A group is close to bringing workforce bus transportation to St. Peters, if it could just find someone to administer the program.

The Work Force Transit committee in 2009 launched a pilot program to bring affordable workforce transportation to St. Charles County. The program has five buses that transport 26 workers to the Boone Center Inc., a nonprofit packaging company in St. Peters that employs people with disabilities.

On Oct. 31, Work Force Transit will expand the program beyond the Boone Center. Buses will pick up St. Peters residents at their home and drive them to any workplace in St. Peters.

The program is still limited to people with disabilities, but organizers want to expand bus service to the general public. They have buses and grant funding. Now they need an administrator to take responsibility for scheduling rides.

The Delta Center for Independent Living serves as the transit program's administrative agent. Based in Weldon Spring, the nonprofit organization assists people with disabilities to live independently in their home.

But the Delta Center cannot provide services for people who do not have disabilities. That would exceed the scope of its services, said Vito Lucido, the Delta Center's transportation advocate and a Work Force Transit committee member.

Lucido said people who do not have disabilities but would like a ride to work should call him at 636-926-8761. They will be referred to the city of St. Peters, which is compiling a list of potential riders. The city is assessing the need for public workforce transit, he said. St. Peters considered serving as the program's administrative agent, but declined, Lucido said.

The administrative agent would take calls from riders and schedule their pickup and drop-off. The agent would collect their payment of $5 per ride. The agent would keep 50 cents, with the rest going to the bus provider. Lucido said the agent essentially would be providing an in-kind service, with the 50 cents being a token "thank you" payment.

The government-funded OATS bus service provides all vehicles for the Work Force Transit program. OATS operates 50 buses in St. Charles County, transporting seniors, low-income people and people with disabilities.

Pam Knox, OATS regional director, said the Work Force Transit committee "definitely wants to serve the general public."

"We are trying to get people to and from work," she said. "There are not a lot of transportation options in St. Charles County. A lot of times the lack of transportation is an obstacle in securing employment."

The transit committee launched its program in 2009 using $432,000 from the federal New Freedom Grant, designed to finance projects that facilitate access for people with disabilities but go beyond the guidelines established in the Americans with Disabilities Act. The program has used $132,000, with $300,000 remaining.

OATS' actual cost is $10 per ride, Knox said. OATS bills the Delta Center, as it would any future administrative agent, $4.50 per ride. The New Freedom Grant provides an OATS with an additional $5.50 per ride.

The new St. Peters route will dedicate an OATS bus running door-to-door, picking up residents with disabilities and driving them to any workplace in the city. The bus can drive students to college or vocational school, provided the school is in St. Peters, Lucido said.

Riders can proceed to locations beyond St. Peters by scheduling a connection with the SCAT bus. The OATS bus can drop them off at the commuter lot at Cave Springs and Interstate 70, where the SCAT bus would pick them up.

There will be no regular bus stops. Riders must schedule their pickup and drop off individually by calling Lucido at 636-926-8761. The bus will run three times daily, Monday through Friday. The windows for pickup and drop-off are 6:30-8 a.m., noon-1:30 p.m. and 3:30-5:30 p.m.

The cost is $5 each way. The service is open to anyone age 18 years or older, with any kind of disability.