Dec 23, 2002 By Amy Karpinsky 3 min read

Anyone who doesn’t think public transportation is alive and well in Fayette County hasn’t tried to catch a bus lately. Eight brand new buses designed especially for public transportation recently began making routes through the Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation (FACT) area, and there are currently six separate public bus schedules available to choose from.

Michelle Shumar, head of the department of Human and Community Services and FACT, called the establishment of the set routes “a work in progress.”

Using federal funds, eight 28-passenger buses, called trans shuttles, were purchased for the FACT routes. The longest and most expensive route runs from Brownsville to Farmington and costs $3.

Shumar said there has been a fixed-route demonstration project in effect for the past two years, but essentially the six set routes are the “first finished product.”

The schedules are available at the FACT office, located in the county public service building on Main Street in Uniontown, as well as the Greyhound bus terminal, located in the parking garage on Beeson Boulevard in Uniontown.

Lisa Malago, general manager of FACT, said the buses have been running on schedule. She explained that the base fare is $1, but if you travel to another zone, it costs an additional 50 cents. As an example, she said riding from Connellsville to Uniontown is considered crossing one zone and would cost $1.50.

The FACT bus system uses Uniontown as its hub, and there are stops at the Greyhound station, where travelers can catch connections to other buses, Malago said. The six set routes include: Uniontown City; Brownsville-Uniontown Express; Brownsville-Republic Uniontown; Uniontown-Bute/Oliver; Uniontown-Farmington Nemacolin and Uniontown-Connellsville.

Malago said that while the schedules vary throughout the day, the buses generally run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. One exception is the Uniontown-to-Farmington route, which begins earlier for employees of Nemacolin Woodlands and other Wharton Township sites.

The base fare is for individuals ages 13 and older. Students can ride at half-fare with proper identification, and children 12 and under and seniors age 65 and older ride for free with proper identification. Individuals with disabilities ride for one-half of the base fare. Monthly passes are also available.

FACT recently debuted two of the eight new buses during a recent Christmas block party. Shumar said although the schedules are set, the fixed routes continue to be a work in progress. As a way to improve services, Shumar said FACT officials are asking to be critiqued by the public.