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Amtran hopes in June to expand its Tyrone service from three to six days a week, turning the pilot route that began in June with Saturdays only into a full-service offering like its 14 standard routes.
CEO Josh Baker alerted the board to the plan Wednesday and intends to ask for formal approval next month.
The three-day schedule for Tyrone service that has been in place since August has seen good ridership, including people using the service to go from Altoona north for shopping, recreation and, in the case of one regular group, to lunch in Bellwood, Baker told the board.
He hasn't heard anything negative about the service, he said.
"I'm really encouraged," he said. "This is the next logical step."
The Tyrone service expansion came faster than expected, he added. The proposed expansion of the Tyrone service is Phase 3 of the agency's 2022 Transit Development Plan, which also included expansion of service hours into the evenings for the standard routes.
Phase 1 comprised the Saturday trips to Tyrone and expansion of service by two hours for all the standard routes except Hollidaysburg.
Phase 2 comprised adding service to Tyrone on Tuesdays and Thursdays and adding the two evening hours to the Hollidaysburg route.
With Phase 3, the service expansions will come to a close for now, and the short- and medium-term goals of the TDP will have been accomplished.
There are longer-term goals, which include expansion to industrial centers in Morrisons Cove and Claysburg.
But those tend to be "moving targets," affected by community feedback, Baker said.
As they prepare to turn the Tyrone route into a full-fledged offering, agency officials will visit with officials of the municipalities along the route, to learn what they think, Baker said.
Those discussions will touch on the municipalities' local share obligations, he said.
Municipalities are expected to provide 3% of the costs of service to their areas, based on a formula that takes into account mileage and hours the buses spend in those municipalities, Baker said, adding there is no local share obligation as long as the route remains a pilot.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.