A bus driver departs a Commuter bus at the end of the day Monday, April 10 at Butler Transit Authority in Pullman Center Business Park. Eddie Trizzino/Butler Eagle

Ridership of the Butler Transit Authority’s Commuter bus service, whose route runs from Butler to Pittsburgh and back on weekdays, is 17% above average ridership so far this month, but its revenues from fares has ground to a halt.

John Paul, executive director of the authority, said administrators decided to waive rider fares through April in an effort to attract more riders to the Commuter. He said the coronavirus pandemic caused a huge loss of users of the service, and many former riders have not returned.

“I consider it a success at this point,” Paul said of the waived fares. “The whole idea was to try to get people back commuting that we had lost on the pandemic.”