handle the traffic that would be generated by a parking garage.

"There's a lot of issues,'' Mr. Andree said.

He said Cranberry's focus has shifted to the expansion of existing park-n-ride lots, both the one in Jackson and the lot along the Red Belt in the Warrendale section of Marshall. The Warrendale lot is currently served by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, while the Jackson lot is served by the New Castle transit authority.

He said he welcomed the Butler Transit Authority's expansion of the lot, even if the initial expansion is 40 spaces instead of the 200 that Mr. Lokhaiser said were needed. "We need as many as we can get,'' he said.

Until park-n-ride opportunities are expanded, Mr. Andree said, it makes no sense for Cranberry to contribute financially to the pilot project bus line, though the township had pledged support. "That support was always contingent on more park-n-ride spaces,'' he said.

Meanwhile, the Transit Authority continues to hope that the bus station will be built someday. The agency has spent $1 million in site preparation for the $13.5 million project in Lyndora. The Federal Transit Administration last year denied a funding application that would have closed an $8.5 million financing gap and allowed construction to begin on seven acres on Hansen Avenue, formerly owned by Pullman Standard.

The plans include a park-n-ride lot with 100 to 120 spaces, office building, a garage, a maintenance building and a wash bay. The Transit Authority currently leases space from Butler Motor Transit in Butler.