A group seeking to restore public transportation to the Valley is growing in membership and fervency, an area official says.

The 6-month-old North Central Pennsylvania Public Transportation Task Force is drawing representatives, including Keri Albright, executive director of the Greater Susquehanna Valley United Way, from at least eight counties.

"This," Albright said of the task force's mission, "is a priority for the United Way."

It is also important for much of the Valley, which has been lacking public transportation since Rohrer Bus Co. discontinued its hourly shuttle between Selinsgrove and Sunbury in May 2004.

Since then, only taxis and subsidized, on-demand services for senior citizens and handicapped people have been available.

Albright, the original leader of the task force and current vice chair, said the group last month submitted a $100,000 grant application to the state Department of Transportation. The funds would pay for a feasibility study to gauge public transportation demand in Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Schuylkill, Snyder and Union counties, among others.

"I think this has got legs," Albright said. "We've got momentum."

The lack of public transportation limits opportunities for the elderly, as well as for young people, Albright said.

"If a kid who lives out on Route 890 (near Sunbury) can't get to the YMCA because he or she doesn't drive, they can't take advantage of it," she said. "Someone who lives in McClure may not be able to use the (Middlecreek Area Community Center in Beaver Springs) because they can't get there."

At each of the six task force meetings since September, more people are attending and want to get involved, Albright said.

"We're trying to get the various interest groups and agencies to work together," Albright said. "This is a regional issue that crosses county lines."

Among those agencies is the Union-Snyder Transportation Alliance, a task force member that provides limited bus service in the region.

USTA is an on-demand service, not a fixed-route system, says alliance administrator Cindy Zerbe. Vehicles shuttle passengers between their homes and destinations.

Because several state and federal agencies subsidize transportation for various groups of people at differing rates, coordinating and scheduling service is difficult, Zerbe said. Each agency has its own requirements for its users, as well as differing levels of service it will reimburse.

For Zerbe, the most important question is how to fill the empty seats in her buses.