Bus routes through Butler remain relatively unchanged through 40-year history
David McManus hasn’t driven a vehicle for about 30 years, but he still has ways of getting from his home in Lyndora to shop for essentials on Main Street in Butler.
The Butler Transit Authority’s local service has a stop by the post office on Whitestown Road, which McManus said takes him to the city so he can get what he needs.
“I ride it on and off, maybe once a month,” McManus said Wednesday afternoon as he was waiting at the West New Castle Street stop for the bus back home. “The schedule is pretty consistent.”
John Paul, executive director of the Butler Transit Authority, said the authority’s administrators have tried to keep routes as consistent as possible, and the service has added more stops than it has gotten rid of since it was incorporated Sept. 28, 1989.
According to Paul, the authority’s founders started the service with four routes, and buses have been traversing almost those same routes for more than 30 years.
“We designed all the routes in Butler to coordinate with what was required by the federal government to align with economic areas,” Paul said. “They included the low-income areas, the senior high rises in the community, the hospital and doctors’ offices, and retail establishments.”
