The Butler Transit Authority is in the early stages of finding ways to provide public transportation to the Cranberry Township and Slippery Rock areas of Butler County.

The transit authority board of directors voted Tuesday, Feb. 13, to release a request for proposals for “micro transit,” to find companies that provide infrastructure for a non-fixed route system in either area.

The authority’s executive director, John Paul, said a transit system contracted through the Butler Transit Authority in either area would likely not be on a fixed route system, but would instead serve individual riders, akin to applications like Uber. The decision is based on studies of national transportation trends, Paul said.

“We also looked at Cranberry since I got here as in need of some sort of public transportation because there is zero there,” Paul said. “This is an option to provide a level of public transportation in that area.”

Paul said there is no solid time frame regarding when a micro transit system would be implemented in either Cranberry Township or Slippery Rock. It depends on how the proposals roll in, because the authority is looking for a company that can provide all the infrastructure needed to provide rides in an area.

“We’re looking for a turnkey; the people that have the vehicles and the drivers and the insurance and the software to schedule,” Paul said. “We’ve got a ways to go.”